First Annual Chili Cook-off

Doug and I hosted our first annual chili cook-off this past weekend.
The weather was perfect, the company was awesome,
and the chili was yummy!
♥

We spent Saturday prepping our backyard for that night's event. This always includes washing off the extra chairs we have, cleaning up the red tubs that will hold ice and beverages, and moving tables around to my satisfaction ~ Doug is a patient and accommodating husband. :o)
I had these jars and had the idea to make them into candle holders for the tables. I figured if it was a little breezy the candles would be deep enough that the wind wouldn't blow out the flame. I was going to use candy corn, but Carrie had the idea to use beans instead. LOVED the idea! When she got to the party that night and saw the little phrase I'd put on the outside of the jars she was not impressed. "Oh. My. Gosh. Mother. You didn't." Hehe. Yeah. I did.

A friend brought a few ornamental chili plants over early in the day and I tied them up with a piece of burlap to use as centerpieces.

The beverage table. I have an eclectic collection of wine glasses that I've picked up at my local thrift store. I like it that way.

{The lull before the action}

There ended up being 21 of us, and only four pots of chili ~ some of them small pots of chili at that. It was the first time {and it will be the last!} that I felt like my guests may not have had enough to eat. I hadn't made chili myself because I figured there would be a lot of it. Also, I didn't want to be in competition with my guests. {Not that I'm assuming that I would have won, I'm just still not over the embarrassment of having won the black-jack tournament at Doug's 50th birthday party last year. Not cool as the hostess, I thought.} I did provide pans of homemade cornbread, and all the fixings to eat with chili - cheese, onions, sour cream, crackers, and tortilla chips.

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Anyway! The winning chili was really good and the chef reveled after the voting that he had used chorizo and chocolate in the mix. Interesting.

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And a proud mom moment I want to share: Carrie made a really delicious white chili with chicken and white kidney beans. When she dished it up she placed a couple of tortilla chips on top in each of the cups. I had the honor of serving it to our guests and the joy of hearing, "Oh what nice presentation." :o) I wanted to say, "MY KID MADE THAT!" but had to keep my mouth shut. {Yes, I voted for her chili!}

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So, this was our first experience with hosting a chili cook-off and we did have a great time, but there are things we will do differently next year for sure. For sure I'll make a big batch of chili as a back up ~ or we'll order a couple of pizzas if we have to!

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All in all a great night with some of the wonderful
people we have the honor to call friends and family.
♥