It's a really cold night so let's have chili and hot bread

My cousin, Adrienne, lives in Atlanta...really, Marietta. She won her tennis club's chili cook-off with this recipe. Reckon I ought to call and tell her it's in here?

BadaBing Chili
1 pound ground turkey
1 pound ground sirloin
2 cans black beans
2 packages French's Chili-O Mix
1 26-ounce can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 4-1/2 ounce can chopped green chilis
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 bunch fresh cilantro

Brown meat and garlic. Add everything else, except cilantro, and cook 45 minutes. Add chopped cilantro just before serving.

Then, there's Beer Bread. The simplest Save Your Ass bread recipe on the planet. The first time I made it was with that high-dollar mix from that gourmet food aka Tupperware Treats party organization. Great bread. Not seven dollars worth of great. So, here's the cheap/just-as-good version. Thank you very much.

Beer Bread
1/4 cup sugar
12 ounces beer
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups self-rising flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a loaf pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and beer and mix well. The mixture should be sticky. Pour into the loaf pan, pour the melted butter on top and bake for 55 minutes. (This makes a crunchy top crust. If you prefer a soft crust, brush the butter on three minutes before you remove the bread from the oven.) Serves 8.

Fresh herbs in the batter are good. Right now, I have rosemary and three kinds of thyme and either would be lovely. Or dried herbs in the butter.