Chili Night!

We had a BID renewal meeting for Sunset & Vine at the YMCA and after that, Sarah and I went to Larchmont to get coffee at Peet’s. I also got a tin of tea leaves for my ice tea maker. I told Dylan that if anyone asked what I wanted to Yuletide this year, to just tell them I want good loose-leaf teas. If I could get enough tea to last me through 2011, I would be happy! Angela and I decided we would have a chili night, so I texted my mom to get her chili recipe. As a kid, my mom used to make chili often in the fall and winter, and it was usually one of the first signs of fall. Back in western Kansas, chili soup is traditionally accompanied by cinnamon rolls - even in the schools - but apparently people in LA have not heard of that, so we decided Angie would just be in charge of some type of bread to serve with it and I would make the soup. As I was leaving work, I told Kerry about my plans so she asked to look at the recipe and she suggested I add cumin to it, which was a good idea. I stopped at Trader Joe’s to get the ingredients, but they didn’t have everything I needed so I had to stop again at Ralph’s on the way home to get the green chilis, crushed tomatoes, and chili powder. I got home and started cooking and Dylan immediately started to say how good it smelled once I got it on the oven. Mom’s recipe seems to be updated somewhat from what I remember it, because back in the day it seemed to be a little watery, maybe she was making it go farther or maybe us kids liked it more watery back then. But she explained that her and dad like their chili thick nowadays, and my batch turned out great! Brandon and Angie came over right in time to eat. Everyone loved it - it turned out so good! I made a big batch so that there would be leftovers to make my favorite dish - Chili Dogs! - with (I even bought tofu dogs at Ralph’s). After dinner, we watched a couple episodes of “Running Wilde” which Brandon and Angie had never seen but we all loved it and laughed so much. I had forgotten how much I loved traditional chili nights - I hadn’t had one of those since I was younger and the family all lived together, save one night a few years ago when we were all home for the holidays and I ended up getting sick later and throwing chili up all over the basement (sorry that’s gross)! But it was always such a big part of autumn in Kansas growing up. Mom would make chili and we would all eat it, and often times our cousins or other guests would come over too. I can’t believe I’ve been neglecting chili nights for so many years!