40 Years of Tradition - A Fond Farewell

This has to do with chili. I've been using the same recipe since we were first married and was flabbergasted when the family's response to a new recipe was overwhelmingly positive. Who woulda thunk it? I tried it because it's more Weight Watchers friendly than my usual recipe and because I just need to change it up sometimes. I warned everyone about the change, worried that the addition of jalapeno was going to make everyone hate it. Again, surprised. I had almost no leftovers.

The recipe comes from Bon Appetit - how long ago, I don't know.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large red onions, chopped
1 jalapeno chili, chopped (they included seeds, I seeded it)
8 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 pounds lean ground beef
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
28-oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained
14-oz can of beef broth

Garnishes: sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped green onions, chopped cilantro

Saute onions in olive oil until they're brown - about 6 minutes. Add jalapeno and garlic, saute another minute. Add ground beef and brown, breaking meat up with a fork as it cooks. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 45 minutes.


(I'm inputting this recipe from memory, so if I've made errors, I'll correct them when I get home.)

Book Series

I can get a little manic about reading a book series in order. When a panicked mom stands in front of me at the reference desk, tearing her hair out because book three of her kiddo's favorite series is in, but he hasn't read number two yet, we don't have it, and he won't read them out of order, I side with the kid. Then every once in a while I throw caution to the wind and just read the book that's at hand, no matter where it stands in publication order. And it always bites me in the butt.

I realized that this week, not while reading the seventh book in Alexander McCall Smith's Scotland Street series, but in reading the first one. Bertie Plays the Blues enchanted me, gave me respite from the chaos that reigns here most of the time. It was new. It was on the shelf. It came home with me and I devoured it. Hmmm. Had I read any others in that series? Went back and looked, and no, so let's get number one. I spent so much time trying to remember what each character was doing in number seven and I almost missed the charm of number one, titled 44 Scotland Street. Finally, I reined myself in, reminding myself that I never remember endings of books anyway, so I can always go back and read it again to put things in order. But I'm not doing it again. Until next time.

The lure of garden tomatoes is so strong. We've had three ripen, with about 20 more on the vine, most of them very green. I don't suppose it does any good to stand out there and try to shame them into ripening, but the idea's tempting!

And our pool is down. A cat-claw puncture meant it wasn't holding air for long. A new one, a little bigger, is on it's way. So we're without a pool until next weekend. We'll survive, and have something to look forward to!