Chili with cornbread on top

With winter returning and a cold, cold breeze it was time to think about making "comfort food" again. This is one of my husband's favorites on a cold winter evening, I think because it smells up the house so good for several hours while I'm making it.

I like to start with hamburger in the frying pan, maybe 2 pounds. I'm not one to measure precisely. Along with that I'll add one chopped fine onion, two finely chopped and seeded Anaheim chilies, a few cloves of chopped garlic. When these have all cooked down, I drain off the extra liquid and discard in an empty aluminum can (we're on septic). Now I get out a big pot. I add two 15-ounce cans of drained and rinsed kidney beans, 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper, two 16-ounce cans of chopped tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of sea salt, 4 tablespoons of chili powder. I like to simmer this on low for about a half an hour. Now I pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. I spray a glass lasagna-size pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour the chili in.

In a bowl I mix Krusteaz Corn Bread/Muffin Mix, one fresh laid egg, one 15-ounce can of creamed corn, and 1/2 cup of milk or a little more to consistency. Then I mix in a handful of shredded cheese. Since we live in high elevation, I usually add 2 tablespoons of corn starch. I pour this mixture evenly over the chili and bake in the oven until the toothpick comes out clean. This usually takes approximately 30 minutes. Yummy in our tummy.

Fresh laid eggs

I heard the chickens cackling out in the hen house a few days back. Jenee and I walked quietly in to "La Henne House" to check on the birds that haven't made noise in quiet a few months. There she was, our smallest little hen, a 2-pound buff-colored bantam. As I pulled her aside to check her nest I started to count, one, two, three, four, five - oh my goodness - six, seven, eight; by the time our shirts were full we had collected 24 eggs from under our cute little hen. No, she didn't lay them all; we have eight other full size hens. When I inspected each egg in a bowl of water, in case some were old, they all tested out just fine lying down in the water to show me they were good. Wow, what a haul. Good chickens! We were very happy to know spring has sprung at our farm.

-- Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.