Halloween - Jon's Famous Chili

I love Halloween night! Handing out candy and seeing all the little ones in cute costumes is fun, but the best part is sitting outside with drinks and catching up with neighbors. We usually cook comfort food too. This year we invited a few friends over for Jon's famous chili. Since Jon is still in an arm cast, I was his hands for cooking! He directed, but I did the work (and the prep, and the cleanup...).

Before I get into the recipe, look how cute our Daisy Mae looked as she waited for our guests to arrive:

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Jon's Famous Chili

Ingredients (for about 10-12 large servings)

• 4 pounds ground beef
• 2 chili kits (or you can use your own spices; the kit has chili powder, cayenne, paprika, salt, onion/garlic, cumin, and masa)
• Additional cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 jalapenos, chopped (seeds as well)
• 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes; 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes; with juice
• 1 16 oz can of tomato sauce
• 3 cans beans; we used 2 cans of dark red and 1 can of light red

Directions

• Brown meat; add some of the garlic; drain fat. We did this in batches in a pan, and then put the meat into a pot.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together. We kept adjusting the spices until it was just right. Even when we use the chili kits, we always end up using more cumin, chili powder, salt, and sometimes cayenne.
• Let is simmer on the stove for an hour or two. The chili is best the next day! Warm sourdough bread goes perfectly. I also like to mix some sour cream and shredded cheddar into my bowl.

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Drinks

I heated some apple cider in a pot. Instead of spiking it, I let everyone add however much spiced rum they wanted. We garnished our mugs with a cinnamon stick.

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Here are Danielle, Stacey, and Jenny finishing up their chili and cider -

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Fall Flowers

I picked up a few bouquets of flowers at the market and made this cute fishbowl arrangements for our dining room. I had some gold "rocks" from Christmas last year that I added to the bottom of each vase. The center vase was a little fuller and taller than the other two. Aren't they pretty?

Happy Halloween!