Ida: A Picture Story

Hello Ida!

Hurricane Ida hit Virginia Beach this week. It went a little bit like on Monday I was warned a storm was coming. On Tuesday I figured it would just be torrential rain. On Wednesday I tried to walk through this storm to class and my umbrella was completely torn inside out and I got wet. On Thursday class was cancelled and I stayed home. And on Friday I drove in the pouring rain to Harris Teeter and ate free salami, cheese and cake samples.

The storm was more than expected. It involved rain, killer wind and broken trees. Unless the Regent University lawn crew has recently decided to tear down well-established trees for no apparent reason, then Hurricane Ida is left her mark. Eek. She even blew a kiss to Walmart.

Good thing for Walmart that kiss is easily fixed. In Colorado we call these kinds of things flash floods but they don't have the wind. I tried to leave the Regent Commons on Thursday but the foot-deep puddle of water on Centerville Turnpike was a little bit disheartening. I asked my little Honda Civic if she was up for an adventure through the puddle. Partly due to the instructions of my Old Testament professor not to drive through standing puddles but mostly due to common sense, she said "Absolutely not."

As much fun as it would be to spend all my Christmas gift money on getting towed two blocks back to the Regent Commons and having my engine saturated with water, I opted to go back home and watch television instead of dropping off my passport application at the Post Office. It is a good thing that I decided this because when I made it to the Post Office on Friday, there was a paper sign with orange magic marker scribbles saying, "Closed due to Power Outage." Darn for my passport.

When I woke up on Friday morning, there were little leaves like this one plastered all over my car. Best of all, though, was that my car was not a victim of the tree pictured at the top of this post. That would have been a dilemna slightly larger than getting stuck in the Centerville Turnpike puddle.

Life is still good, even with Ida.

I Won't Even Charge 25 Cents...

I made it late on Thursday night and it simmered until Friday morning. All the white beans, chicken, cilantro, cloves, green chilis and cumin rubbed off on each other all night long. Then only a few hours before dropping my chili off at the table with the twelve other chilis, I added a heaping 4 oz. of jalapenos and the result was a biting heat that hit your tongue a few seconds after a a tiny spoonful of the green chili goodness.

My chili at Regent’s 2009 Chili Cook-Off did not win any prizes, but in my opinion it was it was good, downright delicious. I did get a few compliments too. I even had a request that I post the recipe on my blog. So here is my not-so-winning, aromatic and innovative green chili recipe. I won't even charge you 25 cents for it like the last year's winners were charging for their recipes. Beware though, I did have one chili-taster tell me that he could not finish his sample because it was too spicy. Luckily, it was a one time comment. Otherwise the response to my recipe was quite positive.

The initial recipe for this white chili came from simplyrecipes.com. Just to put my own edge on the chili and make it a little personal, I had to improvise the recipe a little. Give it my own western, Tex-Mex touch. Green chili is nothing new to my family and now it does not have to be new to yours. Enjoy.

Hot Green Chili

6 cups chicken broth

1 can great northern beans

1 can cannelloni beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can navy beans

1 lb. chicken breast or boneless thigh meat

1/4 stick of butter

1 garlic clove, minced

2 medium onions, chopped (divided)

2 4-ounce cans chopped green chilies

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 can diced tomatoes

1 4-oz. can of diced jalapenos

1 bunch of fresh cilantro

3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

1. Dice chicken into dime-sized pieces. Believe me, this will take a little while. Peel garlic clove, crush and mince into small pieces. Then sauté the chicken in a non-stick saucepan with ¼ stick of butter and minced garlic. Dice both onions and add to the chicken and sauté. After about five minutes add both cans of green chilis to the chicken mixture, then add cumin, oregano, cloves and pepper. Mix thorough and cover. Allow to simmer for 30-45 minutes.

2. In a large crock pot combine chicken broth and beans on high and allow to boil. Add chicken mixture from the skillet and allow to simmer overnight. Allowing the chili to simmer overnight will soften the beans and thicken the broth. In the morning the whole mixture should look more like chili than stew. Add the can of tomatoes and jalapenos and salt to taste. If necessary add more red pepper flakes, cloves or oregano.

Add the cheese and any remaining cilantro. Both items will enhance the taste as you eat the chili! Enjoy! You will have lots of chili!

Inspiration: Fall

I attended Regent's fall Harvest Fest yesterday and it was great!

Harvest Fest, planned by Regent Undergraduate Council, is one huge let's-celebrate-fall party. There were pie-eating contests, bobbing for apples and free food. The only activity I participated in was bobbing for apples. There was even a costume-judging contest for everyone who came dressed up in fall attire. I went bobbing for apples. I got my hair, face and shirt wet. It took about twice as long as it should have for me to bite an apple. I bet I licked or gnawed on nearly every apple in the pail, it was not my most glamorous moment. Oh well. At least I hope I never see any of the photos on the Regent website!

Anyways, I hope this coming of fall is treating you well. Happy October!