happy inauguration day

We had a inauguration breakfast party at 7:30 this morning. Waffles and quiche were had by all. And because everybody cares about my observations of major political events...

• George H.W. in that yellow turtleneck/purple jacket combo looked like Willy Wonka. Or maybe the Joker.

• Cheney in wheelchair: as my manager observed, who invited Dr. Strangelove? Also, "pulled a muscle moving boxes" or sympathy move to avoid prosecution?

• Obama was introduced to the public as "Barack H. Obama." Whose idea was that? Hmm, better leave out the "Hussein" part lest large swaths of the midwest, south, and Utah implode.

• Lost excerpt from creepster Rick Warren's invocation: "Bestow upon President Obama the good judgment to never grow a goatee like mine."

• Aretha Franklin's hat: did someone get a Bedazzler for Christmas? I love it.

• At first, it seemed that Obama was expecting to repeat shorter phrases during the oath of office. Either that or John Roberts was trying to trick him into not becoming president. Nice try, chief.

• I think I heard Dianne Feinstein say "oaf of office" at one point. Was she referring to the guy leaving in the helicopter?

• Nice benediction by Joseph Lowery. It's about time someone spoke out for us yellow folk.

• Good to see that Michael Beschloss recovered from his Election Day orange tan disaster.

• The new Obamamobile is sheathed in military-grade armor and bulletproof glass, can withstand all sorts of blasts and chemical attacks, and comes specially equipped with...a 10-disc CD changer? No wonder GM's in trouble.

What a day. It remains to be seen what Obama will do with the presidency; the problems are immense, the expectations are huge, and I'm sure that popularity-wise, it's all downhill from here. But for now, the change feels pretty good, and I'm just going to enjoy it.

two adults getting a stew on

Every time I plan to make a cold-weather food, it gets warm outside. Oh well. That didn't stop me from making pumpkin chili, a recipe I found while searching for things to make with the Abuelita chocolate sitting in my pantry.

It had just the right balance between sweet and savory. I was really pleased with the way it turned out, although I'll probably cut down on the spicy next time I make it (of course, TJ thought it was fine the way it is). I modified the original recipe a bit by using ground turkey and adding black beans, kidney beans, and corn. I think that adding sliced stewed tomatoes next time would be a nice touch, too. (This is starting to sound like a taco soup hybrid...)

Spicy Pumpkin Chili

2 lbs lean ground turkey
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 cup tomato juice
1/2 Abuelita chocolate tablet
3 cloves garlic
1 chopped onion
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, drained
olive oil

For the spice mixture:

1 tbsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp ground paprika
2 tbsp ground chipotle pepper

Directions:

Saute onion and garlic in large pot over medium heat until translucent. Add ground turkey and spice mixture; cook until turkey is browned. Mix in pumpkin puree, chocolate, crushed tomatoes, and tomato juice.

Transfer turkey mixture into a crock pot; add beans and corn. Set crock pot on high and let it simmer for 6 hours. If you don't have a crock pot, you can leave it on the stove--give everything a good stir, lower the heat, and let simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours.

new year's pizza

TJ's mom got us some pizza-making equipment for Christmas, so we decided that we would make pizzas on New Year's Eve with Jerry, Vivian, and Levi.

Since this was my first time making pizza crust, I decided to go with a recipe from Elise (click the link for ingredients and general pizza how-to) because none of her recipes have ever failed me. I one-and-a-halved it, which was good for eight 6- to 8-inch pizzas (depending on how good your Ultimate skills are).

For the sauce, I used about 2 pounds of Roma tomatoes, 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt, and three cloves of minced garlic. Here's the procedure: cut an X in one end of each tomato, then submerge them in boiling water for about 10 seconds. Transfer the tomatoes to a bowl of cold water and peel off the skins. Remove seeds and chop (this was messy), then bring to a boil over medium-high heat with the oil, salt, and garlic. I also threw in a bit of basil. Stir occasionally, maybe for 20 minutes, until the sauce is very thick.

I think the pizzas turned out great. Happy 2009!