Greetings. There are as many chili recipes as there are people to make them. This one is super easy – don’t be deterred by the long list of ingredients – the spices are ones that you will probably have in you cupboard. If you are not using a lean cut of beef, begin by browning the meat in a pan and pouring off the fat. Proceed with the recipe as directed, including the water, but skipping the 20-minute preliminary cooking of the ground beef.
Chili
2 lbs ground sirloin 2 cups water
1 onion (about 5 ozs), finely chopped (1 cup)
1 Poblano pepper (about 2 ozs), chopped (½ cup)
1 bell pepper (about 4 ozs), chopped (¾ cup)
1 clove garlic, minced 4 tbs chili powder
1 tbs cocoa powder 1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried basil ¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground allspice 2 bay leaves
6 tbs tomato paste 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1-2 tbs balsamic vinegar
shredded Monterey Jack cheese for garnish, optional
thinly sliced scallions for garnish, optional
In a stockpot or large Dutch oven, cook ground sirloin with water over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more water if necessary so that meat does not become dry.
Stir in onion, Poblano pepper, bell pepper, garlic, and all of the spices.
Stir is tomato paste. Stir in crushed tomatoes.
Simmer for about 2 hours, adding more water if necessary to prevent scorching. Stir in balsamic vinegar. Adjust seasoning, adding more salt to taste. Serve plain, or with rice.
Top with garnishes, as desired.
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- A random conversation between two people, followed by another light conversation between two people resulted in a spark to a women's group for development in Haiti.
Pam Brown, a member of the Putnam Rotary Club, recently traveled to Haiti with the nonprofit group, Roots of Development as part of a 10-person team. The 10 visited the village of Gran Sous. Group members met with several groups working to raise the standard of living in the village.
One of the groups was the Women's Group for the Development and Advancement of Gran Sous (GFDAG). The group has a community business that buys products in bulk in Port-au-Prince and then resells the items at a lower price. The items are then more accessible to the poor and the business creates employment for local women and the revenue from the business will reduce the dependence the women's group has on outside funding for its development projects, Brown said.
After one year in business, Brown said, the group remains open six days a week and bring in an average of $7,500 (U.S.) per month. "Most of the profits are reinvested into business development or used to keep vulnerable and orphaned children in school. GFDAG is looking to expand to a larger facility with better security and solar-powered electricity to keep up with growing demand," she said.
Brown got into a discussion with the women and saw that the women kept the money at the store in a drawer. Money was not sorted and it was not accounted for until the end of the day.
When Brown returned, she was telling the story about the way cash was handled to Fred and Rande Chmura at a Rotary function. She wondered aloud if there was such a thing as a battery-operated cash register. Fred Chmura looked it up and saw that there was. He obtained one for Brown's Haiti project and the Putnam Rotary Club, feeling it was a good cause, purchased a second one.
The two battery-operated cash registers will be personally delivered by a member of the Roots organization.
Donations for battery charger, rechargeable batteries, traditional batteries and register tapes are being sought. Donations may be sent to the Putnam Rotary Foundation, PO Box 263, Putnam, CT 06260. Please put "Haiti" in the subject line. Those wishing to help may also go to Roots of Development's website at www.rootsoddevelopment.org.
Brown said, "Until you haver personally experienced Haiti, nothing can prepare you for the sheer poverty and lack of infrastructure in the country. But the people there are beautiful, caring and very resilient. They want to be able to help themselves and Roots is giving them the opportunity to do so. I am so grateful to join my fellow Rotarians in Putnam to support them and the work they do."
Sparkled Hosta
Raindrops added a diamond tiara to a hosta leaf. It's a cool tribute to summer. Linda Lemmon photo.
Legion
season
off to a
flying start
By Ron P. Coderre
The Zone VI American Legion Baseball season is barely more than one week old but it appears that Danielson means business as it’s jumped out to a 7-2 start on the 30-game schedule. Barely one third of the way into the season Danielson is currently positioned in second place in the zone behind Waterford, which is undefeated at 6-0.
Moosup Post #91, which was late out of the gate because its high school team played into the Class M semifinals, got off to a perfect start at 2-0 before splitting a doubleheader with Willimantic. TriTown after six games is sitting at 2-4.
Danielson Riding Six-Game Win Streak
Danielson, which is waiting for its big bats to come alive, rode the strong arms of its pitching staff in picking up three wins last week. The team opened with a 2-1 squeaker over Montville as Travis Zurowski scattered eight Montville hits while sitting six batters down via the strike out route. Derek Griffiths scored the winning run on a bases loaded walk to Tre Belanger.
Next Conor Hanlon took the mound and spun a 2-0 shutout over Norwich. Hanlon limited Norwich to three hits. J.P. Dufault had two hits including a double to pace the Danielson offense. Derek Grzysiewicz also had a double for the winners. The team completed a perfect week with a 4-1 over Norwich, stretching its winning streak to six games. Corey Sipos was the winning pitcher, allowing Norwich only five hits. Ian Burgess had a double and Belanger contributed a triple to the winning cause.
Norwich was Moosup’s first victim as Post #91 logged a 9-0 win in its first game of the season. Ryan Pambuku, fresh off a great season with Plainfield High School, was the winning hurler. Garet Griffin with a home run and double was the big gun for Moosup. Mike Esposito took the hill against Willimantic and threw a four-hitter in leading Moosup to a 3-1 victory.
In game one of a twinbill Moosup kept its early season winning skein alive with a 6-3 win over the Thread City nine. Jordan Federer pitched and hit Post #91 to the win, as he contributed a triple to the victory. Colby Cyrus had a double for Moosup. A four-run uprising in the seventh inning wasn’t quite enough in the second game as Moosup lost its first game of the season 7-6 to Willi. David Carpenter suffered the loss.
TriTown was dropped by Niantic 9-3 despite two hits apiece by Kyle Tyler, Sean Falvey and Ty Anderson. The Towners were then shutout by Jewett City 9-0 and Jesus Garcia. The Towners were only able to garner four hits for losing pitcher Josh Allard.
Josh Malboeuf halted TriTown’s four game losing streak as he shut down the Jewett City bats in a 4-2 route going performance. Will Bourgeois and Jacob Guertin with doubles were the main offensive force for TriTown.
TriTown Jrs. Pick Up Second Win
Nick Foucault and Ryan Gadoury had big nights with the bats as they led the TriTown Jr. entry to its second victory of the season, an 8-7 win over Jewett City. Foucault was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored. Jared Carigan was the winning pitcher.
In two games against Ledyard Pawcatuck, TriTown went down to 2-1 and 14-0 defeats. The Towners are 2-5 after seven games.