Garnishes, specifically sour cream although I am curious about cheese, onions, etc. also: stirred in for a homogeneous bowl or spooned up together but distinct?

I stir the cheese in, because I like the melty cheese to be evenly distributed throughout the bowl.

That does make sense, the incubation time thing. Just so not intuitively obvious.

Thanks for indulging me, Tep. That is how I like my cheese, also, but when I have really enjoyed sour cream on/in whatever it's more as a contrast. I suppose I could stir the cheese in and then add a dollop of sour cream? So complicated!

I used to have a strict no beans policy about chili, but am now happy to have them so long as they're not butterbeans or black-eyed peas. Mind you, green beans and garbanzo beans are the only kinds I'll eat outside of a chili/stew/soup environment.

In other news, I need to go buy a new pyrex dish and some chili fixings.

Cheese and/or sour cream on chili can be NOM. For me, they usually start out on top but get mixed in as I go.

The one that threw me was when I was served chili with a significant amount of guacamole on top. It tasted good, but it was "hey, two non-mixy things are in my bowl"!

I'd love to make a huge pot of chili my way for the family, but C won't eat it and I don't want to make something that someone in the house won't eat. Thankfully HE is happy to cook and is slowly coming around to suggestions.

I was raised in a Cincinnati-style chili bubble, and was in college before I realized that most people don't eat their chili over spaghetti or add cinnamon to it. I am in favor of bean inclusion, as beans are yummy and add fiber and vitamins and things.

These days I'm more or less agnostic when it comes to eating chili, but when I make it at home it's either traditional Cincy-style (not a replica of Skyline's, but the way my mother made it when I was a kid), vegetarian Cincy-style (zuchini, bell peppers, and more beans replace the meat), or a white chicken chili recipe that I got from the Washington Post 20 years ago and has chopped green olives and yogurt on top. It's very weird but also extremely delicious.

was in college before I realized that most people don't eat their chili over spaghetti or add cinnamon to it.

When I make my (non-Skyline) chili, I do add cinnamon to it.

I got some ground ancho chili as a free be from Penzy's and added a little of it to the chili. It wasn't terribly hot, but it did add a nice hit of flavor.

My chili has cinnamon and cocoa powder.

ltc seems better today, and Sears is coming tomorrow to look at the oven. Which is sadly no longer under warranty.

My grandmother's spaghetti sauce has cinnamon in it, so although I've never had Cincy chili, I always feel like it must be like that.

I suppose I could stir the cheese in and then add a dollop of sour cream? So complicated!

That is exactly what I do! But usually only one or the other.