Speaking of chili powder brings to mind a family story which I can't forbear to tell here.

My mother was an enthusiastic bridge player, and belonged to a club which rotated its meetings among its members' homes. The hosting member would make a light supper for the members for halfway through the evening's play. When it was my mother's turn to host, one of the other women suggested that she make a pot of her fabulous chili, of which she'd heard so much, and so my mother agreed.

In the early evening, just before her friends arrived, she was putting the final touches on everything, tasted the chili for "finish", and decided it needed "just a little more" chili powder. She shook the chili powder can lightly over the pot, and the whole top came off, dumping all of the almost-full can of powder into the bubbling chili.

Mother quickly fished out the can top and skimmed what she could off the surface, but most of the powder was mixed in.   She tasted the chili, and decided it was WAY too hot to offer to her bridge friends. It was too late to make a fresh batch before they arrived, so she put the pot aside, and hurriedly made egg salad sandwiches.

When it came time to serve the food, several of the women said they'd thought they were to have "Edna's famous chili", not sandwiches. Mother confessed what happened, but there was a clamor of protest from all the good sports in the club, so nothing would do but that that hellfire chili should be served and eaten. My mother reluctantly acquiesced, and everyone gamely ate the bowls of chili put before them.   

There were NO requests for seconds.

Next day mother gave the remaining HALF-pot of chili to my grandmother. It was too hot for her, but she made a full batch of chili herself, putting no spices in it at all, and then added the remaining half-pot from the night before. The result was STILL too hot for my grandma!

Backing up, while the ladies were having their chili the night before, I was eating my chili supper in the kitchen. I thought it was good.

I hasten to say that the recipe I posted earlier is not anywhere in the league with that hellfire batch for the bridge club.

Dave Oesterreich