Thanksgiving Chili

Yes, that's right, we made chili for thanksgiving. They told us at work to bring in some type of mexican cuisine because they wanted to not have turkey dinners two days in a row (not including of course the day after thanksgiving.) Yes, we know it's not really mexican it's actually more american/texan than anything... but i have two large pots, one that's probably 2 gallons at most, and one huge one that you are supposed to cook a roast in the oven in. Ya know...the ones that are black with white speckles...my grandma has an oval one that she cooks turkey in every year around this time...ours is a little over 4 gallons...we measured it twice...what a waste of water...he threw together chili in that...By the time it cooked down (which was 14 hours later--i'll get to that later--) it was about 3 gallons of chili.



What was all in the chili you say?? Dare you ask??

You'll regret it soon...

2 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
2 onions
2 green bell peppers
1 yellow bell pepper
7 serrano peppers
2 yellow wax peppers
6 jalepenos
5 large tomatoes
1 bulb (yes BULB) garlic, minced
2 28 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes "with garlic and onion"
1 14 oz can corn
1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
2 14 oz can kidney beans
2 14 oz can black beans
1.5 lb pinto beans (soaked)
3 beers
Around probably 72 oz of water

Spices:
Chili powder
salt
sea salt
black pepper
cayan pepper
garlic salt
(ez) basil
(ez) italian seasoning
(ez) tumeric
olive oil (sauteed garlic and onions)
secret ingredient

Cook meat. Chop tomatoes, mince garlic, dice rest of fresh ingredients. Rinse beans, throw everything in. Spice to taste.

Ours cooked for 14 hours...why?? Beans will not soften up if you put in salt. If you put in acidic things. (all of the spices/peppers/tomatoes) We soaked beans for over a day's time. You are supposed to soak, then boil, then soak some more, refrigerate while soaking. Do not add salt or acidic things until they are already soft or they will never get soft. It took us lots of paniced research two hours before we needed to go to work with it to find out that if you add baking soda to it (only a teaspoon, trust us, we put in two beause it was such a big batch but we only needed one for that batch, you smell the baking soda.) it will soften the beans up.

After all that work it burned in the crock pot...





oh and of course, i made peanut butter fudge.

Pottery

There is a place near here that creates pottery and you pick one out and then choose some colors (they have a wall full of colors) and you then sit down with the colors you picked out and paint on your piece of pottery. Once you are done, they thrown it in the kilm again and fire it and then it will be shiny and look lovely.



This is my piece that I chose to paint and have gone there twice to paint it. It is still in progress even though most people go once, paint and leave and come back a week later and pick it up done. Not me...but mine is very detailed. Very very neat. Oh, and also...if anyone knows me they know I wouldn't choose dingy colors... once it is fired it believe it or not those colors will become red yellow black and two pretty oranges.

That is all for today. Good night.


Ginger Marrie