Can it!

Something a little different today, gang.

I thought I'd talk briefly (we'll see if I can keep it brief) about canned chili. My favourite brand of canned chili has always been Stagg® Chili, which is now (maybe it always has been) owned by Hormel®. For some reason, this chili just seems to satisfy what I want in a "quick and dirty" bowl of red, and as they have a wide variety of chili to choose from, I tend to find that I rarely tire of it.

Stagg® Chili

However, its not that simple anymore.

I live in Chicago, the Midwestern United States, and Stagg® is not available here! I can order it from Amazon, if I want to pay the premium (and I've pondered it several times), but with how things are financially right now, I just can't justify that. In my search for a substitute, I found myself trying something else from Hormel®, and I think its a good substitute given my options here. This option is "Hormel® Cook-Off Series™ Chili", in all its varieties.

Hormel® Cook-Off Series™ Chili

I have to say that for a quick and dirty bowl of red, this is satisfying my craving. Its not the most phenomenal thing to hit the market, but I don't care. I'm not diving into this for gourmet chili, or competition chili, I'm diving into this for a quick bit of comfort food, a late night snack, a good movie and a cry, a way to deal with my desire for more specific southwestern foods.

Now for those of you who may live in the midwest and suggest Wolf® Brand Chili, I have tried a bunch of it and it just does not suit me. There is something in it that my palate and my digestive tract do not like. Its not a bad chili, on the whole, but I just can't do it. I definitely suggest you give it a try. I'm partial to the Roasted Tomato and the Chipotle Chicken, but the other flavours are very good as well.

Wolf® Brand Chili

I know this chili has a long long history, 1895 and made by a ranch hand and all that, but even in TX, there is a LOT of debate about what makes a good bowl of red, and for me, this just does not... "minister to me", as a friend of mine would say. 

Everyone needs comfort food. For me, that is often chili, and for now, since I can't get my absolute favourite (especially since I think that the flavour I liked the most isn't made anymore, even in the Stagg® line), I have settled, for the moment, on the Hormel® Cook-Off Series™ Chili. May you all find the flavours that best suit you. As I say in another corner of the internet:

May the pods be ever in your flavour!