Dallas Symphony Orchestra Evening

Last Friday, we had a great time at the Meyerson Symphony Center. We listened to live music by Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The "Prague" Symphony by Mozart (Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504) was lovely. However, it was the second part of the performance which made the evening.

"The Song of the Earth" by Mahler is such suggestive and illustrative music. Together with the magnificent voices of the singers (Kelly O'Connor and Russell Thomas), it created quite a vivid picture and story. You could almost see the birds in trees, the ship leaving the harbor, the moon and feel the wind blow on your face as well. I especially liked the sounds of cellos and trombones imitating the sound of the ship horn.

Mac & Chili

From time to time, we enjoy having mac & cheese from a 'box'. Usually, the whole lot is too much for us and there are always some mac & cheese leftovers. On the next day, the meal remains do not taste that good but you can still use them in a sensible and practical way. I learned about it from my husband - he told me about a dish he used to have when he was a boy. The dish made by his mom was called mac & chili.

I thought I would give it a try - I had made chili for dinner so that the new dish did not sound like something very problematic. I simply made our chili and added the mac & cheese leftovers to it.
Since then, it has been a new course on our menu. 

Chili - what you need to make it:

• A bit of oil
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• some onion - diced
• two garlic cloves - diced
• 1/2tsp chili
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 beef bouillon cube
• some black pepper for seasoning

How to make our chili:

1. Warm up the oil on the pan.
2. Saute the diced onion for 3 minutes, add the garlic, fry 1 minute.
3. Add the seasoning - chili, cumin, oregano - mix it with the onion and garlic, fry for a minute.
4. Add the ground meat, fry it all till the meat turns brown.
5. Add the water, tomato paste + the beef cube.
6. Lower the heat a bit, cover and simmer it all for about 15-20 minutes. Stir the chili from time to time.
7. Season it with some black pepper.
8. Add the mac & cheese leftovers - and your mac & chili is ready to enjoy!