Super Saturday!

Mark and I went to bed with dreams of snow...thanks to Bob Ryan, NBC's weatherman. Well, I fell asleep last night before the weather report but Mark assured me on the way to bed last night that snow was coming.


We got up at 8 am and debated going for a run. It was raining and it looked uninviting. But we hadn't run the night before and I was afraid that if it turned to snow we wouldn't be interested in running later. So, we compromised. We agreed to go running right away, but rather than do a 10K, we'd do a 3.5 mile run and save the 10K for Sunday. We donned our tights and our long sleeve shirts (and Mark added shorts, a hat, and I think would have added more if I had given him the time), and headed out. The run was cold. I usually love rain but this rain was just above freezing....it was wicked cold. We parked on the Mall, ran to the Washington Monument and back to the car and then up Capitol Hill, around the Capitol and back down....it was nice in that there were a ton of other runners out, surprisingly enough.

We celebrated our run with coffee from Starbucks and the headed home for hot showers and a little housekeeping. On our way home it started to snow!!!!

When we got home we found one of our squirrel friends camped out on the windowsill outside of our spare bedroom.

Our bedroom had become a living nightmare. We decided to seize the day and do a bit of that cleaning that is required but detested. We weeded through our closets, did laundry, hung up the pile of clothes that builds during the week (or in my class, the last month), and built piles of clothes to donate. We also discovered that we had literally dozens of unused, unneeded hangers, many of them from the dry cleaners. We gathered them to throw out. We felt very productive in our purge.


In the meantime, our squirrel friend made his way around to the front of our house and positioned himself on our front windowsill.


Amidst all of our bedroom dissection Soba slept on our couch, curled up in his pile of blankets.

We took a bit of a break. My friend Sonja was in town from Alabama and we had brunch at Busboys in Poets and then visited our old stomping grounds: the National Portrait Gallery.

Mark meanwhile took care of a few errands and came home to let the dog out. Soba is not so fond of the snow. He always looks so betrayed when we send him out in precipitation.

Mark and I met back up and did a bunch of Christmas shopping. Can't speak too much to that right now...stay tuned.

We also did some much needed grocery shopping and bought ingredients for mom's White Chili (see recipe below), a Michigan favorite. [Sidenote: You can also read my brother's rendition of this tasty recipe on his blog.] While it baked Mark fixed us some crackers and cheese. Isn't he adorable with his new haircut?

The evening was spent wrapping gifts and doing laundry. Mark and I are now in bed watching Night in the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian---I love these movies!!!


Wooohoo December!!!!

(PS I should mention that our camera has been replaced. In September I dropped it in a puddle---we thought that if given enough time to dry out it might work again. But, after almost three months of no camera we broke down and bought another one....so glad we did! More photos to come!!!)

WHITE CHILI

1 tablespoon salad oil

1 medium-sized onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 whole large chicken breasts, skinned, boned, and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 15- to 19-ounce can white kidney beans (cannellini), drained

1 15 ½- to 19-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained

1 12-ounce can white corn, drained

2 4-ounce cans chopped green chilis

2 chicken bouillon cubes or envelopes

Hot pepper sauce

Parsley for garnish

¼ pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (1 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. In small saucepan over medium heat, in hot salad oil, cook onion, garlic, and cumin until onion is tender.

2. In 2 1/2 –quart casserole, combine onion mixture with chicken, white kidney beans, garbanzo beans, corn, green chilis, bouillon, and 1 ½ cups water. Cover casserole and bake 50 to 60 minutes until chicken is tender.

3. To serve, stir hot pepper sauce into chili to taste. Garnish with parsley. Serve with shredded cheese.

Makes 8 main-dish servings.