Vent: my pantry chili used to be a three-can guess, now I measure it with a coffee mug
For about two years I'd open one can of beans, one can of tomatoes, and one can of corn, dump it in a pot, and hope. The result was soup half the time, and once I added a whole can of tomato paste because the can looked small and it came out like brick mortar. About three months ago a guy at a church potluck in Fort Wayne handed me his bowl of chili and said his trick was one mug of crushed tomatoes per can of beans, nothing more. Now I scoop it out with the same cracked mug and the thickness comes out right so often it's boring. Does anyone else have a dumb little measuring trick that ended a long run of bad batches?