Last Saturday was grey and cold with a biting nip in the air, fully anticipating the winter weather event that rolled in later that night and that proved to be a cold, cold wintry event all day on Sunday. Here in Winston-Salem, we spent Saturday knowing we were forecast to be on the line between full snow and mostly ice...and with lots of blustery gusts to accompany whatever ultimately rolled over us. It was perfect for a Saturday afternoon fire, though, which was No. 75 in the ongoing fire-counting chronicle.
The City aggressively brined the streets, as might be visible in this photo (above) of Spring Street in front of the house, from that morning. You might also spot where someone apparently heaved up a Buick over night, in the lower right corner.
When I was on faculty at Wake Forest University, I had a series of events throughout the year that were designed to bring my social studies crews together. The January event was a Chili Cook-Off, generally held in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday weekend. Even after I left WFU, the tradition persisted for quite a few years: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. (The blog was begun in late 2008, and the house was under construction in early 2009.)
Ah, but these last few years, aflicted with the coronavirus pandemic and the shifted directions that all the most regular folks have moved onto, has pretty much brought the "cook-off" aspect to an end. But I still like making chili right about this time, and that's what happened last Saturday, with plenty to take in to-go containers to friends and neighbors.
"Simple Beef Chili with Kidney Beans," from Cook's Illustrated, Number Sixty-One [March-April 2003], p. 10-11.
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