Subj : Legion was: Keyboards was To : Ruth Haffly From : Dave Drum Date : Wed Jan 11 2023 05:29:00 -=> Ruth Haffly wrote to Dave Drum <=- RH> Sounds good. The Legion and Auxillary do a pancake breakfast once a RH> month as a fundraiser & the VFW has a chuck wagon (burgers and hot RH> dogs) they take to community events as their major fund raiser. DD> Post 32 (where my brother was commander for a couple of years) has DD> "The Mess Hall" which is open to the public. It's a pub serving both DD> food and "adult" beverages. Profits are a big part of the Post's RH> Ours is a dry post and there's no "mess hall" operation. The kitchen is RH> used for meals on AL (American Legion), MCL (Marine Corps League, VFW RH> (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and ALA (American Legion Auxillary) meeting RH> nights. It's also rented out one or two days a week for commercial RH> bakers. The Hall is used by several groups during the week, including RH> several that used to meet at the local senior center. That building was RH> renovated and was about to reopen when Covid hit in 2020. They finally RH> reopened about a year ago, then about a month later got hit by RH> lightning and caught fire. Didn't destroy the whole building but as I RH> understand things, they're having problems with the insurance companies RH> that has to be settled before they can rebuild. Both Legion posts and both VFW posts are enthusiastically "wet". Post 32 was originally downtown in rented space. It had a bar for members and their guests but AFAIK no one was ever asked to prove status. Anyway, the owneer of the property decided to build a vacant lot there in lieu of paying to repair the many violations of code that the building inspectors founs. It so happened that a bar & grill operation was up for sale with a big lot (room to park more than 100 cars) a good sized building with an up to date commercial kitchen, etc. And it was directly across the street from the Illinois State Fairground. In addition to the income from the pub aspects of the post a fair whack of $$$$ is made selling parking by the day during State Fair time. The post cooperates with other groups to man the parking deal. My motorcycle club (Vintage Iron Riders - (old folks and old bikes) got U$850 as our cut of the pot for parking cars and selling bottled water on a single day (not the busiest of the fair) mid-week. DD> budget. They host a chilli cook-off as well as a couple of chicken-fry DD> fund raisers every year. They are well known in the north end of DD> town for their fried buzzard. RH> Sounds like a worthy cause. The local fire department and one of the RH> local churches do fish fries about once a year as fund raisers; we've RH> supported the former more than the latter. They also host a car show and their motorcycle group (Legion Riders) do a motorcycle show and cruise. Main charity (recent,y) is sponsoring the "Honor Flights" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_Flight which were for WWII veterans. But as the number of survivors from that war has dwindled the focus has shifted to Keoran War and Vietnam era vets. DD> 8<----- Jump to chilli ----->B RH> Around here, people like beans in their chili. That should increase the DD> People in this area like beans (except kidney beans) in their red DD> chilli. Chile Verde (green) not so much. RH> Seems like anything goes here from what I've seen. The beanless chilis RH> don't seem to do as well, despite our years of trying to educate folks RH> as to what true chili is. DD> Texas chauvanists have spent years trying to convince people that DD> beans don't belog in chilli. Chilli was developed by trail cooks DD> adding chilies and other spices to beef that had "gone off" due to DD> lack of refrigeration. They added beans to the mix to stretch the DD> budget since beans are waaaay less expensive than beef. RH> I grew up with beans in my chili, have made it that way quite often RH> myself. Added corn when Steve and I got married, until he realised his RH> corn allergy. Now I'll make chili for us with tomatoes, meat, peppers RH> and onions; for church competitions and pot lucks, I'll do chili the RH> way I used to make it, making it on the mild side for chili wimps. My chilli is not meant for "wimps". It won't destroy your tongue but it will get your attention. A good bowl of chilli should leave you with a nice glow from the chilies and a memory of the flavour in that experience. I once made a batch intentionally mild as a concession to a specific person. As you will see in the notes - it didn't work. MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06 Title: Alabama Picnic Chilli Categories: Chilli, Vegetables, Herbs, Chilies, Stews Yield: 12 Servings 5 lb Coarse-ground beef 1 lg Onion; diced fairly fine 1/2 c Green bell pepper; diced 2 tb GFS or Minor's beef base 1 ts Cocoa (Nestle or Hershey) * 5 ts Powdered garlic granules 1 tb Ground cumin 48 oz Can tomato juice 5 tb + (3 ts) chilli spice 1/2 ts Fresh black pepper * NOT the hot chocolate drink mix with sugar and other nasties that don't go well in my chilli. Here is one of mine that is a good starting point for experimenting. I use my own chilli mix... but Gebhardt's, Mexene or Chilli Man will work pretty well. Ray's Chilli owner says he is bringing out a line of chilli mix as soon as he finds a spice company to mix and package to his recipe. Apparently it has different requirements from using spices to can chilli. Combine the beef base, tomato juice, chopped veggies, cocoa and 4 teaspoons of powdered garlic in a dutch oven over a low (simmer) flame. Divide the hamburger into three more-or-less equal batches and brown it in a separate skillet. Add 1 teaspoon of chilli spice per batch. When browned and crumbled drain excess fat and add to dutch oven. Repeat until all ground beef is in the chilli pot. Add the black pepper to the chilli pot. Stir in 1 tablespoon per pound of meat of the chilli powder (5 Tb for this batch). Cover pot and let simmer, stirring once in a while. When the onions and peppers are cooked (about 1 1/2 hr) taste the pot. You will probably find that you'll need to add the remaining tablespoon of garlic powder and the tablespoon of ground cumin. You may also want to add an additional tablespoon of chilli powder at this time. Trust me on the garlic and cumin. It adds the final kick. For those desiring a hotter product add cayenne until your lips turn numb and your sinuses drain if you like. I made this batch extra-mild in deference to picnic attendees who don't handle heat real well. Sadly, Maya Houston thought it was still too hot after she tasted a spoonful. As noted - this recipe starts extra mild as a base line in deference to the non chile heads for whom I made it. Add heat or chipotles to suit yourself. Black or pinto beans will work - add them AFTER the chilli is cooked. From: Uncle Dirty Dave's Kitchen Posted By: Dave Drum, xrated@cityscape.net Post Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 From: http://www.pepperfool.com MMMMM .... Tapeworms, because not everyone can afford liposuction. --- MultiMail/Win v0.52 * Origin: SouthEast Star Mail HUB - SESTAR (1:3634/12) .