There is nothing terribly interesting going on here, so I thought it a good time to chat about this and that. My January 2025 potpourri.
My bffs and I took a field trip to Queen Creek Olive Mill. When I say field trip, it’s because it is very far from my part of town. But not that far from Denisse’s.
We had a delightful lunch and then wandered the grounds. Although it is olives and not wine, it reminded Barb and me of the V Sattui Napa winery. All and all very good vibes. And not quite as far as a drive to Napa.
Their deli case had the prettiest presentation for charcuterie.
Bffs Evon, Sara and Cindy all celebrate their birthdays within a week of each other, so we found time on all of our calendars to meet for a great happy hour at the White Chocolate Grill. We didn’t actually consume any white chocolate, but the happy hour was fun.
What I’m Eating
When I’m not gallivanting around and eating out, I did try a new recipe this week. Evon turned me onto a chicken chili recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
This recipe calls for half a brick of cream cheese to finish it off. If you didn’t have that, I’m sure a bit of sour cream or Greek yogurt would work perfectly.
I love that this is a slow cooker recipe and it’s much different than my normal beef and bean chili. It’s almost more like chicken tortilla soup. It would be great served with tortilla chips, but I took a couple of homemade corn muffins out of the freezer (also a Sally’s recipe).
The recipe is here, but this is what I did differently and it was delish:
- Instead of two cans each tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, I used one can each
- I skipped the bell pepper
- Instead of black beans, I used pinto
- Chili powder increased to two tablespoons
What I’m Reading
On audio I found a new author read by a favorite narrator – Mark Bramhall. The author is Kent Haruf and the book is Our Souls at Night. It was a different kind of book and not very long. Although I liked the book and I do recommend, I found the ending a bit dissatisfactory.
In print I read the new Dean Koontz, Forest of Lost Souls and the new Pendergast series by Preston & Child, Angel of Vengeance. I found both hardbacks on the 7-day shelf at the library and I finished them both in the week. Probably more like one day for each. So fast reads, but neither were earth shattering.
I’m recommending, but only if you want light reading and have nothing better to do.
Wrap Up
Also wrapping up our first full week of January if you can believe it. It’s been a wonderful week here celebrating some January birthdays, and being out with friends.
Next week might be a good week to get my diet back on track!
Let us know what you’re doing for an eating and exercise plan this new year. Mine isn’t very inspiring, but I’m having a lot of fun.
Thank you for being here. God bless you and yours.