Winter-time temperatures bring back memories of homemade chili. You know. those days when you go outside and take a deep breath and icicles form on the inside of your nostrils. Those are the kind of winter-time temps I'm talking about.
Like February 14, 2021, in Bartlesville, Okrahoma. Winter-time temps when the wind chill factor is MINUS EIGHTEEN DEGREES. That would be: Eighteen degrees BELOW zero. Toto, we're not talking about Fairbanks, Alaska. We're talking about Okrahoma.
But, back to the chili. Not to be cornfoosed with CHILLY.
Memories . . . It was an idyllic setting. Our little four-room house. Just the three of us. Mom. Daddy. and Me.
My mom's concoction bubbled in a pot on the big white Frigidaire stove. A savory, pungent, spicy fragrance wafted through the air that would make anyone drool like a puppy dog looking at a ham bone.
Mom's chili varied as to what she had left over from previous meals. Her main ingredient was some kind of meat which could be anything from ground beef, to shredded-up roast, and on occasion venison. Not from any deer that my daddy shot. That's a wholenother story.
The other main ingredient would be a Mason jar of canned tomatoes. Tomatoes that were grown in either of my grandmothers' gardens.
Other ingredients might be cornmeal as a thickener, a touch of cinnamon or nutmeg, or cloves, or cumin, chili powder, she always added sugar, sometimes a tad bit of peanut butter . . . yes, you read that correctly. . . peanut butter ! Sometime there were onions. There were never any beans added that I can remember.
Mom would scoop out that deliciousness into heavy pottery-type bowls. I would immediately place Saltine crackers inside the bowl and down into the chili so as to 'build a fence.' This produced a soggy half and a crunchy half of each cracker.
But, the crème de la crème was the peaches. Ordinary. Canned. Peaches.
They went into a bowl all of their own.
So there we have: The Savory. The Sweet. The Soggy. The Crunchy. What more do you need?
I would share my mom's recipe if I knew what it was. Her chili never tasted the same. But, her chili was always delicious.
So, the next time you cook up a big 'ole pot of chili, don't forget the Saltines and the peaches.
And just for fun, stir in a dollop of creamy peanut butter. You'll be glad you did.