A Chilly (Chili) Day

No snow here, just a few flurries, but it's been cold, like everywhere else. Of course today is a busy day, like every other day...I feel like Ray Liotta playing Henry Hill in the last scene of Goodfellas today...you know the scene I'm talking about, helicopters chasing him (not in my case), running here and there, gotta pick up this, gotta take that, gotta cook this...stressed out!

So I'm making the fastest easiest homemade chili recipe out there. I like good food, and today I need it fast. I've also made some snowflake cupcakes, just white cupcakes from a mix, with homemade frosting tinted blue with sprinkles.

The Ensembles.





Easiest Fastest Chili
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 8oz. cans tomato sauce
1 16oz can Bush's chili beans (I like the taste of these better than plain kidney beans)
2 TBSP. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt & pepper

Brown ground beef in a 5qt. dutch oven, season with salt & pepper. When the beef is halfway brown, add the onion and green pepper, continue browning until the onions and green pepper are soft. Drain fat if necessary.
Next, add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans and seasoning. Simmer 30 minutes on med-low to medium heat. Serve with crackers, cheddar cheese, sour cream, etc. I also like to cook small macaroni separately, and add it to the individual bowls.
There you have it, a hot steaming bowl on a chilly night after a barn burner high school basketball game hits the spot!



Back to the star of the show, my cupcakes....I love my NYC style simple cupcakes with lots & lots of frosting. No frosting in a can for me, it tastes like the paste you ate in second grade (don't even try to hide it...you know you ate it or tasted it!) I will admit to using cake mix from a box, though. This recipe makes a ton of frosting. I always have some leftover, and it will keep a few days in the fridge, perfect to layer with peanut butter on a triple layer graham cracker.

Homemade Frosting
2 sticks butter, softened
2 16oz. boxes powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Beat softened butter till fluffy about 3 minutes in a large mixer bowl with electric mixer ( a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer is a must have for any kitchen). Add 1 box powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, and beat this till smooth. Add the remaining box of powdered sugar and beat again. (make sure you start out beating the powdered sugar on low speed) Add your favorite color food coloring, the old-fashioned kind in the bottle is just fine. I find that fancy paste food coloring has better colors, but is not easy to work with. (at least for me) I'm not into all the fancy cake decorating though, just frosting and sprinkles makes me smile!