1. I wrote the first draft of the letter to go out to members of KHS Class of '72 about what we are doing together during the weekend of the KHS All-Class Reunion. I ran my letter by Cindy, Joni, and Diane and they gave me some information to add and Cindy emailed me pictures of their property. I'm wondering if people who are undecided about coming to our Friday afternoon open house party might be persuaded to come upon seeing how smashing the Carlsons' river property is. It's highly likely I'll send out the letter on Monday, Tuesday at the latest.
2. Yesterday, I combined water, tomato paste, unsweetened baking chocolate, chili powder, cinnamon, garlic powder, ground cloves, cumin, allspice, salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and ground beef in our largest Dutch oven and let this Skyline/Cincinnati Chili Sauce bubble away all afternoon and then stored it in a container in the refrigerator.
The idea was to let the flavors commingle overnight.
I got the sauce out this afternoon, reduced a bit more of the liquid, and it was ready to go. In addition, I chopped both white and green onion, warmed up three cans of black beans, put oyster crackers in a bowl, and got out bags of grated medium cheddar and sharp cheddar cheese.
Lastly, I boiled enough spaghetti for six people -- and a little more.
Everything was in place for assembling Skyline (or Cincinnati) Chili. I served each person a layer of spaghetti topped with chili sauce and black beans and each person then decided about adding onion, cheese, and oyster crackers. I also put out a bottle of Frank's RedHot Sauce since I didn't put any pepper flakes in the sauce.
3. Tonight we had five family members and one guest for family dinner. Christy, Debbie, Paul, Carol, Carol's friend Tana, and I formed a party on our backyard patio.
I made tonight's cocktail by combining George Dickel Rye Whiskey, fresh squeezed lime juice, ginger beer, and a sprig of mint over ice to make a Kentucky (or a Cincinnati) Mule.
Carol, Paul, and Tana brought a vegetable and pickle tray with Ranch dressing for an appetizer.
Everyone, then, finished fixing their Skyline (Cincinnati) Chili and Christy contributed a variety of wines.
We got to know Tana better by discussing a wide range of topics, including extremism in the West, the challenges of working in Human Resources, gardening, the lay of the land in the Tri-Cities, and a host of other topics.
We topped off the night with a delicious after dinner drink: Cointreau and chocolate bitters.
This dessert drink was a first in our several years of having family dinner and turned out to be not only universally approved, but inspired calls for having this drink again and again in the future!
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