The church chili cookoff

We had our first ever church chili cook-off last night, and I would say it was a huge success. There were 9 contestants - sporting a wide variety of chili's - and 50+ people in attendance. Not only was this one of the nicer sized crowds we've had for a Third Sunday Supper, but it seemed to be the rowdiest and funnest of these events also. I don't remember who came up with the idea of a chili cook-off, but it turned out well. There was even some trash talking taking place on Facebook and at church Sunday morning. An awesomely good time.

The 'People's Choice' winner actually used deer meat, and two of the more popular servings were "white chili" - with one using chicken and the other made with rabbit. White was a new one on me, but they both tasted excellent.

As for logistics... Carrie Jade set the whole thing up, and we had 3 judges (Jim, Steve & Adam) who got a sampling of each of the nine varieties. They chose between 'Judges Choice,' 'Spiciest,' 'Most Likely to be served in a restaurant,' 'Most colorful,' 'Wildest,' 'Most creative,' and 'Hardiest.' Then there was a 'People's Choice' that was based on everyone writing their favorite on a slip of paper. We gave out prizes to each contestant (other than Jane - who opted out because we ran out of categories). Some of the prizes were: oven mit, cutting board, ladle, serving spoon, tums, scrubber, refrigerator magnets, etc.

The AFL semi-final playoff game was on TV (Jets-Patriots), and the kids mostly hung out on the couches, so everyone seemed to have something to do. We didn't really have anyone 'in charge' of anything other than prizes, and once again it all just seemed to 'work out.' People are always good about cleaning up afterward, and I think Jane and I left around 9 pm. Just a really, really nice time.

Here are a few pics...

The chili's all lined up and ready to go...

Nice crowd (in numbers anyway).

Lady Jane serving, Carrie Jade eating, Carol and Dalton... discussing.