Nicosia’s Sicilian Meatball Sauce on Spagetti

Rain is counting down the days until Christmas by sharing one recipe each day. Enjoy!
Nicosia’s Sicilian Meatball Sauce on Spagetti.
Daniel Hatch-CEO

Traditional holiday and sunday meal at the Hatch house.

2 – table spoons of olive oil
1 – 32 oz. can Crusted Tomatoes
1 – 32 oz. can Tomato Sauce
1 bulb crushed garlic
1 chopped onion
1 sprig of basil
1 sprig of mint
1 tbs of Italian seasonings
6 – italian sausages – cooked before adding to the sauce.

Saute the crushed garlic in the olive oil in a large cooking pot. Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce over low-medium heat. In a separate pan cook the chopped onions  in a pan but do not caramelize or burn them. Pour the contents into the sauce. In a separate pan cook the italian sausage in the small pan that you cooked the onions in. Then add them also to the sauce.

Meatballs
1 lb. of ground beef
1/2 cup of italian bread crumbs
1 egg mixed in.
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 dash of salt & pepper

Dampen the bread crumbs on a small plate. Then mix all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to roll the meat balls into small to medium sized balls. Bake meat balls in oven for 10 minutes on a cookie sheet. Add the meat balls to the sauce. Continue to cook the sauce for another 2-4 hours. We will usually cook it overnight. The sauce is always better on the second day. This will make the sausage tender as my famous slow cooked ribs.

Server over spaghetti noodles or linguini. Goes good with garlic bread and salad.

“Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line” Translated, I have never tempted fate by trying to improvise. The recipe has taken 17 years to wrangle out of Nicosia family’s grasp – so enjoy! Ciao.

By: radhamesg Categories: Blogroll

Chili Verde

Rain is counting down the days until Christmas by sharing one recipe each day. Enjoy!
Chili Verde
Randall Wright-Senior Developer

Hayden, Arizona Drugstore Chili Verde recipe (I grew up with this):

Cook beef for 2.5 hours (3 to 4 lbs. chuck roast, cut in chunks) just covered in water with 4 to 5 cloves of fresh garlic, salt, and pepper.

Remove beef from liquid, cut in small chunks-about 1 inch, reserve all the liquid.

To some of the reserved liquid add 8 small cans of green chilis and 1 large can of tomatoes (liquid drained, and tomatoes squished with your hands, but left a bit chunky). Add 1 chopped onion and cook until onion is tender-5 minutes or so.

Add beef to pot, add more of the reserved broth-enough so you can make a gravy-it should resemble a stew.

Mix 1/2 cup of flour with some of the reserved liquid to make a slurry. When the pot with the chili starts to boil, start adding the flour mixture. Add enough to make the liquid as thick as you would like. Check seasoning for salt/pepper. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes for the flour to “cook”.

Roll up in tortillas with cheese sprinkled over the chili.

By: radhamesg Categories: Blogroll

Bulls Eye Toast

Rain is counting down the days until Christmas by sharing one recipe each day. Enjoy!
Bulls Eye Toast
Bryce Barrand-Digital Strategist

Required ingredients:
- Bread
- Egg
- Some toppings, like syrup, butter, etc

Directions
- Heat up a frying pan on medium heat
- Take a slice of bread
- Bite a big hole in the middle
- Put the bread gently into the frying pan
- Crack the egg into the hole in the bread. This step is key. If you miss, you won’t have a bulls eye
- Wait a little while
- Flip it over so the egg gets cooked on both sides
- Wat a little more
- When the egg is cooked to your liking, remove the egg/bread combo from the pan
- Add toppings to the bulls eye.
- Eat

By: radhamesg Categories: Blogroll

Homemeade Tomato Soup

Rain is counting down the days until Christmas by sharing one recipe each day. Enjoy!
Homemade tomato soup
Christijan Draper-UX Designer

4-5 medium tomatoes (home-grown if possible)
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 medium-sized onion, diced
3 celery stalks, chopped into small pieces
2 cubes chicken bouillon
2 tbs snipped fresh cilantro
1/2 can Italian-style tomato paste (1 can = 6 oz)
1/4 tsp. salt

Peel and quarter tomatoes. (Easy peeling instructions: Put tomatoes in boiling water for about 20-25 seconds. Remove and dip in cold water. The peel will peel away nicely.)

Place tomatoes in pot. Add water, onion, celery, bouillon, cilantro, tomato paste, salt. Bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer for 25 minutes or until celery and onions are very tender. Cool slightly and place half of soup in blender and blend until smooth. Blend second half and then return to pot. Heat and devour with cornbread or other bread-ish substance of your choice.

By: radhamesg Categories: Blogroll

Introducing Rain’s Newest Department

Not so long ago, Rain decided that it wanted to expand its current services it offered its clients. Enter Rain’s newest department – Media Strategy and Buying, and Catie and I!

I know what you’re thinking: “If I keep reading this, my boss will think I’m working.” – Stay with me here. It’s going to get interesting.

According to Forrester Research, by 2016, advertisers will spend more money on interactive marketing than they do on television advertising today. This means that interactive marketing will represent 26%, or 77 Billion dollars of all advertising.

Search, Display, Email, Mobile, Social Media – Do you have a strategy that incorporates the big five into your overall marketing plan? Are you using interactive marketing to help determine your ROI in your traditional spend as well?

“Wow, thanks a lot, I was just looking for a way to find a few moments slacking off, and now my brain meats hurt.” Yeah that happens to me often, but keep reading – this is the part is where I explain what these different terms mean.

Search- Basically the end goal of search is to be found by your target audience. However, the way that search is being used is slowly evolving to incorporate good ole Display and social networking.

Display- Display is back baby!! This is how I cut my teeth in interactive marketing, as many of you did in the early aughts (I really hate that term). However, it’s much more than boring static banners, and seizure-inducing graphics. Rich media Ads, Pre rolls, mid rolls, and post roll videos are becoming the leaders in this category, and will reach 27.6 Billion in revenue by 2016. Another interesting trend, as keywords get more expensive in certain niches, advertisers are turning to biddable display (display ads bought on auction).

Email- Email is one of the oldest ways to reach potential customers, and to keep in contact with current customers. Email is becoming less of a newsletter delivery system, and more of a stepping stone into your new mobile and social programs.

Mobile- As more and more people begin to use their smart phones as either a primary or strong secondary source to access the internet, mobile ad networks are becoming a viable choice for advertising for more advertisers. Once we have developed your next amazing mobile app, don’t forget to stop by Rain’s Media Strategy and Buying department to implement a plan that will make your app hotter than… something that is really hot!

Social Media- Sure, you have a presence on Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Hi5, Qaiku, Orkut, Netlog, Xing, etc. Your product may even have thousands of followers. But how will your social intelligence turn those followers into happy customers – into people who will tell the world they cannot live without your product?

See, I told you that you’d be entertained. Admit it. This was the best part of your day. Also in case you didn’t know, Rain’s Media Buying Department is full service. We still rock traditional placement as well. Send us an email or post a comment if you have any questions.

Iyana & Catie

By: Iyana Categories: Blogroll