Turkey Chili

My love of chili is another food surprise that has sprung upon me during my thirties.  Maybe because I was thirty-one when I met my husband, and he LOVES chili. Then, it still didn't pass my lips until my sister made it for us in Tahoe, when I was 34.  Now, some years later, it is a family staple.

Maybe because I was raised in the northeast, by parents who were also raised in the northeast, I had never been served chili. I avoided it in school cafeterias, always choosing my backup meal of a few bowls of cocoa krispies.  The chili at JG Melon's in NYC always had a cult following, which I never gave a second thought. Who were these chili eaters? 

Then, in Winter 2011, Lake Tahoe, I could not avoid my fate. My sister, husband, and I arrived at the rental house with a cold wood stove among twenty feet of snow. My sister defrosted some Turkey Chili she had made for us in advance. There were no alternatives. There were no cocoa krispies. I was six weeks pregnant and freezing. And, it wasn't so bad. My husband devoured it all. 

With that ringing endorsement, I returned home and made a few batches.  While waiting for R to arrive, I even made some to freeze for a future meal.  

I have tried a few recipes over the years, even meatless recipes, and I always return to the original recipe my sister used, from All Recipes. 

Dinner: A Love Story also has a good recipe, which recommends a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Now I usually add some to the All Recipes recipe.