Chili Fritos

It's really beginning to look and feel like Fall here in Southern Illinois so it's time to change the menu up. One of the first things I like to make is a big pot of beef chili. Sorry purists and Texans but I love beans in my chili. I also love that it freezes so well making it a quick weeknight meal. We like chili with oyster crackers or cornbread but every now and then I love Chili Fritos. I had never heard of Chili Frito until moving here 15 years ago. As with most dishes there is some debate on where the recipe originated. New Mexicans claim it was invented in the 1960's at a Woolworth (now Five and Dime) in Santa Fe by Teresa Hernandez. Texans trace it back to 1930's San Antonio resident Daisy Doolin who was the mother of the Frito company founder C.E.Doolin. However,in the book Fritos Pies, Stories, Recipes and More written by Kaleta Doolin the daughter of C.E. Doolin, writes that in 1932 her father actually purchased the recipe for a fried corn chip product and a device used to make them for $100.00 from Gustavo Olguin who was in San Antonio and needed money to return to his family in Mexico. From Kaleta Doolin's research she believes the recipe is actually a creation of a corporate test kitchen in 1937. The recipe on the bag says to make a slit down the personal size bag of fritos and add a large laddle of Hormel Chili. This is apparently sold at most sporting events in Texas and the Midwest. In the Midwest it is often referred to as "Walking Tacos". The first time I encountered it was in the hospital cafeteria and they labeled it Chili Frito Pie. Anthony Bourdain actually did a segment of Parts Unknow at the Five and Dime that claims to have first served the dish. In true Bourdain fashion, he claimed to enjoy it even though he remarked it was like holding a 'warm crap in a bag'. When I make it I simply fill a bowl with my homemade chili and add a handful of Fritos to the top with shredded cheddar cheese and diced green onions. Have you ever had Frito Chili? Grrr...this new blogger is killing me. Anyone else struggling with it?