Another January, another Chili Cook-off Competition for the Cure! The Fire in the Park Chili Cook-off has become a highlight of the year for us now, after competing since 2014. We’ve definitely learned a lot about how to compete in a chili cook-off and this year it definitely paid off! I have to say, the most important thing is the team effort it takes to prepare, cook, serve and keep the energy up all day long. We could not do this without the help of our family and friends who come out every year to make this a success! This year we were the defending champs, winning First Place for the People’s Choice Award last year. Here’s what a day at our chili cook-off competition looks like and how we defended our championship title!
7am – Set up Time
Brett and my brother get there first, a little bit before 7am to start unloading everything and carrying it to our spot, there’s a lot of supplies! Then it’s time to pop up the tent and set up their station so they are are ready to start cooking when the timer starts.
8:30am – Time to Cook!
After the chef’s meeting, the Chili Cooks are off to the race to begin cooking their chili. It’s all cooked right there on site!
The kids came this year and they were so excited to help out. So I came later on with Ariana and arrived around 9:30am to start setting up the table and display for handing out chili.
10am – Let the tasting begin!
By 10am in the morning, people are lining up, ready to get some chili tasting going! This chili cook-off competition raises funds for AdventHealth for Children – Pediatric Oncology, and is hosted by such a great group of people that we’ve got to know throughout the years. We love contributing to this amazing cause!
Before we start serving, Brett gives everyone a taste of our masterpiece with a little run down about how to describe it to our guests. It was amazing!
11am – Judge Tasting Begins
By 11am, we need to turn in our chili to the judges for the official tasting. There are several ways you can win some hardware to take home, for ultimate bragging rights.
This chili competition awards the chefs’ for
- Traditional Red Chili (no beans or fillers)
- Homestyle Chili (anything goes)
- People’s Choice Chili (which is where the people vote on their favorite chili. When you purchase your ticket, you receive a coin, and this is what you use to vote on your favorites)
From then on, it’s serve up that chili, and sell anything you can to raise money for the fundraiser. We usually sell candy, sodas, water and chips to help raise money.
In addition to the chili cook-off competition awards, there are some other super fun contests that we compete for. Rylee was such an amazing help when it came to the Fundraising Competition, and pretty much handled that piece all on her own! There’s also Best-Spirited Team, Best Decorated Booth, and a Cornhole Tournament that starts at 10:30am.
3pm – Awards ceremony
Then it’s time for the awards ceremony! We all gathered by the stage to listen to the announcers talk about the great fundraiser and how it helps children in our community. Once the votes were tallied it was time for the big moment!
And we crushed it! We were first called up for 2nd Place Team Spirit, which was such an amazing surprise! It really goes to show how our team impacts the experience and what an amazing team we have!
Then the big one came, and as they announced that “First Place for Homestyle Chili”, was “Brett’s Rockin’ Chili” we all screamed and cheered and went up to the stage for a second time. We were so excited.
Next came the People’s Choice, which we had won first in last year, and the announcer said, “It looks like a trifecta” as he called back up Brett’s Rockin’ Chili! We went up for a third time to accept the 2nd Place People’s Choice award!
I’m so proud of everyone who put their heart and soul into this competition, namely my Brother who drove up from South Florida to be there and smoked a brisket, which is one of our show stopping ingredients. And of course my Husband, Brett, who always works so hard to perfect the recipe and make it better year after year, dedicating his own resources and time to make it a success.
And to our entire team who made it out there, Garret and Lindsey, who get there just as early to help cook the chili, Darius and Jessica who couldn’t have been more exciting to watch serve chili to our amazing guests, Ariana, Mari, Tony, Tiffany, Rand, Chris, Maggie, and everyone else to contributed to the fundraiser but couldn’t be there. Even Rylee and Reece played a part! All the effort and time we put into it really meant something and we couldn’t have done it without you!
Yay!!!