By October. The mountains will be on fire this weekend and I'm driving to Evarts to see them. But first — soup beans Monday, pot roast Wednesday, chili Friday. The fall trifecta. The three foods that define October in my kitchen the way the three colors — red, orange, yellow — define October in the trees.
The chili this year has evolved again. Added a smoky dried pepper — ancho, which James introduced me to. Soaked it in hot water, blended it smooth, added it to the chili. The smokiness layered on top of the coffee and the chocolate from last year, and the chili is becoming something — not better than Betty's, not different from Betty's, but growing from Betty's the way a tree grows from a seed. The seed is still there. The tree is mine.
Clay is six months at the outdoor store, over a year sober since the last relapse. He's been promoted to shift lead, which means he opens the store some mornings and closes it some nights and has keys, actual keys, and the metaphor of a man who was locked in his own pain being trusted with keys to a store is not lost on me but I don't say it because metaphors are for writers and I'm a cook. But I think it. I think it every time he mentions the keys.
Earl Thomas is eighteen months. He can say full sentences now — short ones, three or four words, but real sentences with subjects and verbs and the kind of directness that only toddlers and Appalachian women possess. He said more chicken PawPaw on Sunday and I gave him more chicken and I would give him all the chicken in Kentucky and never regret it.
The ancho chili this year is all about layering — smoke on top of coffee on top of chocolate — and once I started thinking that way, I couldn’t stop. This chai spice mix works the same way: you’re not throwing one thing at a cup of tea or a bowl of oatmeal, you’re building something. Cinnamon first, then ginger’s heat, then cardamom’s floral note settling in behind it. I made a jar of this for the drive to Evarts — mixed it into my thermos coffee on the mountain road — and thought about Clay’s keys and Earl Thomas saying more chicken PawPaw and how the whole of October sometimes tastes like something you earned.
Chai Spice Mix
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 5 minutes | Servings: About 24 teaspoons (one small jar)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine. Measure all spices into a small bowl and whisk together until evenly blended — no streaks of any single spice remaining.
- Store. Transfer to a small airtight jar or spice container. Label with the date. Keeps at room temperature for up to 6 months, though the fragrance is strongest in the first 8 weeks.
- Use it. Stir 1 teaspoon into black tea, coffee, oatmeal, or warm milk. Add 2 teaspoons to muffin or pancake batter. Sprinkle over roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash. Mix into whipped cream for pie.
Nutrition (per serving — 1 teaspoon)
Calories: 6 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 2g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 1mg