~ Chili ~

 

 

 

 

............ Sauce!  I always know when fall is upon us.  My Mom goes and gets the ingredients and it is time to make chili sauce.  When I was little my parents did the slicing and dicing on the back patio and the old cast iron stove in the basement was used to cook it down.  The smell would completely engulf the house.   When they moved years and years ago to the last house the stove was taken apart and moved to just for that purpose but it was hooked up in the garage.   This move, well the stove went but it's at my sisters house.  They have a regular gas stove in the garage. 

 

It's always been a some what family affair.  Who ever is available goes and helps with the peeling and grinding.  I'm pretty useless with the onions.  After a couple my eyes burn and the tears keepme from seeing.  My sister wears contacts and she swears they keep her from having the normal effects.  I have to believe her as she whips through them.   I can remember times my sister Pat (bless her soul) would wear swimming goggles to try and avoid the tears.  It didn't work!

 

We got the onions and tomatoes done and ground.  My sister and Mom wore gloves to clean and grind the HOT red and green peppers.   As they stood in the garage I could smell the hot.  My sister is smiling so big in the one picture because she told me to put the camera down and get a knife!   Dad, he supervised and helped a bit with the grinding out on the patio.  Once every thing was cleaned, peeled, and ground up off it went to big pot to start the 'cook down'.   Mom got the rest of the seasoning into the mixture then put the all spice in an old cloth to be added to the mixture.  The cook down takes several hours.  The all spice stays in the cloth so you get the flavor and not the stems, seeds, etc.  By the time I left the garage smelled awesome!   Their chili sauce is hot but we all love it.  I use it in spaghetti sauce, and chili. I've been known to season steaks with it, and I use it on hot dogs as a condiment.  My Mom tells me my Grandfather would eat it out of bowl with crackers.  Now that I could NOT do... too hot!  I so wish I could get the smell on this here blog.....  and off my hands.  All I can smell is onions on my hands.....LOL

 

I hope everyone is doing good and staying safe and some what dry.  We had a bit of rain, but nothing like down south is getting.  Tomorrow is a big day...  football season starts.  Ok, well it started on Thursday when the Giants beat the skins.  The Bills play tomorrow and will be testing their skills against the Seahawks.  I've heard there are few injuries but hopefully it will be to our advantage.  It's been way to long since we had a winning season.

 

Hugs

~d

Tags: chili sauce