Making chili

More reminiscing. In the early 1980's, some of the group of fools that loafed around the local watering hole were talking about the best chili we had eaten. I remember it was summertime hot, and the beers were going down fast. A few of us decided to make some chili, and we began by drinking more beer before adjourning to one of my bud's homes to get things underway. Yep; we were stupid and driving under the influence. Anyway, we began gathering the stuff we thought we needed, and some of the wives helped out. We used a recipe from another friend whom had moved away, and its main forte was simmering the chili for 24 hours. We did this several times over the next year or so, finally perfecting our technique. The very best we chili we made was begun on a Thursday afternoon and was ready to eat on Saturday evening. We put the main ingredients together in a huge stock pot. They were mostly various hot peppers (chili, jalapeno, cayenne, banana, etc.) and red and green bell peppers, hot sauce (Texas Pete, Tennessee Sunshine, Tabasco, etc.), dark bock beer, Jack Daniels, lots of onions, and hamburger meat. A few other non-essentials were added as we went along. It was simmered until noon on Friday, and then cooled to room temp, sealed and placed in the fridge. The only reason we put it in the fridge was the ladies insisted we not leave it out and get us all food poisoned although I really don't think a germ could have lived long enough in it to cause problems. The next day we reheated the mess and added many pieces of charcoal cooked steak from the barbecue. We allowed it to steep for an hour or so, again heated it and it was ready to eat by suppertime Saturday. It was hot and great and we continued the chili tradition for a few years. The secret to it being so good was the 24 hours we left it alone to cool, allowing it to gather its forces; man that stuff got hot and flavorful. Another ingredient we used after the first event was kidney beans, and lots of them. They weren't really appreciated until we had to go to the bathroom from which we didn't stray very far. Even though we were loose enough to spray through a screen door, we appreciated even more gas pressure to quickly clear the orifice. Our chili was hotter coming out than when going in. I wish I'd known what a bidet was back then, but a water hose behind the house worked pretty good. After a long chili weekend, we swore off that particular delicacy for awhile, but always returned to do it again and again until our little group finally drifted apart in the late 80's. I would not attempt to eat food that hot these days.

Nothing like cold weather to cause a person think about hot food.
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