Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Chili Cook Off


Tonight I participated in my first official culinary competition--the 1st annual YMCA chili cook off. Why this may not have been Iron Chef America or anything, the $20 entry fee (all going to support the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign) seemed to ensure that there would be some pretty tough competition. One thing I learned about chili competitions tonight, however, is when it comes to chili, it all boils down to very personal preferences. What one person heralded as the best of the best, another person could hardly choke down a single bite. Case in point--my favorite chili (other than my own, of course) was a unique vegetarian dish that Jon couldn't stomach. Another chili, the hottest of the group, seemed to be either a favorite--or an anathema--to those who tried it.


With that said, I'm proud to announce that the winner of tonight's culinary contest was ME! (Why else would I be so excited to blog about this!) Even without the slightly (and I emphasize slightly) biased votes of Jon, Hilari, and Rebekah (who all agreed mine was the best, despite the threats of retribution I innocently insinuated), I still pulled off an impressive victory with my chicken green chili, a truly original recipe since I doubt I could ever exactly duplicate it. Maybe it was because it was unique amongst all the beef and tomato-based dishes, but I have to admit, I'm feeling quite pleased about the win, especially since I more than doubled the votes (5 to 11) of the second place winner--the super hot chili. (That, and I also won 3-months of free family membership to my gym.) So, to Sister Peterson, my BYU freshman ward bishop's wife--it's true. Someone who could once burn water really can grow up to be a decent cook!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You go, girl! That's awesome. I actually entered a soup contest at the local mall and, um, lost. (Apparently everyone hates Italian wedding soup or something.) But Quinn won our Elders Quorum cookoff in January; the commemorative wooden spoon hangs in our kitchen.

I want the recipe, so work on it, okay?

Darice said...

Way to go, Heather! It sounds delicious! Congratulations!

Devon Adams said...

You've got to get John to bring more to work for us!

Jennie Brown Stephens said...

Wow, you may not know me, but i grew up in the coomb's ward! My name is Jennie brown-stephens. Looking at your pictures almost made me sad! I miss all my old friends from Tustin, and they seem to all live by you!! Anyways, I just wanted to say hey, tell Jon hello... he will probably shake his head and say "oh jennie brown". ha
my blog is www.lookatmemommyof3.blogspot.com
jennie

Chelsey Howard said...

WOW! That is definetly something you should blog about. That's fun, but I have to say I'm not all that suprised cause your a good cook. If it was me I would have put canned chili into a pan and heated it up.

Amber Olsen said...

Cute blog! It was fun to see you at the gym today. I always love your laugh.

Tami said...

Way to go girl! I figure anything that doesn't kill us is a success,j/k. Cute blog by the way

rik said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rik said...

our ward had a chili cookoff once, and then proceeded to not give awards to anyone.

no, wait. my wife got an award for "the sweetest chili" (what? who wants sweet chili? she wasn't even going for sweet!), and everyone else got an award for everything other than "best chili." it's nice to see that some wards still know how to give awards at cook offs.

tell jon that rik, the next door neighbor, says hi. =]

(man, i wish there was an "edit comment" feature...sigh)