Since it is very cold here in Peoria, yesterday I decided to make some delicious chili that would warm Braden and I up. I put all the ingredients in the crock-pot with one little substitution and let it cook the required 4-6 hours. Braden came home and exclaimed how delicious dinner was smelling and wondered when it would be done. I had to finish up making the french bread (or attempting to make french bread) and then we sat down to eat.
Looks yummy, huh?
(I didn't think so, but Braden said it looks delicious, which is what really matters.)
Unfortunately this "Simple Chili" as the recipe book titles it doesn't taste as "simple" as the name implies. It actually TASTES LIKE BURNING!!!
Turns out ground red pepper is NOT a substitution for chili powder. Oops. Braden's new title for this recipe is "Texas Barbed Wire Chili". He's a good sport and ate his whole bowl. He said, "Once you get past the burning, it has really good flavor." Thanks Babe!
I, however, was less certain.
Also, although the french bread had good flavor, it didn't rise very well because our kitchen was too cold. I tried to make it again today and it turned out the same. Darn. Luckily my hubby puts up with my kitchen experiments and we can laugh about it together!
We enjoyed watching the Cat skid-steer plowing the snow in our parking lot.
"What's the big deal about snow?"
Enjoying making a snow-angel...
After all that fun, it's time for a nap!
Yesterday Tiff thought to herself, "Self, what would be a good thing to do on this fall day, I know! Let's drive an hour and a half up to Starved Rock State Park!" It's the only place in a loooooong ways that you can pseudo-hike, so we loaded up the truck and headed north, with aspirations of a peaceful walk in the woods. We arrived, followed the signs to the "hiking trails" and this is what we found:
Looks like we've had some rain! No this is not a boat ramp, and yes those are trash cans out in the water. It kind of reminded me of our trip to the swamp in South Carolina-without the gators. Luckily, we found another trailhead, and all was not for naught! We hit the trail, put our Chariot through it's paces (it worked great, by the way), and had a good time taking in the Autumn scenery.
Hiking was different, it was mostly on boardwalks and there were a LOT of stairs. They have a pretty bad erosion problem with all of the rain, so they try to keep you off the ground and on the trail.
My beautiful wife next to the Illinois River.
