It's chili inside

Shavie Nicks

It was Saturday.  It was chilly and cloudy and intermittently raining in sideways slants that felt like a million little shaving nicks.  You needed a hat to keep the rain off your melon, but you also had to hold the hat on your melon, or the wind would blow it away into a puddle.

Stevie Nicks

In other words, just my kind of day!

Norton!

But we were at the big store buying cat supplies (there's a teaser for you!) and whatnot, and Peggy had mentioned feeling like it was a good day to have chili for dinner.  Chili con carne, as they say in sunny Mexico, not to be confused with Art Carney.


Chili sounded good, as I edged toward the food department of the BA store.  But it had to be fresh, homemade chili.  Canned chili? Just look at the ingredients!

I didn't know what exactly I needed to make a couple of great bowls o' chili, but Google knows everything, and I asked Ms Google for the best chili recipe.  I was directed at once to the gimmesomeoven.com website and their recipe for five-ingredient easy chili.

When they say "five ingredients" and "easy," they ain't kiddin,' boy! A pound of ground beef (or a "lb" of ground beef), 3 cans of Ro*tel tomatoes with diced green chilies (buy the store*brand), 2 cans of kidney beans (again with the store brand), two tablespoons of chili powder, and a cut-up onion.

You round up those ingredients and you go home and find that big stockpot that came with the 147-piece home cookware set that Aunt Fritzi gave you, heat it up with a little olive oil, toss in the beef, brown it, toss in the diced onion and the chili powder and the canned tomatoes/chilies and beans, bring it all to a boil and then let it simmer for fifteen minutes or so, which gives you time to round up some grated cheddar and plain yogurt to dollop on the top of the best chili ever!

Sure, there are Texans who will tell you that if you want chili this Saturday, you should have started cooking last week.  We don't have time for that.  Counting the time you have to wait in line behind the family buying cookies and snack cakes for next week's school lunches, and the ride home, you can have great chili in just about an hour if you start right now.

Go ahead!  We'll be right here when you get back!