Food for Thought

As it were.

I haven't made this yet, but here are my plans....

Pumpkin Chili

1. Make a chili paste with cayenne & vinegar. Cook until it turns the color of burnt sienna.

2. Caramelize 3 yellow onions. Roast a couple of tomatoes in the oven. Roast bell peppers.

Ingredients list:

pureed pumpkin
vegetable stock
garlic
yellow onions
corn
pureed tomatoes
tomato paste
small white onion
bell peppers: red, yellow, orange
hot peppers (fresh & pickled)
carrots
crimini mushrooms
vinegar
chili powder
cumin
cocoa
oregano
thyme
Tabasco
dark beer
olive oil

After caramelizing the onions, add in chopped mushrooms. When they're browned, deglaze the pan with dark beer (probably porter or stout). Mix in a tsp. of tomato paste, pureed tomatoes and the pureed pumpkin.

Saute chopped white onion, chopped garlic, chopped carrots, roasted tomatoes & bell peppers till they sweat. Add to the onions and mushrooms.

Mince hot peppers. Add those, the corn, herbs, spices, a tsp. of chili paste, dash of Tabasco. Add stock and simmer for at least 3 hours.

Season to taste with sea salt, vinegar or lime juice, etc.


Tonight I'll get the ingredients, and tomorrow I'll make it. A few people in the office have requested samples! (They'll get them.)

It's going to be a very, very busy week. We got quite a bit done over the weekend, but of course it was a little less than we'd have liked. DH got the front lights up. They look terrific, if not exactly what we'll put up eventually. They are in the style, and don't look plastic and drunken. A good start.

Yesterday I sewed (by hand) all day long, and we have curtains for the cabinets. If I say so myself, they turned out very well. Next the windows. I'm going to use sheers to make hourglass curtains, and tie them in the center with the material I used for the cabinets. All of the cabinet doors in the kitchen are up, too.

I still need to put the lower doors on to the china cupboard, but the top is done for now.

The rest of the week will be cleaning and cooking and all that. I really hope I have time to carve even a simple Jack O'Lantern. At least I know where my carving tools are. That's promising...