Christmas Wrap Up
I've been meaning to get some Christmas photos posted all week, but time has sped by! We had a great Christmas. I spend Christmas Eve night with our neighbors who invited Ella and I over for their traditional White Chicken Chili. I've never had White Chili before and it was fabulous! Then, I went to midnight mass and set with a group of friends. Mass was really moving. The music was so good, which always helps me to get into a spiritual mood. It also helped that I didn't have my two rowdy kids at
church with me that night.
We got home from mass and Nick and the kids were home and had just started unpacking the car. The kids were so tired, so we got them ready for bed, told them that Santa was on his way, and they pretty much went to sleep immediately. They didn't want to risk Santa not stopping at their house because they were awake.
Christmas morning I woke up bright and early to make some cinnamon rolls for our breakfast and to take to some friends houses. At about 7am, Jacob woke up itching to come downstairs to see what Santa had delivered. I told him he couldn't come down until his sisters were awake. Of course, he wasn't thrilled about that, but he waited. When I was finally done with the cinnamon rolls I told Jacob that he could go in and quietly wake up the girls. He didn't do it quietly, but he did wake them up.
The first thing they did when they came downstairs was to open the advent calendar door for the 25th. The sack that was designated for Chrismtas day held three Christmas bell ornaments, one for each of them. Then, the present chaos began. Everyone seemed very pleased with their presents and we've been enjoying the gifts each and every day since then. I'm pleased because everything they got is still being played with, almost a week later. So far, the novelty on the toys is still fresh, which
I hope will last for awhile!
It was a nice Chrismas. Quiet, but nice. I missed being surrounded by extended family and the hustle and bustle of this time of year, but it was also really nice to be able to just be with our family. We had a nice traditional Christmas dinner, stuffed ourselves silly, and enjoyed the day together. Sometimes quiet is just fine.
Kristen
Oh - one more thing...
I asked Jacob what his favorite present was... he said the Jelly Belly Jelly Beans that Santa gave him in his stocking. I'm sure that he loved other things better, but he would of course pick out some kind of candy as his favorite gift!
Kristen
Per request, here's the recipe for the White Bean Chili. It's from Southern Living Magazine and it is so good!
White Bean Chili | |
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1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 skinned and boned chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 (15-ounce) cans cannellini or great Northern beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chicken broth
1 (16-ounce) package frozen shoepeg white corn
2 (4.5-ounce) cans chopped green chiles
3 tablespoons lime juice
Garnish: fresh cilantro sprigs
Sauté chopped onion in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 7 minutes; add garlic, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir in chicken pieces, and cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is lightly browned. Stir in 3 cups water and next 5 ingredients; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 10 minutes or until chicken is done.
Place 2 cans of beans in a blender; add broth, and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.
Stir bean pureé, remaining 2 cans of beans, corn, and chiles into chicken mixture in Dutch oven; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in lime juice just before serving. Garnish, if desired.
Note: Use a handheld submersion blender to pureé the beans and broth, if desired.
Yield: Makes 4 quarts
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Reader Comments (2)
Side note: Do you happen to have the recipe for White Chicken Chili? I love that stuff!