Baked Turkey and Spinach Meatballs

I am an umbrella assassin.

There’s just no other term for it. No matter how many umbrellas I buy, no matter how cheap or expensive they are, they never last more than a few months. Inevitably the fabric starts to separate from the spokes (…I’ve decided the metal parts are called spokes), the open/close mechanism refuses to open/close, and the entire thing just snaps inside-out at the slightest gust of wind.

One morning a few weeks ago, my umbrella broke literally five feet from my apartment door. I was forced to make the rest of my commute holding the mangled fabric of the umbrella corpse over my head, struggling for some semblance of shield from the increasing downpour. Not only did that attempt fail, but the runoff from my dying umbrella streamed right down the sleeve of my coat in the process.

A Bloggy Vacation and Mini Stuffed Pepper Casseroles

Hey guys! It’s Tara–remember me? Huh? Curly haired girl with an inordinate love for cookies?

I know, I know; I’ve sort of dropped off the face of the earth these past couple of weeks. I spent a week in sunny California with my family for my cousin’s wedding (take me back to the beach, please! That’s the Huntington Beach pier, above, with Ruby’s Diner all the way out at the end–best.milkshakes.ever.). And the week after that was full of overdue work emails and apartment hunting (yes, again)…

Two-Bean Turkey Chili with Sweet Potatoes

Is anybody else in a constant battle with their internal body temperature?

By that I mean, does anybody else don hoodies when it’s 85 degrees outside? Or find themselves adding layer after layer after layer in the winter months, but to no avail? I’m convinced that somehow, I’m part cold-blooded creature. I so wish Snuggies were office-appropriate.

It was a whopping 17 degrees here in New York on Tuesday. Add in the wind chill, and we were looking at temperatures juuuust above zero. (Is this how all of you Canadians feel?) So despite the fact that I needed to do laundry like nobody’s business, there was no. way. I was venturing out of my apartment again once I got home from work. All I wanted was to curl up on my couch and watch the DVRed season premiere of The Bachelor and eat something warm, cozy, and comforting.

Enter this chili.