We live in the small town of Rodeo, California. Once a year we have a festival held at the baseball field of our downtown area. It is not hard to find because our downtown area is only three blocks long. What we lack in size is made up by enthusiasm, hot chili and local pride. It is time to show some cars and cook some chili. The whole town shows up for this fun & spicy event. Fireman, local restaurants, bartenders, churches and yours truly.. Ms. Goofy and I decided to dust off our aprons and help our friend 'Joe the Bartender' retain his "1st Place Chili' title.
We used to compete at this competition but for various reasons, mainly bbq judging we had retired. Our friend Joe needed a helping hand prepping and serving his award winning chili. I arrived at 8:00 am with a sharp knife to slice and dice some ingredients. Joe has some very secret methods and ingredients that I have been sworn to secrecy to share. Ms. Goofy showed up at 11:30 am to help serve samples to the chili hungry masses of Rodeo.
The weather could not of been more perfect. It was a calm bright day with the thermometer hovering in the high 70's. The cars were polished and proudly shown. Check out this motorhead enthusiast. I also wanted to show you this custom bbq. This vendor was selling tri-tip sandwiches made on a bbq built by the local high school; John Swett. We never made such nice projects in my shop classes.
There was a salsa contest held with the chili contest. From what I heard there was a very spicy salsa entry. It was a good thing there was frosty beverages to put out the fire. The public got to taste all the entrants and then voted for their favorite. There also was a set of judges who also voted for their favorite.
The votes were tallied and team "Cowboy Chili" took the trophy. Our town event is a wonderful way to connect and have a little fun. We ran into a lot of friends and neighbors. Rodeo is a small town but big in heart and possibly with a little heartburn today. Joe the Bartender has sworn to return next year to regain his lost title.
2 comments:
Hard to beat big events in a small town. Looks like lots of fun and congrats on the winning chili.
Big Dude, It is a lot of fun. We did help Joe last year and he won. This year we did not win the trophy but still feel like winners. Good Times
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