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By zach, July 28, 2010 1:19 pm

We don’t have many rules for our chili cook-off and we like it that way. Here are a few guidelines to get you started. Have fun.

Recipe

• Pretty much anything goes — bring a subway sandwich if you want . It’s up to the voters if they want to vote it as the best chili.

Cooking 

• Cook your chili at home.
• Bring the cook-off in a crock pot. We will have a place to plug in.
• We will have ladels, bowls and spoons.

Voting

• Everyone gets 1 vote to vote for their favorite.
• Votes will be tallied and prizes awarded for winning chili’s.

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By zach, August 24, 2009 9:12 pm

Every year, I host a chili cook-off party at my house. I do it so that I can combine two of my favorite things:

• Visiting with friends 
• Eating good food ( in this case chili).

 We usually have about 30-40 people show up for the party. With that number of people it takes some coordination for everyone to have fun, especially the hosts

Here are some tips to have a great chili  cook-off party.

• Schedule the event well in advance. I usually schedule mine at least 2 months in advance. Scheduling early will increase your events attendance.
• Use an online invitation service like evite.com to track the attendees.  This will easily show who’s coming and who’s not.
• For hosting a chili cook-off a big long table is required for the crock-pots. If you don’t have a table, there are party rental stores that will have long tables.
• Be sure to have plenty of power strips for plugging in crockpots. Careful not to overload any electrical circuits.
• Ladle’s, bowls and spoons are of course important for serving and eating chili.
• I usually supply the beverages. Soda, beer, kid’s drinks and water.  Remember the ice and cooler.
• If the chili’s are being judged then each chili will need to be labeled. Paper, pens, and a ballet box will be needed for judging.

It’s all basic stuff but these few tips done ahead of time will produce a stress free chili cook-off. Have fun.

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By zach, March 22, 2009 4:38 pm

Zach’s 10th annual chili cook-off is now scheduled. We are planning on Saturday, September 19th for the big day.

We will be planning some big things this year. More chili’s, more prizes and fun for the kids.

So put 09/19/09 on your calendar for the 10th annual chili cook-off.

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By zach, October 2, 2008 8:13 pm

Well we wrapped up the 9th annual chili cook-off last weekend and it was definitely one of the best ever.

By the numbers:

• 9 Total chili’s were entered in the cook-off.
• 1st ever tie for runner up.
• 8 meat chili’s
• 1 veggie chili
• 7 (kids) young chili makers in the wings.
• ~40 total people.

Christian grabbed first place with his Asian inspired chili. It had a sweet ginger flavor and garnered the most votes. For runner up, Geno and Ric tied with Ric winning in the cheer off. — OK, now we know how loud Ric can yell. Great job guys — you are now automatically entered in next year’s competition.

Thanks to all the chili makers and chili tasters. Next year is the 10th annual so we’ll be planning something big. Hope to see everyone before that and see you next year too.

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By zach, August 10, 2008 7:45 am

Hey Everyone– We are just a little over a month away from our 9th annual chili cook-off on Saturday, September 27th. This will be the first year with our kids, Jake and Violet, so we’re really excited for everyone to see them.  We are starting at 1pm this year as the kids need to get to bed around 7pm.

The rules are the same ( basically no rules ! ) . Anyone that wants to bring chili let me know and I’ll get you all the details. There will be prizes for the winner + runner up. We will have drinks and chili. Also welcome are salads, cornbread or other side dishes.

Check back here for more information — I will even throw down some chili recipes on this website. After the party we will post pictures here too.-

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By zach, March 2, 2008 7:25 am

Bonnie and I have hosted an annual chili cook-off party at our home in the Central District since 2005. We love seeing everyone at the party and tasting all the great chili’s. I’m always surprised at the wide range of chili variations out there.

From 2000-2005 , I organized and hosted an annual chili cookoff at my workplace, drugstore.com. It was very popular with the employees and was a company sponsored event. At one point there were more than 20 chilis in the competition and 150+ chili eaters. Prizes were awarded for best overall, best meat, best veggie and hottest.