Double Batch of Chili

Dale and I made my Mom's chili recipe this morning. Dale was my sous-chef and handled all the chopping, while I handled the sauces, beans and spicing. It was fun to make the chili together.

We made a double batch. We are having our friends Sandy Stubbendick and Judy Wodell over for dinner and Mexican Train Dominoes tonight and will be serving chili. We also made a batch for our friend's The Spencer's. It is a lot of chili. The house already smells great with one batch in the crockpot and the other batch on the stove.

Double batch ready for cooking.

If anyone is looking for a good chili recipe, especially for the Super Bowl this is a great one and it is easy to make. My Mom made it for years and people used to request it from her all the time.

Melinda Whittaker's Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of parsley
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 onion
• 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
• 4 cans of crushed tomatoes (16 oz)
• 2 cans of kidney beans (16 oz)
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce (32 oz)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 package of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 box of saltine crackers

Directions:

Dice parsley, garlic, onion, peppers and add to slow cooker. Brown ground beef, drain excess grease and add to slow cooker. Add crushed tomatoes, kidney beans and spaghetti sauce to slow cooker. Add crushed red pepper flakes and chili powder. Cook in slow cooker or 4 1/2 hours on high. Serve in bowl with shredded mozzarella cheese sprinkled over top and saltine crackers on the side.

Dumb blonde jokes

Do the other coffees tell "dumb blonde" roast jokes?

That would be a great viral video for Starbuck's. Slightly offensive to blondes but they probably would not understand it anyways.

The Match Game

This morning with my cereal I watched 70's game show classic Match Game on the GSN (that's Game Show Network for you uncool people). You have to love a show that had the celebrities drinking and smoking during the show. From the 70's fashion to the corny answers to the legendary Gene Rayburn it was great fun.

They should bring this show back and put it on before Modern Family. It would be fun. Who do I need to call at ABC?

Or better yet...do a weekend of vintage game shows with current celebrities. Recreate Family Feud, Match Game, Password, $25,000 Pyramid and Battle of the Network Stars all hosted by the legendary Betty White.

I like pictures like this...

...because if I ever do snap and go crazy, the local news stations can use it and people will say, "well, he definitely looked insane."

Small but mighty

She is small but she is a scrappy fighter. She also has a bit of small dog syndrome and likes being queen of the stairs.

Tomithy

I wore my glasses today...yet nobody called me by my glass wearing alter ego "Tomithy" once. Disappointing.

Blackhawk

We went up to Blackhawk tonight for dinner and to watch our friend Stacie Stubbendick gamble. She turned 21 yesterday, so she went drinking last night and gambling tonight. It was fun except the crab legs at dinner made me itchy (shellfish allergy). I also lost $30, but Stacie won $75 and that is what matters.

Birthday Lunch for Stacie Stubbendick

We took Stacie Stubbendick to East Moon to kick off her birthday celebration. She turns 21 tomorrow. It was fun.

They're back!!!!!

Yes, the Girl Scouts are back and they brought me cookies. Our neighbor Sophia Krout came over this morning and did a great job selling Dale and I some cookies. She is so adorable.

Slower and melancholy

Here are some songs that spoke to me today. Most are slower, but sometimes the slower and melancholy songs just sound best.