Time To Get Chili!

Did You Know? - Chili con carne (chili with meat), more commonly known simply as chili, is a spicy stew containing chili peppers, meat (usually beef), tomatoes and often beans. Other seasonings may include garlic, onions, and cumin. Variations, both geographic and personal, may involve different types of meat as well as a variety of other ingredients. The variant recipes provoke disputes among aficionados, some of whom insist that the word "chili" only applies to the basic dish. Chili is a frequent dish for cook-offs. It is also used as an ingredient in a number of other dishes.

In Spanish, the "chili" refers to a chile pepper and "carne" means meat.

The recipe used by American frontier settlers consisted of dried beef, suet, dried chili peppers and salt, which were pounded together, formed into bricks and left to dry, which could then be boiled in pots on the trail.

The San Antonio Chili Stand, in operation at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, helped people from other parts of the country taste and appreciate chili. San Antonio was a significant tourist destination and helped Texas-style chili con carne spread throughout the South and West. Chili con carne is the official dish of the U.S. state of Texas as designated by the House Concurrent Resolution Number 18 of the 65th Texas Legislature during its regular session in 1977.