Snow Coverage and Soup

I just got done with work. On my day off. Thanks, snow! Because there's so much snow here, I had to take the bus to work. The schedules are off because it's so tough to drive. It took me nearly two hours to cover the 3 miles between my house and work. Normally it takes me ten minutes to drive it. You're probably asking yourself,"Max, why don't you just walk?" I walked home, and it wasn't fun. The bank thermometer by my house reads 24 degrees, and the snow on the sidewalks is up to my ankles.

As for work itself, it wasn't fun, either. I was the booth producer for 4 hours of continuous weather coverage. Basically, I had 4 reporters in the field, traffic cameras, viewer pictures and videos, and my weather man to fill the time. We also did a lot of phone interviews with public information officers for various organizations, like the DOT and mass transit people. The real, hard-core news junkies go nuts for this stuff, but I don't. It's really stressful, and while I've done it enough to be okay at it, I don't like doing it. Normally we plan out our newscasts, so we know there's enough content to fill the time. With this, we just continuously map out a plan for the next ten minutes or so.

Soup



Now to my other topic: soup. I had an idea for a homemade green pork chili. It didn't quite turn out to be chili, but I would definitely make it again. Here's what you need:

*12-15 tomatillos (those little green Mexican tomato thingies)
*2 pork chops of whatever quality you prefer, chopped into bite-sized chunks
*chicken broth (I used a 32-ounce box of it, but that was really too much)
*3 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
*1 green pepper
*1 sweet onion
*cumin, chili powder, and coriander
*jalapeno peppers (or any hot pepper you like)
*egg whites
*flour

1. Peel the outer layer from your tomatillos and chop them up.
2. Put your tomatillos, spices to taste, and broth in your slow cooker or pot and simmer.
3. Roll your pork chunks in egg and then in the flour, and pan fry.
4. Add cooked pork to the broth mixture.
5. Saute onion and pepper in the same pan you used for your pork, then add them to the soup.
6. Take 1 can of white beans, and puree it in your food processor or blender, then add to soup. This adds body.
7. Add the rest of your whole beans.
8. Chop up jalapenos and add to soup, however hot you like.
9. Let soup cook for a while.
10. Serve with crushed tortilla chips and shredded monterey jack cheese.

Overall, it came out well, albeit too spicy for my taste. I would also cut back on the broth if you want a thicker soup.

My rating for work is 1 big snowball to the face. The soup gets on steaming bowl of delicious... and with tweaking, it will be better.

I Love Basketball

I really do. I've been playing basketball a couple times a week for a while now, and it's doing wonders for me. I'm getting back to the point where I feel confident in my jump shot under any circumstance, from just about any spot. I am once again able to handle the ball under pressure, without turning it over. I play on Tuesdays with a bunch of guys who are all good players, in their 30's. We play pretty good ball, with lots of defensive effort and good offensive movement. It's fun, but I need to exercise more often than once a week, so I play at 24 Hour Fitness against all the douchebags, too. It can be frustrating, but it's getting better as I improve. Last night I was on fire, dropping 3's and scoring in bunches. I was also rebounding and defending, which are not my strong suit. But in typical gym fashion, the guys who fashioned themselves point guards started jacking shots, most of them ill-advised. That's the real problem with playing at the gym: there are too many shoot-first guys. Nobody tries on defense either.

I also love watching basketball. The Blazers have been really fun to see this year, and much to Midge's consternation, they play about 3 times a week. It's like an old friend who drops in exactly when I want to see him, but doesn't wear out his welcome. Unless you're Midge.

I give basketball five alley-oop slam dunks. I give you a big "and one" for finishing this pointless blog. Kudos!