The Cook-Off

Remember how I said I had a million posts to post? Well, this is one of those.

Back in October, our ward held a chili cook-off in conjunction with a Halloween party. I make good chili, but mine is really nothing to brag about. So, I decided not to enter. Ryan, on the other hand, has been dabbling more in the kitchen and decided to enter. He found a recipe on Allrecipes.com (Boilermaker Chili), went shopping, and put it all together. We ended up with a stock pot FULL of chili--but it was the best chili I'd ever tasted. Heavy on the meat with just enough heat to give it a nice kick, but not enough to merit the title of "This will burn your entire digestive track." (1000 times better than "Darn Good Chili" from Bear Creek Soup. The name used to be "Damn Good Chili," but they either changed the recipe or realized all those Mormons in Utah weren't buying the chili because of the foul language on the packaging.)

As the judges were deliberating near the serving table, we kept hearing them mention a certain number. I wasn't sure which number was assigned to our pot, but Ryan was pretty sure it was ours. And, if I'm honest, other chilis were good--just not with the depth of flavor that ours had.

Sure enough, when the winner was announced, it was Ryan! He won an apron along with bragging rights until the next chili cook-off. I've wondered for a long time if there was anything Ryan doesn't succeed at. With this accomplishment, I'm starting to realize that there really is nothing he can't do!