Words from The Crone

For years and years I was taught that simple is better.  There is even that saying, “Keep it simple, stupid” that was called the “Kiss” principle.  I’m not sure I like the stupid part, but I do like the concept.  Last Friday I found out, for the second time, that simple wins!

Our church had a chili cookoff for the first time in its history last week.  Wow, we thought, let’s make a big pot of chili and see what happens.  Whenever I can I make my chili the day before we eat it, but that particular day I was on trip with my daughter to see the UDel Andy Warhol photographic exhibit.  Since my R wasn’t interested he got the job of putting the chili together.  However, I cautioned him, it had better be to my mom’s simple recipe.  No fooling around with as he was wont to do!  Last time he put bacon fat in it and another time he put Worcester sauce and green peppers in it.  Yuk!

He promised to be faithful to that simple recipe and when I came home that evening around 9:30 p.m. all was together simmering away on the stove.  He assured me he hadn’t messed with the recipe.  I turned it off and tasted it.  Too bland.  However, I decided to let it sit overnight and see how it tasted in the morning when the flavors had married each other. 

Late next morning it was time to fire up the stove and get the chili simmering again to be ready for the 5:00 p.m. judging time at church.  I stirred and tasted and knew that it needed something.  So, I boldly threw in another tablespoon of chili powder and ½ teaspoon of salt.  Putting it on simmer I left it continue to boil down.  Several hours later I came and the three of us tasted the chili.  It was well, just on the edge of either needing a tiny smidgeon of something more or leaving it alone.  We collectively decided to leave it alone.

When we got to church there must have been 20 other pots of chili waiting to be tasted.  They all looked wonderful and tasty and were even made in much larger batches than ours.  We had no hope of winning, none, zip.  So, after the blessing we sat down with our salad, cornbread, and a bowl of our chili.  I knew what was in it and that it wasn’t too hot for my.  R was bold and tried someone else’s creation.  I tried someone else’s on my second time around, but it was so hot I gave it to R to finish.

As we were finishing up the last of our meal they announced the winners.  There were three categories and they awarded those winners first.  Then it came to our category.  The rector announced the comments of the judges of the winner saying the flavors blended well, it was of a good consistency and had a wonderful texture.  Wonder who’s it is we mused to each other.  And the winner is “Mr. R!”  OMG!  Mom’s simple recipe won!  We were stunned and shocked.  The prize was a very nice crockery pot, some pot holders, and three bottles of hot sauce which our daughter will love!

Now, this was the second time our simple chili recipe had won.  In 2000 at another 1^st annual church chili contest it also won first place!  We were stunned then too! So, simple is better and for you cooks out there, here is my mom’s two-time award winning chili recipe.  It tastes best if you cook it some the day before and finish it off the next day.

Mom’s Award Winning Chili

Serves Four

 1 pound of ground beef (80/20 mix)

1 14.5-oz can of stewed tomatoes (undrained) Do not use plain tomatoes.

1 15.5-oz can of dark kidney beans (undrained)

1 medium onion chopped finely

1 rounded teaspoon of salt

2 well rounded tablespoons of chili powder. (Note: If you increase the recipe add

 1 Teaspoon extra chili powder for each additional pound of meat).

 Brown the meat in a skillet and break into small pieces.  Combine the meat (with the fat) into a pot with the stewed tomatoes (and juice), kidney beans (with the juice), salt, and chili powder.  Bring to a boil, stirring to prevent sticking.

Cover the pan and lower heat to simmer.  Simmer for 3-4 hours, stirring frequently to keep chili from sticking on the bottom.  Turn off heat and let stand on stove overnight.

The next day bring the chili up to a simmer, adjust the seasoning, but don’t overdo it, and simmer uncovered for about five hours or until reaching desired consistency (not too juicy not too dry).  Let the chili cool down for about fifteen to twenty minutes before serving.  Serve with a tossed salad and cornbread.  Enjoy!

Here it is another Valentine’s day and I’ve spent another $5.00 on a card for my beloved R.  I am giving him a wonderful dinner tonight as my gift to the man who probably loves food only second or third to me and to God.  Although sometimes I wonder about the order of his love – maybe food comes in first.  He gave me a lovely cross to add to my collection of crosses which grows more slowly these days.  That is good because we are approaching an age when we are beginning to think of divesting rather than investing in more things.  I gave my daughter a box of chocolates and another $5.00 card and I sent my two out of town daughter’s e-cards.  I love them all so much.

 This morning when R and K had both gone off after breakfast to tend to other things, I sat in my rocker with my dog by my side and simply thought about this day.  I don’t know who made up Valentine’s Day but I suspect it was some little wicked person dreaming up ways to sell Hallmark® cards or Godiva ® chocolates.  Maybe it was a wedding chapel parson in Las Vegas wanting more business on this particular day.  I’m not sure anyone really knows although they say it was because St. Valentine was murdered on February 14^th between 263 and 269 A.D. (or CE as it is now called) for marrying Christian couples who weren’t worshiping the Emperor.  It wasn’t until the 1300’s that it was associated with showing affection.  Murder?  Affection? Marriage?  Emperor worship?  Something doesn’t pass the smell test, but it is too late now to go back, I figure.  It is what it is today.

 Sitting in my rocker it doesn’t feel special.  In fact, it never really did.  Something inside of me rebels at boxing love into a one-day splash of gifts and cards and “I love you’s.”  We just finished watching our Netflix® movie “The Notebook.”  Now, that’s a Valentine’s Day love every day of every year until at the end we die.  And….there may even be some who think that love transcends death.  If you haven’t seen the movie I recommend it.  At the end of the movie, an old man and his wife with Alzheimer’s are in a nursing home room alone.  She has a brief moment of clarity and asks, “Do you think our love can do anything we want it to?”  He says, “Yes, it can” as he crawls into bed with her.  They both wanted to die with each other.  In the morning they are both found dead in each other’s arms.

 So, for me, love is something that happens and grows and is expressed in the details of our life every second of every minute of every day of every month of every year forever.  And, it is a love that we must caress and nurture and feed and water with a hundred thousand million billion little acts of love and acts of random kindness – details.  And, I think, we should wrap ourselves in this love not only for one or two or three people but for all of God’s great creation.  I continue my rocking with my dog by my side and think about what a wonderful world that would be.  What a wonderful world I have full of such love.

Just had a wonderful five days in Florida with my Granny Daughter (an inside story).  We made a great team as we executed her plan for a fabulous bridal shower for her soon-to-be daughter-in-law!  We worked our butts off each day from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then relaxed with a glass (or two) of champagne and some nibbles.  The outside world seemed a million miles away. 

But, of course it wasn’t.  The television was full of news of Egypt’s protestors, the water crisis in Zimbabwe, and the horrible bludgeoning death of David Cato, the Ugandan gay rights activist.  The weather was wreaking havoc across the country with unbelievable sums of snow piling up in the northeast and another monster storm marching across 2500 miles of our country.  Cyclones in Australia and Shinmoedake volcanic eruptions in Japan.  A woman in Tampa shot her 13-year old in the head on the way to soccer practice and then returned home to shoot her 16-year old daughter in the head as she sat at her computer doing her homework.  Seven teens are arrested in Philadelphia in the beating of a 13-year old boy.  Jordan’s King dismisses the government amid protests.  Bullying so brutal young teens commit suicide.  We even have a bed-bug epidemic!  And the list goes on and on.

What in the world is happening?  Is our fragile planet buckling under the strain of our abuse as our population grows and grows?  Floods, earthquakes, cyclones, tornados, snow, sleet, ice, are the norm not the exception it seems.  Are our minds so boggled by the complexity of life today that we act irrationally and turn into murderers and abusers of each other?  Or is it the drug culture that has spawned unprecedented violence and random shooting, robberies and worse?  Has our moral fabric torn and shredded so much so that we are rude, inconsiderate, and oblivious to anyone’s need but our own?  Have our voices of decency been drowned out by the din or our own insecurities?

What in the world should we do?  As one small, insignificant person I feel so helpless and unable to do more than monitor my own behavior and vow to be more mindful of what I say and what I do and how I treat people.  We cannot control the weather – or can we?  Is our bizarre weather caused by holes in the ozone layer or global warming or perhaps by the billions of tons of pollutants we spew into the atmosphere?  We can switch to hybrid cars and invest in clean energy production.  We can recycle each and every can, paper, and jar.  We can reduce our carbon footprint. 

What in the world can we do?  We have a voice, even if it is a small voice, and each of us should be courageous enough to speak out and speak up when we encounter discrimination and injustice in our life and in our community.  We can change the way we live and conserve our energy and our resources.  We can honor all life and treat it with respect.  For if we don’t it will only get worse and worse until……………you fill in the blank.  My blank would say, until “asking ‘What in the World’ won’t even matter anymore.”