Aside from the days I learned to cook, when I was living in Ithaca, working full time at Cornell and cooking for my daughter and ex-husband, I cannot remember another time when cooking was not really fun.

I have gone to the market a couple of times: once to buy paper bags at Aldi for cleaning the cat litter (their paper bags are really heavy and cost seven cents each), once to buy oil sunflower seeds for my birds at the hardware store, and once to buy Temptations for my cat (she didn’t seem to like the dairy Temptations, so I bought a bag of catnip flavor). In all, I am just fine.

I find lots of things I forgot about in both my freezers: a bag of poppy seed bagels I had bought on the internet some months ago, a few packets of mashed potatoes to make mashed potato bread and lots of frozen vegetables, including some cauliflower I’d parboiled.

Today I will make chili. I also have onions, cans of beans and a couple pounds of ground meat. Remember, anything can be dinner. No beef? Make it vegetarian chili. No canned beans, but you have some dried beans? Let them hydrate in water tonight and make baked beans tomorrow with chopped onion, molasses and ketchup.

I still have a few packets of Wick Fowler 3 Alarm chili mix. After I make it, I will add refrigerated grated cheese from the refrigerator. No Wick Fowler? Make your own dry rub with chili powder, cumin, dried mustard, dried garlic (or fresh) and salt and pepper to taste.

Chili for Super Bowl or Any Other Time

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 stalk of celery, diced

1 1/2 pounds ground beef and/or pork, or cube steak cut into 1-inch chunk slices

1 28-ounce diced tomatoes (preferably Muir Glen tomatoes, available at BJ’s)

Wick Fowler seasoning, less masa flour and red pepper OR 1 teaspoon each cumin, oregano, paprika and a tablespoon or more chili powder

Salt to taste

1 can beans (red, pink, black, etc.), rinsed and drained

Cayenne powder, to taste (begin with 1/4 teaspoon)

Water or more canned tomatoes, to taste

In a big heavy bottomed pot, add oil and heat. Add onion, garlic and celery and heat until translucent. Add beef and cook until no longer pink; remove fat and return pot to stove. Add tomatoes and either Wick Fowler seasonings or your own. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for about half an hour. Add salt to taste.

Put in drained beans and cook through. Add cayenne, stir and taste. Add more to taste, 1/4 teaspoon at a time. If using the mix, mix masa and a quarter cup of water if you like it thicker. Cook for another 20 minutes. If too thick, add water or more canned tomatoes. Serve with bowls of grated cheddar cheese and chopped onions.

Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.