I have returned to my posting after a holiday hiatus.  Not realizing that the holidays suck up so much of your time, energy and thought processes, I casually began my usual shopping and compiling of lists in early November and was lured into the clutches  of over thinking, over planning and  allowing the holidays to consume my creative innards overall.

Mom returned to her usual activities too.  She belongs to a quilting circle and they meet once a month to quilt, eat and visit.  Or is it eat, visit and quilt.  I’m not sure the order but they have a good time and she enjoys the friendships it brings.

With winter in full swing Mom decided on  bringing chili as her dish for their first meeting after the holidays, the ultimate comfort food!  This chili experience turned out to be anything but comforting.

Apparently the recipe she used ended up with more spice than the normal palate could easily ingest without major discomfort of the mouth, probably the throat too, heck, maybe even the lungs.

Luckily Mom was using a large crockpot.  She commenced to adding all the non-spicy ingredients she could think of to tone the stuff down so it wouldn’t burn anyone’s face off.  Her new ingredient list included the likes of more tomatoes, sauce, beans,  a tablespoon of peanut butter (yes, peanut butter), broth, cumin and more cumin.  By the time she was finished dumping all the stuff in she could barely run a spoon through it without spilling it over the sides.

Finally it was time to bid John adieu, grab her things including the basket containing the crockpot of chili.  I’m not exactly sure when the misstep occurred or if there was a misstep or if the crockpot was to blame but something definitely went very wrong and the basket and/or crockpot went askew and the chili poured out onto the sidewalk.  My horrified, panic -stricken little mother struggled back to the house and into the kitchen to assess the damage, it was colossal.  There was a string of chili from the sidewalk all the way to the kitchen sink.  John tried to reassure her that it would be okay but she was perfectly certain that it would not.

Since Mom had created such a massive amount of chili with her add-ins she had removed some of it from the pot to keep it from being too full and possibly cause a mess (uh hmm), she was able to salvage an acceptable amount of chili to take to quilting.
After trying to clean up her shoes, jeans and coat, she decided it would be best to just change all of her clothes and spend the cleaning time on the basket and crockpot.  Her second attempt at departure was a little more hurried so out the back door she fled only to find herself nearly tripping on some curious and hungry crows checking out the chili on the sidewalk!  She didn’t have time or the patience at this point to deal with chili eating crows at her doorstep so she just left them to it and made a beeline for the car.

Arriving an hour late, Mom made it without further incident to the kitchen area at the church where they meet.  I think her friends could tell something was a little off with her and someone suggested they just heat things up and eat rather than have her tearing right into the quilt they had been working on.  I think they deserve some kudos for their quick decision making skills.

Mom was expecting to return home and clean the sidewalk and back door entrance but as she approached the site of the spill there was nothing, not a bean even left on the sidewalk or surrounding area.  She noticed a lone honeybee, circling around where the chili once was probably sensing that there had been a food source there and not too long ago.  Apparently there was not even any residue left to scrounge, it buzzed off rather slowly.

Now that the chore of cleaning up outside had disappeared she only had the kitchen and clothing items to check off her list for the day.  Maybe John cleaned it all up for her or maybe John let the crows in.