No more Math EVER!!!

Today I finished the last chapter in my Statistics textbook and finished all the homework at the end of the chapter. I am now officially done with Math for the rest of my life!! WOOO HOOO!!! And once the semester is over, I will never have any more English or Science homework ever again! Basically after this semester, the only General Education classes that I will have left will be "Values and Critical Thinking" and whatever Core 320 class I end up taking, either "The Human Condition" or "Towards a Sustainable Planet," and then I will have nothing but law classes for the rest of my Bachelor's degree and then, of course, LAW SCHOOL!!! YAY! I see light at the end of the tunnel!

My Chili Recipe

I made my Chili Recipe today for the first time this season. Last Winter, I started making it again after years of not doing it, and with great reviews. Jeff and Mike eat as much of it as I do when I make it, and Heather (who is herself quite the chef and a fellow foodie) LOVES my Chili. I've been very protective of the recipe, particularly because of the unique way that it tastes and because of the ingredients that I use. My Chili has an element of sweetness to it, along with a kick of hotness (like me... haha, just kidding, I'm not that into myself.) I used to make people guess my secret ingredient (no one ever did, I would have to tell them and watch their faces) but I figure, if people like the recipe so much, I'll share it. First, let me start out by saying, if you are a Texas-style or Cumin-based Chili eater like my Dad, this will be different for you. But most people LOVE my Chili, in fact the worst thing anyone has ever said about it was "Its good."

Anyway, here is what you will need:

2 pounds 93% Fat Free Ground Beef (oh yeah, by the way, its "healthy Chili")
10 ounces of Ketchup (Yup, that's right, Ketchup. That is my secret ingredient.)
1 large Red Pepper
1 large Green Pepper
1 28-30 ounce can of Crushed Tomatoes
1 28-30 ounce can of Pinto Beans
1 28-30 ounce can of Red (Kidney) Beans
1 28-30 ounce can of Black Beans
Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Regular Salt
Black Pepper
Your favorite Hot Sauce (I used Dave's Gourmet "Temporary Insanity" Hot Sauce)
A big pot (at least a 2 gallon pot) with a lid that you can vent (usually in the lid handle)
A slotted spoon
A cutting board
A pairing knife
(The reason I tell you what tools to use as well as what ingredients you need is that I HATE when I am looking at a recipe and I start cooking it only to discover half way through that I need a garlic press, or a melon baller, or a piping bag, or some other kitchen tool that I don't own in order to finish the recipe. )

Here is how I make my Chili:

Brown ground beef on medium-high heat (being careful to keep meat from clumping together), then strain. Straining the meat is important because it not only keeps this an almost fat-free chili, but leaving the fat in affects the flavor of the chili, so be sure to strain it. After straining, add enough Chili Powder to cover the top layer of meat. Do the same with the Garlic Salt. Add a couple dashes of Salt (I measure out about a quarter-sized amount in my hand) and Black Pepper (I use a grinder and I do about 6-8 turns of the grinder.) Stir, then add Ketchup. Mix Ketchup in with meat and lower heat to medium. (At this point, it should look like Sloppy Joe mix.) Add in Crushed Tomatoes. Stir and leave uncovered while you chop up the Red Pepper and the Green Pepper on your cutting board with your pairing knife. Add in chopped peppers and mix. Strain the liquid out of the canned Black Beans, then mix them into the pot. Do the same for the Red Beans and the Pinto Beans. It is important to strain the canned beans otherwise the Chili gets soupy. Turn the heat down to low. Last but not least, add 3-4 dashes of Hot Sauce. It may seem like a little bit, but depending on the Hot Sauce you use, a little goes a long way. In my recipe, 3-4 dashes of Dave's Temporary Insanity Sauce will put a kick of heat in every bite. Any more than that would make it hard to eat. Stir the Chili again and cover with the lid vented. Let it simmer on low for a half hour or so, stirring occasionally.
The Chili will taste good after simmering for a half hour, but its even better if you put it in the fridge overnight and either nuke it for a couple minutes in a bowl or eat it cold. It keeps well too, covered in the fridge with the same lid you cooked it with.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday! I mean, what's not to love? Dressing up, going to parties, getting candy, mutilating produce - its all good! This year I dressed up as a Succubus (if you don't know what that is, go Google it) and just like last year, rather than just wear a pre-packaged costume, I decided to put one together in pieces, so I could give it my own personal stamp. I'm happy with the way it turned out. Speaking of costumes, one of my favorite things about Halloween is seeing people who wear topical costumes. This year, between the 2 parties I went to, I saw people dressed as Billy Mays, Lady Gaga and Octomom. The people closest to me also had some interesting and in some cases disturbing picks for costumes: my best friend Heather and my roommate Mike both went as clowns (I HATE clowns, I am scared of them), my other roommate Jeff wore a dress (he found one that fit his gigantic shoulders!) and Daniel dressed up as a penguin. Raven and Amber went as characters from my favorite Disney movie: Alice in Wonderland. Raven was Alice, but with a twist- she was also a vampire. Her litte "White Rabbit" had bite marks on his neck. Amber was the Queen of Hearts. Watching her scream "off with your head!" was priceless. We carved some pretty cool pumpkins this year. It was a process. On Friday I came over and gutted the pumpkins and Raven and Gregg went on the internet to find patterns. Then Saturday afternoon we punched the stencils into the pumpkins and carved them. Because Amber's pumpkin was small (and so is Amber) I drew a kitty cat on her pumpkin and she and Trina painted it. Raven helped carve her Headless Horseman pumpkin (she got to do the design she liked on the biggest pumpkin, so she was very proud) and we also did a Dragon, a Skull and (of course) a Jack Skellington face on the other pumpkins. The coolest part was that all the pumpkins came from the garden that Trina and Gregg have been growing in the backyard. As for candy, Trina, Gregg and I will need to "inspect" the girls' candy so as to make sure it is OK to eat...yeah...inspect...that's a good word... :-)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today my Daddy turned 65! He came to Disneyland with Daniel and I and used his free birthday admission. Though his knees only let him be there for about 2 1/2 hours, we went on Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion (the Nightmare Before Christmas version), Winnie the Pooh and Big Thunder Mountain. I wanted to take him on Its A Small World and show him the Disney characters they added to the ride, but it was closed. We had a nice lunch at Applebee's on the way home. We'll celebrate with my Brother, Aunt and Uncle on Saturday. It should be fun too. Happy 65th Birthday Daddy!!

Happy Birthday Raven!

Today was Raven's 13th Birthday. Ugh. She's officially a TEENAGER now. Heaven help us. For her birthday I chaperoned Raven, her sister Amber and 7 other teenage girls (Miranda, Melanie, Madelyn, McKenna, Stephanie G, Stephanie K and Taylor) on a trip to the movies to see "Where the Wild Things Are." We walked to and from the movies since there were too many of them to fit in my car. Then I took them back to Trina and Gregg's empty house to feed them pizza and sparkling cider and listen to them scream, sing, giggle and generally make noise for a few hours before Trina and Gregg got home. It really wasn't that bad. In fact, they reminded me a lot of me and my friends when we were that age. It was really quite entertaining. And I am proud to say that I didn't have to kill any of them. I can't believe Raven is a teenager now. I remember when she was in diapers. I remember the first time she told me she told me she loved me, in a soft little whisper, while she was sitting next to me in her little carseat. I remember reading her bedtime stories and doing the voices for the characters. I remember scooping her up and singing to her when she would cry. I remember her kindergarten graduation. She'll be graduating from 8th grade this year. They grow up too fast. Happy Birthday Sprout!

Disneyland with Roo

Whew! I've been so busy I haven't had time to blog at all this month! Well, let me get a little caught up. A couple weeks ago, my friend Ruby (aka Roo Bee Dee or Roo for short) and I went to Disneyland together to bask in the Halloweentime goodness. We've been talking about going together for a long time, as we are both annual passholders and Disney fans. I remember when we used to work together, we would write Disney quotes on her dry-erase board and quote lines from Disney movies at each other. ("More tea?") We went on Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy (I didn't care for it - the "ghost" thing was icky and the sub-par projection effects didn't go unnoticed by Roo, a talented Media Artist), the Haunted Mansion Nightmare Before Christmas, as well as many other of our favorite attractions. In a "weird but true" coincidence, when we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride, guess which honeycomb we ended up riding? That's right, we got the honeycomb named Roo. How cool is that? The highlight of my day had to be sharing Toy Story Mania with Roo. I showed her all the secrets I have learned over the past few months of playing and together we both set personal bests on our scores: Roo got over 158K and I got over 209K. We went on it 3 times. I think I created another TSM addict LOL. Roo also showed me her 2 favorite dining spots, so I now have 2 more places to eat at the Disney Resort that are inexpensive, air conditioned and not crowded. We closed out the night by watching the Halloweentime Fireworks display and seeing Zero fly over Sleeping Beauty Castle, then heading off to enjoy a late dinner. We will definitely do it again very soon!

Happy Birthday Daniel

Yesterday was Daniel's birthday. We spent the day at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure (of course) where we FINALLY unlocked the Hidden Monster in the Alien Room on our favorite ride Toy Story Mania. We've now unlocked all the secret points on that ride. Next stop: high score of the month. I also got a chance to show him the Nightmare Before Christmas seasonal revision to Haunted Mansion and all of the new hidden Disney characters on Its A Small World. Lara and Jim joined us for dinner and then we, along with Jim's nieces, enjoyed the rest of the evening taking advantage of shorter lines at DCA before calling it a night after being there a total of 13 hours in 90+ degree humid heat. We both agree yesterday was fun, but we are both feeling it today. But he's 34 (aka old) so he has an excuse. Happy Birthday Daniel!