Happy Birthday to Me!

So is it weird if you make your own birthday cake? I had been dying to try to make my own fondant, and it seemed like the perfect excuse. As a bonus, if it didn't turn out I would be the only one who was upset. Through all of my hours on the internet, I found this recipe for Marshmallow fondant. Hmmm, interesting right? This fondant did not dissappoint. It was easy to work with, fairly easy to make (a bit messy), and it did not taste totally disgusting. I don't think fondant is something I would want to eat much of, but it was not too bad. (Recipe coming soon) I was pretty pround of myself, I have a long way to go, but I think my first experiment was a hit!

Chili

So tonight I am catching up this poor neglected blog. I have just been so busy! I still haven't had much time to really experiment in the kitchen, so I have been sticking to our tried and true favorites. Like this chili. I make it basically the same way that my Mom does, but neither of us really has a recipe. We just throw whatever tomato products we have in our pantries into the pot. Surprisingly, it always tastes about the same. My Dad will not eat chili unless it has a macaroni in it, I guess that I over compensate for this or something, because I always put too many noodles in my chili and wind up with something more reminiscent of goulash or Hamburger Helper instead of a nice soup. This time I tried to be more aware of what I was doing, the chili did come closer to what I was going for.

Chili/Goulash

Ingredients

2 lbs. of hamburger

1 medium onion, diced

1 package chili seasoning mix (I used McCormick)

1 large can of diced tomatoes, undrained (28 oz.)

2 cans of tomato soup

1 can of tomato paste (6 oz.)

1 can chili hot beans, undrained

1 can tomato sauce

1/2 cup macaroni noodles (elbows, shells)

Brown the hamburger and onion in a large soup pot, drain. Put the hamburger back in the pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for at least 15 minutes (I think it is better the longer it simmers). In a small pot, cook the pasta according to the package directions until a little less than al dente. Add it to the mixture in the pot. If you want to avoid your noodles getting too large, you may want to wait to add them until a few minutes before serving.