White Chicken Chili

Ah yes! Another post about food! But 'tis the season to eat, drink, and be merry and, by gum, I plan to do all three!

At the risk of repeating myself I have to say this stuff is gooo-oood! My sister-in-law, Tammey, introduced me to white chili a couple of years ago and, well, it had me at hello. Our "go to" recipe comes from Cook's Country magazine, and we pretty much follow it verbatim except for substituting chicken breasts for the thighs. I have an extremely low tolerance for dark meat chicken. We also leave out the fresh cilantro which I have an even lower tolerance for after having a job that required me to chop mountains of the stuff. One whiff of cilantro and I'm on the floor in a fetal position sucking my thumb. Luckily I don't have the same reaction to the dried, flakey variety so we use that instead. Now, this recipe has a secret ingredient that really sets it apart from any other recipe we tried: a can of white hominy, drained, rinsed, and pureed. It smells gross (oh ye of the sensitive nose) and pureed beans look exactly how you'd think they'd look (ick!), but it really does add a lot of flavor and helps to thicken the chili. Plus it's easy to deal with the hominy when the recipe also includes this:

Four chopped jalapenos! Hoo doggie! These bad boys should come with a warning label: Do not touch any part of your body for 24 hours after handling! No amount of hand washing seems to help, either. You just have to let it wear off.

Anyhoosie, if you're tired of the same ol' same ol' and want to mix it up a bit, give this white chicken chili a try! The recipe can be found online right here:

White Chicken Chili

Enjoy!

Peppermint Bark

Let me tell you, this stuff is goooo-ooood! Bordering on addictive! And it's so amazingly simple to make, I just have to share the recipe with you:

Peppermint Bark (courtesy of Miss Paula Deen)

1 cup crushed candy canes
2 pounds white chocolate
Peppermint flavoring, optional

Place candy canes in a plastic bag and crush into 1/4-inch chunks or smaller. (I smacked mine with a rolling pin. Quite satisfying if you're feeling a little Bah Humbug-ish!)) Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Combine candy cane chunks with melted chocolate (add peppermint flavoring at this point if desired). Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or until firm. Remove from cookie sheet and break into pieces.

Notes: I didn't want to mess with the whole double boiler thing so I just zapped my chocolate in the microwave, 15 seconds at a time, stirring until it was smoothy smooth. I also added enough peppermint flavoring to make my eyes burn but can't say that it made a huge difference in the final product.

And what would a stitchy blog be without some stitching! It's not much but here is my progress on Christmas Is Forever:

Good thing Christmas is forever because there's no way I'll have this finished before the 25th!

That's about it for me! Wishing everyone holiday cheer!

Holy Cow!

It is my honest belief that the cows that give the milk used to make Bluebell Ice Cream must truly come from heaven. It's that good! But how did this Texas girl end up with two half gallons of "Little Creamery" yumminess in her Michigan freezer?? I'll tell you how!! My boyfriend Phil (also heaven-sent!) made a secret trip down to Kokomo, IN (the nearest place to buy Bluebell) in order to surprise me for my birthday. He also brought back five different pints along with the two half gallons. It's like having my own Bluebell Ice Cream parlor! (One that doesn't bother with bowls... I confess to eating it straight from the carton!)

The ice cream was not the biggest surprise, however! Phil also gave me a traditional Claddagh ring he had made especially for me in Ireland!
It's not quite an engagement ring but it does symbolize our commitment to each other. The hands represent friendship, the heart love, and the crown loyalty. I feel so blessed to be the person Phil chose to wear this ring!

In stitchy news, I've been working on Lizzie Kate's Christmas Is Forever.
This is the special edition kit from 2008 so I figure it's about time I got 'er done. It's also one of my Crazy January Challenge projects, but we don't talk about that particular failure!

My son left me a note on the fridge reminding me that Christmas is 10 days away. I've done minimal shopping and decorating so it looks like it's time to push it into hyperdrive. My daughter's last final is today so I'm hoping we can meet her for a quick celebratory lunch before she has to go to work, and then get some shopping done.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit, and I hope you are enjoying the holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday Friday

Instead of pulling something wintery out of my Crazy January Challenge basket, I decided to start a new project. Fancy that! This is a freebie from Plum Street Samplers called Give Thanks. I went with an olive green linen so I'm having to tweek the thread colors just a tad. I really do love fall colors so I'm happy to hold off on the whole winter thing just a little longer.

Phil and I had our six month anniversary yesterday. He sent me this beautiful flower arrangement and tonight we're going out to dinner. I can't tell you what a blessing this man has been in my life. I'm looking forward to so much more with him.

One last picture... Egg found the only spot of sunshine in the house this morning. I almost hated to wake her up, but kitty on the kitchen counter is a big no-no!

Hope everyone has something fun to look forward to this weekend! With dinner out tonight and a potluck on Saturday, I should be as stuffed as any Thanksgiving turkey!

All Done!

Season of Growth
Little House Needleworks
stitched with DMC on 28-count Antique Ivory linen
At long last, all four seasons are stitched! What a joy it was to work on these! And, hooray! I can scratch another Crazy January Challenge project off my list! There's no way I'll get the rest of them done before the end of the year, but as I mentioned earlier, I'll be rolling them over to the WIPocolypse Challenge! All is well in my Stitchy Universe!

Alas, I totally blew NaBloPoMo this year. My laptop decided to be super uncooperative on a day when I was feeling a mite bit cranky. Not the best combination for posting, so I didn't. And then I didn't some more. It's not every year one gets to fail at two challenges, right!? I'm back into BWO mode, Blogging Without Obligation, which is more my style anyway.

Nothing but gray skies here today, along with some snow flurries. As much as I hate the cold and wet mess that comes with the snow, I do enjoy watching the flakes drift down from the sky. Very relaxing. We've about lost all the leaves off our trees in this area so it's looking a lot like winter outside. My next project is definitely going to be something winter-themed!

Thanks for stopping by!

In Appreciation

It's Raining, It's Snowing

Our first snow of the season. It's coming down in big chunks but mixed with rain so it's way too wet for it to stick. Still pretty darn cold out there. Just the sort of day for staying inside and stitching!

Here I Go Again

After what will most certainly be my utter failure at successfully completing the Crazy January Challenge, you would think I would swear off this sort of thing. But today I learned of a new challenge for 2012. The WIPocalypse, brought to us by Measi at Measi's Musings. So the way I see it, all those projects leftover from the CJC can now be WIPocalypse projects and I don't have to worry one bit about what didn't get finished! It's all very encouraging! It reminds me a little of Pug Dog Economics!

Season of Growth Progress

Won't be much longer 'til this one goes in the Fuppie Box!

Who Moved My Zeitgebers?

Not sure if it's the time change or the fact that I had to drag my butt out of bed at 6:00 this morning, but I am totally ready for a nap.

Progress on Season of Growth has been slow (quelle surprise!) so I won't even bother with the blurry picture. I do have high hopes of finishing it this week, though, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I better find some toothpicks to prop open my eyelids if I expect to get anything accomplished today! (And on a rather bizarre note, I have actually had my eyelids held open with long Q-Tippy things during some very uncomfortable surgery. Best not to revisit that memory!)

Dream House Update

Not many changes to be seen from the outside. All of the windows have been installed and we have shingles on the roof. Inside, they have finished most of the framing, installed the HVAC systems, and plumbing and electrical are underway.

This is going to be the shower in the master bathroom. It's almost big enough to need it's own zip code!

You'll have to take my word for it, but we'll have a beautiful view of the lake from the windows in the great room.

The back patio was poured this past week. I wish I'd been able to get a picture of it before the sun set because it really is quite impressive.

The woman behind all these stunning photos, haha!

Ding Dong Class of '66

That's me, front row, second from right. Proof positive that I am a genuine Ding Dong!

Another LHN Season

There are two things I won't be remembered for: my lightning fast stitching, and my faaaaabulous photography skills. I hate to admit that this is the best out of 26 pictures I took. Sheesh!

Anyhoosie, this is my latest project, Season of Growth from Little House Needleworks. Now, if you do want to remember something about me it's that I love all things LHN! I can't think of a more relaxing way to spend an evenening than working on one of Diane's designs. I'm sure many of you agree, they are an absolute joy to stitch. This is the last of the four "Season of..."s I have left to do. Woohoo! Nothing like feeling that sense of accomplishment before you've actually accomplished something!

Looks like we're in for a pleasant weekend here in southwest Michigan. Maybe our last for a while? People keep mentioning the S-word that comes with that W-thing. Here on the Rocky River, we're keeping it Summer just a little longer!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Time Out

Today is being one of those days.

Laptop is completely buggered.

Camera won't stay turned on long enough to take a picture. (Which, yesterday, I couldn't get it to turn off... quelle ironie.)

Even my rechargeable toothbrush seems to have given up on me.

I had stitching to show you, honest Injun, but it will have to wait until the various components of my life decide to cooperate with me.

Until then they'll all be sitting in Time Out. (And with the way this day is going, I'll be starting my own version of Time Out at precisely 5:01pm.)

What's In Your Q-Snaps?

I fell in love with The Riddle by The Drawn Thread the second I layed eyes on it. Much like my darling Phil who, on our 5th date, drove me to House of Stitches in LaPorte, IN to purchase the pattern and fabric. (If that's not love, I don't know what is!) I have since dubbed this Phil's Sampler. The verse describes him to a tee. He is the most generous man I have ever met, always putting other's needs before his own. He is such a blessing in my life and I love him dearly. My goal is to have this sampler finished by the time the construction of his new home is complete. That should be sometime in January so I need to get my needle in gear!

Blogging For Blogging's Sake

Is it November already?? Fall is having a party and I haven't even bothered to open my invitation!!

National Blog Posting Month is upon us and, even though my blogging has been sporadic of late, I will do my very best to post every day this month. My laptop has been informed of my intention and for it's part has promised not to flake out on me during the next thirty days. I've had to practically give it CPR every morning for the past two weeks so confidence is fairly low!

Click on the badge above if you're interested in coming along for the ride!

Happy Halloween!

Fall Classic

My boys have once again done me proud!

Game One is Wednesday! I get all giggly thinking about it!

(Have I mentioned I love baseball?)

Squirrel!

I love baseball!