Coq Au Vin-slow cooker recipe

Decided it would be a great day to make something in the slow cooker & decided on Coq au Vin--chicken in wine. It's one of Alan's favorite meals! I found the recipe in a Sandra Lee Semi Homemade Slow Cooker cookbook. If you're not familiar with her recipes, she uses some convenience foods, ie. frozen or already cut up stuff to make cooking a little easier.

All mixed together & in the crockpot.

From the cookbook--the finished product!

Coq au Vin

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 med. red bell peppers, cut into strips

2 cups merlot or other red wine

1 cup frozen loose pack petite white onions

1 cup frozen loose pack sliced carrots

1 rib celery, chopped

1 can ( 6 oz.) tomato paste

1/4 cup cognac

2 strips of pre-cooked bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 T. Zesty Herb marinade mix ( McCormicks)

In a 4-5 quart slow cooker, stir together chicken, pepper strips, wine, onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, cognac, bacon & herb marinade mix until thoroughly combined.

Cover and cook on Low heat setting for 5-6 hours.

Serve with rice or your favorite pasta

****The 1st time I made this I faithfully followed the recipe, but subsequent times I have varied--substituting a cut-up onion for petite onions, leaving out the cognac, replacing the frozen carrots with cut up baby carrots & leaving out the bacon. All of this depends on what I have in the house when I decide to make the recipe!

Enjoy!

Tiptoe through the tulips...

Went outside yesterday and saw some tulips blooming ! So, back inside for the camera and the macro lens--love close up flower photos! I have one small patch of tulips--have decided I need to get more bulbs in the fall......Used to have a wide variety planted, but over time they've died or been eaten by critters, I guess.

Lots of other flowers starting to come up, so the yard will be a riot of colors soon! ( I hope...)

Daffodils

the rippled edges are so pretty!

These are teeny little blooms,not sure the name of them

Happy Birthday, Tom!

Lots of family birthdays this month! My brother turns 54 today! He's 7 1/2 years younger than me and was always a little out of my orbit when we were growing up. Here he is with our maternal grandmother... A few years later--sometime in the 70's.....

And a photo taken in 2008 by his then 13 year old son!

My Constant Companion

Rafe turns 8 years old today! I know we wondered if he'd make it past 2! In his 1st year of life ( he was the runt of a litter of 11) he had a rare bone disease & surgery twice because he ate rocks that he couldn't pass. He survived all these things and is the joy of my life and my constant companion when I am home.

Our last lab lived to be 16; we can only hope Rafe lives as long!

Opening day is coming!

Opening day of fishing season is in a little over a week & we haven't gotten our licenses yet. The State of Connecticut, in its infinite wisdom, has doubled the cost of every fishing & hunting license( and camping fees & many other things!)! Obviously it's to raise money, but I think many folks just won't get them instead! Alan gets a combo license that went from $28.00 to $56.00. From left to right--my dad, my sister and me! Fishing in a pond at Brewster State Park on Cape Cod--1954.

Trudging back to our campsite with an empty pole!

Finally! Some Flowers to Photograph!

Nice alliteration, huh? Well, I took a walk around today & spotted the 1st of many flowers that will be blooming! One small patch of daffodils, but they are beautiful.

Not sure what these are, but a tiny patch of them blooming near the lilies.

Happy Easter!

A few old photos from 1957--check out the cars! This is me, my brother & sister, across the street from my Grandmother & Aunt's house. The 3 of us on the steps--in the 1st photo you couldn't tell that my skirt had stripes on it...all the outfits were made by my Mom, I'm sure--she used to make alot of our clothes.
My maternal Grandmother--Hazel Belle Bower Carney--in her Easter finery!