Got chili?

This is a picture of Tolbert's Restaurant in Grapevine, an iconic and authentic chili

parlor. Frank Tolbert was the founder and moving spirit behind the annual chili cook-off in Terlingua, Texas. He first opened his restaurant in 1976. Today his daughter and her husband serve forty gallons of chili a day. They still use her father's recipe. Pardon the white car--I'm not a good photographer.

I was scheduled to have lunch with Melinda from TCU Press today, so I called to ask how she felt about pink eye. "I hate it!" was her vehement reply. But Jacob had developed pink eye and would only be sent home from school if he went, so he was mine for most of the day. I thought I'd take him to lunch with us, but his mother came and got him about eleven, took him to the doctor and fed him while Melinda and I indulged in wine and salad at Patrizio's--our favorite lunch. Jacob was a lamb all day--mostly watched TV, played with his Legos, and every once in a while came to the office to visit or make an announcement. His frequent question, after determining that everyone else was in school: When will the children be out of school? My first answer was six hours. But about three, when I had gone to nap with a stern warning to wake me only in emergency, he came calling, "Wake up! Unlock the door! I want to wave at my teacher." I'm afraid I said no. Good thing I had locked the high-up dead bolt.
All this quiet had a great benefit--I got a good start on revising and finishing my chili book. Decided on the organization and did a new outline,sorted out recipes, and saw that I have a lot of work ahead of me. I've been talking to the folks at Texas Tech about this for over a year--we get close and then one of us backs off. But I think the editor is ready to send it for outside appraisal if I'll just get it done, and we're talking about pictures, etc. My big chore now is mostly going to be cut and paste without losing attribution--I'm a little daunted by the prospect. But there is quite a bit of new material I want to add.
It's been a fun book to research, but I will still welcome recipes. So, if you have an unusual chili recipe (I have plenty of traditional, thank you) or a suggestion for something to do with chili--like Frito Pie, nachos, appetizers, etc.--please do send it to me at j.alter@tcu.edu, and I'll be sure to credit if I use it. Can't promise to use every recipe and can't promise a comp copy of the book. That's all out of my hands. Recipes from all over are welcome because I make the point that chili may have begun in Texas--it really did, and not in Mexico as many people believe--it is now almost a naitonal dish. The title of this book at this point is still Texas is Chili Country.

A publishing summit--sort of

No Judy's Stew last night because I could not get Gayla Christiansen and Fran Vick to stop chatting; if I left the room, they'd chat about me, so I was stuck. Gayla is director of marketing for Texas A&M Press; Fran is the retired director of the University of North Texas Press, and I am, of course, retired as director of TCU Press. We call ourselves the Front Porch Wine Drinking, World Problem Solving Three Ladies of Publishing. Our sleepovers are hard to schedule and therefore don't happen as often as we'd like, but the ladies do like to come here and let me cook for them. Each has her own bed--Jacob gave permission to Gayla to sleep in his bed, but she'd been sleeping in it long before he ever did. Kathie Lang Allen (retired senior editor from SMU Press) and Carol Roark (retired curator of the Texas Collection at the Dallas Public Library) joined us for dinner and talk ranged from personal to professional and back again, with lots of laughter. I have beene threatened with bodily harm if I share the sources of the laughter but as Gayla said this morning, the comfort level was high. It is good to have old, comfortable friends--and I mean that in the best way. And there are some ex-husbands and husbands whose ears should be burning this morning.
Gayla and I share dog history--I "interviewed" her first dog, Eppi, for her and she loved that dog beyond measure. Eppi died this fall, and Gayla has Jake, sort of a border collie mix. I have been actively watching for a second dog for her--Jake is lonely without Eppi. But both ladies needed to meet Sophie. Late in the evening Gayla sat on the floor and I brought Sophie in, having warned Gayla that once you're on the floor you're a toy and all rules are off. Sophie jumped and licked but soon lay quietly (all adjectives are relative) in Gayla's lap with an occasional venture to let Fran pet her. So nice to know she can do that. I wish I'd gotten pictures--I tried but neither the dog nor the woman were still long enough.
I often surprise the ladies with a gourmet meal, usualy something I've never cooked before. Last night, it was a beet/orange/avocado salad with vinaigrette and a pot of chili. We've decided it must be the "Chili that is not chili." It contained along with all the tomatoes and hamburger orange juice, cinnamon, and cocoa powder in it in addition to coriander and chili powder--no onions. Garlic yes but not discernible. But yes, beans (black). (I can hear chiliheads exclaiming in horror.) I thought there was too much tomato puree and added a can of beer to thin it. And I'd doubled the recipe. You can imagine the result: I have half a pot of chili left over. Sent two ladle-fulls (ladlesfull?) home with each of them, plan to give some to my neighbor, and will serve some to Jordan and Christian and myself tonight.
Dessert? What else after the week's headlines? I served a basket of Twinkies. Not as good as I remember from childhood. I'll see how Jacob likes them this afternoon.
At 11:30 I finally announced I was going to bed (ever the good hostess) and they followed with suitable warnings about alarm systems, coffee pot, front door locks and the newspaper. They probably took half an hour to settle down; at 4:30 Fran's light was on and she was reading in bed. When I got up at 7:00 they were drinking coffee, fully dressed, in the family room. We greeted Jacob on his way to school, which they thought was great fun, and went down the street to the Neighborhood Grill for breakfast about nine. Stayed there an hour, more talking and laughing.
I saw them off with mixed feelings--so much fun, such good friends--but so much to do on my desk. Such breaks are a wonderful change in routine, and I'm lucky to have them happen so often in my life. It isn't always Gayla and Fran, but there's always something around the next corner to look forward to.

Chili on my mInd

Spring left North Texas as suddenly as it came, with temperatures in the 30s last night. Jacob decided bed was the best place to be on a cold Sunday morning, especially since Juju had left the vent windows in the kitchen open. (There was a really cute picture of this to go there, even two, because the cat also decided bed was the place to be, but I cannot get them to upload and don't want to spend my evening on it.) Jacob and I made it to church, and after a waffle, a pbj, and a TCU purple cookie, he decided this was a good day. Tonight I have turned on the fireplace--I love not having to build a fire--as much for emotional warmth as physical. But I've been sort of cold all day.

Good day to think about chili, and I'm back to my chili manuscript. I've been emailing with Kathleen Tolbert Ryan all weekend and she's sent some wonderful information. Tonight Jay came over and spent about an hour giving me his impressions of the Tolbert cookoff at Terlingua. He goes every year, has judged in the preliminaries, and is full of information. His parting shot: "Don't go for the chili; go for the camaraderie."

So that's my project for tonight, weaving all those bits of information into the manuscript. Then I have short stories to edit and I have gotten deep into the novel I'm reviewing and I'm really appreciating it--a far cry from my usual escape reading of cozy mysteries. A good cool night to cozy in at my desk--except there's a cat in my face. Maybe food will help her.

Leftover chili

Chili only gets better when it's left over. The other night at our chili cookoff, Jay was just a tiny bit scornful of my chili because it had beans in it. I know very well true Texas chili does NOT have beans. And don't fall into the trap of thinking chili is from Mexico. It was "invented," "concocted," whatever by chuckwagon cooks in Texas. In fact, native Mexicans look down their noses at it as some inferior Texas dish. True Texas chili never had tomatoes either--basically just meat and seasonings, cooked a long time.
I admit I'm not a purist. Judy's Mild and Tentative Chii has tomato sauce and beans, but it's so easy and so good. You simply brown a lb. of hamburger or chili ground beef with 1 medium onion and as much garlic as you want--I used four medium cloves. Drain off the juice and brown again, so you get that good browned taste. Then add 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce, as much beer as you want (I used a whole one because I kept letting it cook down--and even then it was pretty thick, like stew, which chili isn't supposed to be). Add chili seasonings to your taste--I used four very generous teasoons, plus a  couple of dashes of Tabasco. Let it all simmer. Just before serving, stir in beans--I used Ranch Style, rinsed, but Elizabeth uses black beans. Either one is good. Offer toppings of grated cheese and diced red onion. I bring this up again, because I had the last of the chili for supper tonight (I'd sent a bunch home with Jordan). It was sooo good that I began to regret giving some away. My chili may be mild--Susan said it had a bite to it--and not real Texas chili, but I really like the recipe. Next I'll move on to Judy's Sloppy Joe, which I also love.
Elizabeth Edwards' death surprised all of us. Yesterday's announcement led us to believe that she had a few weeks left, so the news of her death today was a shock. But a blessing. I suspect once she'd made the announcement, she was ready and just let go. The media, social and otherwise, is full of sympathy, praise, there seems nothing to add. But I have to say, for myself, she was a role model in grace and strength and determination. Would that each of us could live life as fully as she did, both its joys and its sorrows. God bless her family, even John who was reportedly at her bedside with the children.
My dog has a new and puzzling problem--he who has always tried to sneak in the house whenever he could is reluctant to come in at night. He hesitates, looks at me, looks off into space, takes a few steps closer, and then stops. I finally have to pretend to close the door--and then he comes in. Similarly, he's a little slow to come into the office--we went through this several months ago, but I thought he was over it. I don't know if it's age or if something scared him inside. He stays briefly in my office and then wants to go to his bed, when of course I hoped he'd want my company. But he's one content dog in his bed. Yep, I think he needs a friend.