Pour 8 cups of water into a stock pot for boiling. Add raw ground beef, breaking it up with your hands.
Add the "above the line" ingredients, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chili thickens — about 4 hours. Longer is better if you have time. Stir often.
Note: This is comfortably done in your crock pot. You'll have to experiment with the cooking times to fit your own crock pot.
Before serving, remove bay leaves and whole peppers. Blend with a stick blender (if you have one) until you get the consistency you like. Lacking a stick blender, get out your largest wooden spoon and stir until your arm is tired or you are willing to eat the chili.
If preparing in advance (a good idea, this stuff is better the 2nd day than the first) put the bay leaves and peppers back in until ready to serve.
Prepare linguini per usual. Boil 10-15 minutes in pot of salted water. Top with oil to keep from boiling over.
Dice the vidalia (or any sweet onion) and reserve. Any onion will do. I prefer a sweet onion, but if you like 'em strong, indulge yourself!
Finely grate about a cup of cheddar or buy a package.
Open can of beans, drain, and reserve.
Do this buffet-style.
Put the linguini in a pot with tongs. The cheddar, the onion, the beans each go in their own bowl with a big spoon or tongs.
Chili over linguini topped as you please works well. Have a bowl with all or none of the toppings and enjoy!
Have some large flat pasta bowls and some nice deep soup bowls available to suit every taste. People who like the linguini will need forks, the rest will appreciate spoons.