Day 72: Casse-rollin'

On Thanksgiving Day last year, I was unemployed and living in my parent's house. It was a strange point in my life, from which I've grown exponentially. I remember last year how inadequate I felt about not being able to bring over food to our Thanksgiving dinner. If I had done that, I would be using food that my mom bought, using her dishes and, sadly, she probably would have washed said dish. So I didn't make anything.

Now that I'm all moved out, employed and on my own, it was the first time that I could really bring a dish to Thanksgiving. I didn't bring anything fancy, but even my green bean casserole was a sign that I was on my own and contributing to the family meal in a grown-up kind of way.

I was tickled by the whole experience, as frivolous as it was, and grateful for how far I've come in a year.

Day 57: Mom's Chili

Today, I called my mom in a panic.

Me: "It's my night to make dinner and I don't know what to do."
Mom: "What do you have in your pantry?"
Me: "Absolutely nothing."
Mom: "Have you had spaghetti recently?"
Me: "Just cleaned some out of the fridge."
Mom: "What about chili?"
Me: "PERFECT, tell me how to make it"

Now, I feel like my mom's chili has been misunderstood in the past, so I'm here to clear up some rumors and break some sterotypes.

1. Her chili is not meant for topping hot dogs, but to be eaten in a bowl with a light topping of cheese and crackers. 
2. It's not a great contender for chili cook-offs because it isn't super spicy, despite the fact that it's full of flavor. 
3. It's not a single consistency of like chili meat sauce, but has a variety of textures between the meat, beans, onions and green peppers. 

I love this chili and am pretty sure it's the best chili in the world, and I'm not just saying this because it's my mom's. I like it for all of it's differences from meat mush chili (which I have tried in abundance, for the record) and think that people would be more accepting of it if they thought of it like chili soup.

So, today, as I'm sure you can see where this is headed, Mom taught me how to make her chili and I cooked it for dinner.

In short, it was awesome. Not only did I make it to taste just like I remember it, Mark loved it too. Sweet validation.

Now, I'm posing a challenge to you guys. You should try this chili recipe out, too. I think it will change your opinion on the matter.

Mom's Chili (Soup)

• One pound of hamburger meat
• One onion, diced
• One green pepper, diced
• Two cans of diced tomatoes (I used a brand that had jalapenos in with the tomatoes, which was a nice addition!)
• One can of tomato paste
• One can of kidney beans, drained
• One can of beer (I used Tap Room No. 21 Amber Ale, but anything will do)
• Two cups of water
• Chili powder
• Chili seasoning packet
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Brown the meat and onions in the bottom of a sauce pot. Add diced peppers, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, beans, beer, two cups of water and all seasonings. Let cook over medium heat for 45 minutes. Serve hot with shredded cheddar and Saltine crackers.

Let me know how it goes!

Day 31: Long-lost relatives

I've always thought that I have a pretty small family. I'm the only child and was the only grandchild until one of my grandmothers (lucky me, I have three!) was blessed with two little ones in more recent years.

If you go back to my grandparents, however, they all had big families and many siblings. I've met some of them, but not all, as they are fairly well-dispersed across the country. Today, my grandmother invited me over to dinner, where I met family I've never met before, my great aunt Peggy, my maternal grandfather's sister, and her husband, my great uncle Bill.

Now that I'm getting older, I have a much deeper respect for these people and their histories and how much they impact my own. It also had a very profound impact on me to meet the people who knew my grandparents when they were young.

It found it so touching to me to hear my aunt Peggy call my grandmother and grandfather, "Jimmy" and "Joanie," clearly personal names associated with their youths. While I know, of course, that my grandparents were young once, hearing these names and the stories in which they reference these names, makes them seem like lively young people just weathered by time--no different in character than they might have been when they were my age. My grandmother apparently made apple pies the same way she did when she and granddaddy were first married. She was also really claustrophobic. Things I never would have learned were it not for my new-found relatives to share with me.

I also found myself deeply engaged in the stories that aunt Peggy had to say about my grandfather as a brother--a role I had never connected him to. Peggy painted him as a troublemaker and prankster, as well as a young man who looked out and cared for a younger sister. She remembered that someone put her bike up in a tree (Granddaddy: "I will not confirm nor deny that I did that") and that he calmed her fears during a really heavy storms. 

I could really go on and on about the lessons I've learned from seeing my relatives interact with my grandparents on an intimate and knowing level. What I can confirm most is that I am indescribably blessed to have the family that I do, and that I hope to come across other relatives and friends who knew my parents and grandparents "when..." because it helps me understand who they were as well as putting into stunning relief the longevity, beauty and purpose of Family.

L to R: Granddaddy "Jimmy", Grandma Gore "Joanie", Uncle Bill, Aunt Peggy, Me, Mom, Daddy