A - Z Monday ~ The Fantastic Food Letter F

This is a CUP of French Onion Soup that I had in December at Papa Byrd's Bistro in N. Idaho. I know I've said this before, but this place has amazing food. Everything fresh and homemade and as you can see---good size portions. Is it any wonder I have trouble loosing weight when I go home?? (Their signature soup, Butternut Squash Jalapeño is out of this world!) Here is the start of Mama Cassie's fajitas. First I julienne a green & red bell pepper and a whole onion. Then I lightly sauté them in olive oil and set aside, leaving any oil in my pan.

Next I brown (in this case I had baked the chicken strips previously) some chicken breast strips and add fajita sauce and stir. For my sauce I use Lowry's Fajita's spices and rather than just adding water to them I also add some vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. And, I mix it up at least a day ahead. This really gives an extra kick to the fajitas.

After the chicken is nicely coated I then reintroduce the veggies and get them nice and coated with sauce and brown up a bit more. Finally I add chopped tomatoes and stir for about a minute. It's that easy!

Now all that you have to do is serve with a plate of warm flour tortillas, sour cream and perhaps some fresh guacamole. Yum yum.

Some of you might have noticed that I have a table cloth under my frying pan. Yes, I always keep an old table cloth handy in my kitchen for when I have anything that might splatter. I HATE splattered oil and even worse, cleaning it up, so I take precautions to make clean up much easier. I also use a splatter screen to help prevent a mess. Another cleaning tip is to keep a vinegar soaked or soapy sponge close by and always clean up immediately when something spills or splatters. Your welcome.

love, Martha, er I mean Cassie

ps-Please stop by Jen's blog for more A-Z foodsters!

Odds ‘n Ends

Since she has established her alpha dog status, Baby Rocket Dog always ‘calls’ shotgun when we go for a ride in the car. Poor little Hootie only gets the coveted seat when he’s my only passenger. He has wheedled his way up there next to her, but she prefers to have that seat all to herself.

Patrick has spent about $100 at the US Post Office so far shipping Christmas “stuff” to me up here in farrrrr N. Idaho.

They keep threatening 2-3” of snow up here, but so far this December all we’ve gotten (on my hill) hits the ground and melts. LOTS of muddy paw prints on the deck and if I don’t wipe the pups paws at the door, what a mess they make inside. Sure glad I opted for porcelain tiles floors instead of carpeting! Oh yea, the mountains all around us are covered in the fluffy white stuff. Schweitzer should open for skiing in a few weeks.

Went out to pick up some cool shoehorns from a couple at Perkins Lake this afternoon and they had LOTS of snow all over the road. It’s 14 miles out. We have 40degrees today and Mr. Sun is shining down on us….they didn’t have a ray, not a ray of sunshine out at Perkins Lake Road!

Papa Byrd’s Bistro has the BEST chef in the Inland Northwest. If you every get to farrrr north Idaho it is a must stop. I try to stop in & get the yummy homemade soup at least every few weeks. It’s not your run of the mill stuff. It is out of this world….ie: red pepper tomato or butternut squash jalapeno. Out of this world delish!!

Papa Byrd's Bistro dining room is all dolled up for Christmas. These are the owners of Papa Byrd's. They are an uncle & niece and Papa Byrd was her dad who passed away.