9/7/2007 CT State Chili Cook-off, New Haven CT.

I know many of you have been sticking close to your computers waiting for the results of the CT State Chili Cook-off.
The rest of you are saying, "Why does he keep nagging us about this nonsense?"

Anyway, the day started off on the damp side. Cold, rainy and all-in-all, an unpromising start to the festivities. As the day progressed, the rain subsided, came back, subsided and finally, around noon, the sun appeared. It was perfect conditions for about 20 minutes, then the wind started kicking up.

If you have ever been to one of these things, all the cooks do their thing under these canopies or tents. 30 mph winds and tents don't usually get along, so we had to spend our day stirring our chili with one hand, while grabbing onto the tent with the other. As far as I know, only one tent actually blew away and they were annoying anyway, so it was OK.

Results -
Chili- The results of my 3 hour experiment, turned out this mess that can hardly be described as chili. I over cooked and over spiced it and ended up with lesson on what not to turn in to the judges. As far as I know, none of the judges were permanently affected by tasting it.

People's Choice - I did a much better job on this and got praise and accolades from the chili tasting public. Too bad we didn't place in the people's choice competition. I think the goons whose tent blew away did better than us, although I heard their chili was horrible.

Salsa - Well, finally some good news! I repeated as CT State Salsa Champion. I received a large trophy, one I could barely fit in my Honda Civic, a check for $10,000 and an all expense paid trip to the World Championships in Omaha Nebraska.
Well, actually, there was no trophy, I got a check for $100 and if I want to go to Omaha, I have to pay my own way.

So I guess my real talent lies in vegetable based condiments like Hot Sauce and Salsa. Thanks to everyone who came by and braved the weather. I think we raised some decent $$ for Elderly Meals on Wheels of New Haven.

Hope you all can make it next year.

Thanks,
Chris