Believe me when I say that I am not trying to make light of anyone’s storm hardships, but let’s face facts: there’s a lot of boredom that goes hand-in-hand with weather catastrophes. Ever since the subways shut down last night, there has been a good deal of thumb-twiddling here in Brooklyn while we count our canned goods, watch storm porn on weather.com (NEW! IMAGES OF SANDY’S WRATH) and wait for the damn thing to finally hit land. An unexpected side effect of that boredom is that Jason and I, unhampered by the burdens of actually earning money this Monday morning, have been eating unusually well.

Jason rescued bags full of basil from the possibly-doomed hoop house yesterday, and then set about producing vast amounts of pesto that we have been gulping down with the last gasp of the year’s tomato crop and anything from the refrigerator that would pain us too much to see spoil. Today I whipped up a big batch of chili. Chili might just be the perfect hurricane food: should the power go, we can warm it up on the stove, and should the gas go, it is not too disgusting eaten cold. Besides, that article in this weekend’s NYT magazine about those crazy-old Greek people indicated that we should all eat more beans. So take that, Sandy!

Here are some chili tips for you, whether you’re in the middle of a hurricane or not:

• Be not afraid to throw in any vegetables that look appealing. I think that a colorful chili, with a variety of beans and veggies, is the best. Jason’s family is devoted to a recipe that involves celery and cashews, and I will vouch for the fact that it is delicious.
• Once you sauté the vegetables, deglaze the pan with a can of beer. It doesn’t have to be good beer, mind you. I found a dusty can of Budweiser on the shelf and knew that today it had finally found its purpose in life.
• Judge the chili’s thickness, and then use some of the liquid from the cans of beans to make it the right level of soupiness. The starch from the beans will make it richer and thicker than if you just use plain water.
• Even if you’re using a recipe that calls for canned tomatoes, chopping up a fresh tomato or two and tossing them in last gives the whole pot a punch of fresh flavor.

Alright, the wind is wailing outside my window, so I guess I’ll go to an interior room, eat some chili and find something to do that is less dependent upon electricity than blogging. Here’s hoping that everyone out there weathers the storm with a full stomach.