As I mentioned, we moved to a new house in June. We absolutely love it and it is especially nice to be able to park if I get home after 6PM, which was not the case in Federal Hill.

I’m also really enjoying that my rent is $100 cheaper every month. The trade-off for that, however, is that I took the basement room. Initially, not so bad. Very spacious, lots of closets, my own bathroom. Yes, it’s illegal because it doesn’t have a separate exit in case of a fire. And I’m pretty sure our smoke detectors don’t work so this could be pretty dangerous…

I did exhaustive research about what dehumidifier to buy and finally picked one out. It was humming away nicely for a few months before I received a letter saying that there’s been a recall because my particular machine has apparently been “spontaneously exploding” in other homes. Unplugged that sucker stat.

Then yesterday I went down to fold laundry and found a creature crawling up my wall. I’ve killed a few spiders down there, that’s to be expected. Nope, this thing was a legit reptile. Some kind of lizard or salamander. I took a picture of it (obviously), texted it to my roommates with a request to trade rooms, and then smashed it with a sneaker.

Kelly’s response: “You should save it or no one will believe you.”

Anywho, if you’re feeling chilled and damp like you would if you came into the Animal Kingdom that has become my bedroom, you may want to make some of this chili to warm your soul.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

1 lb ground chicken

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

2 large ribs celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1/2 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic

1/4 tsp cumin

1 cup beer

15 oz tomato sauce

1/2 tsp each cayenne, paprika, oregano

1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce

olive oil, salt, pepper

gorgonzola crumbles & scallions, to garnish

Break up the ground chicken over medium-high heat in a skillet until cooked through and slightly browned. Remove from heat.

Cook the onion, carrot, celery, and jalapeno in 2 tbs of olive oil for 10-12 minutes or until soft. Add the cumin and garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the beer. I used Natty Boh because I’m in Baltimore, obviously, but you can use whatever beer you like. Allow it to cook down for 6-7 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, oregano, paprika, and cayenne and stir together. Add the chicken back in. Allow it to cook together for another 7-8 minutes, then turn off the heat. Mix up some cornbread to go with it!

I added the buffalo wing sauce at this point because I really wanted that buffalo flavor, but you can add less, let it cook off a little, or leave it out entirely. I tasted the chili before I added the wing sauce and it was wonderful.

Garnish with gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbles, and scallions. Serve with cornbread.

Do exterminators work in exchange for food?