Friday Friend Recipe #45: Mexican Rice

Friday Friend Recipe #45:  Mexican Rice

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook:   I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county).  At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 15 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions,  exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts,  had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

AND,  we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

Which brings me to this... recipe #45

Cherrie Lou Who's

Mexican Rice

It was a good rice. (IF you take off the cilantro says the Handyman)
I made it as a  side to some Chili Verde.
Cherrie and her husband host  a  Cynco de Mayo party every year and she makes a big feast -- this rice is always included.

Mexican Rice

Cherrie Lou Who

Auburn, WA

2 cups long grain rice
3 & 3/4 cup water  
2 T. olive oil
1 8oz can corn
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chunky salsa
dash hot pepper sauce

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Put rice in to brown, stirring often. Go for the light, golden look (darker makes it bitter).
Put rice, water, salsa and hot sauce into large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and reduce heat to low.
Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Quickly add drained corn and chopped pepper (just on top of rice), cover and simmer for 5 minutes more. 
Remove from heat and stir together. 
Put in casserole dish and keep warm in oven until ready to eat.

And now, I will introduce you to Cherrie Lou Who!
She's making her debut appearance on the blog, as I am cooking up her first recipe from the book.
Cherrie is my sister-in-law.
One of my favorite ones!
I have 7.
Her real name is not  Cherrie Lou Who, it is Cheryl Louise.  I just call her Cherrie Lou Who or Loohoo.
I'm not sure why.
It just fits.

I do not have any sisters, but I am very lucky to have some sisters-in-law who are like sisters to me.
I love them a lot!
And, it has occurred to me  that some of the funnest things I've ever done have been with Cherrie Lou Who.  We walked in the Breast Cancer 3day/60mile walk, we've been to Vegas, tons of family stuff AND  I floated down the Yakima River with her.
( The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people. The length of the river from headwaters to mouth is 214 miles (344 km), with an average drop of 9.85 feet per   mile )

Floating is so much fun!
Even tho we grew up in the dry, arid southeast part of  Washington State, there is a LOT of water.
It's a mystery as to why
(actually, there is a scientific reason, something with words like basalt anticlines and glacial floods, blah blah blah) 

The Handyman and his siblings grew up floating the river.
They spent many a lazy weekend afternoon on innertubes, homemade rafts, and small boats just soaking in the sun and water.

Cherrie Lou Who is in this picture below!

 

Somewhere.

Here is a better photo of her (she's in the middle), with her older brother, Rich aka The Handyman, her sister Eva, and then her sister LeAnne and me on the end.

She has a sign STONE so that people can see where her camp site is. People that are meeting up to join in a river float.

Cherrie Lou Who and her husband Mike are famous for their river float camping weekends.

And by famous, I mean that all their family and friends love to come join them on one of the few weekends they float the river over each summer.

 

The floats are about  5 or so hours long, and then a quick 30 minute ride back to camp, where we have bbq steak and baked potatoes (over a camp fire)

All the rafts are tied together and people bring squirt guns and beach balls and things to pass the time on the float.
If you come upon another group of floaters it is customary to have a squirt gun fight with the.
You might think we are too old for this sort of fun?
How old is too old?
(but this was 10 years ago)

I don't know that the Handyman would do 'this' today:
(here he is contemplating his move)

JUMPING OFF THE STUPID CLIFF!!

They stop and get out and jump off this stupid cliff!! 

 CRAZY!!!

Here was my moral dilemma:
If a train comes while you are floating --- and it is on the bridge, you have to 'flash' it. 
I couldn't decide if I was a traditionalist or a scaredy cat/prim/ proper person.
Lucky for me, there was no train!

This was supposed to be about Cherrie Lou Who and I have no good rafting/float pictures of her, so here is she and I at a nieces graduation about 10 years ago.
I haven't aged a bit!!
Neither has she.

 I am going to link up with Weekend Cooking at
Beth Fish Reads.

This weekend she reviews a cookbook that I covet! 
Darn it!  I don't need another cookbook.
Why oh why does she do this to me?
~grins~

I am also linking up with 
Cook it Up!  A Cookbook Challenge
I am sad to hear this is her last Cookbook Challenge.
But she says she is coming up with another linky.  I'm looking forward to seeing what that might be!