Fair Haven

My friend Claire and I took a day off of school, and drove up to her summer house in Fair Haven, New York. 

I think getting away from the city keeps me sane. I love where I live, but sometimes I feel suffocated and claustrophobic. I just had a three day weekend, but a second one was fine by me. 

We ate some great food. 

           Beef Chili

	4 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
	8 medium onions, chopped (4 cups)
	4 cans (28 oz each) organic diced tomatoes, undrained
	3 cans (19 oz each) red kidney beans, drained, liquid reserved
	1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
	3 tablespoons chili powder
	2 tablespoons sugar
	1 tablespoon salt 1. In 8-quart Dutch oven or stockpot, cook beef and onions over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is thoroughly cooked and onions are tender; drain. 2. Stir in tomatoes, bean liquid, tomato sauce, chili powder, sugar and salt, breaking up tomatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 1 1/4 hours. 3. Stir in beans. Simmer uncovered about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency. Cornbread from a box is the best kind of cornbread. More apples, and apple pie! Before After A lot of board and card games were played (not by me, I watched because I have this strange aversion to board games).  There was a mini black-out for a few hours because it was so windy. We didn't have any candles, so we used birthday candles.  Great weekend. Thanks, Summer Hill :)