Bacon Will Save Us All

     The aroma still lingered in the air and wooshed at me like a hurricane in perfect form where just a few short hours before I had stood at our trusty stove with an iron skillet sautéing bell peppers and bacon in none other than...you guessed it, bacon grease.

     If you were ever to look into the hoarding business with interest, might I recommend hoarding bacon grease.  Some look at it and ask why, most dream about it and ask, "yes, please!"  This beautiful gift from our creator useable and fry-able in nearly everything to enhance flavor and bring about heaven on earth after a bad day...or perhaps to celebrate after a good day, or if you are so inclined...may in no uncertain terms choose to cook and ingest on any day happening to end in the letter "y".  From steak, to popcorn, to mushrooms, there seems to be no end to its use in cooking and with a dash of seasoned salt complimented by fresh ground pepper you could easily close your eyes, believe you are in a 5-star restaurant with bus boys in tuxedos preparing the table next to you for a celebrity couple as you slowly raise the knife from your bacon-wrapped fillet, topped with caramelized onions and shrooms sauteed in, yes, bacon grease.  You being a smart and well-versed newspaper subscriber can probably just imagine the aroma, yes?  I don't have to paint the picture of an antique silver fork piercing a perfectly-seared, 28 day aged, well-marbled ribeye lifting the succulent piece of tender beef off a dinner plate from Royal Copenhagen and slowly permitting your tastebuds to enter into a whole new dimension while you close your eyes savoring every moment and thus fully acknowledging from that in the famous words of Reverend Brown from Coming to America, "There's a Gaaawd, somewhere!"  And you ask yourself, "how did I win the lottery to be blessed with such a much sought-after commodity?"  In the future you may very well hear, "It's worth it's weight in bacon," because one can only eat so much gold, and after some time even Flaming Hot Cheetos may lose their freshness and accidentally go stale through some curse of the evil one, however when it comes to bacon one can never get too much of a good thing, but then again...that's just my humble opinion.

Back in Season

     I find it simply fascinating that we as humans who crave such variety in our life, from daily food choices, phone cases, and even to the style of garbage bags...that we still have a preference of when and how we choose our variety and for what purpose those options are decided.

     We have a rule in our house that no Christmas movies are to be screened until half-way through November, and not after January.  The boys will sometimes sneak one in while my wife and I are out on a date, but otherwise, the same goes for our Christmas music collection.  Why you ask?  Does it matter?  It's kind of like that new purchase, the prolonging of that new car, new tie, new pen, builds anticipation.  Could I answer that question with one word? Tradition.  Why would one want to watch "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles in March? Or screen Christmas vacation in September?

     Oddly, the same rules seem to apply to many foods we eat.  Cold, sliced watermelon in the heat of summer, and pumpkin-spiced candles and coffee...in the fall, which brings us to the point.  Millions of wide-eyed cooks across America are pulling out their crock pots and iron kettles, dicing up veggies and frying up the burger...of course I am talking about a fall classic, Chili.

     Everyone has their own recipe, and of course you've never had chili done right until you have tried theirs because it's the best! or they use the best ingredients! or they've had the recipe in their family for 400 years!  The truth is it can be as simple or as complex as you prefer, depending on your priorities.  Some prefer an 80/20 ground beef, while others will use nothing less than sliced New York strip. He will use Dole, while she may use Heinz.

     The obvious point, is that you do not need to be told what tastes the best for you, I am guessing that you can decide that part for yourself.  A couple of suggestions I may have, since you are reading on, is to try your best to use the freshest ingredients possible, slow cook it rather than speedily boil, and if you can pull it all together a day in advance it will greatly increase the opportunity for the individual ingredients to permeate in harmony bringing you the best cup of chili!  Play with the ingredients, the amounts, the cuts, the brands, the seasoning, add a little more of this, perhaps a little less of that.  There are literally hundreds of recipes out there, find one, and then make it your own.  Suit it to your taste.  And if you happen to be in the market for a new chili recipe or perhaps the best you have-ever will have tasted…I might be obliged to share my own.