461. No License Needed

As part of an effort at collegiality, today at work we who work on the 3rd floor (all Democrats) treated those on the 2nd (all Republicans) and 1st (three Democrats, one Republican) to a Chili Luncheon. The idea was spawned two months ago when the Council Clerk's staff, also on the 1st floor, treated all of us to a Soup Day, which proved to be very popular. The idea arose that each floor should do this for the others and we could all break bread together and be civil for an hour. It works.

So, as I am not much of a cook, I was pleased that the Social Committee, in this case one of the young ladies at the other end of the floor, said we'd make chili. This decision was made back when the daily temperature was having problems edging out of the 20s and warm and bubbly chili on a cold windy day sounded pretty good. Today, it was 78 degrees, but we're having chili nonetheless. I make a pretty good pot of chili. The truth is I can make very little else. Fortunately, I have friends who not only love to cook but also like having me (and others) over to taste whatever they've concocted for the meal.

Some people volunteered to bring pop, others desserts (the cheesecakes were delicious - I had a little of both), others brought paper plates, and so forth. There were four offerings of chili - two veggie style [is that really chili?] and two others. At the table, I tried all four but admittedly liked the two non-vegetarian styles better than the vegetarian ones.

My chili is the basic recipe: meat, beans, tomatoes, onions, and spices - since this is Louisville the spice packet of choice is Bloemer's, made and packaged on S. Seventh Street, right here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. I use a packet per pound of meat which means I used five packets. I also use a heaping amount - actually the measurement is far from certain - of ground Cumin Seed Powder. I use the Ahmed brand of Cumin Seed Powder which is usually only found in ethnic type food marts. Ahmed Spices are made and packaged on the other side of the globe in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, according to the label.


I'll be honest; I don't really have a recipe. I just open cans and pour them in a pot. I do like to buy whole canned tomatoes in juice and them squeeze them myself into the mix. I also cut my onions, bought fresh, in fairly large pieces and today one of the diners asked me about that. I'm not sure why I do that, but I do. As for the meat, I buy a high grade of grund chuck, nothing fancy, but not the stock stuff I usually get. That's it. Brown the meat, saute the onions, then throw it all in a pot and bring to a boil. Once it has boiled, I cover it and put it in the fridge. Chili is always better after having set overnight. One other thing - no spaghetti.

The other meat-based chili was offered by Kevin Triplett, who used deer meat as a base. I do not know where Kevin acquired the deer meat. I used to be privy to deer sausage and jerky several years back. The younger brother, Shawn, of my friend Rob, and Shawn's older brothers, used to go deer hunting in season, and their mother and grandmother would process the meat and I always managed a care package from each one. Sadly, Anne (the mom) and Mrs. Thomas (the grandmother) are deceased and I've lost track of Rob's half-brother and step-brothers. Years before that, I'd usually manage a pound or two from friends and family from up in Frankfort, or from the Benton family at my (soon-to-be) former church. Kevin made a joke about having harvested the deer with the front quarterpanel of his truck somewhere along Dixie Highway. I doubt this is true. He is from the south side of town and worked for several years out at Otter Creek Park in Meade County. My thought is he probably knows the rules about when to hunt (November 8th through 23th last year for guns), which licenses to buy whether it be the Sportman's ($95) or just a combination Hunting and Fishing ($30), whether one needs a deer permit ($30), the Bonus Antlerless Permit ($15), or any of the special licenses needed in certain areas such as Fort Knox ($5) or the Land Between the Lakes ($20). And, by the way, it is the time of year to renew your license as they run from March 1 to February 28. A true Kentucky sportman or sportswoman knows all of these things. Their meat is harvested using the right equipment, in the right season, with the right permit or license.

As for the meat in my chili, it was harvested at the local Kroger - Miss Rose checked me out - no license needed.