MONDAY - October 22, 2007

UTAH STATE Chili Championship

To the general membership of the ICS,

It was been brought to my attention that in the past as I have reported
the results of the Utah State Chili Championship I have been prone to
overstate the results.
.
I have been accused of falsehood, fabrication and fallacy.
.
It has been said that I am a teller of tall tales and whoppers
.
There are those of you think me a contactor of crap, a builder of
baloney and a plumber of pretense.
Some have inferred that I have committed libel, slander and perjury.
So to avoid any hint of myth, misconception, misinformation and
misrepresentation I offer the following;
Some people came to Utah for a chili cookoff.
They participated in all three ICS sanctioned events.
Some people won first place; some people didn't.
.
Respectfully submitted
Jeff Ray
.
Note No. 1
Weather.
It was not the best. We had rain, snow and wind.
The wind was only a mild aggravation for a short period. Mostly during
set-up. Rain, snow and ice pellets on and off during the day. Most of
the cooks put up sidewalls on their canopies and snuggled into their
cocoons of plastic and steel.
.
Note No. 2
Attendance.
Cooks from Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Utah
participated.

Note No. 3
Winners.
Salsa
First Place--Steve Tomasek
Second Place—Jim Stoddard
Third Place—Kay Rook
.
Chili Verde
First Place--Joe Barrett
Second Place—Paul Whitney
Third Place—Bob Wetzel
.
Traditional Red Chili
First Place—Bob Wetzel
Second Place—Kay Rook
Third Place—Mike Rook
.
Note No. 4
Thanks.
Thanks very much to the folks at Wolf Creek for their sponsorship and
prize money. Due to inclement weather there was very little public
participation and not much money was raised for their charity.
Nevertheless they have invited us back for next year and we're on the
schedule for October 18, 2008.
.
Note No 5
Health Department
The nice lady from the Weber County Health Department made an
appearance and did pretty well until she got to the High Country Chili
Team area, run by Joe and Marilee Barrett.
At that point her whole life flashed before her and all was lost.
She asked Joe about a Food Handlers permit and before she left, the
snow where she had been standing was bright yellow, not white. She has
since entered a convent, taken a vow of silence and has enrolled in
several self-esteem classes.
.
On the other hand; it would be a wise idea for cooks to have a valid
Food Handlers permit issued from their home area. Granted one county or
state doesn't always recognize permits from another area, but it would
at least let health inspectors know, we as cooks are sensitive to
public safety. Just a suggestion
.
Note No. 6
Groans and Moans
Chili cooks are passionate about their creations. Why else would they
travel to the far-flung corners of North America and brave the elements
to brew their heavenly concoctions? Cooks emotions run high. There has
probably never been a perfect cookoff and this year's Utah State was no
different.
.
One chili cook, who was unhappy with comments on their judging sheet,
suggested that chili judges should be pre-screened and pre-qualified.

My usual slipshod and caviler method for choosing judges has been to
make sure that they could hold a spoon and sign their name on the
judging sheet.

Not so for next year. Utah State Chili Judges will be required to watch
40 consecutive hours of Food Network shows. Judges will be asked to
pronounce and spell the word "cumin." Prospective judges with poor
penmanship will be rejected. Proper grooming will also be a
requirement. Judges recommended by the sponsoring organization will
automatically be sent packing.

.

.

.

.

North Carolina State Championships

Chili festival winners named

A New Jersey man was named champion of Havelock's annual chili cook-off Saturday afternoon.
.
David Lorenz from southern New Jersey won first place in the International Chili Society-sanctioned cook-off during the Havelock Chili Festival and Big Boy Toy Show at Walter B. Jones Park.
.
His recipe, Duffy's Irish Chili, earned Lorenz a spot in the ICS' world championship chili cook-off in Omaha, Neb. He received a $1,000 prize, a trophy and a first-place plaque.
.
Richard Steinert won second place, Elizabeth Wilson claimed third, Alice Reed fourth and Smokey Colwell fifth in the chili cook-off.
.
In the Havelock Chili Festival salsa competition, Charles Ritchie earned top honors, followed by Deborah Siegel in second and Steinert in third.

Awards for Friday evening's chicken wing cook-off were announced with the chili and salsa awards Saturday. First place went to Butch Ipoc of Ham's Restaurant, with Gery Boucher earning second, Sue Arden winning third and Colwell taking fourth -- and a rubber chicken given as a gag prize.

Three competitor booth awards also were presented Saturday. Domino Ireland won for best showmanship and entertainment, Eddy Huffman won best overall and Wilson won best booth for marketing your business.
.
In its 27th year, the chili festival drew an estimated 25,000 people to Havelock on Saturday and about 3,000 for the chicken wing competition Friday night, organizers said.
.

.

.

.

Oct. 21, 2007 Silverado Days Regional Cookoff Results

The day started off very pleasant and everyone was looking forward to some great competitive cooking. The Buena Park Chamber of Commerce did a fantastic job organizing the cookoff. A special thank you to Gail Dixon and Denise Brewer for all their hard work.

.

Suddenly around 11:00 Mother Nature appeared with extremely high wind gusts which were blowing the large canopy tents off of the ground. It was unfortunately decided to cancel the red competition, however, we were able to complete the salsa and verde contests. Many thanks to all 15 red cooks who were eager to compete and advance to the 2008 WCCC. They handled the situation like true "Chili Heads."

Thanks as well to Mary Ellen Weber for helping with scorekeeping and Patricia and Armando Sanchez for assisting in the judging area (what was left of it!)

.

"Commander" Chuck Street, Southern California's most popular traffic reporter, was on hand during the day meeting and greeting everyone and announced the winners. And they were:

.

Salsa:

3^rd place – Patricia Sanchez

2^nd place – Chris Nicoll

1^st place – Nibs Waters – qualifies for 2008 WCCC

.

Verde:

3^rd place – Karen Angotti

2^nd place – Nibs Waters

1^st place – Don Hammes – qualifies for 2008 WCCC

Again, many thanks to everyone.

Dennis and Allene Macklin

.

.

.

.

Mississippi State Championship Cookoff

.

The Richland Historical Society will hold their 2^nd annual ICS sanctioned cookoff next Saturday the 27^th of October at Eastside Park in Richland, Ms. The winner of our event will be qualified for the 2008 National Cookoff.

.

Not only will the winner have bragging rights to be the best chili cooker in the entire State of Mississippi, the winner will also be awarded $500.00.

.

I have been assured that we will have a "perfect" day for our event and it should be even better than last year so "COME ON DOWN" and enjoy some southern hospitality at its best.

For more details about our event, please go to http://www.chilicookoff.com/ or you may call Linda Goff at (601) 939-1656.

.

.

.

.

============================

If you have articles for posting to Dicks Chili World BLOG, they can be emailed to GWTWChili@aol.com

============================

Tell your other Chilihead Friends about the BLOG and how it works.