Incredible

I am finally moving forward in phone technology! Goodbye Blackberry. Hello Droid.

Now I just need to figure out the migration. Fun.

I finished a book!

My reading velocity has gone down as of late. I don't think I kept a list of books I read last year. I suspect the list would have been relatively small. Oh well, I did LOTS of other fun stuff last year. This year I am starting to read eBooks (thanks iPad!) as well as the good ol' stand by books.

I started The Cloud Sketcher sometime in fall of 2011. It wasn't boring, but it did take me some time to read it. Overall, it was pretty good. An epic tale -- similar to other books I pick up and enjoy. Love, architecture, 1920s - how could it not be entertaining?

Pretty sure I did toe stand wrong tonight. It is the first time I have tried it, so I'm going to have to try again. Yoga is a practice.

Where have I been? Apparently out to eat.

Celebrations of all kinds have taken me out for delicious dining in the past few days.

Thanks S for leaving the company, finding a great new opportunity and giving us a reason to eat at Tum Rup Thai. The sweet peanut curry (with beef) was absolutely delightful.

Thanks T for finding a bargain which allowed me to eat lobster mashed potatoes. Yum.

Thanks P for making work trips to Chicago a bit more fun, and for living in the neighborhood where a new modern, sexy Spanish place opened! The corn pudding and lamb sausage were super. Totally worth it for the Stone IPA on tap, even if the dessert menu was totally blah ....and the dessert itself was blah too.

this week in greatness

I confess there are more than a handful of times in the last couple weeks were I haven't been truly present. Living in the moment is something I enjoy, so this is a bit frustrating for me. As of late, life has been reminding me of such and gifted me with some wonder and greatness. So I'm sharing.....

snow.
It is January in Minneapolis and we have almost no snow. I can see grass in my yard. On occasion, this makes me sad. I like snow. It makes winter worthwhile. Last night while walking Jack around the lake (and dodging all the set-up and crew for the US Pond Hockey tourney at Nokomis this weekend), it started to snow big, fluffy flakes. It snowed pretty much the entire walk, then stopped as if it snowed only for me. That's what I will believe anyway.

tripod headstand.
I have worked this pose for months and been so close to the full expression. Until this week, one day I just popped up into it (twice). It feels like floating upside down. Because yoga is a practice, I don't expect to always be able to do it. Knowing I can (and did) is great. Now to work on supported headstand!

those darn kids.
My friend's kids are amazing. This week I received two wonderful gifts from those little angels. Harper made me a star magnet. Maria drew me a picture with the note "I love you Karin" (Jane sent it to me in the mail). Sweet.

chicken chili

The weather has turned cold again. It was fitting to eat the leftovers last night post (cold, windy, short) run.
Maybe not so fitting for Sunday, which was warm and sunny.

Football game + chili sounded like the perfect match when planning for the event. Then meatloaf happened, and an amazing pot roast sandwich at Mort's Deli. Instead of overloading on red meat, I decided to make chicken chili. This took some research, as many of the recipes have cheese and/or sour cream as thickening agents.

I started with the Pioneer Woman's recipe as a base. ...and used her secret milk + cornmeal to thicken it up some.

Chicken Chili
Description: Hearty Chicken and Bean chili
Author/Source: KB


INGREDIENTS
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 (4 oz) can green chilies
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (or white pepper)
4 cups chicken broth
1 jalapeno pepper
½ cup carrots, diced
2 cans white beans (cannellini or navy)
1 can chili bean mixture (black, kidney, chili mixture)
1 slice crispy bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
1 whole rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 cup 2% milk
2 Tbsp cornmeal

DIRECTIONS
In a large soup pot, heat olive oil. Add onion and saute over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add green chilies and reduce heat to medium. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper and saute for 3 minutes.

Add chicken broth and increase heat to high until the broth boils, then reduce to simmer for 5 minutes.

Add carrots, jalapeno and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Add beans, bacon and chicken. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes. While the chili is simmering, combine milk and cornmeal in a bowl or measuring cup and whisk to combine. Increase heat to high, pour in milk mixture and let the chili boil for 2-3 minutes. Return to simmer for 10 minutes. Serve.


Notes
For a less spicy chili, do NOT include jalapeno seeds.

Add variety of hot peppers to desired spice and flavor (fresno, serrano, etc)

ALL spice measurements are estimated. Taste and spice as desired.

For cheese lovers. If you want to add ½ cup shredded cheese to thicken, increase the chicken broth by 1 cup.

transformation

I wish I took enough pictures to make a flipbook. ...oh, and I wish I knew how to make an online flipbook.

I will settle for knowing that this project is done. Sense of accomplishment? Check!

2 gallons of primer. 1/3 gallon of flat white ceiling pant. 1 and 1/3 gallons of Benjamin Moore louisburg green (HC-113). about 12 hours of my time.