Church Chili Cook-off

When the church announced a Chili Cook-off I joked that I should enter my chili, made with McCormick seasoning which Darla got me started on, knowing the cooks of the church would use a lengthy list of ingredients and fancy recipes. One of my cook friends said I should, our secret.

Everyone had their chili in a crockpot ... until someone plugged in their InstaPot and blew a fuse. There were 13 chilis to sample. This was the set-up before church ...

This was Andy during church - watching a golf tournament on his phone and listening via bluetooth through his hearing aids.

Because the power was out for a while, some chilis ended up lukewarm. Ours, fortunately, was hot because I heated it before we went to church and turned it on when we got to church. Maybe not everyone did that?

Some were soupy, others were thick.

I did like one of the chicken chilis. I had asked how much chili we were expected to make and the organizer said to make what I usually do. I usually make it with one pound of ground beef so that small, red crockpot is mine. Everyone else made a bigger batch lol.

The votes were tallied and the winner had 12 votes.

We were contestant No. 7 and realized if we both used our two votes on our chili, we would have tied the winner. Lesson learned. Proof, I think, that the McCormick seasoning is tasty. I did come home with an empty crockpot, but I didn't make a big batch.

House concert

My cookies are ready for my friend L's house concert Saturday.

She made corned beef and I had the last slice.

Alice Wallace performed. I think we've seen her before at L's house.

End of the night and half of a cookie is left. That's a success (and I have a few at home that didn't fit on the plate).

Road trip to Miami

This young lady texted me Thursday morning to say she and T were taking a trip to Miami.

Bathroom break in Palm Beach Gardens. They made it to their AirBnB in the afternoon. She Facetimed me to give me a tour.

I assume this was taken at dinner. She sends pictures but she's not good about telling me about the pictures.

They found the beach.

Friday morning they were (back?) at Miami Beach.

Nice shirt, T.

Well, this is adorable.

This is the Sky Views Miami Wheel at Bayside Marketplace.

Port Miami. They drove back to Orlando on Friday. She said they might go back to Miami when T turns 21 in May.

St. Paddy’s Day cookies

Andy and I are going to a friend's house concert tonight. She's serving corned beef so I thought I'd keep with the St. Patrick's Day theme and make some sugar cookies in the shape of shamrocks.

They're huge! My full recipe didn't even make two dozen.

Some have green sugar and some have green sprinkles.

Museum gala

Last night was the museum's annual gala.

We get comped tickets but Andy took photos all night.

With our friends, N and V.

During the boss' speech they showed a video for our anticipated expansion and elevator addition.

I didn't like the linen choices (these are yellow, but the bigger tables were white. Never choose white when you can do colors for the same price) but the flowers were pretty, as usual, so I took a bouquet home.

A key for me

I've been given a key to the museum (finally!) Guess they got tired of opening the door for me. Now the trick will be to successfully reset the alarm when I come in.

Enough nail clippers?

I don't know where my nail clippers go. I like to have clippers in each of my purses (and I have a few of those). I bought three at Walgreens about a month ago and can't find them anywhere so I ordered this pack of 20. They're a little smaller than the ones from Walgreens, and feel cheaper, but I'm hoping they last (and stick around) for awhile.

Mystic cat puzzle

Whoever had this puzzle before me put the edge pieces in a separate bag. However, the pieces I set on the poster, obviously not edge pieces, were in the bag too. Fortunately, all of the edge pieces were in the bag. Weird.

My "helper."

This was a pretty puzzle ... and it's complete!

A puzzle find

We used to go to Door County every summer, so I had to nab this puzzle for $1.99. Maybe I can use it as my hint for Andy to start planning a trip.

Found out it's still for sale on the Wisconsin Historical Society's website for $28. Ouch.

Busy Saturday

Andy was up crazy early yesterday morning to go to the golf practice facility. He got home and we drove to Addison to bet my car's emissions checked. It opened at 7:30 a.m. and there was a line when we got there, a few minutes after opening. My car passed. Then we got an oil change and new air filter, stopped at a post office to mail things to E, and went to a lame church rummage sale.

By 11 a.m. we were in the city taking things to B and taking him to Costco.

After dropping B off, we continued our local brewery tour at Maplewood in the city.

We didn't eat there, but their description of Home Run pizza was funny: "If tou don't know Home Run Inn you may as well move to the West Coast where they don't know anything about pizza!"

Inside brewery shot.

It was a gorgeous day to be in the city!

Then we met friends at the local brewery, Kinslagher, which was celebrating its ninth anniversary. Our neighbor is their head brewer. It was packed and we had to stand the whole time we were there. Last year, at least we had seats.

Here's my friend, C, buying me a beer.

Egg price watch

Price at Jewel yesterday. We didn't need eggs on this grocery trip.

Um, 250th

I was told at work to read through this booklet to see if any ideas pop out to me for an event(s) or activity we could do to celebrate the United States' 250th anniversary in 2026. (I was told the 250th won't be as big of deal as the nation's bicentennial in 1976, which I clearly remember). Pilgrims had trouble pronouncing sesquicentennial for the church's 150th anniversary. It certainly seems easier than semiquincentennial. Regrdless, we've decided we'll be sticking with "250th anniversary."

Waiting for his treats

August seems so lonely as the only cat in the house so I've started giving him a few treats whenever I leave. It might be my imagination (because I don't think he's that smart - sorry, cat) but if I sit down to put my shoes on, he walks over to the cabinet where I keep the treats and waits for his treats.

New Disney card

I decided it was time to request a new design for my Disney Visa card and I thought this one with all of the characters was cheerful.

This was my previous one - a retro image of Magic Kingdom.

Paczki Day

Today is Paczki Day! The Jewel has had these on sale for weeks and we finally gave in and bought a box. Not as delicious as the ones from a real bakery, but not horrible.