design*sponge cookbook reviews

i'm just a tad obsessed with blog reading. the problem is that so many cool blogs highlight other cool blogs and then they highlight even more cool blogs, and so on, and so on! i find myself adding so many blogs to my reader that i cannot possibly keep up. but i can't stop!

design*sponge is one of the blogs that is always sending me on a blog-adding spree, as well as leading me to bookmark 8,000 items i would love to buy, have to own, and can't possibly live one other day without. unfortunately for my desire to own every cookbook on earth, they sometimes highlight new offerings in that category as well. such as these. people looking for gift ideas, take note!!

Chiliween

I am my mother. This one I didn't really see coming, though, because mostly I am not my mother in the kitchen. 

Two years ago, on our first Halloween with a child, I decided to make chili for dinner. It's yummy, easy to make, and can sit on the stove until you're ready to eat. Oh, and it goes so well with cornbread -- I love cornbread! Last year I did it again and proclaimed it a tradition. When I told my mom about it, she said, "Well, I always made chili for dinner on Halloween! Don't you remember?" I guess I must.

I never really liked Halloween (except for the candy, of course) but I must have really liked that chili. Things have changed a bit since my mom's version. I'm mostly a vegetarian, so I make a meat-free version. And I don't use the packets of McCormick spice mix my mom used. (I bet she has one in her pantry, though!) Other than that, I guess it's the natural progression of a family tradition, one maybe a daughter (or two) of mine will continue later in life. After all, it is a yummy, healthful, protein-packed, vegan meal to help offset that sugar rush!