I was cooking yesterday, making a big pot of my delicious black bean chili so that Dave has some stuff to eat while I’m in Nashville this weekend. As a rule, I don’t measure spices, kind of just dump them in. Well, I reached for the chili powder, made a few generous passes over the crock pot and realized it wasn’t chili powder, but nutmeg.
Oh geeze, now what? My first thought was to dump it down the drain – all that ground beef, several cans of black beans, and the rest of it. I was truly agitated with myself, inspiring negative self-talk; “You stupid idiot!” I would never speak to anyone the way I sometimes speak to myself.
I calmed down, and wondered how much damage a little nutmeg could cause. What would it hurt to let it simmer in the crock pot and let Dave taste it later (I’m on the no-BLT’s plan – no bites, licks or tastes)?
So, when he came home from his part time job at Disney, Dave lifted the lid on the crock pot, smelled the chili and asked for a bowl! I accommodated him, not mentioning my screw up with the spices. So there he was, a little after midnight, chowing down, raving about how it was the best chili I had ever made. Chuckling, I shared my nutmeg saga. He suggested that I add it to all future chilis!
So there you go. My famous black bean chili will have an opportunity to be even more famous for it’s new secret ingredient, so don’t tell anyone! It could have used a little more jalapeno pepper. I always err on the side of conservative with the hot stuff!
Had I followed my first negative inkling and pitched the chili, we’d never have known what good could come from a seemingly bad situation. I learned something yesterday – things aren’t always what they seem and what may look like a negative in the moment, could be a positive just waiting to happen!
