I found this a couple of winters ago in Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine. It has since become a family favorite we enjoy all year.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), 1 turn of the pan

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing

2 pounds ground chicken

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 celery ribs, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (half a palmful)

1 teaspoon ground coriander (one-third palmful)

6 ounces beer (your favorite brew)

1/4 cup cayenne pepper hot sauce

One 15-ounce can tomato sauce

One 8.5-ounce Jiffy-brand corn muffin mix

1/3 cup milk

1 large egg

2 scallions, finely chopped

3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (about 4 ounces)

Directions:

1. Heat a medium Dutch oven or large skillet over high heat. Add the olive oil, 1 turn of the pan, and the butter and melt together. Add the chicken and cook, breaking up the meat, for 6 minutes. Add the garlic, celery, onion, carrot and jalapeño. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and coriander, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the beer and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Concentrate the flavor of the beer by reducing the mixture over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the hot sauce and the tomato sauce. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the chili for 15 minutes.
2. Prepare the corn muffin mix with the milk and egg according to package directions for corn pancakes. Stir the scallions and the blue cheese into the pancake batter. Heat a nonstick griddle pan or large skillet over medium heat. Nest a small piece of butter in a paper towel and rub over the pan. Drop rounded tablespoons of the batter into the pan. Cook the pancakes until bubbles form at the edges, then flip them and cook until golden all over, about 2 minutes per side. You will have enough batter for about 20 pancakes. Serve 2 pancakes with each mug of chili. (I shove a second one in the mugs halfway through.) Serve extra mug toppers and hot sauce at the table.

Rain boots are making a splash all over the country. People are pouring into the chicest boutiques in search of this season’s hottest trend. We found some great colors, prints and patterns at Target.com for under $25.

They’re fun, functional and perfect for exploring the shores of your new Silverock stompin’ grounds. Here are few of our favorites:

Curl up to a bowl of this spicy soup on those crisp and chili days in early spring.

Santa Fe Soup

In a large pot combine:
1 can of red kidney beans
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans (drain and rinse)
1 can of pinto beans
1 can RO*TEL mild
1 packet ranch dressing powder
2 cans of water
Bring to a boil then simmer

In a separate skillet:
Brown 1 lb of ground beef (may substitute ground chicken or turkey) with 1 packet of taco seasoning. Drain and add to large pot. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

Serve with toppings: Fritos, cheddar cheese and sour cream

Easy – Fast – Good!!

Thanks Daphne!

Please email your favorite “Lake Food” recipes to wendytatum@me.com.

Architect Louis Nequette’s Vision for a Natural, Eco-Friendly Silverock Cove

The first time Louis Nequette witnessed the plot of land chosen for Silverock Cove, he knew it was unique to the Smith Lake area. As beautiful as the area is, very few locations along the lake offer such a combination of natural features. He recalls, “We had a nice peninsula of flat land surrounded by steep sloping walls and secluded from clutter or the prying eyes of future developments across the lake. When we first walked the beautifully wooded site, the primary goal of this community emerged immediately: ‘keep this place special by maintaining as much of God’s work as possible.’”

Louis confesses that sometimes a goal can be simple, but the route to the goal is not. His challenge was to fit over a hundred residences in the community while preserving as many of the trees as possible?

To do this he followed three simple rules:

1. Build a higher density community on the flat land and preserve the extreme sloped areas and the mountain tops as a natural preserved backdrop.
2. Keep most of the buildings small in scale and dark in color to blend into the environment rather than stand out from it.
3. Use natural materials so they can age with the natural beauty of the site.

Louis continued his ecological approach throughout the common areas and buildings, and individual homes. “Sharing docks, parking, trails and open space lends more to sustainability than any amount of recycled material can,” he explains. “Materials used to build the community were selected based on their ability to blend with the natural wood and stone of the site.” It was important to Nequette and his team to acquire much of the materials from sources close to the site, thus reducing the environmental impact of shipping and hauling. Very little concrete was used to minimize run-off and because the look of it is foreign to the ideal feeling of a lakeside community. Instead they used loose crushed stone contained by railroad ties for parking and railroad tie pathways to promote drainage solutions and decrease run-off added to the lake.

“In the end, timeless design and honest materials promote longevity, and nothing can be more environmentally friendly than a building that lasts,” says Nequette. “We hope to save materials and resources because our house does not want to be torn down and replaced in 20 years time.”