Public Blogging

Blog Ambiguous is public again. The students from last semester are not longer my students....nor do I think they would keep a blog address for a month or two, in hopes that it would go public again. So, without further ado, Blog Ambiguous is now public. :) More posts to come after the new year.

Christmas Lights

My beautiful sister-in-law Julie just sent me the BEST email. Here it is:

To whom it may concern...

We do ardently request that you put up the Christmas lights on your house!!! And We also request refreshments after we are done viewing the lights.

Thank you and best regards,
The Chandler Family

Last year we purchased a Christmas light music system that blinks lights to Christmas music. Apparently my husband's family loved it so much that they have been requesting Christmas lights for weeks. I keep trying to explain to them that we have a lot going on right now with ripping out walls and replacing drywall, rerouting plumbing and having to run new electrical wires for our second kitchen. The excuses have fallen on deaf ears. Today I received the above email from Julie, my sister-in-law, and it was quite enough to motivate us to put up the lights. So, if you are in the area after Saturday, we will have tons of lights on the house blinking to music (from 5pm to about 9pm). Once you have taken in the sights and sounds, we offer refreshments afterward consisting of hot chocolate, hot apple cider and assorted goodies.

Left Over Turkey

About now is the time people are pretty darn sick of that leftover turkey, and for good reason. While I should have been grading papers yesterday I decided it was a good time to make enchiladas. I tried only once before to make them and it was slightly disastrous. This recipe however, is AWESOME!!!!! Here it is:

Leftover Turkey Enchiladas
2-3 cups cooked turkey, diced or shredded
1/2 onion, small dice
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jar of Trader Joe's Enchilada Sauce (if TJ's is not local, use a can of sauce from the store if you don't want to make your own, but TJ's is the best!)
12 or so corn tortillas
1 Tb. Olive Oil (better for the heart)
1 small can of olives (or not if you hate olives)
2-3 cups of cheese, Mexican blend

In a saute pan, add olive oil and onions and soften. Add garlic when the onions are almost soft and continue to saute for a bit to cook the garlic. Add the turkey and about 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce, mix. This is the filling!

In another pan, heat the remaining enchilada sauce, but do not boil.

In a glass pan, or corning wear pan, cover the bottom with enchilada sauce.

Toast the corn tortillas with a cast iron tortilla plate or in a dry frying pan. Some people fry the tortillas in oil rather than doing it dry. I prefer no oil on the tortillas because frying them makes the enchiladas oily. After toasting them until a bit bubbly, dip them into the enchilada sauce. Here's where your hands get messy. Once you dip them, place them into the pan with the enchilada sauce and fill with a few tablespoons of turkey mixture. Add a couple slices of olive to the inside and sprinkle with as much cheese as you'd like (try not to overfill the enchiladas - it may take a try or two to get it right). Line the pan with enchiladas touching. Once you have filled the pan, you can add more enchilada sauce if you like saucy enchiladas, or not if you don't (I did not). Sprinkle cheese on the top and line them with olives (see pic above) to delineate where the individual enchiladas are located. Serve with sour cream, avocados, rice and beans for a complete dinner. Shawn and I don't do rice and beans at home, so we ate them ala carte. They are awesome!

Enjoy!