It's Chili

Good morning! Well, I got more sick on Friday. f*ck!!! Went through a box of Kleenex...I'd moved on to the "head cold" portion of the flu with the watery eyes, nose, etc. PLUS my beloved cough. Spent the entirety of the weekend on the couch unable to move or do anything at all. Last night filled with asthma attacks. Today, I'm just back to having the cough and almost deaf ears. The whole thing is a sonofabitch. All with hives covering 90 percent of my body; thanks to my flu meds aggravating my normal batch. So the insane all-over itching tended to be a factor of the weekend. I just try to remember it could be worse...it always could be worse. On to the topic at hand; my husband made me my favorite chili last night for dinner. Not just ANY chili; THE chili. My favorite food dish is the chili at Charlie Beiggs Restaurant in Windham, Maine. It's won many awards and whenever I'm in Maine I beg to go there just so I can have the crock of chili (which they bake to melt the cheese on top and put a bunch of scallions and such on the top). They make it with pulled pork (smoked) and special bbq sauce and such. It's got the most amazing flavor. I've been obsessed with it for years and I don't try to hide it. For Christmas Eve dinner (since I don't eat seafood...I'm shamed) my Dad drove all the way out to the restaurant just to pick up the chili for me (they don't do takeout). He convinced them to put it in a container for me and I gratefully ate my chili as the rest of the family ate their lobster rolls. Thanks Dad! It was a nice surprise. And so sweet to drive all the way there just for me. Knowing my love for this stuff, my husband has taken on the task of trying to emulate the recipe. Yesterday morning he set up the crock pot and started in with cooking the pork. He spent all day lovingly preparing all the ingredients. He toiled and slaved over each vegetable slice and sprinkle. And when it was ready and smelled so delicious he put it into crocks and baked the cheese on. He even added the scallion garnish! It was friggin' great! It wasn't exactly like the restaurant's, but it was better. It was his. It was made with love and determination to make me smile. It was perfect and perfectly delicious. And now I have enough to last me the week! He will try to make it again; and next time he'll add a little more sauce. All I know is, it was heavenly and I'm very lucky.

Be well everyone; I will be trying to get through this recovery so I can get back to my life again. Dirty bastard flu!!!