Elizabear's cheap, delicious vegetarian chili

Based on 2009's invention, cold chili glop.

The following makes 4 to 5 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of beans [~14oz.] -- black, red, pinto, etc. [black or pinto recommended]
• 1 cup uncooked rice -- brown, white, basmati, long-grain, etc. [brown or white recommended]
• 1 jar of salsa [~16oz.] -- any type [Green Mountain Salsa recommended]
• 8-12oz. sour cream or plain yogurt [low- or full-fat recommended]
• salt to taste

Optional:

• shredded cheese [sharp cheddar recommended]
• browned meat [which obviously makes it not vegetarian] [lean ground beef or turkey recommended]
• hot sauce
• tomato paste

NOTE: I have never included browned meat, tomato paste or hot sauce in my own experiments, so I just stuck them in the recipe at what seemed like the appropriate point. I claim no responsibility for any disgusting results you may incur by following my instructions.

Steps:

• Start rice cooking. Put x cups of rice in at least 2x cups of water. 2.5x cups is even better, as you can always drain off the excess water later. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. 
• While rice is cooking, open beans. Rinse and drain to get rid of slime. Put them in a clean pot large enough for at least twice, if not thrice, that amount of beans.
• Simmer rice for a while [40+ minutes], stirring regularly and sampling occasionally. Rice is done when it is soft, but not mushy, and has absorbed almost all the water. Usually these two events coincide, but not always.
• Remove rice from pot when done and put in with beans. Mix thoroughly. Put hot water and soap in rice pot to soak so leftover rice doesn't congeal.
• Open salsa. Dump in with beans and rice. Mix thoroughly. Sample. Add salt if desired.
• If adding meat, hot sauce or tomato paste, these ingredients should go in at this point.
• If preparing for later consumption, add enough sour cream or yogurt  to make the chili gooey, but not sloppy. Mix; sample; salt.
• Add shredded cheese if desired. Mix; sample.
• If preparing for immediate consumption, heat rice, beans and salsa until they are all hot. Then add sour cream or yogurt, then shredded cheese.
• Eat it.
• Store leftovers in sealed plastic or glass container. Chili nukes really well, but can also be enjoyed cold. Good for at least 5 days, it actually improves flavor with age.

$30.86 for two yards of fabric

This fabric, to be precise.

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Not that specific piece of fabric, but two yards of the same design. I got a small amount of said fabric from Andrea several years back and trimmed it to a square of approximately 18 x 18 inches, stapling it to a sheet of foamcore for a sky backdrop. The small size of the sky, however, means that I can only shoot from certain angles without getting either the edges of the backdrop or the wall behind it in the photos.

I will soon be acquiring, however, a magnetic trifold that renders all foamcore backdrops superfluous, thank Jesus. I will be able to achieve more than 180 degrees of backdrop, thus allowing me to shoot from multiple angles without showing off my fabulous wall.

Of course, achieving 180+ degrees of backdrop requires enough backdrop to cover the entire trifold, which, I believe, is 44 inches wide. I do not currently have 44 inches of the aforementioned sky, a cotton print by Michael Miller, Periwinkle, from the Landscape series. Therefore, I went on a quest.

I could not easily find Periwinkle, so I first tried to satisfy myself with an alternative. That didn't work. I especially like that way that Periwinkle is patterned, but not obviously repetitive. Its watercolor-like, loose forms concur with my impressionistic aesthetic. Finally, Periwinkle can suggest more than just sky; one Figurvore member who saw Ellery in the cemetery with this as the backdrop remarked that it looked like the cemetery was on the edge of a lake. That comment just solidified my desire for this particular print.

Naturally, Periwinkle proved elusive because it was no longer produced. But, just as I was getting pissed off over Periwnkle's disappearance from the primary market, I discovered two yards on Ebay and stalked them. That is how I wound up paying ~$15.00 a yard for some out-of-print fabric.