Vegan Feel-Good Chili with Everything (cooking to help heal--isn't that what all cooking is anyway?)

I needed to spend the entire afternoon in the kitchen. It began like all chili making endeavors: a glug of oil, spoonfuls of cumin, coriander, some mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, salt and the pile of veggies I had carefully spent the last half hour chopping and mincing. I literally just kept pulling out veggies from the crisper and methodically went through them with the knife: zucchini, onion, carrot, garlic, green pepper, celery. Then poured in a can of black beans and a can of kidney beans, then two cans of tomatoes--one sauce, one diced. And finally, added a bag of my favorite vegan crumbles (Beyond Beef). With the aroma of cumin and my heavy-handed scoops of some favorite chili blends (okay, it's Penzey's), my kitchen began to heal my soul. 

Low and slow--the way all chili should be cooked, the way all souls should heal. 

Quickly, while one eye was on the pot of chili, I whipped up a batch of brownies, too. 

The "Things in Threes" Rule (Going Back: Sweet Home Chicago)

Things are better now. I went "away". It was necessary. I called my sister and within three days, I was standing in her apartment. A sense of calm creeping back in. There were three things. Just like there always is: a family cancer scare, an intervention and right before I was to leave town, the sudden death of my best friend's mother. (A woman who's known me since I was fifteen). All in a matter of ten days. I kept count of each incident. I said aloud to DH, "Okay, this is one." Then I'd say, "Now this is two." And just when I'd righted myself to go away and spend time back home, I received news of a sudden death. Well. That's three.