Recipe(tried): HeartWarming Chili, Skillet CornBread and Crackly Pear Cake

Hey Y'All!

Brrrr, it's cold around here! We awoke this morning to see frost on the top of roofs and on the grass. It's time for some chili and cornbread...and I will also be making MaryJane Butter's Crackly Pear Cake.

I love chili in cold weather, it's the perfect heartwarming dish!! I've told you about MaryJane's Ideabook-Cookbook-Lifebook, haven't I? I'm pretty sure I have. It's a great book to own, it's for the farmgirl in all of us!! And, she also has a website which is pretty neat too! Her book is filled with great ideas for the home, especially the apron part. She loves to wear aprons as much as I do. She includes patterns for making two types; the everyday apron and the harvest apron. Here is an excerpt from the chapter, Kitchen Pretties...

Apron Strings and Purse Things

"Where have all the aprons gone? Undone by convenience foods and careers, they're hard to find. Referred to as "vintage aprons," they speak volumes about women's roles in the past.

Women's aprons were a mix of ceremony, lace and utility. Made from cotton, they were carefully embroidered and cross-stitched. Half-aprons made from dainty hankies were crocheted together using clever hand-me-down patterns. Aprons weren't just an afterthought - they were a fashion statement. They also served a practical purpose. Most homemakers in the first half of the century didn't own washers and dryers. Laundry was serious work back then and aprons kept their garments clean.

Joyce Gibson Roach, a folklore writer (www.joycegibsonroach.com), says, "There was a time when a woman rose and put on her apron as her most functional piece of clothing. She hardly left her bed, let alone her house, without it. Early photographs of frontier women bear witness to the one garment common to all - the apron. Frontier women wore aprons with pockets. Those pockets concealed hankies, leftover cold biscuits and ham, small toys, eyeglasses, roots, plants, and other stuff gathered from the wilderness."

I am lucky enough to be able to find vintage aprons at thrift stores and garage sales for fifty cents apiece! I hang them all along a wall in my laundry room. Sometimes my Mom cautions me that I will bring down a shelf in there that has pegs where many of them hang. I do admit, they are a weakness with me. I simply cannot resist them! I enjoy wearing a different one when I cook. And, they certainly do keep my clothes clean! Do you wear aprons? And if so, where did it come from?

I am going to use Carroll Shelby's Chili Kit. This little brown bag comes with 4 individual spice packets: Masa flour to thicken it, Cayenne Pepper for the brave, salt to taste, and the big spice packet which is great! I sprinkle on very, very little of the cayenne pepper as we don't like hot. But this is a great little chili kit.

What is your favorite cold season dish? Is it an old family favorite? And, what do you traditionally serve with it?

Here's a poem from MaryJane's book I want to share....

....."This apron is my gift to you",
My grandmother said to me,
"Woven with truth and women's power,
It is your legacy."

I reached across my grandmother's apron
And touched her gnarled hand,
And felt the souls of all women
Whose courage forged this land.

I thanked her softly for my present,
In tears, and filled with pride,
I greeted the shadows of aproned women
Walking - by my side.

---Gwen Petersen, excerpted from
"The Legacy," in Leaning Into the Wind

Keep Warm! Hugs from Gina

HeartWarming Chili
serves 8

2 lbs. ground chuck beef
1 medium large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored and chopped
1 14 1/2oz. can Del Monte Diced Tomatoes w/Basil, Oregano & Garlic
1 8 oz. can Del Monte Tomato Sauce
8 oz. water
16 oz. can Bush's Chili Beans in Mild Sauce
Seasoning packet from kit
salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, add about 1/4 c. oil and saute the vegetables until tender. Add to chili pot.

Brown beef in same skillet and drain fat off. Add browned meat to chili pot.

Add tomatoes, sauce and water to chili pot along with seasonings. Stir to mix well. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Lower heat and simmer for another 10 minutes. During last 5 minutes, add beans and liquid. Stir to mix.

Serve with garnishes: Sour cream, chopped scallions, grated cheddar cheese.

Skillet Corn Bread

I use a large 8 inch black iron skillet for this. I melt 2 tablespoons butter in it in the oven.

Meanwhile, I take 2 Jiffy Cornbread mix boxes, dump them in a large bowl, add 2 T. sugar, 2 eggs and 2/3 cups milk and mix. Let it sit for a little so that batter rises.

When butter is sizzling in skillet, pour batter in it and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Crackly Pear Cake
serves 12
source: MaryJane Butters

2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. cold butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into small pieces
1/8 t. salt
3/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
3 T. all-purpose flour
zest of one large lemon (1 T.)
1 T. baking powder
1 t. almond extract
2 c. pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large egg white
2 T. sugar

Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Using a pastry blender or fork, blend 2 c. flour, 1 1/2 c. sugar, butter, and salt until crumbly. Press 1 cup of the mixture over bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of pan.

Whisk together milk, 2 eggs, 3 T. flour, lemon zest, baking powder and extract. Stir remaining crumb mixture into milk mixture until blended (it will be lumpy). Fold in pears. Pour into pan.

Beat egg white with electric mixer on medium to high speed until foamy. Add 2 T. sugar, beat until soft peaks form. Spread over batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 65 minutes. Cool 30 minutes on a wire rack. Remove sides of springform pan. Finish cooling.