It's getting that time of year. How do you guys do up yours ?
I use stew cubes cut into bite size pieces instead of ground beef. I cook up a pound of bacon, then brown the stew cube chunks in the bacon fat, then everything I can get my hands on goes into the crock pots (plural, I make a huge batch) the cooked bacon, celery, tons of fresh garlic, hot sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, a couple of jalepenos, a bag of rinsed (but not soaked) beans. Cook low and slow for about twelve hours- the beans will start to get tender by then, then I throw in pearl onions for the last few hours. A bowl of that and some fresh Italian bread- now your'e eating !