Chili Weather

This year's Chili Bowl was the the first day of seasonably cooler weather for a big event at the park which made it the perfect day for sampling 25 kinds of chili. This was my second year attending the big fall gut buster and it didn't disappoint. I walked in about 30 min after the start time and it was already in full swing. Elisa took advantage of the kids eat for free rule and fortunately they had hot dogs for picky eaters like Carolina. And I made my way around the tables sampling and photographing the chilis and the contestants. There were a lot of great flavors mingling together and  a lot of fun times chatting with friends. Jamie and Chris definitely turned the volume up this year with their YOLO chili and accompanying douchebag techno outfits. The shots of fireball helped too. After a couple of those, the conversations turned rather interesting and I was pretty sure we would have to make this a kid-free event if things kept up. But everyone behaved and there was a lot of anticipation for the awards to be handed out at the end of the day. 

Mr. Met made his usual rounds and I enjoyed tasting Angie's "dessert chili" towards the end of the proceedings. She nailed the grungy Seattle 'tude and even misspelled names on the serving cups to become an instant classic. Dietmar's lamb and peanut chili was a quirky hit and I couldn't believe how well the soft texture of the cooked peanuts imitated garbanzo beans. But overall, the real winners of the day were the folks who've competed year after year. And this year, it was Chris Meyer's turn to take home the big prize. Andy came back with a vegan version of his smoky, sweet maple-corn chili which proved to be a surprisingly good meatless chili. But the YOLO boys were definitely the crowd favorite earning second place and the competitor's choice award. All in all, this year was the kind of mellow fun that the bowl has come to be known for. I'm sorry Nacho hasn't been able to attend these past few years since it's just the kind of thing he would enjoy. Hopefully next year. Who knows, maybe I'll give it a try and kick up the heat. Because the Fireball was the spiciest thing I tasted all day. And this girl likes her chili to build up a slow burn. They definitely need a separate award for that! But seeing so many people enjoying the park and participating in an event that is the signature of a few key Board members is a real joy. They know how to put on a fun event and we're closing out the year in style. 

Chili Bowl

In years past, the Chili Bowl at SGP has always fallen in the busiest weekend of photo taking for me. I have wanted to make more of an effort to attend but something seems to always come up. But this year, I made a conscious effort to keep that day open. And in the end, though I wavered about going up to Storm King if Nacho was off, he had to work and so the decision to attend Chili Bowl was made. Fortunately for me, so many of the chefs were good friends and people I know can cook! So sampling their savory meaty dishes while washing it down with ample beer was just what I needed for a perfectly mild Saturday in November. I started with Chris and Jamie's superior lamb chili and moved on to more classic fare from James and a great chicken chili from Travis. In fact, there really were no losers that day. Everything tasted really great and there was a lot of love cooked into the chili I sampled. Two of my absolute favorites were the bao chili (Chris M.) with all kinds of Asian pickled toppings and just the right heat as well as the three pork one with hominy from Kevin. Oh my god that crispy bacon on top was the bomb. So yeah, I was getting pretty full by the middle of the day. But despite lots of stiff competition, the returning champion was named and it was none other than Andy Bichler with his smokey and sweet, maple-syrup laden chili. I didn't get to try it last year, but this year's version was no doubt equally good. And the crowd went for it once again making Andy and Mindy proud to carry their trophy home again. 

Mostly though it felt like this was a day to regain our park. This was the second year in a row that the Board canceled Oktoberfest so our usual fall activities had a bit of a let down when it came to celebrating the seasons in the park with friends. But Chili Bowl has clearly picked up the slack and it's wonderful to see such an inspired group of people pull others in and make something for all the members to really enjoy. There's still a lot that hurts me about how this year ended up with my own resignation. But coming out today and seeing so many faces having fun was just what I needed. It is our park. I hope we can move forward next year and really make some positive changes. We have such a great thing going in this park. I hope others will stand with me and dig deep to help out. It's such a second home for so many of us. I look forward to more time there in the new year.