7.16.2005 ||> If the tex-mex won't come to you, you'll just have to make it
For years, I have been trying to find the perfect Chili recipe. To be perfect, a chili had to have the following characteristics:
- It must have a rich, savory flavor
- It must be vegetarian
- It must be spicy
- it must take as little work as possible to make
Almost Perfect ChiliI think what made it so good was the vegetable stock. It was a bit mild to my taste, so I will spice it up next time by adding some of the jalapeno seeds. But it's a tasty, healthy dish that people will be impressed by with no effort on your part.
1 tb. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1-1 1/2 jalapeno peppers, without the seeds
2 15-oz. cans black beans, drained
1 15-oz. can kidney beans, drained
1 15-oz. can great northern beans, drained
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 can tomato paste
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 can water
1. Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, and green pepper and saute until translucent.
2. Add garlic, cumin, oregano and jalapeno peppers and saute until everything has sweated but not browned.
3. Add beans, tomatoes, paste, stock, mushrooms and water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes, or until thickened. Salt and pepper to taste
Lately, I've seen it on TV and I'm hearing it from all corners. Everyone in America it seems knows someone who is either dating, engaged or married to someone they met on one of those online dating services. E-harmony seems to be the most prevalent for the happy endings, with people getting married all over the place after finding their soulmate for $50 +taxes.
My biggest fear about using one of those things is paying money to learn that my soulmate in all the world was someone that I had already dated and no longer liked. Like, E-harmony telling me that Mormonboy was the one for me. I would be so pissed and no matter what I did, they would never give me my $50 (+taxes) back. And I would have nothing to fall back on in the event that I never found someone to have a solid relationship with.
So despite the fact that my happy-together friends and family try to get me into stuff like that, I'm not sure I could. Besides, testing people out is half the fun, right?
I realize that it has been a while since I posted a picture of a hot man since my last picture of the beautiful Drew Fuller. And since I still want to have a million children with him, I'm putting him back up on the front page. Does it bother me that half of his modeling pictures send my gaydar into full blast? Not in the least. I think it might be the eyebrows. I'm a sucker for a good pair of those, and looking back, I don't think I ever dated someone without a nice set.
I might even keep watching TV if it meant he would be in a show next season.
Since Memorial Day (where I sat around all day and was bored and lonely until my ex came over to become my ex), I have managed to always have something to do every weekend. This last weekend, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Smith (which was surprisingly funny) and bought some books and went to party with my family where I narrowly escaped a sunburn.
In the following weeks, this might get a bit tougher and while I know that I need to branch out, I'm not sure how. I wish there was an e-harmony for friends. Like, if you need friends, then you can take this compatibility test and be matched up with people who want a platonic relationship. That would be cool.
I have gotten this forwarded e-mail two or three times since last week. Everyone thinks it is so cool, and it just makes me angry when I read it. You have probably seen it: it's a speech that apparently someone somewhere wants the president to give. In the speech, this president makes a list of countries that supported us and countries that haven't and cuts off all aid to the latter. We also apparently become very isolationistic and don't give a shit about the rest of the world.
In essence: it's bullshit perpetuated by a bunch of people who have no idea what foreign policy is about. First off, I am so sick of this pseudo tough talk like, "You're with us or against us." It's common for countries to disagree on sticky issues. America refuses to join the Kyoto Treaty, France refuses to help us in Iraq. People are allowed a different point of view, especially when cultural values come into play. And saying that Canada should stop "pissing us off for a change"? What the hell did they ever do except say the word "about" funny?
Also, there seems to be two different versions: one where the president drills in Alaska and sends Americans who don't agree with him to France. Thank god agreeing with the government is not a prerequisite of living here. I'd still be teaching English abroad. The other version is simply xenophobic without the pollution and the violation of citizen rights.
There's more I could go off on about this e-mail, but I'll just add this. Don't ever expect to be taken seriously if you end a note with:
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.I actually thank the Louisiana Purchase and the fact that the Spanish never came more north than southern California for my ability to read English, thank you very much.
One of the reasons that I moved from Arizona to Philadelphia was that the public transportation was much better. Yesterday, it took me 2 hours to travel from work to a township 13 miles away.
I went to the clinic last week to renew my prescription for birth control pills. Why didn't I simply do this at my doctor's office 1 mile from my home? Because even though I pay $140 a month for insurance, it costs less to pay full rate at Planned Parenthood than with the insurance copays to get anything having to do with birth control. Sometimes I hate politics.
A co-worker drove me to the clinic in 20 minutes. At the clinic, I had to wait two and a half hours to be seen for 2 minutes by a clinician and have her write me the prescription. Unfortunately, the buses go from hourly to every other hour after 7:30 here, and I got out at 7:40. The next bus wasn't until 9:40 and not in the best neighborhood. Luckily, a nice girl drove me to the train station where I waited another hour to go home. I got home at 9:30, right as it started to rain.
The only good thing to come out of the fiasco was that the clinician prescribed me four packs (after I talked her up from three). I also paid for four, but when I got home, I saw that the attendant had given me six. Right on.
Over the past few days, I have read some of the most eloquent blogs about the terrorist attacks in London. From all over the world, there has been such an outpouring of support, and I hope the British people know that all our hearts are with them right now. I've also heard the most disjointed rants as well. My boss apparently blames Dick Durbin and all other Democrats/liberals for the London bombs. A woman on the bus blames Muslims and the whole faith of Islam. I (in a moment on non-partisanship) simply feel my heart go out to the English and foolishly hope that one day the violence will stop. Does it have to be anyone's fault but al-Qaeda?
