JohnT Love2Troll wrote: > Riley, > > Be sure and add beans to your chili as that will greatly add to your > Texan fan base. I've tried the Cin Chili and 5 Alarm mixes and they are > OK. Gebhardt Chili Powder is pretty good if you can find in your area > and build from there. > Hello John and C-H'ers....I dunno about the "add to your Texan fan base" and in fact I think that it would have the opposite effect:-))! A big difference of opinion about beans in Texas Chili exists in Texas, with the majority of folks stating absolutely that there "ain't no beans in chili"! I would point to the URL: http://www.g6csy.net/chile/recp-texas.html This site gives a pretty good description of the various versions of the national dish of Texas. Some folks add a side of beans, but never ever in the chili, which is mainly beef, chili peppers, chili powder, comino garlic, onion, oregano & salt. No tomato, no nuttin else, particularly beans! Or spaggeti! Check them all out, there are a pile of recipes in there. Unfortunately, for this old man, Marie has an allergy to beef, so I stick to pork and peppers. I do make Texas chili on occasion, and then I do something else for my better half. Speaking about peppers, I lost all of mine but one plant this year, and the one I managed to keep alive was a Black Hungarian, which is really producing now, putting out blossoms every day and loads of peppers. And they are HOT! My chili powder is my own blend of dried and ground peppers, along with powdered garlic and cumin, and just a tad of salt. And my ground pepper mixture contains some of Jim's dried chipotle as well. Great chili mix! Cheers, old Doug in BC