How this recipe came to be...

This recipe comes down from the dark ages of my youth and is unique in that it uses no chili powder. Real chili is made with cominos (ground cumin to gringos). I survived the winter storm of '79/80 (which is the closest thing to a siege battle I have ever experienced) by eating leftover Siege Chile and gnawing off my own left leg. The chili tasted better.

Ingredients

5 pounds of coarse ground hamburger
92 oz of V-8 cocktail juice
28 oz of whole cooked tomatoes
4 - large sticks of celery
4 - medium sized onions
3/4 oz cominos (ground cumin)
Salt
Pepper
Small can of tomato paste
2 cups of catsup
2 tbl spoons of sugar
1 tbl spoon powdered mustard seed
3 tbl spoon celery salt
1 fist full of fresh oregano
1 bay leaf
2 beef bullion cubes
1 full bulb of garlic
½ oz chili powder
80 to 90 oz of Brooks Chili Hot beans (see warning below)
(At this point you may add any extra ingredients, jalapenos, banana peppers, nuclear waste, etc to spice as you see fit.)

What to do...

Warning - PUT THE BEANS IN LAST! OK, you've been warned.

It helps to make this in a huge canning pot, portable bathtub or old whiskey still. Start by cooking up the hamburger and leaving it in its own juices. When it looks like its getting done add the V-8 cocktail juice. That makes it easier to mix in the rest of the ingredients. Chop up the celery stalks and throw them in.
Pour the canned tomatoes into a bowl and cut them up.
Using a paring knife works unless you know a better way. Put them in the chili. Chop up the onions and add them. Add the cominos. Cominos sometimes comes in small cans of 3/4 to 1 oz size. If you have one of these just throw in the whole can (what the hell, can and all, be daring).
Simmer this until the whole concoction is back up to temperature. Add three cans of beans complete with juices. Assess the liquidity factor and decide whether or not you like your chili thick or thin. If you want this to be a little thicker take the last two cans and blend the beans in a blender or processor. This makes them into a bean paste.
Add to the brew and then add all the rest of the ingredients.
Simmer until dinner time.
If you like it the way it is just add the two cans without blending.

Special Serving Instructions...

When dinner is over and everyone is sitting around the campfire contemplating the effects of that many beans, put a lid on the chili and let it cool down to "just warm" before putting it in the refrigerator.
This chili will get better as the days go by.
Freeze some.
This chili will last you through a siege.
In fact you will begin to hope that you get sieged just to have an excuse to pig out one more time.