Chili - Without the Beans

Don't tell Mrs. BA - but fall has arrived.  It's time for sweaters, slow cookers, and chili!  I like chili - and this one, without beans and more beef in it's place, sounds particularly hearty (via pumpkinspice).  Here's a complete list of 12 chili recipes from BuzzFeed.

Slow Cooker Hearty No-Bean Chili

Made with two types of ground beef and loaded with flavor, 

you’ll never miss the beans in this Slow Cooker Hearty No-Bean Chili! 

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef 
• 1 pound ground chuck 
• 2 (29 ounce) cans tomato sauce 
• 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes 
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste 
• 1/2 white onion, diced 
• 1 green pepper, diced 
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic 
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 
• 5-6 tablespoons chili powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar 
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, brown and crumble ground beef and ground chuck until cooked through. Drain and add to slow cooker. 
2. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, pepper, minced garlic, cayenne pepper, ground cumin, chili powder, white sugar, oregano, and pepper to slow cooker. 
3. Stir to combine. 
4. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. 
5. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream, if desired. 
6. Enjoy!

All Coffee All the Time

Often, Mrs. BA and I will be sitting downstairs, after LBA and SoBA have gone to bed and one of us will say to the other, "You know what would taste good right now?" which is code for, "go upstairs and make milkshakes."

Mrs. BA is all about the chocolate milkshake, while I prefer the coffee milkshake.  Here's a list of 26 coffee desserts that I might need Mrs. BA to start making her way through.  Below is my favorite from the list (via Crumb).  From BuzzFeed.

Coffee-Toffee Thumbprint Cookies
Author: Isabelle Boucher (Crumb)
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 12 mins
Total time: 22 mins
Serves: 48

Coffee-toffee isn't just a fun tongue twister -
it's also a great flavour pairing for this
variation on the classic thumbprint cookie.

Ingredients
Coffee-Toffee Cookie Dough:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 
• ¾ cup brown sugar 
• 1 egg 
• ½ tsp vanilla extract 
• 2¼ cups flour 
• 1 cup toffee bits (also known as Heath or Skor bits) 
• 2 tbsp instant espresso powder 
• ½ tsp baking powder 
• ½ tsp salt 

Caramel Filling:

• 18 soft caramels, unwrapped 
• 2 tbsp heavy cream 

Instructions
Make the Cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F, and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until well combined. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. 
3. In a second mixing bowl, combine the flour, espresso powder, baking powder, salt and toffee bits. Add to the wet ingredients, and beat on low speed until combined. 
4. Roll the dough into 1-inch round balls, and arrange on prepared baking sheets. Using your thumb, press a deep indent into the middle of each ball. 
5. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden-brown. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. 

Fill the Cookies:

1. While the cookies are cooling, place the caramels and cream in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave on High for 30 seconds, or until melted and smooth. (If necessary, continue to microwave in 10-second increments until the caramels are melted, stirring between bursts.)
2. Spoon a small amount of caramel into the centre of each cookie. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving to allow the caramel to set.

Happy Birthday to Stephen King!

Tomorrow is Stephen King's birthday.  When the Brave Astronaut clan visited Maine in August, I kept saying we should go and visit his home in Bangor - but we didn't get there.  Ah well, maybe next time.

On a family trip when I was much younger, I read my first Stephen King book, Salem's Lot on my way Down East.  Needless to say I didn't sleep well that week - listening for the tap, tap, tap, of vampires on my window.  But that didn't stop me from going to a bookstore (you remember bookstores, right?) and buying a copy of Christine to read as a follow-up. I have read almost everything that King has written (I never got into the Dark Tower books) - I prefer King's horror and macabre works over his foray into sci-fi.  That includes his non-fiction work, On Writing, in which he suggests first nearly 100 books and then in an updated edition, another 80, that everyone should read (not including his own works).  I'm a bit ashamed to note that I haven't read a lot of these.  List/Quiz on BuzzFeed.  How'd you do?

1. A PERFECT CRIME by Peter Abrahams
2. LIGHTS OUT by Peter Abrahams
3. PRESSURE DROP by Peter Abrahams
4. REVOLUTION #9 by Peter Abrahams
5. A DEATH IN THE FAMILY by James Agee
6. LIVES OF THE MONSTER DOGS by Kirsten Bakis
7. REGENERATION by Pat Barker
8. THE EYE IN THE DOOR by Pat Barker
9. THE GHOST ROAD by Pat Barker
10. IN THE NIGHT SEASON by Richard Bausch
11. THE INTRUDER by Peter Blauner
12. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
13. THE TORTILLA CURTAIN by T. Coraghessan Boyle 
14. A WALK IN THE WOODS by Bill Bryson
15. THANK YOU FOR SMOKING by Christopher Buckley
16. WHERE I’M CALLING FROM by Raymond Carver
17. WEREWOLVES IN THEIR YOUTH by Michael Chabon
18. LATITUDE ZERO by Windsor Chorlton
19. THE POET by Michael Connelly
20. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
21. FAMILY VALUES by K.C. Constantine
22. UNDERWORLD by Don Delillo
23. CATHEDRAL by Nelson DeMille
24. THE GOLD COAST by Nelson DeMille
25. OLIVER TWIST by Charles Dickens
26. COMMON CARNAGE by Stephen Dobyns
27. THE CHURCH OF DEAD GIRLS by Stephen Dobyns
28. THE WOMAN WHO WALKED INTO DOORS by Roddy Doyle
29. THE DICK GIBSON SHOW by Stanley Elkin
30. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
31. THE BEACH by Alex Garland
32. DECEPTION ON HIS MIND by Elizabeth George
33. GRAVITY by Tess Gerritsen
34. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
35. FURNACE by Muriel Gray
36. A GUN FOR SALE by Graham Greene
37. OUR MAN IN HAVANA by Graham Greene
38. THE FIFTIES by David Halberstam
39. WHY SINATRA MATTERS by Pete Hamill
40. HANNIBAL by Thomas Harris
41. PLAINSONG by Kent Haruf
42. SMILA’S SENSE OF SNOW by Peter Hoeg
43. DIRTY WHITE BOYS by Stephen Hunter
44. A FIRING OFFENSE by David Ignatius
45. A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR by John Irving
46. THE TOOTH FAIRY by Graham Joyce
47. THE DEVIL’S OWN WORK by Alan Judd
48. GOOD ENOUGH TO DREAM by Roger Kahn
49. THE LIAR’S CLUB by Mary Karr
50. RIGHT TO LIFE by Jack Ketchum
51. SURVIVOR by Tabitha King
52. SKY IN THE WATER by Tabitha King
53. THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver
54. INTO THIN AIR by Jon Krakauer
55. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
56. OUR GUYS by Bernard Lefkowitz
57. THE IGNORED by Bentley Little
58. A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT by Norman Maclean
59. THE MOON AND SIXPENCE by W. Somerset Maugham
60. CITIES OF THE PLAIN by Cormac McCarthy
61. THE CROSSING by Cormac McCarthy
62. ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt
63. CHARMING BILLY by Alice McDermott
64. ANCIENT SHORES by Jack McDevitt
65. ENDURING LOVE by Ian McEwan
66. THE CEMENT GARDEN by Ian McEwan
67. DEAD MAN’S WALK by Larry McMurty
68. ZEKE AND NED by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana
69. A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
70. ZOMBIE by Joyce Carol Oates
71. IN THE LAKE OF THE WOODS by Tim O’Brien
72. THE SPEED QUEEN by Stewart O’Nan
73. THE ENGLISH PATIENT by Michael Ondaatje
74. NO SAFE PLACE by Richard North Patterson
75. FREEDOMLAND by Richard Price
76. CLOSE RANGE by Annie Proulx
77. THE SHIPPING NEWS by Annie Proulx
78. ONE TRUE THING by Anna Quindlen
79. A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES by Ruth Rendell
80. WAITING by Frank M. Robinson
81. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS by J.K. Rowling
82. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN by J.K. Rowling
83. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling
84. MOHAWK by Richard Russo
85. RESERVATION ROAD by John Burnham Schwartz
86. A SUITABLE BOY by Vikram Seth
87. THE YOUNG LIONS by Irwin Shaw
88. THE CRATER by Richard Slotkin
89. THE ILLUSIONIST by Dinitia Smith
90. MEN IN BLACK by Scott Spencer
91. JOE HILL by Wallace Stegner
92. THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt
93. A PATCHWORK PLANET by Anne Tyler
94. HOCUS POCUS by Kurt Vonnegut
95. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
96. THE AX by Donald E. Westlake
97. END OF STORY by Peter Abrahams
98. THE TUTOR by Peter Abrahams
99. THE WHITE TIGER by Aravind Adiga
100. ONE GOOD TURN by Kate Atkinson
101. ORYX AND CRAKE by Margaret Atwood
102. FIELDWORK by Mischa Berlinkski
103. CHRISTINE FALLS by Benjamin Black
104. THE LAST GOOD DAY by Peter Blauner
105. 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
106. THE NIGHT OF THE GUN by David Carr
107. SPARTINA by John Casey
108. THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN’S UNION by Michael Chabon
109. JACK REACHER Series by Lee Child
110. THE NARROWS by Michael Connelly
111. THE HOURS by Michael Cunningham
112. HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z. Danielewski
113. THE BRIEF AND WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Diaz
114. WHITE MAN’S GRAVE by Richard Dooling
115. ZOO STATION by David Downing
116. THE GARDEN OF LAST DAYS by Andre Dubus
117. PEACE LIKE A RIVER by Leif Enger
118. A FAN’S NOTES by Frederick Exley
119. THEN WE CAME TO THE END by Joshua Ferris
120. STRONG MOTION by Jonathan Franzen
121. THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen 
122. AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman
123. CROSSCUT by Meg Gardiner
124. THE DIRTY SECRETS CLUB by Meg Gardiner
125. THE LONG HOME by William Gay
126. PAINTING THE DARKNESS by Robert Goddard
127. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen
128. THE RAW SHARK TEXTS by Steven Hall
129. A SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR by Mark Helprin
130. THE HANK THOMPSON TRILOGY by Charlie Huston
131. TREE OF SMOKE by Denis Johnson
132. GOOD POEMS Edited by Garrison Keillor
133. THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by Sue Monk Kid
134. FARGO ROCK CITY by Chuck Klosterman
135. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson
136. ABSOLUTE FRIENDS by John le Carré
137. THE GIVEN DAY by Dennis Lehane
138. UP IN HONEY’S ROOM by Elmore Leonard
139. THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE by Jonathan Lethem
140. WHAT THE DEAD KNOW by Laura Lippman
141. DISPATCH by Bentley Little
142. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN by Cormac McCarthy
143. ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan
144. THE PEOPLE’S ACT OF LOVE by James Meek
145. HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY by Audrey Niffenegger
146. THE AUBREY/MATURIN NOVELS by Patrick O’Brian
147. THE GOOD WIFE by Stewart O’Nan
148. WE WERE THE MULVANEYS by Joyce Carol Oates
149. HARD REVOLUTION by George Pelecanos
150. THE TURNAROUND by George Pelecanos
151. THE ABSTINENCE TEACHER by Tom Perrotta 
152. NINETEEN MINUTES by Jodi Picoult
153. VERNON GOD LITTLE by DBC Pierre
154. FINE JUST THE WAY IT IS by Annie Proulx
155. SHATTER by Michael Robotham
156. AMERICAN PASTORAL by Philip Roth
157. THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA by Philip Roth
158. MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie
159. BRIDGE OF SIGHS by Richard Russo
160. EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo 
161. DROOD by Dan Simmons
162. TERROR by Dan Simmons
163. AMERICAN WIFE by Curtis Sittenfeld
164. CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith
165. VOODOO HEART by Scott Snyder
166. QUICKSILVER by Neil Stephenson
167. THE LITTLE FRIEND by Donna Tartt
168. WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy
169. HOLLYWOOD STATION by Joseph Wambaugh
170. ALL THE KING’S MEN by Robert Penn Warren
171. THE LITTLE STRANGER by Sarah Waters
172. CROOKED RIVER BURNING by Mark Winegardner
173. THE GODFATHER RETURNS by Mark Winegardner
174. THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE by David Wroblewski
175. REVOLUTIONARY ROAD by Richard Yates
176. BIG IF by Mark Costello
177. LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel
178. THE FIXER by Bernard Malamud

Strawberry Pretzel Pie

Don't tell Mrs. BA - but I really think I'm in love with the Pioneer Woman.

Strawberry Pretzel Pie
Pie Prep Time: 4 Hours
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 4 cups Pretzel Sticks 
• 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) Butter, Melted 
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar 
• 1-1/2 cup Sugar 
• 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch 
• 1 package (3.5 Ounce) Strawberry-flavored Jello 
• 1-1/2 cup Water 
• 3 pints Strawberries, Hulled And Halved 
• Unsweetened Whipped Cream 

Preparation Instructions
For the pretzel crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Crush the pretzels in a large resealable plastic bag with a rolling pin. Mix in a bowl with the butter and brown sugar. Press into a pie pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.

For the strawberry filling: Put 1 1/2 cups water, the granulated sugar, cornstarch and gelatin powder in a saucepan. Stir together and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook until it starts to thicken, about 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from the heat. Let the liquid cool for a good 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Put the strawberries in a bowl and pour over the sauce, gently tossing together. Allow to sit for 5-7 minutes, then carefully pile the coated strawberries into the cooled pie crust. Spoon over a little leftover sauce if needed, and refrigerate, uncovered, for 4 hours.

Cut into slices and serve with whipped cream. (Unsweetened is nice because the pie is so sweet!)

It's Labor Day - Have a Drink!

I know there's dark rum in the house - it came back from vacation after being acquired at the NH State Liquor Store.  Now if I can still get some cherries.  From Epicurious.

The Cherry Bomb
Yield: 1 cocktail
Active Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients 

• 4 fresh sweet cherries, halved, pitted 
• 1/4 of a lemon 
• 1/4 of a lime 
• 5–6 fresh mint leaves 
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup 
• 1 dash Angostura bitters 
• 2 ounces dark rum 
• Mint sprigs (for garnish) 

Preparation
Using a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon, muddle cherries, lemon and lime wedges, mint leaves, simple syrup, and bitters in a mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Add rum and stir to combine.