Homemade Skyline, Apple Cider, and Studying

If you caught my blog entry a few days ago I talked about the chili cook-off here at work. I ended up winning with my chili powder-less chili... here is the recipe:

3 lb ground beef-never frozen
2 8oz cans of Rotel Zesty Tomato & Green Chili Sauce
3 14.5oz cans of Hunts Diced Spicy Red Pepper Tomatoes
1 15oz can Tomato Sauce
3 15.5oz cans of Organic Chili Hot Beans in Sauce
1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce (optional dash extra)
1 onion, chopped finely
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
1 green pepper, diced
2 tbsp black pepper (optional dash extra)
2 tbsp paprika (optional dash extra)
3 tbsp dried crushed red peppers (optional dash extra)
2 tbsp seasoning salt
2 tbsp sea salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 tbsp of sugar
Throw it all together and let'er simmer.

My entire crock pot of winning chili was gone in in a matter of minutes after the morning show was finished. I still had a few quarts left at the house. Dawn and I made nachos with some of it the other day by draining off the thinner materials. Since the beef was never frozen, it was really fine due to the slow cooking. I saved the rest of the liquid chili and used that yesterday to make some homemade Skyline Chili...DELICIOUS! Another thing I love this time of year is fresh apple cider. I had a great lunch and spent it over notes and study guides for the CBM test I have coming up later this year.

We had enough clearing overnight that a little morning fog has formed. Nothing too bad for the majority of the area, however we are picking up some pretty dense fog in Springfield, OH. Later today we will see showers and storms move into the area. The storms are looking less likely to be severe. We still could pick up strong winds and some hail, but not a healthy, strong, spring-like storm. Showers will continue tonight into tomorrow morning as the chilly temperatures arrive. Friday and Saturday will only warm up to around 60 degrees. Skies will start to clear up a bit later Friday and Saturday looks mostly sunny. Temperatures will only warm up a little bit, around 70, for the start of next workweek. We are still looking at colder air blasting in here next Wednesday after another round of wet weather Tuesday. As I mentioned in yesterday's entry, I am not convinced with how "bold" the models are showing the cold blast. I will update you more on that tomorrow as we get closer. Even though the weekend looks cool and breezy, at least it will be dry, not that bad. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael