Weekend Chili (with meat)

 Yea, me (should be I, but that would ruin the idiom) and just about half the rest of the country probably is making chili.  That time of year.  Mine is made primarily with pork, but I had no qualms about also adding the last remainder of the roast beef, so there are a couple of carrots in there.  The ground pork is from Jako Farm.  In the picture below, I am browning the pork after sauteing fresh-cut tomato, onion and green pepper.  I also added a slice of jalapeno pepper.

I am layering tomatoes, by which I mean I am using fresh and jarred.  The fresh comes from the dining table (picture below), where I have my last harvest spread, using them as they come ripe.  In this way, I may have tomatoes as late as Thanksgiving.  Notice the furniture has been unearthed from under dozens of boxes where it was shoved first to one dark corner then another, hidden and covered in construction dust for the last four months.  Yes, I have been busy!

After the meat browned, I added beans and the jar (from the pantry) of tomatoes.  I also added cumin (plenty of it), garlic powder (wish I had my own), and a dash of red pepper (I need to begin experimenting with making that, too).   I also seasoned~again~with salt and pepper.  I currently have the pan simmering to make rich chili broth.  Toward the end, I will add chopped cilantro (a staple of salsa, which will give it a very fresh zing) and chopped parsley.  These additional ingredients are in the picture below, parsley to the left.

In the meanwhile, I am adding the sequential and tedious washes to a landscape in progress.  It is from a photo I took in Scotland and have been trying to paint for years.  My skill has never been up to the challenge, but I keep trying.

Postscript:  Blogger really is a dinosaur.  If I did not have so many irons in the fire already, I would move this blog over to Wordpress.