Make This Soup Now!

This is my favorite chili recipe, and it's White Turkey Chili. It's really simple and extremely tasty. It doesn't call for salt, but I normally throw a dash or two in towards the end.
Makes 8 servings.

White Turkey Chili

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
2 (4 ounce) cans canned green chile peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
ground cayenne pepper to taste
ground white pepper to taste
3 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions
1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic and ground turkey and saute for 10 minutes, or until turkey is well browned. Add the chile peppers, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne pepper to taste and white pepper to taste and saute for 5 more minutes.

2. Add two cans of the beans and the chicken broth to the pot. Take the third can of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor. Add this to the pot along with the cheese. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt.

Weekend Wrap-Up

I love unplanned weekends! Friday night Hubby and I went to eat a full turkey dinner at his parents house. Then we went home and crashed in front of the couch and watched G.I. Joe. Saturday I woke up EARLY and volunteered at the Coats for Kids event. Basically, we helped families in need get warm coats for their children. It's a really gratifying experience because you get to interact (albeit quickly) with the families and help the kids pick out new coats. Afterwards, a group of us went to breakfast and chatted a bit. Then it was off to the mall to hit up a few stores and knock some presents off my list.

Once I was done at the mall, I met up with T to help her buy presents and to see if I could get something for Hubby. We power shopped and T knocked a bunch of gifts off her list and I scored a few good ones as well. Hubby was gone for the day watching football, so we took our time and had a lot of fun. We went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner and then headed back to my house to uncork a bottle of wine (Vampire Merlot, lol), wrap presents and watch movies. We did watch the last 5 minutes of the UT game and about had a heart attack! We did win 13-12 in the last second (literally!). Then it was on to movie time. I love Saving Sarah Marshall, and T had never seen it, so we watched that while drinking. Damn that movie was even funnier with a nice wine buzz! We called it a night around 2am and I fell into bed and had a wonderful sleep.

Sunday Hubby and I work up and he wanted to go out to the Lake House for breakfast. I love it when he takes me there! Afterwards we visited with his parents for a bit and talked Christmas gift strategy for some other family members, including my SIL. Then we headed home where the baking commenced. I made pizzelles for my grandmom, mom and sister to ship be sure I could ship them off today. Then I made a huge batch of cinnamon rolls which I froze to give as presents later. I also made a batch of truffles to mail out to friends today. By 6pm we were getting hungry so I whipped up a batch of White Turkey Chili, which was super yummy. We watched Transformers 2 and Angels & Demons, both which were really entertaining. By 10pm we were zonked for the night.

T.G.I.F.

I'm a little disapointed this morning as there was no snow or ice on the ground to give me an excuse not to come to work, but at least I had a fabulous evening!

I went to the bookstore at 3:45pm yesterday to get my ticket to have my Pioneer Woman cookbook signed. Lo and behold 100 people were already in line and when I finally made it upstairs, I ran into E and the twins!! I was super excited that I would have someone to hang out with for 2.5 hours until the book signing started. It was cool to hear Ree talk about the ranch and her cookbook and plans for the future. She has another book coming out in 2011. I had a ticket that got me into the signing group right after her 25 minute Q&A. Not only did she sign the cookbooks, she took pictures with everyone and gave out adorable t-shirts that she designed. We even took pics with her hubby, Marlboro Man, which she lovingly calls him.

Book Signing

After work I'm heading to a local bookstore to attend a book signing by my favorite bogger, The Pioneer Woman. She released a cookbook last month and is doing a promotional tour which I'm super excited about. I read her blog every morning and laugh at her stories about being a cattle rancher's wife, a mom to 4 kids whom she home-schools, and an amazing cook. She whips up Cowboy and Cowgirl recipes that are yummy and super easy. I've made quite a few of her recipes, including her Cowboy Sandwich, salted chocolate truffles, and cinnamon rolls.

I'm wearing my cutest outfit and have my cookbook and camera in hand and ready to document the first book signing I've ever attended. If you're interested in her blog, check out www.thepioneerwoman.com You won't regret it!

Snuggie Confession, Part Deux

The doggie Snuggie sucks! It looks all weird and I didn't even bother to take a photo. I'll be returning it and getting my $10 back. Bummer.

Snuggie Confession

I bought my dog a mini-Snuggie for a Christmas present last night! Hubby thinks I'm off my rocker, but I couldn't resist. I'll take pics tonight and post tomorrow.

Belated Weekend Wrap-Up

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I'm still in a gluten coma! Thursday morning Hubby and I headed out to spend the weekend at our friend's family ranch to do some relaxing and hunting. I was excited to read a bunch of books without being interrupted and Hubby was really hoping to bring home some deer meat. I was expecting a more "executive ranch" experience, but the ranch was a very simple single-story building with minimal creature comforts. You couldn't flush toilet paper down the toilet and there was no hot water for the shower. This was a little disturbing considering I take 2 showers a day.

It was so peaceful and pretty and I took a lot of photos using my new tripod. I finished 3 books and Hubby shot a coyote but alas, did not bag a deer. After 3 days, I was ready for a shower and my own bed and some privacy. We headed back home late Saturday after the evening hunt.

Sunday I woke up early and decorated the house for Christmas. I put up our 3 foot tree and my Rudolph claymation figurines. C, K, and S came over for a candy making party. We made 2 kinds of truffles and lots of fudge and almond bark. We made a mess, laughed and sang along to the radio. I smell a fun Christmas tradition coming on, and it smells like melting chocolate!