Flowers and Chili Cook-off

No...They really have nothing in common...it's just that they were on my camera. My Confederate Rose finally bloomed. I am really rather shocked. It was such a hot dry summer and I did not keep it watered. It really needs moved, but the rootball is huuuggggee! Many more to follow! Look at the buds on my Christmas cactus! I always pat myself on the back over this one. It generally blooms between Thanksgiving and Christmas...it may be early this year.

Earlene and Nancy invited me to help them in a chili cook-off. Earlene picked me up at dark-thirty this morning. Before we got to Rocky Branch, you could see the fog hovering over the highway...in that ONE spot. Earlene knows that I put photos like this on my blog, so she pulled over before I even started pulling my camera out of my purse. I doubt that the fog covered even 1/4 mile. Spoooooky!

Betcha can't guess what our chili cook-off theme was?! LOLEarlene was having a see-no-evil problem. Twice. Aaaah! Here's a good one. Sigh...it was contagious. Then my camera battery died. It hasn't been that long since I charged it...and very few photos taken. The camera is about two years old and I have taken lots of photos...perhaps the battery is dying. I'll have to price them. If it's too high...I'll just buy another camera. I am absolutely amazed at the price of GOOD digital cameras! The first one that Sam bought was right at $700. It takes AA batteries. But my little $100 camera takes photos just about as good.

Chilly Weather Calls for Texas Chili!

No self-respecting Texas cook doesn't have a built-in (by memory) recipe for chili. We get it from our mothers...who got it from their mothers...who got it...well, I think you've got the picture. MOF, when I typed up my recipes for Jonathan, I forgot to type up my chili recipe. I told him that I would get it to him. He laughed. "Mama! I watched you and Daddy make it enough...I don't need it written down."

See! What'd I tell ya?

This is the raw stuff just starting. For you non-Texan cooks you are looking at one pound of ground beef, one chopped onion, two or three cloves of minced garlic.Let's take a break here. Do NOT purchase the ultra-lean stuff. You lose so much flavor! Go ahead and buy ground chuck. After it has browned, scoot it all to the handle end of your skillet and tip the skillet a bit. The grease will drain to the other side of the skillet. Spoon it off or wad up a paper towel, sop up the grease, carefully pick it up with a pair of tongs and drop the greasy towel into the trash. Use another paper towel if necessary.

While it is browning, salt and pepper to taste. After it has browned, add a tablespoon or two of chili powder to taste (I use Penzey's...you can purchase it online at http://www.penzeys.com/). Also stir in two or three tablespoons of flour. Almost forgot...I also add one to three teaspoons of cumin.

Pour in one can of diced tomatoes and a couple of cans of water. Stir. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for an hour to let all the flavors marry. Do the QC (Quality Control) thing a time or two. Check your seasonings...add more if necessary. Also, as it simmers, add more water if needed. Made with one pound of ground beef, this chili is beefy. I have made it with half a pound, but Sam prefers it beefy.

Now. Let's talk about tomatoes. Some Texas chili aficionados do not put tomatoes in their Texas-made chili...cause they say the chuck wagon cooks didn't have tomatoes. Well. I'm not a chuck wagon cook. And I like tomatoes. First husband, Jonathan's daddy, after several years of eating my chili decided he didn't want tomatoes in the chili. I tried that once. Bleh. So...I started whirring my tomatoes (back then they were from my garden and in the freezer) in the blender. He never caught on. Jonathan likes tomato products as long as the tomatoes aren't in big chunks. But I don't cook for him any more. ;o)

A sprinkle of cheddar/Monterrey cheese combination. A few saltine crackers (or if I'd thought about it in time, a pan of cornbread) and a glass of iced tea. Yeppers! In Texas we drink iced tea year round.

I made a quilt block today to send to a HGTV quilting forum member. One of our members has been diagnosed with cancer. Once the quilt is finished and delivered, she will be wrapped with healing love.

I don't remember where this cookbook came from. I think I purchased several to give for Christmas gifts and one for me several years ago.

I have several recipes checked, but this may be the only one I've used over and over so much and finally adapted to suit me.

Some of the other interesting recipes are:
Big Boy Cream of Broccoli Soup
The Cheesecake Factory Key Lime Cheesecake
Chili's Grill and Bar Peanut Buttercup Cheesecake
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Hash Brown Casserole and Chicken & Dumplins
Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon Texas Rice
Marie Callender's Banana Cream Pie
The Olive Garden Italian Salad Dressing and Hot Artichoke-Spinach Dip
Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Onion and Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp
Pizza Hut Pizza Crust
Ruby Tuesday Potato Cheese Soup
Ruth's Chris Steak House Creamed Spinach and Potatoes Au Gratin
T.G.I. Friday's Nine-Layer Dip

Can't believe I haven't tried them yet. Perhaps this browsing through my cookbooks will get the creative juices going again. That coconut shrimp sounds soooo good!

Oops!

In my last post...talking about learning a foreign language...one remark didn't seem so funny when I went back and read it today. So, I deleted it. If you read it and it offended you, I am terribly sorry. It was meant in jest.

If for any legal reason I had to leave the USA and live some place else, Canada (English speaking for the obvious reason that I am woefully non-bilingual) would be one of the top to consider. Possibly on the west coast though...for some reason I don't think it is as cold as it is to the east. Is this a terribly incorrect supposition?

I've always wanted to visit Australia, but would I want the really horrid summers? Are the summer really as horrid as I think? And, would I want to live there?

If I have to leave for any illegal reason...

Changing gears...

I made the worst chili tonight that I've made in a long time! I generally make my own from start to finish adding seasonings to taste as I go. I have a basic recipe and it always tastes good. I found Wick Fowler's 2-Alarm Chili. He won the 1970 Annual World's Championship Chili Cook-off. I know that sometime in the past that I tried it but haven't used it any in recent memory. Years back I even sent a package of it to my penpal in England. Louise, if you remember, I am so sorry! To the rest of you, if you see this in your grocery store, my recommendation is to keep walking.

I didn't even like the way it smelled! "Oh, Sam. I don't like the way this smells." Then I dipped a spoon in it and tasted. "Ah-oh."

Sam made a remark that he'd have to be careful what he said if he liked it.

I dished him up a bowl full and me a half bowl. I couldn't put enough crackers in my bowl and seriously considered filling it up with ketchup/catsup just like I did when I was in school and you had to do something to make the food palatable. Sam didn't say a word, but ate it like it was good! Can you imagine that? The only thing that is saving the man from eating canned chili is that I don't like it!

GOOD Chili

1 - 2 pounds ground beef or chopped sirloin

1 chopped onion

2 cloves diced garlic

2 - 3 tablespoons flour

1 - 2 tablespoons chili powder to start

2 - 3 teaspoons cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1 can chopped tomatoes and juice

1 - 2 cans water

Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic. Season with salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin to taste. Stir in flour, tomatoes and water. Simmer for an hour stirring (and tasting) occasionally.

I know I have mentioned my favorite spice supplier, but just in case I haven't:

http://www.penzeys.com/