Long time, no see!

Hi everyone! I'm back from a long absence. My life has been reorganized due to a job change, and its taken a month or more to "get it together". I've been cooking - don't get me wrong - but I just haven't had time to post. I did take some photos which I'm posting here today, just so you can see a few of the meals we've been eating at my house. In the upper left corner is a loin of pork which was cooked for 4 hours in my Italian grandmother's spaghetti sauce (lovingly called "gravy" by every Italian-American I know), and next to it is the spaghetti on the plate. In the upper right corner is broiled salmon with mustard glaze and sauteed lemon garlic spinach. In the lower left corner is red pepper pasta with capers which I made up just to use up the red peppers. I just LOVE capers, in case you haven't noticed.

I had quite a few requests for a rice dish that brought to church a couple of weeks ago. It started out as a mexican-themed rice, but I ran out of cumin, so I decided to add in some curry to make up the difference. It was kind of crazy, because once I added the curry, I just started adding spices and ingredients, and the end result was alright but nothing special to my taste. But then I started getting the raves and the requests for the recipe, so I guess it tasted better than I thought! Sorry, no pic of the rice, but here is the recipe:

Mexo-Indio Rice

1 lb hamburger, sauteed and well drained
1 Tbs olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 C sliced carrots (about 1 medium)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp cumin
1 Tbs minced garlic (3 or 4 cloves)
3 tsp chicken boullion powder
2 tsp oregano
1 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs sweet curry powder
2 C tomato juice + 2 C water
2 C long grain rice

1 C cubed ham (optional)
1 C frozen peas (optional)
1 C sliced green olives with pimentos (optional)

In 5 or 6 qt pot with lid, saute the beef, breaking it up as you go, and draining very well. Set aside. In same pan, saute onion and garlic in the olive oil. Add bell pepper and carrots, then all the spices and herbs. Let saute for a couple of minutes. Stir in the rice, then the water, bouillion and tomato juice. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer until rice is done. Stir in the optional items and serve.