Cooking Challenge- PW's Simple Chili & Skillet Cornbread

Ahhh, tonight's recipes worked out perfect for what we experienced today...snow.  Nothing like having a hot bowl of something to warm the insides.

Yes.  I live in Utah and I was shocked to see it snowing & subsequently drop 3-4 inches.  The weatherman did not warn me of such happenings.  Luckily, I didn't have to worry about the shoveling of the snow-thank you hunny.

Anyway, both of these recipes I scooped up out of the cookbook,

{found here}

Originally, I was going to make my own cornbread, but then I was looking at the recipe in the book & thought that I would give it a try.  I've never thought about using buttermilk when it comes cornbread; in fact, I don't really think about using buttermilk at all; unless it's biscuits.

My husband & I had a discussion on Chili.  We both know that there are different versions of Chili, depending on what part of the country you live in.  The cookbooks version of Chili is a meat Chili w/ no beans; I've always thought/enjoyed Chili w/beans & meat.  Luckily, the recipe had optional ingredients, so beans got to enter the equation.

One cooking technique that I really liked was using the masa flour {with some water mixed in} as a thickening agent for the Chili.  Along with the spices, everything blended so well.

I declined to add the jalapeno {even though I bought one for this meal}, mainly for the kids.  I decided to give their tongues a break for the night.

All in all, I really liked the Chili recipe....I think I'll keep it in my arsenal.

Now, the chili recipe is in the book, but the cornbread recipe can be found here.