Cold-be-gone Spicy Vegetable Soup

Happy Holidays! We are in California visiting family and friends for the holidays for the first time in a looooong time. Last year we left for Thailand the day after Christmas so we didn’t come home for the holidays. It’s nice to be back. It’s nice to be cold for the first time in, um, years.

But maybe because it’s been cold, or maybe because it’s been rainy, or maybe because of all the planes and the driving and the family and the excitement.. Brett has a cold. Boo! So I made some soup. Because soup, it helps. It helps warm your bones. It helps mend things that are broken and makes colds feel better even if it doesn’t quite help you kick them to the curb. So. In case you have a cold too, here’s some soup for you. So you don’t have to be sick on Christmas.

My Favorite [ridiculously easy] Pasta

Oh, hey there, November! When did you get here? How did you sneak up on me like that? How did my little brother just turn twenty-freaking two? How is Thanksgiving next week? I had such grand plans. They involved butter, sugar, and lots of practice. They used egg whites and whipped them to peaky perfection. And purple sweet potatoes and coconut milk. And getting me to like brussel sprouts. So many things I had planned! And yet, here I am. Trying frantically to clean out my refrigerator to make room for a turkey that can feed eight. and three pies. And how many sides? I lost count. 

So if you are finding yourself in the same boat, with November flying by without you being entirely prepared for it, lacking motivation to do grocery shopping before the epic bender you’re going on this weekend, and your refrigerator stockpile slowly dwindling in the face of what you know is going to be a pie-turkey-potato-green bean EXPLOSION next week, this one’s for you. 

Some Chili + Cornbread, baby!

So I realize that chili is different things to different people. And it’s one of those foods that gets people all riled up. Y’know, the kind of food that can start a fight. Because people, they love Their Chili. Not just chili. Their Chili. And they’ll get all up in your grill if you do/do not add beans/fresh chilis/ground beef/beef chunks/ veggies/tomatoes/doyagetthepicture? I guess you could call it  a contentious food, even. Well, I’m sure this here chili that I made is gonna get some of you all riled up (as will my cornbread, probably, since that gets people plenty riled too!). And I’m about to tell you something that’ll get you even more riled up..

      Not only was last night the first time I ever made chili… but up until, oh I don’t know, a couple months ago maybe, maybe as long ago as a year, I had never eaten chili. Seriously. Never. (Whenever it was chili night at my house growing up I ate cottage cheese. Like, people, I ate cottage cheese with crackers for dinner. What the eff was wrong with me?!) So clearly I am not of of those chili experts and I’m not gonna try and tell you what does and does not belong in a chili. But I will tell you this: this here chili I made.. it was fantastic.