Recital and Old Veggie Chili

Hello faithful few! It's Tuesday, and I'm still here! Here's the news from Geronimo Avenue:

Sunday was my Doctoral Solo recital, and I passed! I was pretty happy with how everything went, and as soon as I get the courage to listen to the recording, I'll post an MP3 or 2 of the highlights. Kathryn was a darling and did the reception for me (in the tradition started by Nishi!!! (see girl, I do give credit!)) And Brian played brilliantly. (Special thanks to Gloria for turning pages and Chloe and Sarah Lynn for being my ushers!). Like a fool, I was too crazy to remember my camera, so I don't have any photos. Kathryn took a couple, but I have yet to ask for them. However, I do have a shot of the flowers and gifts I received:


The after recital activities were quite mellow, I actually just came home. However, I was rewarded by a glorious sunset, which I enjoyed with my new neighbor James. Here are a couple of shots:



After the sunset I went out to the Grill for drinks and ice cream sundaes (A great combination!)

So, what's up with the Veggie Chili thing in the title? Well, I made chili tonight, which I really liked! This was surprising, mainly because I didn't have all of the usual ingredients I use to make chili. In fact, I had some old peppers, old celery, old garlic, an old onion and some canned goods. So, I combined some of my favorite chili recipes and went for broke! And I loved it. It's not nearly as spicy as I usually like, but I gobbled up two bowls of it, after I ate two large roasted potatoes!!!

Here's the recipe:

1 old medium onion
2 old bell peppers (I used an orange and a yellow)
2 old stalks of celery
2 old cloves of garlic
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup old red wine
3/4 cup wheat bulger
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can of pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1/2 tableespoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt to taste

Ok, first I chopped up the onion, peppers, celery and pressed the garlic. Then I sauteed them with the water and wine. While that was cooking, I strained the diced tomatoes, and brought a cup of the juice to a boil and added the wheat bulger, then turned off the heat. While the bulger was absorbing the liquid, I added rest of the ingredients to the veggies. Five minutes later, I added the bugler, and a bit of water to get the consistency I wanted. Then I brought the whole lot to a boil, lowered the heat, and cooked the darn thing for about 30 minutes.

This is what it looks like:


The pictures doesn't do the whole thing justice, but it was yummy!

Can you tell I've been reading food blogs? Anyway, back to research and opera memorizing and quartet music learning! Just so you all know... I've been invited to go back to Santa Fe for the summer! (nice to have a job!)

Enjoy!