CINCINNATI CHILI

DE. LISH. US.

I have done a little research on this chili since I posted

about it yesterday and apparently I am the only person

on the face of the earth that has never heard of it.

People eat something like 85,000 pounds of it a year

back in the Cincinnati area. Tourists go and eat this

before they see any other attractions.

After making it I can see why!

There are several ways to describe what exactly

you wish to have served on your chili when

you order it from one of the hundreds of

restaurants that serve it:

• two-way: spaghetti and chili
• three-way: spaghetti, chili, and shredded cheese
• four-way: spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, diced onions or beans
• five-way: spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, diced onions, beans
• cheese coney: hot dog topped w/chili, shredded cheese, diced onions, mustard
• 
  
• We had it four-way, with spaghetti, chili,
• shredded cheese and onions.
• 
  

The chili turns out more like a spaghetti sauce than

what I know as chili and the burger is cooked in water

rather than fried, which gives it a different texture

and removes the fat.

Very different, very good, very much going into my

permanent book!

Cincinnati Chili

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup sweet onion, plus a whole onion, chopped, divided
2 pounds ground beef
6 cups cold water
1/4 cup chili powder (or to taste)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 ounce (half a square) unsweetened chocolate, grated
2 (10.5-ounce) cans beef broth
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 pound angel hair pasta or spaghetti
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup of

onion and cook, stirring frequently until tender, about 6 minutes.

Drain and set aside.

Place ground beef in a large pot and add six cups of water. Stir to

break up the raw beef (yes, this is weird, but it is correct). Bring to

a boil over high heat,stirring to continue breaking up the meat. Once

it is no longer pink, after about 5 minutes, drain well.

Return the drained beef and cooked onions to the pot. Add chili

powder, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, cloves, bay leaf, chocolate,

beef broth, tomato sauce, cider vinegar and cayenne pepper. Stir

to mix well.Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer

1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaf.

While chili is simmering, cook pasta according to package

instructions. Serve chili over hot angel hair pasta or spaghetti. Top

with remaining chopped onions and shredded cheddar cheese.

Serves: 6.

MID WEEK ALREADY

The mountain was gorgeous this morning!

What an amazing creation to see everyday

when we wake up. My husband and daughter

are in South Carolina--hopefully they woke

up to a beautiful day too!

We are into my favorite part of winter...crisp temperatures

and bright blue skies. Everything is covered in frost this

morning and the ocean is so calm.

We are already gaining daylight time since the shortest

day was December 21st. Right before Christmas I was

driving my daughter home from school and we

both noticed it was pitch dark at 3:30.

Yesterday it was twilight at 4:05, so we are adding

daylight quickly now.

We even had the patio door open for awhile onto

the deck yesterday. The dogs were lounging out

there soaking up the sun, which is very unusual

for December. We have had very little snow

compared to the last 2 winters, just a dusting

here and there. This time last year we were

buried under 4 feet of snow and it never

really went away the rest of the winter.

This was a fun order for the library yesterday. They were

doing a program on Polar Bears and each child that

attended received a sugar cookie. When I delivered

them the librarians were hoping that they were going

to be able to "help" with the program. I think there

was a little bit of cookie envy going on there.

I am making a chili recipe today that I received in an

email. It is called Cincinnati Chili, apparently it is

from a famous restaurant? I have never heard of it

but it sounds so good I am going to give it a shot.

It is one of those chili recipes that has no beans

and it is served over pasta. Plus it has chocolate

in it and several fragrant spices. The email

said it tastes better the next day and the day

after that. I like those kinds of recipes and

usually double them so we can freeze some

for another time.

If it is good I will post the recipe and a picture

tomorrow. I should probably make some

french bread to go with it for dipping, huh?

Today the Christmas decorations all come down.

Wow, it seems like we just put them up.

What is up with this time warp thing anyway?

It's like the time has speeded up and 24 hours

isn't 24 hours anymore.

Weren't we just celebrating the start of 2009?

(ALMOST) THE WHOLE FAM DAMILY

My younger brother and sister-in-law treat us to a

fun time each year as a special Christmas present.

They rent the local gym for a few hours to play

games with the sports equipment the school has.

We played Dodge Ball, Muk Luk Moose (the

Alaskan version of Duck Duck Goose) P.I.G.

Basketball, the kids roller skated, ran races,

and rode bikes & skateboards.

Afterwards we were treated to pizza, fruit,

drinks and homemade cupcakes.

We had a great time and took a few minutes

to snap some pictures since a lot of our

family was there.

26 of us all together in one spot--quite a feat! You

should be able to click the picture and make it big.

My sister's 3 kids all live in town now.

A sibling picture...my husband and I on the left, my sister

and her husband next, my younger brother and his wife

next and my older brother and his wife on the right.

Thank you Jack and Allison for a great time and

more great memories!

Speaking of memories, my husband and younger

daughter are flying out this morning on their way

to Georgia. They will drive from there to South

Carolina to visit with his aunt and uncle. His

mother flew in from Poland for Christmas

and they will spend a week together over

New Years. We had some thick fog roll in

this morning, so hopefully they will be able

to fly out on time...

MY NEW SHIRT

I got this for Christmas from my daughter:

Before all you Polacks get all riled up,

remember she's half Polish, and proud of it!

Oh, and by the way, when we went back to

Poland I discovered that the Polish people

refer to themselves as Polacks. Like, they

use the term in casual conversation when

talking about other Poles.

And here I always thought it was a negative

term because of all the Polish jokes I heard

when I was growing up. In fact, that was

the only way I had ever heard Polish

people described, was derogatory.

Now I realize that the only people I hear

telling Polish jokes turn out to be pretty big

idiots themselves.

THE DAY AFTER

Ahhhh, it feels so good to sit down. We had a great

time on Christmas Eve, with family, food and fun.

Here are the tables being readied for dinner:

We had Cornish Game Hens, rice, salads, Borscht, bread

and for dessert a variety of cookies and a chocolate cake

made by my niece.

Before dinner we had a few appetizers in the kitchen. My

favorites were my sister in law's warm Artichoke dip and

broiled Mushrooms stuffed with Feta Cheese--yum.

It's amazing that you don't know how hungry you are

until you smell the good food!

This must have been the See Food platter.

The black appetizers are Penguins made from olives

stuffed with cream cheese with carrot feet and beaks.

We also made Krumkakas for the first time. They

are Scandinavian cookies that are cooked on a

special iron, then rolled on a wooden cone to make

a pretty shape. We used a small camp stove

because I have an electric stove and gas works

much better to control the heat of the iron.

My older brother has our Grandma's iron and wooden

roller, so he brought it over and my uncle gave me

our Grandma's recipe to use.

It was fun and a little high-tech because Keith used his

iPhone to time how long to cook the cookies :-) We put

them out on a platter and they were gone instantly so

they must have been good!

The cuzzies had fun together...

Sally & her daughter Nancy visited from Washington

and brought an extra special gift for all of us. Sally

crocheted a Hefty bag full of hats and we each got

to pick one out to keep!

Here are some of the special hats and just look at the

gorgeous servers that volunteered to carry around

my Grandma's china set for people's tea and coffee.

One of the games we played was Frozen Tee Shirt. The

night before I had soaked a few of my husband's shirts

in water, tied them in knots and froze them. The next

morning I took them out to thaw just a little and the

idea was to grab a partner, untie the shirt and then

one of you has to put it on to win.

It's definitely not as easy as it sounds!

Yeeesh that's icy cold over a velvet dress!

The winners!

Another game was Name That Christmas Carol. Teams

of 3 or 4 pick a leader and send the leader to the host

to see the name of a common Christmas carol. The

leader then goes back to their team and has to act

out the carol until the team recognizes it and shouts

it out. They then have to sing the carol and the

whole thing is timed against the other teams.

The Christmas Carol winners!

A pretty picture taken as we went to bed on Christmas Eve.

My little doggy just chillin' and enjoyin' the view after

all the excitement. He likes to sit by the angels and

watch the birds flying around.

Merry Christmas and God's Best Blessings on

your New Year from my family to yours!

CAN YOU SMELL US?

I have a few minutes while the bread is rising and I am

waiting for the broken hot water heater to be fixed. Our 2

year old water heater chose today to meltdown. I need a

shower, but there is no hot water. I have 5 orders due today

and have Christmas Eve dinner at my house tomorrow.

Did I mention there is no hot water?

Hmmm (tapping chin) what to do...what to do...

Oh, I know. How about a joke? I've heard

that if you laugh you won't break down and cry.

Mahatma Gandhi walked barefoot everywhere, to the point that

the soles of his feet became quite thick and hard. Being a very

spiritual person, he ate very little and often fasted. As a result,

he was quite thin and frail. Furthermore, due to his diet, he ended

up with very bad breath.

Therefore he came to be known as a super calloused, fragile mystic,

plagued with halitosis.

:-)

SELF PORTRAIT

Here I am with my bag of sugar on my shoulder:

Does my scarf make my hips look big?

Back tomorrow after I am done with the luncheon...

I HAVE BEEN RUNNING

I know it has been awhile since I posted anything and

I have a good excuse! My kitchen is done and I have

been working around the clock to fill the holiday

orders that have come in. It has been a challenge

to figure out how to navigate in the kitchen at the

same time as figuring out how to fill people's

orders in a timely manner.

My friend Cori finished my website and I think

it turned out great. I wanted a vintage look that

could be easily navigated and she delivered.

Check it out here: Grandma Tillie's Bakery

Let me know what you think!

And for everyone that prays for my Mom;

I just got a call and she is going home from

the hospital today. The doctor said she is

doing great and can recover there instead

of in the hospital or rehab center. Thank

you for your prayers and good thoughts.

And my latest cake: Yes, the bow is sugar.

Everybody asks that!

I am off to the kitchen to fill a bread order and

deliver it to the school, then I need to get started

on a holiday cookie order for a party tomorrow,

then a luncheon for 30 people on Thursday, and

a large cookie order for Friday.

People tell me I smell like sugar...LOL