The Chili Pot

Some of my strongest food memories don’t start in a kitchen.

They start in a freezer.

My grandma used to make chili sauce in large batches that simmered for hours and ended up in old margarine tubs stacked neatly in the freezer. Those tubs were the perfect size: just enough chili to make chili dogs anytime.

At the time, I didn’t think about where the recipe came from. The only chili we ate growing up was this chili, always on hot dogs. It clung to the hot dog, soaked into the bun, and it always hit the spot.

The recipe was written down by hand and kept.

The Recipe

I chose not to modernize or adapt this recipe. It felt more authentic to leave it as it was, and it didn’t need improvement. This is how it was made for years, both at the restaurant and at home.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs. hamburger
• 6 oz melted suet
• Soup bones, used to make 1 gallon beef broth
• One 6-inch onion, finely diced
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 3 Tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic salt or 2–3 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp dried peppermint
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp hot ground pepper
• 1 large can tomato sauce
• 6 slices dried bread
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with water
• 3 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp Accent

How It Was Made

Fry the hamburger in melted suet. Add the finely diced onion and cook until softened. Add the beef broth made from soup bones, followed by the spices, tomato sauce, and dried bread slices. Cook for about two hours, stirring occasionally. Add the cornstarch mixed with water to thicken.

At home, this chili was frozen in meal-size portions, poured into empty margarine containers that were just right. They stacked neatly in the freezer and made reheating simple—practical, familiar, and exactly how it was done.

Why This Was Written Down

In her written recollections, my mom wrote about her Uncle Nick and Aunt Persida in Traverse City, and about the chili he made at The Chili Pot.

Writing it down now felt like the right way to keep it from quietly disappearing.