Gonna Smoke You Out: K&K Chili Cookoff

Today is a very exciting day. At 6pm, all hell will break loose. And by hell, I mean chili. Tonight is the Second Annual K&K Chili Cookoff. Karen and I are hosting 29 of our friends and colleagues, which should be interesting since I don’t think we have room for all of them in our house! Apparently word has spread quickly about the annual cookoff and it’s become the “must attend” event of the season.

Last year was our first chili cookoff, and competition was intense. And this year we have many more entrants. We’ll be awarding prizes for the best chili, best cornbread, best presentation, and best named chili. Last year I was thrilled to have been awarded “best chili,” and my friend Kim came away with the “best cornbread.” Currently, there are ~10 chili division entrants and ~7 co-rec cornbread division entrants. The rest are celebrity judges (a.k.a slackers). The trash talking has been in full effect among competitors, as illustrated in the following e-mail exchange:

Cydney:
Hi Ladies
You better hold on to your taste buds, in preparation for the
"HIGH SIERRA HOT FLASH."
It's not for the feint of heart or slight of tongue.
Only the strong will survive it.

Karen:
Were you not able to work the words "organic" or "noncarcinogen" into the title?

Cydney:
Oh, my chili is carcinogenic. It will smoke you out.

I’ll be entering both the chili and corn-bread divisions. I’m hoping to come away with victories in both. I’m using last year’s chili recipe (clearly already a proven winner), as well as a new recipe for Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread that I found on the Food Network (picture above). Should be a great time! Of course I’ll be sharing lots of fun pictures, stories, and award-winning recipes in the next few days.