S. and I went walking on Bloor Street yesterday looking for that quintessential gift for his friend who had stood up for him at our wedding. I know, I know, we've been married for a month (a whole month! today! can you believe it?!?) and we haven't sent him a gift yet...

We are terrible, horrible people and awful friends who are simply not to be trusted when we insist on buying someone a thank-you gift. Perhaps it is just thank-yous in general that we have difficulty with because we STILL haven't sent out our thank-you notes to people who bought us gifts. Miss Manners and Martha Stewart are both shaking their heads at me, I know. So if you are one of those people, please be aware that we have not forgotten...we're just really lousy at thank-yous! Sorry...but thankfully we are really quite great at "sorrys".

What was I saying? Right. Walking along Bloor Street yesterday. It was quite cold out and we were ducking in and out of stores and looking at different things; books and art and movies and vintage postcards. We finally found something and bought it, along with a print for our own living room (how come one cannot go shopping for something for someone else without being tempted to buy something for themselves at the same time?). We then trudged back out into the cold and practically ran to the car, all the while wondering why we hadn't parked closer to the stores that we had intended to go to in the first place.

Safely ensconced in our apartment once again, S. all cozy in our big red arm chair and me all snuggled up under a down duvet on the sofa we watched a movie and ate popcorn until I started to hear my own stomach begging for dinner. What to eat? Pasta? Too heavy. Left over roast beef made into sandwiches? Not warm enough. Pierogies? Again...too heavy. Oh...wait...what about vegetarian chili? Chili is perfect when it's this cold out and easy to make with the luxury of canned beans and the vine-ripened tomatoes I froze this past September...mmmmm. Chili with black beans and kidney beans and corn and tomatoes...with a side of yogurt and biscuits. That's what we had...and baby, we were warm inside.

And if you want more recipes using beans and/or legumes, be sure to check out Is My Blog Burning # 11 - Beans and Legumes this Sunday - January 23rd!