Chili Recipe

So, a friend of mine asked my advice about his chili recipe a week or so ago. I thought that I'd post my run-of-the-mill chili recipe here, both for him to reference in the future, and for the sake of sharing with all of you. (Keep in mind that I use as many organic ingredients as possible. This means that spices don't have fillers, etc. I've tried to make notes where I think this will affect others.) I hope you enjoy it!

INGREDIENTS
1 to 2 teaspoons olive or canola oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced (You can use canned, diced green chilies in a pinch too.)
1 lb. ground turkey (You can use ground beef, but will have to drain the fat, when cooked.)
2 15 ounce cans chili beans with liquid (I use a low-salt bean blend of dark red kidney beans, pinto beans, and black beans.)
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce (If you like tomatoes, use diced tomatoes instead. I'm pleasing picky eaters.)
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
2 to 3 teaspoons pure chili powder (If yours is conventional or a blend, use 2 to 3 tablespoons instead.)
1 teaspoon cumin
1-2 tablespoons sugar (to cut the acid of the tomatoes)
8 drops Tabasco hot sauce
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste- depending upon the saltiness of your canned beans)
10 grinds of black pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Sauté the onions, garlic, and peppers in the oil until translucent.
2. Add the meat and brown, breaking into small pieces until thoroughly cooked.
3. Add tomatoes, beans, and seasonings. Stir thoroughly and simmer.
4. Season to taste.

For more variety, sauté in bacon drippings or use an italian sausage instead of the turkey/beef. Serve with shredded cheese, diced onions, or sour cream/plain low fat yogurt. We like to eat this with corn bread on the side. I'll post that recipe some other day.

Small Town

We live a couple of miles from a small town.  It's the county seat, the biggest town in the county, but it only has a population of a little over 2,000.  It is a quintessentially small midwestern town. 

Here's a prime example of what I mean. Yesterday the UPS delivery man stopped into the little building where my husband rents an office. Despite the fact that my husband has had all of his business mail/packages shipped to our home address, this carrier asked if there was someone with my husband's name working in the office. My husband overheard this question and came out to see who was enquiring about him. The UPS guy explained that he didn't think he could get up the long drive to our home and so was dropping a package off at my husband's place of work instead. 

You see, we had freezing rain, covered by 7 inches of snow last week. It is still on the ground. Plus we've had some light dustings and sleet that have come down since then. In our part of the world, this is unheard of for early December. A week after the snow, schools operated on a 2 hour delay yesterday! Because snow is so unusual here, people always have a hard time coping with this much snow. I know, you northerners are shaking your heads and rolling your eyes.

"Snow in December, pah! It starts falling here in October!" 

"Seven inches is nothing. Why we have 21 inches on the ground already."

But here a forecast of snow seems to strike fear into the hearts of most. (Well, that and it causes them to go grocery shopping.) For one thing, our poor county relies on a handful of pick-up trucks to plow. I don't think the county owns a full-size, bona fide plow. For another thing, most folks in this county are rural to the extreme. Many have to drive 45 minutes or more for groceries or gas. They heat their homes (often trailers, double-wides, or glorified shacks) with wood.  Most don't make much money and don't have decent winter apparel, shovels, or plows. And they have little experience driving in snow or ice. You get the idea.

Anyway, here are some kickers to this delivery story. 

#1) We didn't deem the snowfall worth hooking the plow up to the tractor for, and have been traversing our long driveway sans plowing for a week with no difficulties. I haven't lived in a northern clime for 15 years, but had no trouble driving in the snow in our minivan. Even the USPS has delivered to my door twice this week.

#2) The day before, the same delivery man had put a large package for us in a plastic bag (that did not cover the top) and dropped it in the snow at the end of our driveway (probably due to the aforementioned reason) despite the flurries that were falling that day. Luckily my husband was in town this week and saw it as he drove by, otherwise it could have sat outside for days. I only get out several times a week for scheduled activities.  

#3) The package given to my husband at his place of work was addressed to ME at our home address. His name was nowhere on the package. But somehow the delivery man heard that someone with the same last name as mine worked in my husband's building. He assumed/knew that we were married. In a county this small and a town this size word gets 'round quickly. In another county we could have been brother and sister or cousins or even unrelated. But in this county/town all this is known. We're probably the only folks around with our last name, and one of the few families that hasn't lived here for generations. 

#4) Of all the items for which I was awaiting delivery, the package contained my husband's Christmas present. Clearly emblazoned on the side was not only the company name, but the item description. All that was missing was a picture. And we had just gone over all of our Christmas shopping together two nights before, so he knew that this item was not for any of our children or relatives. Sigh.

"Surprise, honey! Merry Christmas a bit early!"

I find this to be a classic small town occurrence. The UPS man saw nothing wrong with delivering a package to someone who was not the addressee. He found no problem delivering a package to an address not listed on the label. He was unabashed in knowing so much about us. Since I grew up in an urban environment, an occurrence like this is disturbing on so many levels, but I think my husband, who grew up in a small town, finds it humorous. Unlike me, he is in his element and comfortable here. I do not like the fact that everybody knows about me despite my never having met them! I tend to be a private person. (This blog is only a tiny slice of my life.) So I'm still struggling to get used to such things.

But in return for my uncomfortableness I do get benefits. For example, when the snow initially fell, I stood in a pool of lamplight for a moment before I began shoveling. I heard the soft sigh of flakes falling on flakes. I watched as each snowflake shadow seemed to rise to meet its matching snowflake.  I heard the beech leaves in the understory of the woods rustle slightly in a breath of wind. I heard the creak of swaying branches in the cold. That's all I heard… no cars, no sirens, no music, no voices, no TV noise from the neighboring house.

When having to get up on and off all night a few days ago to tend my teething baby, I got to see the moonlight shimmer on sparkling snow. I saw the long, pale shadows of tulip trees slide slowly across the luminescent blanket of snow as the moon slowly set.

All week I've seen the animals as their habits have changed. A yearling white-tail has been bedding down between the bushes and the house. It grazes on the ivy during the day. I saw 5 bluebirds on the fence at one time. A pileated woodpecker flew just feet from my windshield today as I made my way down the drive, etc. The yard is is just criss-crossed with animal prints. 

So there you have it: Mother Nature and Nosy Nellie seem to go hand-in-hand.