Shands Rehab Chili Cookoff 2011 Champion!!

I talk a lot of smack.  I admit it.  I am from Texas, and I AM PROUD!!  We have the best people, the best landscape and by FAR the best damn food.  While some other southerners (no specifics will be given) claim their chili to be the best, I stood my ground and challenged my co-workers to a cook-off. 
The night before the cook-off, I actually started getting butterflies.  I knew I had a Texas reputation to keep.  I struggled with the decision whether to make my mom's chili, which I have savored my whole life, or go with an award winning recipe from Terlingua World Chili Cook-off.  After cooking both recipes, I ended up combining the two 3 to 1, Mom's to Terlingua.  The stakes were high...bragging rights for me or a day I would never live down.  When the winner was announced, and I heard my chili being called out...my heart swelled with pure Texas Pride!!! 
I will post both recipes.  If you are going to cook just one, I would definitely go with Mom's.

Mom's Chili
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 large onion
Chili powder (A freaking lot.  Like more than you think is natural.)
Cumin
Paprika
Cayenne pepper
Garlic salt
Salt and pepper
Tomato juice (I use Campbell's 64 oz)

Dice onion. Put onion and ground beef in skillet. Add some salt, pepper, garlic salt and a little cinnamon (even though this is not in the ingredient list, Lebanese cooking always calls for a dash of cinnamon with beef.) Cook until meat is done. Drain on paper towels if necessary. Add chilli powder. Pour tomato juice over meat mixture. It will seem very juicy, but the tomato juice will reduce and get thicker. After it has cooked about 30 minutes re-season to taste. Add remaining spices to taste. Simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Freezes very well.

Terlingua Chili from Margaret Nadeau 2005
Step 1
2 lbs. course ground beef (chili grind)
1 TBS Cooking Oil
1 TBS Granulated Onion
Add ingredients together and lightly brown meat
Step 2
Add:
1 Can (8 oz) Tomato Sauce
1 Can Beef Broth
Cook for 30 minutes

Step 3
Add:
1 TBS Light Chili Powder
2 TBS Dark Chili Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
½ tsp Salt
½ TBS Ground Cumin
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
½ tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Chicken Granules (or 1 cube)
Cook for 1 hour
Step 4:
Add:
1 TBS Light Chili Powder
1 TBS Dark Chili Powder
1 tsp Paprika
½ TBS Ground Cumin
Add water if needed
Leave covered and simmer for 30 minutes

Hello strangers...

Hello again.  I apologize for the delay in posts.  Bo and I have been living without a computer for the past couple months.  We got rid of our "pre-marriage" computers earlier this year and purchased our current computer in February.  All of the sudden, it stopped working!!!  I was so mad sinch the computer was only a couple months old.  Anyway, figuring it was going to cost us an arm and a leg to get fixed, we were avoiding taking it to Best Buy for a diagnosis.  I have been doing all the necessary internet stuff (ie email, facebook, Gilt Groupe shopping) from my iphone.  But last weekend we got the courage to take the computer in for a work-up.  After thirty-nine minutes of waiting for the geek squad (I am pretty sure they love that everyone has to wait on them, which is most likely a first for these guys.), "Ben" looked at us and said we were overprotected.  Since we had been burned by viruses before, we were running two anti-virus programs.  Apparently that is like wearing two condoms...they cancel each other out.  So, the geek deleted one of the programs, and we are up and running!!!  After all that time avoiding taking the dang thing in, it was fixed in two seconds.  (This also reminds me of the time our heater "broke", and we had no money to get it repaired so we lived two winters shivering and shaking under blankets.  Finally my mom came down, said she would pay for it to be fixed, and the heater guy said our pilot light was out...and he re-lit it for free.)
All this to explain my abscence.  (I feel like I am in college again, trying to explain to my prof why a project was not finished.)  Anyway, I will try to make a meaningful post tonight.  Toodles!