door sixteen vegetarian chili.

Ok, people. It’s cold out. A blizzard is here. It’s the perfect weather for chili so it seemed like the right time to try Anna’s (from Door Sixteen) recipe. You must try it. It is the absolute best. Not Kidding.

This is Door Sixteen Chili. On the right.

Here is the recipe:

Door Sixteen Vegetarian Chili
serves 6-8

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, diced **
1 large yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 tbsp chili powder **
28 oz can crushed tomatoes with basil*
14 oz can black beans*
14 oz can kidney beans*
1 cup corn kernels
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup bulgur wheat
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

• Heat oil in a large pot. Add onions, carrots and garlic; sauté until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add yellow pepper, jalapenos, celery and chili powder; cook another 10 minutes.
• Add tomatoes, beans (with liquid), corn, salt and spices. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Stir in bulgur wheat. Cover and simmer at least 30 minutes (I usually let everything simmer for a couple of hours to let the flavors really develop, but it’s okay to take it off when the veggies and bulgur are soft), stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
• Just as you’re taking the chili off the heat, stir in the balsamic vinegar. It is amazing.

* I used canned organic tomatoes and beans.

** I forgot to pick up garlic and chili powder so I substituted with garlic powder and red pepper.

SERIOUSLY PEOPLE.  This chili is AMAZING.  Make it and you won’t be sorry.

just. odd.

Some strangeness for your evening.  Shared by Anna at Door Sixteen.

snowpocalypse. again.

I am so not happy about this news:

Last night we got a few inches, but it didn’t mess with traffic and it was pretty. I can live with that.  Another Snowpocalype on the other hand is just unacceptable.   Unfortunately, it looks like that’s what we have coming our way.

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH
SATURDAY EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A
WINTER STORM WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING
THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE...SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS...THIS STORM IS LIKELY TO PRODUCE 12 OR MORE
  INCHES OF SNOW IN THE WATCH AREA...WITH A GOOD CHANCE FOR
  LOCALIZED AMOUNTS OVER 20 INCHES.

* TIMING...SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN LATE MORNING
  FRIDAY...CONTINUING THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING.

* TEMPERATURES...HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 30S FRIDAY. FRIDAY
  NIGHT AND SATURDAY...TEMPERATURES WILL BE 25 TO 30 DEGREES.

* WINDS...EAST 5 TO 10 MPH FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...BECOMING
  NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH SATURDAY.

I am really bummed because I [was] days away from a fun weekend in WV.  Now with the snowpocalypse, I don’t dare drive west.  I suppose on the bright side, this presents an excellent opportunity to read a few books on the nightstand, learn a new recipe, or organize some more  (yes, its possible).  Til the weekend my friends…

mr. cunningham examines the puffy coat.

I bought a puffy coat last year and it has been my go-to for cold weather two seasons straight.  I forsee many many more in it’s future too!  It’s freezing here and when I was out yesterday during the snow, it was a godsend.

Bill Cunningham dedicated one of his weekly On the Street’s a few weeks ago to the puffy coat and it’s one of his best I think.  Not only do you get great street style, you also get a bit of a history lesson.  Have a look see:

And by the way, if you aren’t familiar with Mr. Cunningham, you should spend some time on the archive. He is WONDERFUL! The original Sartorialist, indeed.  Here’s a quick bio:

William J. Cunningham is a fashion photographer for The New York Times, known for his candid and street photography.

Cunningham shoots goings on in the streets of Manhattan every day; most of his pictures, he has said, are never published. Designer Oscar de la Renta has said, “More than anyone else in the city, he has the whole visual history of the last 40 or 50 years of New York. It’s the total scope of fashion in the life of New York.” Though he has made a career out of unexpected photographs of celebrities, socialites, and fashion personalities, many in those categories value his company; according to David Rockefeller, Brooke Astor requested his presence, alone among the media, at her 100th birthday party.

In 2008 he was awarded the title chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. As of 2008, Philip Gefter of the Times is working on a documentary about Cunningham, his bicycle, and his camera.

I love that quote from Oscar de la Renta.  He, more than many, has been able to document the times and corresponding fashion. I mean!  Imagine having half a century of life captured through his lens. Amazing!

hughes pottery of port matilda, pa.

If you are a fan of pottery and stoneware, you must learn about Hughes Pottery of Port Matilda, PA.

Hughes Pottery is a family pottery and I have to say, they make the BEST mugs out there. Hands down!  Seriously, they are the best. The Round Mugs hold a lot — of whatever — tea, coffee, whiskey (you choose!).  The best part is that they have a narrow opening so the heat (or cold) stays in longer. I ordered one from Etsy last year and it quickly became my favorite.  I just ordered two more from Charles directly and they arrived today.

Have a look at some of their work:

Not to gush, but I haven’t run across pots that I like this much since I was in Seagrove. I love the colors they use … they are so vivid and happy. When I was throwing pots a few years ago, I could only DREAM of creating a glaze this lovely. Check out this new listing in their Etsy store:

I am really dying for this one. I LOVE the colors. There are two available and it’s taking everything I have to not buy the one with the smaller handle. It would make me so happy to sip my morning coffee or evening tea from this. But.  I WILL SHOW SOME RESTRAINT.

But you don’t have to!  Check out their work and get yourself a mug.  You won’t be sorry.  Promise.

All photos from Hughes Pottery.

cooking and whatnot.

Oh, yum.  So I made the Potato Leek Soup that I found on AT and I’m happy to announce it was a success. Granted, it was simple, but still.  I don’t cook. So when something turns out ok, it’s time for a party.  Or at least a glass of wine. If I remember. In my case, I forgot about the wine after I opened it and just realized the sad celebratory glass waiting for me on the counter.  A little night cap, at this point. A warm night cap. No worries, y’all. Ice cube to the rescue and that Chardonnay was as good as new.

In case you were wondering, 2010 is going to be the year of cooking.  Not Julie/Julia type cooking.  Just me learning how to cook. Simple meals for just me or for ten. I usually toast, microwave, or boil. Sometimes I cook frozen pizza in the oven. Or cookies. So you can see my dilemma when it’s my turn to invite people over. I mean, you can really only do take-out so many times before you are considered a cooking loser.

Actually, I’m not that bad, but when it comes to preparing multi-dish meals or things from scratch, I’m kind of at a loss. I have done one-pot for so long, I don’t know what goes together. And how do you prepare it all at the same time, or so that everything is hot at once?

My first meal of the year was dinner for the boys at the Golden Globes party a few weeks ago. On the menu were baked chicken, scalloped potatoes, and a salad. Starting off small. I know this is probably NO BIG DEAL for most people, but I don’t really cook meat, so it was a pretty big deal. Of course, after touching said meat, raw, I couldn’t eat it, but the boys thought it was fab. I’m working on that one…

And then tonight, the yummy soup. So I’m off to a pretty good start. Two meals from scratch in one month. Maybe if I do this every month, I’ll have learned to cook 24 meals and that’s not bad at all. Let’s see how it goes.

So PART I, is learning to cook. PART II is organizing all of my new recipes.

I decided that if I’m really going to learn to cook, I need some way to collect all of the recipes I use, so they are easy to get to when I want to play chef again. I have tons of bookmarks online, oodles of tear sheets from magazines, and random recipe cards from family stuck in random recipe books. There is NO system!!! Yeah, I know. This sounds really horrible, and not like me at all.

I am going to start with those personal recipes, ones from Momo, SuSu, Junie, Aunt Sue, Mama Jo, etc.  And the ones that I make successfully. I’m going to add them to this great little book, so they are at my fingertips when needed. And perhaps one day, I won’t even need said recipes to whip up a gourmet meal. Perhaps I’ll be that good.

Still working for a strategy for online and tearsheets, but the year is young.

Images from bichromestudio and gallery leather.  Thanks peeps.