Before we get too deep into some crazy yarn about my insane family or my lack of appropriate male companionship, and In the interest of full disclosure, I'm going to let you know right now that the only championship the following recipe has won is the championship of my own personal badassery. That said, it is an oversized-blue-ribbon-earning, imaginary-tickertape-parade-deserving, melt-in-your-mouth-meat-orgy-having delight. So there. And so what if it's the THIRD post about Texas chili in as many years? I think an appropriate yearly update of my evolving championship chili (tm) is totally worthy of some megabits or bytes or parcels or packets or whatever and you should totally give it a whirl if you give a crap at all about a real Texas tradition or if you just want something really, really, exceptionally good to make and freeze and have on hand for cold winter nights.

I feel like this may be the time to bring up an important relationship, and no, I'm not talking about the fun kind that results in breakfast and/ or coffee in bed (I'd like my eggs over easy with a side of crispy bacon and I take my coffee with half and half and a teaspoon of sugar, thank you). The very important relationship I'm talking about is the one you should make with your local butcher. I know many of us rely upon the packaged meat section at Ralph's or Safeway or Whole Foods because of the convenience, and I'm not trying to get all preachy or anything, but you really should consider identifying and then patronizing a local butcher. Yes, it's an additional stop and it may be out of the way and possibly even slightly more expensive, but I think it's healthier and more responsible to keep things as local as possible. I also think it's important to acknowledge that you're eating an animal, something that was previously alive and it should've been treated humanely. Not just because you care about that animal necessarily, but because it's healthier to eat animals that are treated humanely and are not fed antibiotics and hormones. As Americans our diets are overloaded with animal protein as it is-- we could all eat a little less of it. And if we're eating slightly less, our pocketbooks can take the slightly more expensive price tag along with the higher quality meat, right?

So the Bossy Blonde is officially staying in the Harbor of Sags for the rest of the season (doesn’t that sound just so darlingly patrician?) while I am basically collecting fruit flies and furiously making labels here in my loft. I’d like to make a lame comment about the apparent lack of fairness in the situation, but since I’m going to haul myself out there to visit her fabulousness anyway, I shouldn’t really complain. And it’s not like we don’t have a million email conversations a day. In fact, she forwarded me a very enlightening email from Chef Kenobi just the other day, but more on that in a few...

In an attempt to cleanse the old palate from the last few posts, I thought I might write something that is actually useful in the kitchen, something that is not the ramblings of a girl in the midst of some boredom-induced psychotic break. So here it is. The first official posting of “No Pantry Left Behind.”

One of my favorite parts of many of my cook books is the little section where the chef or the author of the book talks about their favorite tools or what basic pantry supplies you should have on hand. Being a novice cook, I have found these sections to be invaluable; one of the most challenging aspects of learning to cook has been making sure I have everything I need at any given time. It has been a daunting learning curve-- if you don’t have certain staples on hand you can never really learn how to improvise in the kitchen or just whip something up for yourself (or for your friends when they stop by unexpectedly). I have gleaned a tremendous amount from these pages-- about what I need to have on hand and how to plan out the most effective and least wasteful use of the perishables I buy at the farmer’s market every week.

Texas chili, part III: you can take the girl out of Texas, but you can never put beans or tomatoes in her Texas chili

no pantry left behind: what Chef Kenobi says you need

Why? Because soup is cheap, delicious and easy. Kind of like me.

a weekly attempt to eat well and to savor life. or to see how much food I can get on my clothes.