Saturday, June 25, 2011

The Salad

My favorite specialty food is Cincinnati Chili.  I wish I could remember the very first time I had my mom's Cincinnati chili.  She had been given the recipe by a friend who was, as I recall, from Cincinnati, and I remember coveting the cream paper with man handwriting which scribed the world's most perfect chili recipe.  It would cook for hours and I would stop by the stove frequently to help stir, and to get an ETA for this world's most perfect chili.  What's different about Cincinnati Chili?  For one, it is beanless.  I always felt it was a more classy chili because of this.  More importantly, though, it relies on some subtle twists to the classic chili spice flavor profile.  It has cumin, cinnamon and often chocolate depending on whos making it.  (My mom doesn't use it, but I have started to now that I'm making it on my own.)  Cincinnati Chili is is served on top of angel hair pasta and topped with shredded cheese...if you're eating it "three-way," that is.  Add onions, that's "four way."  Add kidney beans, you're opting for "five-way."  As children and teenagers, we stopped the topping excitement at cheese, but as I've grown up I've gotten more adventurous.  I will dice some red onions and finely sliced jalapeno peppers.  Sometimes, I opt out of the pasta for low-carb's sake.  What would you call that?  Maybe "four-minus-one-plus-one-way."  Anyway you call it, any way you top it, this stuff is still like...well I was going to say "manna," but then I did some quick research and I'm not sure I'm prepared to back up that simile.  It is good.  Really good.  If I'm ever in the unfortunate position of having to pick a last meal, this would be it.  Less morbid: This is my favorite birthday dinner ever.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Cell phones.

I am the most bizarre breed of smart phone fans.  I will admit it here on the internet.  I love my Droid.  I don't know what model it is, I just know that it is connected up with Google and it does the coolest things as well as the most helpful things.  Mobile banking has made me more responsible with the small amount of money I do have.  Maps and Navigation has allowed me to navigate through completely new towns and cities and actually know where the closest gas station is and the street view of where I'm headed.  The horoscope application has encouraged a routine which I'm sure has spared me from cosmic misfortunes as well as helped me realize my potential cosmic success.  The camera allows me to capture the flowers, plants, animals and buildings that I encounter when I have exploring this world.  I wake up in the morning to Joni Mitchell's "Chelsea Morning," brought to me by the Android Market and I am frequently found watching Beyonce's "Run the World."  I can study various species of carnivorous plants with the help of the aptly named "Animal Kingdom - Carnivorous Plants" app.  All this is not to mention recipes on the run, scrabble, and the stars that this can identify!

But.

And there's a big but.