BRRR! Chili!

We knew the cold snap was coming. It's been in the news for a week. I know that we're inside with the thermostat set on 70, but still, looking out and knowing that single-digit temps are headed our way makes me want chili. Mmm...chili.

That's what we were having for supper on Tuesday! I had a Hot & Sour Soup container of it in FRIG II's freezer. Those containers are great for not-spilling. I'd been waiting for a good time to put this leftover chili in the supper lineup. I told Hick on Monday night, when I set it on the cutting block.

"I'm taking this chili out of the freezer for supper tomorrow."

"Yeah. That'll be good."

"You can have chili dogs if you want."

"Yeah. I'll have some chili and chili dogs."

"Okay. Just let it sit here. It's frozen solid. I'll put it in the fridge when I come up later."

You don't have to tell Hick twice to do nothing. I put the chili away around 3:00 a.m. Huh. Something in the container looked kind of funny. I guess it was a chili bean along the side. Darker than the rest of the chili. I make it with assorted beanage. Maybe kidney beans, or pork and beans, or black beans, or even blackeyed peas.

We were busy most of the Tuesday, what with buying Hick's new used truck. When I got home from the store, it was going on 4:00.

"Do you want me to go ahead and warm up the chili? I haven't had lunch, but it seems a little late for that. We could go straight to lupper."

"That's fine. I just had a piece of beef jerky while I was over at the Freight Container Garage taking some stuff out of the TrailBlazer."

"All right. Do you want your hot dogs in the oven?" I like that better than microwaving, but Hick likes them soggy in boiling water unless he has to do it himself.

"Yeah. That's good."

"Okay. I'll start warming it before I go change clothes. OH CRAP!"

"What's the matter?"

"IT'S NOT CHILI! IT'S SOUP!"

Dang it! I had my taste buds set on chili. Not soup. Don't get me wrong. My leftover soup is equally as delicious as my leftover chili. But I had been looking forward to my chili for nearly 24 hours. Mmm...chili. With crackers. Maybe some shredded cheddar sprinkled on top. I wanted chili. Not this:

I know it doesn't look so appetizing here, all full of crackers. But I assure you that my vegetable beef soup was as delicious as the day it was made:

What should have been my clue that I was thawing soup instead of chili was the green bean I saw pressed up against the side of the opaque container. I don't know about you, but I've never put green beans in my chili.

Again, the soup was quite delicious. Hick even said so. Although he commented before eating it, "Huh. I really wanted that chili." He still had his hot dogs, with KETCHUP instead of chili on them. Seems like the chili had been so tasty that we didn't have any left over after all. I didn't really NEED the crackers I'd bought for my chili. Oh, I used them in the soup, just because.

That's another story entirely...