Saturday, February 21, 2009

beans, beans, the musical fruit...

Our ward had our annual chili cookoff tonight...

It went pretty well considering that the chili that I made bombed! I should have just stuck with the recipe from last year (I won 1st place), but I thought it would be fun to try something new...

I called my chili this year..."rebel chili" as the recipe called for beer. My neighbor happened to have 2 cans of imported Puerto Rican beer on hand that she gave me.

The best way to describe the taste was that of dirty yeasty feet! (I tried adding a touch of liquid smoke but it just didn't work!) The sad part of the whole thing was that since I won last year, everyone kept coming up to me asking me which one was mine! How embarrassing!
We sat next to Susan and Fred and they were good sports about eating my foot locker tasting chili debacle.


Is it just me or do my eyebrows look like those belonging to a whooly mammoth?


Kids just kind of do their own thing at these ward dinners...this was the healthiest thing that Ellie ate the whole night...a white roll!



This was the judging table--I thought they looked so cute!

Jake brought his buddy, Brady...

Susan said that she heard them both talking about how if I opened a restaurant, everyone would come...(they are always very complimentary to my cooking) I sometimes think Jake is just buttering me up for more time on his DS...


Here is a picture of some of the varieties of chili that were brought in...

I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed the evening...Ward dinners and just parties in general always seem to leave me feeling more like an agraphobe. It was nice being able to catch up with Susan...Since she's in primary, we just don't see each other much anymore...

It's getting late, I need to still do my lesson for the primary class that I'm subbing for tomorrow...

TOOTles! (no chili pun intended)

11 comments:

  1. I for one, loved your chili! I know I can always count on anything you bring to be far away from "mormon mystery anything" as we refer to some dishes with unidentifiable content!

    It was, indeed, great to catch up. Poor Fred and Brian. They don't stand a chance at getting a word in edgewise....and I don't think they care in the least!

    Carry on with the Primary lesson. I just finished mine and am not going to document my horrid bread making tragedy. Ugh.

    See you tomorrow!

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  2. Oh! what a fun ward activity!!!

    What a great compliment that you even won last year- so impressed here-

    I love the idea of the "rebel chili" that just cracks me up :)

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  3. Looks like fun! We always do our Chili cook off in October, but I can never get my husband to go. (He hates chili). I should just drag him with a nice bag of McD's to keep him happy. I've tasted some great recipes before with beer in it, but never chili. Interesting...

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  4. It's fun to see that cute self-portrait of you and Susan!

    I think rebel chili is a funny thing for a ward contest, but yeasty feet does not sound appealing at all.

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  5. Aww, chili cook-offs are the best. I remember going to plenty of them, they are for sure a good/fun family activity.

    What Jake says about you opening a restaurant and everyone will come, was totally on target. Everything I've eaten of yours has been superb, no matter how much you might talk down about it.

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  6. looks like a fun night- did brian like your chili?? ("sure, why not?"!!!!)

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  7. I made rebel bread once... and macaroni and cheese. It was a rachael ray recipe - ball park mac and cheese. Everything you can get at a ball park, in mac and cheese. Suprisingly tangy and tasty! (ingredients included... ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, beer, hotdogs, and some other stuff that I can't remember)

    I went to the beer distributor and bought 1 can of beer and received several odd looks. (in butler, if you dont buy a whole CASE, there is something wrong.)

    I explained it was for a recipe, and the guy was like, yeah, ok.

    glad you had a good time!

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  8. HAHA, that reminds me of the time I thought I'd try making vodka sauce by hand for our pasta night. First I had to actually go to the liquor store and buy the vodka (I totally thought the Lord would smite me on the way out) and then I was convinced that I could be arrested just for having the unopened bottle in the car.

    The funniest part came during the eating... I figured all the alcohol had been cooked out, but after the first bite my husband and I looked at each other and asked, "Why is my mouth burning??"

    Definitely a culinary failure. I'll stick to the vodka sauce at Luberto's.

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  9. I especially like the judge in the striped blue shirt. What a HOTTIE! Do you have his digits?

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  10. That's pretty funny. I never understood the appeal of beer in cooking. The stuff smells horrible. That smell doesn't cook OUT, it makes everything else TASTE like it. Without the benefit of alcohol, what's the point?

    It seems like you had a good time anyway though. :)

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  11. I love the picture of you and my mom!

    Ward activities always, always end up making me feel like an agoraphobe. Even though I love my ward!

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