A Recipe and a Good Day at the Temple

Today was our monthly Sisters at the Temple Day, with a luncheon after the session.  I was not in the mood to go.  I really just wanted to be home, out of the rain, working on some pressing projects. 

To make matters worse, my counselor, who was suppose to pull the luncheon together for today has been sick with shingles.  I called yesterday afternoon to see how things were going and I could tell she was not doing well.  I suggested she let me take over the luncheon, and she gratefully agreed.

On top of that, I was having a REALLY bad cooking day yesterday.  I was suppose to be taking a meal in to a family in the ward.  I decided to try a new "from scratch" cupcake recipe I had.  It was a disaster.

Does this look like a tasty cupcake to you?  So I  mixed up a box mix and made the frosting that came with the above loser cupcake.  That frosting recipe was awful, too. I quickly mixed up my old, trusty frosting recipe and ran the meal to the family. Now I've spent 8 hours in the kitchen making some stupid cupcakes, and I've got to figure out what to have at the temple the next day.  But by this time Hailey and Makayla have arrived and they are NOT having a good day. 

I'm not going to drag two crabby kids to the store to buy ingredients for a last minute gourmet temple luncheon dish. Fortunately I find a recipe for White Chili I've been wanting to try, and I have every ingredient in the house.  Do I dare try another new dish, given my very recent cupcake disaster?  Well, of course! 

White Chili

1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1/2" cubes

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon oil

Brown chicken in oil with onion and garlic until chicken is no longer pink.

Add:

2 (16 oz) cans Great Northern White beans, drained and rinsed

1 or 2 (4 oz.) cans chopped green chilies

1 (15 oz) can chicken broth

1 teaspoon each salt, ground cumin, oregano

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cayenne pepper

Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 30 minutes.  (I tripled the recipe, cooked the chicken part last night, put everything up to this point in a crock pot this morning and cooked it on low at the temple during the session.)

Stir in 1 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup whipping cream and serve immediately.

(Don't ask me why I have sour cream and whip cream handy in my fridge.  I'm not going to explain that part to you)

Oh my goodness.  It was sooo good.  I brought corn chips for people to sprinkle on the top for extra umph. 

I also made Rachael's Nanaimo Bars, which I ALSO happened to have all the ingredients for (squirm).  I cut the pan into 25 pieces.  There were only 8 of us at the session, and only 7 stayed for lunch, a pretty skimpy turnout.  This is what I brought home:

Let's just say they were well received.

The best part of the day came during the luncheon.  There was a sister I knew well from Colstrip Ward (2+ hours from Billings) and she brought a sister I didn't know.  At lunch I sat beside the unknown sister,  introduced myself, and began to visit.  It turns out her 62 year old sister is going through the temple for the first time ever on Thursday in the Provo temple, and the siblings are coming from all over the US to be there.  The sister said she herself had not been to the temple for a decade or more, but had gotten herself ready for that event.  She added "I've been so nervous about going back to the temple for the first time in so many years, and when I saw the announcement for today's temple session with the sisters, I knew I had to be here. This has been the best day of my life in a very long time. I feel like this day was God's hand in my life."  By the time we were done talking, she was crying, I was crying, and suddenly temple session I hadn't wanted to be at became

the very best place to be.