The secret is the sauce in the sauce.

I love bourbon, it's good stuff. I think I have my father to blame for the constant presence of bourbon in our home. Also, the lack of bourbon as he tends to drink my bourbon when my parents are over for dinner.

Tonight, the weather is cooler, so we are going to sit in the backyard and grill some chicken. Which necessitates a sauce to baste the chicken with. I felt like a good barbecue sauce and pulled one out I had bookmarked earlier in the summer and just hadn't pulled out to use yet.

Heat wave, coming through.

I worked over the weekend, so I wasn't privy to the temps during the day here. I was inside an air conditioned environment from 7 am to 7:30 pm both Saturday and Sunday. I mocked my husband some as he talked about how warm both days were.


Karma has caught me my friends, and today is the hottest day yet of this heat wave. I am off work, at home, where we don't have whole house AC, while my husband is at his office with nice cool air flowing.


I have the fans going, curtains drawn, blinds closed and the temp inside the house is holding at about 83 degrees, which is likely about 15 degrees cooler than it is outside. Still not cool enough to make me want to cook anything, any where. I don't even feel like going out back to grill.

Magic mole.

Not mole, the small blind, below ground dwelling mammal or mole the unit of measurement, but mole, the really yummy, chili and chocolate based sauce.

I swear the stuff is magic. Chili and chocolate on top of turkey or chicken or pork? Sounds good to me.

My local Mexican market carries their own blend of mole paste. Very convenient for when you want mole but don't have the time to make your own. Which I don't personally.

So, being that today is the first day of fall, and for today and today only, we are having slightly cooler weather, I decided chili was in order. Also, I am fighting a head cold and I think my sinuses could benefit from the spiciness.  I discovered an absolutely yummy sounding chili featuring mole recipe over at Epicurious.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.

I continued on in the garden and house today.

My garden is partially winterized, I have broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts in. And my pepper plants are powering forward still, so they stayed. I cannot tell you how exciting it is to actually have hot peppers this year. Last year, my pepper plants kept getting eaten. Horn worms apparently don't discriminate and only eat tomatoes.

When the cat is away...

...this mouse gets out and does some gardening. I put my husband on a plane to Chicago this morning for a work trip. So I got outside and played in the dirt some.

We have two garden beds in our front yard. When we moved into our home, both had newly planted palm trees. Not long after, despite my best efforts to keep the palms alive, the very front ones died. We pulled those out, leaving us with this:

Lovely isn't it? I especially love the weeds. Let's pull back for a better look:

New additions.

This is Eddie.

This is Tess.

Born July 14th at my Vet's office, we brought these two home on Wednesday. Our old man and old lady cats don't approve of them just yet, but the babies as we are prone to calling them don't give a damn. the dogs are still not sure what the situation is.

They are super active as kittens are and little loves when they are spazzing around the house like they are right now.

Comfort food for my husband.

My husbad has had a really busy last couple of weeks at work, filled with late nights and some work on the weekends trying to get his company's tax returns for this year completed and sent to the IRS. Everything wrapped up today and he came home early, completely wiped out, and promptly fell into bed for a nap before dinner.

I had some time to pull dinner together and his final words to me involved grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Dessert last night...

Quick and easy dessert last night. Figs with goat cheese warmed in the oven at 375 for 15 minutes, then topped with a drizzle of honey. I am so excited figs are coming back into season, they are excellent with cheese and wine which are two of my most favorite things. Last nights wine was Ventana 2008 Orange Muscat.

Might as well face it.

I have an addiction and I think I am ready to admit it here.

Hi, my name is Jo, and I have an addiction to dry rubs.

Whew! I feel better getting that out.

Peanut butter, oatmeal and chocolate, oh my!

A trifecta. Holy trinity. Darn good stuff.

Oh, how I love some oatmeal in my cookies. Peanut butter too. Chocolate chips, of course.

I have two special folks in my life that have birthdays this week, my grandmother turned 87, my best friend turns 30.

As such, I am a cheater, cheater, pastry eater.

Do you like chocolate?

I do.

How about pastry?

Me too.

What is your opinion on a combo of the two for breakfast?

I concur.

Want to know what I do when I want chocolate croissants? And don't feel like driving around to find them?

1 sheet of puff pastry, cut into equal pieces of your chosen size (I myself made 8).

1 bar of bittersweet chocolate broken into equal sized pieces.

Egg wash.

Wrap up chocolate with pastry, fold ends over, brush with egg wash, bake until toasty in 350 degree oven.

Add some powdered sugar if you would like.

Nom.