Sometime before Christmas there was a rumour of a very 'special' cook off to take place in January in Somers Connecticut. 'Special' indeed. The cook off was organized by, who else?... Michael Freedman, to benefit a war widow with serious health issues. Her son had recently turned 16, at which time her military benefits were cut significantly. There is no community more willing to help out than chili cooks, so the call went out and more than 40 cooks were registered - there would likely have been more had it not been inside and space was at a premium.
But the cookoff was going to be 'special' in more ways than one. You see, this was the New England Women's Regional Invitational Chili Cookoff. That's right, WOMEN'S. In order to compete, you either had to be a woman or dress like a woman. With the limited amount of cook-offs we can travel to in a day or less, I reluctantly decided to throw my hat in the ring for a good cause and to hopefully qualify for the World Chili Champion Cookoff early.
We headed out very early on Friday morning and arrived at the Hampton Inn by 2pm so lots of time to get my salsa chopping done and have a quick snack at the Chipotle across the street. Reservations had been made by Mad Mike for 6pm at the Longhorn Steakhouse for cooks staying at the hotel, so we arrived right on time and had a great meal and met some of the other folks that had travelled from Long Island NY, Virginia and Baltimore. We started to realize the effort a few of the guys had put into the theme of the cook-off when one was late due to his mani-pedi appointment and another casually mentioned his wife lending him some Neet before heading out. This could get very interesting......
From here on, only pictures can really describe this particular cookoff! Here goes:
The coveted trophies
Mario wins best dressed A lovely Irish lass!
This was done by Neet!! From the front
Isaah's kinda pretty, just sayin! Mario - eventual best dressed winner
Les Cropley ....being molested by Vicki!
Father and son! Viking Chic
Yep, this is a judge!
This guy is a doctor, a surgeon actually....
Real girls! Miss Vicki
One of the finalists for best dressed!
Mr. Kropp
Our rockin' DJ for the day Josh, does my ass look fat in this?
LUV this look!
Smokin' in the doorway Dave's boobs kept popping out!
Those are real, aren't they?
Our host(ess!) Jack dressed the part for snoozing
Official Photographer Grumpy girl!
Cheers!
A couple of lovely ladies paying for raffle tickets
Every cook signed the banner
Get Josh's chili while it's hot!
Ian's girly muscles!
She may be scarred for life, but she sold a ton of cookies!
During all of this, there was an actual sanctioned cookoff going on where I was hoping to qualify in at least one category....such was not to be the case despite a good turn in. Competition was stiff. I did manage to make the final table for my red chili. It's always nice to hear your name and to build on your reputation that you're not just a one hit wonder, flash in the pan. You're here to compete and can hold your own against the best cooks in the Northeast.
Congratulations to the winners. Isaiah Frechette in salsa, Dave Kelley in verde and Matt Levy in red. The cookoff raised well over $5,000 for Amanda Jordan and her son Tyler in just 4 hours. Not bad at all. A good time was certainly had by all.
Name called!
Waiting for the winners to be named
The Kelly's - Dave's 1st Verde win!
Matt Levy & Scott Navaroli Jack gets a gown!
Amanda & Tyler
Judges table
Honour Guard
Kat & Mike Freedman - if not for them both it would never have happened.
Everything wrapped up by 5pm and tear down was pretty simple - having been allotted only 1/2 of an 8 ft table there were few decorations, much to Penne's chagrin. We headed back to the hotel and met up with the Kropps for an early dinner. They knew of a great little Mexican place nearby that was authentic and fantastic. What turned out to be an hour's drive (GPS was playing tricks on us) we were indeed treated to a delicious feast. Thankfully the drive back to the hotel was only about 10 minutes!
Sarape
On the way home, we stopped in Bangor to stock up on more supplies and goodies you just can't get in Canada. While sitting down to lunch at the Olive Garden, we were approached by a woman who wanted to know what the Freddy Beach Chili Co. was and why she and her friends had never heard of us. They had seen us pull up in the chili wagon which has our competition name on it. Now, only someone from Fredericton would get the reference to Freddy Beach, so I can only assume that she and her friends were from Fredericton and they assumed that we were a restaurant. She was disappointed to hear we weren't, but was interested to know that the Chili Co. was just a hobby, that she was talking to the reigning Maine State Red Champ who had represented the State at the World Championships as one of only two Canadians to qualify. The truck's been decked out for 7 months and nobody in our town has even looked twice at it and was curious. We had to go to America to get noticed. The attention made me feel a little like a rock star.
The ride home was slow and snowy - took us a couple hours longer than normal, so it was a very long day.
Once we had been home a couple of days, we checked the local press coverage of the cookoff, and lo and behold we made a couple papers.
Next up for us in the New England Regional Chili Cookoff, back in Somers Connecticut on May 3rd. This was the cookoff, where last year I made the final table out of 60 cooks after only having competed twice before. Can't wait. It's always a good time when Mad Mike Freedman is in charge!
Here's a link to a blog written by one of the judges about the event as well!
Until next time, Chili out!
