We knew he had an abdominal aortic aneurism and had been waiting for the day the surgery was going to be scheduled. It was delayed because in the beginning of August, he was admitted to the ICU for 16 days for developing a MRSA infection in his heart at the pacemaker site.
Shortly thereafter his release, they scheduled the aneurism surgery for September 6. He told me the night before the surgery that I needed to be strong for everyone. That it was going to be hard when he wasn't here. I told him, verbatim, "Shut the hell up. You're talking out of your ass again. You'll be fine and when you're out we'll have a beer on the patio. Deal?" He said, "I'm being serious. You need to be strong, kid."
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| On his 60th Birthday |
He went in for surgery the next morning.
And passed the next day.
It broke my heart. I don't ever recall crying as much, as hard or as long as I did the weeks following my dads death. I mean, I'm realistic. I know that it would eventually happen. But I didn't expect it to happen at my age.
Or six weeks before my wedding.
I learned a lot from him. I've done a post before about Billy, but he really did have a big impact on us growing up. My parents were divorced but not one of our teachers believed it. He was at every single parent teacher conference, he was there anytime we had a play, got a medal, anything. He also made threats that "you never know where I am; I might just be right around the corner. I might walk right through that door anytime" to get us to try to behave. He taught me to love cars. He taught me to love being in the kitchen and experimenting with spices ... making dinners with recipes out of my head. He taught us how to punch when I was in 6th grade. . . Billy had what would be the epitome of a knuckle sandwich...his paw was the size of my head. Reference Exhibit A.
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| Exhibit A |
We started going out on family vacations a few years back. We'd take a long weekend, find a ginormous cabin to rent for all 14 of us and each of us were in charge of a meal or two. We tried to go in September or Octoberish when the weather was great up north.
My dad always made chili. Always. Everyone loved it. He made red beef chili and I made my green chicken chili. Now, I don't eat beef because we broke up. I also broke up with tequila earlier this year. When you get older you realize you don't have to eat (or drink) things you don't like or you don't want to. Exactly why I don't drink Bud Light Lime.
I got a recipe for turkey chili from an awesome coworker. I had intended on making a half batch, but after my husband wanted leftovers, I decided to make the full recipe. As such, I didn't have everything in the quantity that she gave me. So, its modified a bit. But, its still just as delicious as the recipe she gave me.
So, this one's for you dad. Made my way of course, just like you've come to expect from me.
Turkey Chili (cooked in a crockpot)
1 lb of ground turkey (I used Kroger)
1 container of Jennie-O Hot Italian Turkey Sausage
3 cans of chili beans (I used Bush's Chili Beans in mild sauce, I did NOT drain them)
2 cans (14 oz) of diced tomatoes with jalapenos
2 bottles of Corona
1 can of Rotel Hot
1 can (6 oz) of tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 yellow chiles, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon bacon bits (I had Hormel bacon bits in the fridge. DO NOT USE BACO'S)
1 1/2 tablespoon low sodium Better than Bouillon chicken base
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mexican oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
Yeah, I know there are a lot of ingredients. However, if you cook as much as we do, I only had to buy the turkey, chili beans and the produce. Really, not that much.
Take the ground turkey and the hot italian turkey sausage and brown. I took the casing off the italian sausage and just mixed it in the pan. Drain the turkey when browned.
Add ALL the ingredients into the crockpot. I can tell you, mine was filled to the absolute brim.
I simmered on low for two hours and high for two hours (since our crockpot can double as a nuclear reactor) and it was perfect. My honey and I had dinner tonight, we have lunch for tomorrow, two separate ones to freeze, one large one to freeze and a medium sized one to serve later this week over a baked potato. It makes about 14 servings. I served it with a little grated cheese and some green onions.
Today would have been my dad's 64th birthday and I wish he would have been there to see this...
But, I know he was the reason we woke up to this the day after we got married.
So many days have passed that I have gone and picked up the phone on the way home from work, find his name in my contacts and get ready to call him... and then hang up. Its been a rough few months, but I know he always got a charge out of my mom printing what I wrote on the blog and reading it to him.
I love you, dad.
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