Kiss Your Sister...

Last Saturday I drove down to Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, America to cook in the Relay for Life chili cookoff. The day started off with a little drama as mom and I had brought a different propane stove to cook on, thus forgetting our chili pots. We had to run to the local Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of pans! I loathe Wal-Mart and choose not to shop there whenever possible but being in Podunk, Oklahoma we had no choice.

Brand new cookware!

My chili was really good this time, even better than what I cooked last time at the Beaver chili cookoff, or so I thought! Once again my chili had good flavor and color as well as some good heat. As the top 10 was being announced at the end of the event, the more names that were called the more confident I was that I was going to place high or even win the competition. No such luck! I didn't even make the top 10. I blame it on Pauls Valley being so close to Texas... Seriously I think the middle aged ladies judging the competition probably didn't like the heat on my batch. That's the thing with public judging, you never know how tastes will vary from person to person or region to region.

At the end of the presentation of awards for every chili cookoff I've been to they always announce the "kiss your sister" award or eleventh place. Guess who won that honorable distinction? It was kind of cool to win the "kiss your sister" award in one regard, they actually presented a plaque for the placing with "kill your sister" printed on the trophy.

Eat your heart out twelfth place!

All in all not a bad day and a lot of fun in spite of the suspect taste buds of the Pauls Valley folk.