Chili, Chili, Chili

To follow the tradition of many years of competition, tonight was the annual Cottage Park Ward Chili Cook-Off. Two years ago, I quickly threw together some beans and ground beef, unaware of the intense competition I was about to face. Being my first Chili Cook-Off, I was unaware how serious Chili cooks consider this to be. Christian was asked to be a judge. After the night was over, he confessed to me that my chili had not left an impression with any of the other judges. In other words, I was a chili failure.

When last year's cook-off rolled around, I looked at my sleeping two week old baby and thought, "I'm just going to let sleeping babies lie."

When the flyer got passed around last Sunday reminding everyone of the upcoming event, Christian put on his game face and told me that I needed to restore honor to the Kelsey family. At first I fought the idea of making Chili, but after texting and emailing several friends for recipes and getting several encouraging answers, I decided I was ready to try again. I ended up combining several recipes and this is what I ended up with.
I started with a pork roast, cooked in in the slow-cooker in a mix of beef stock, apple juice, brown sugar, and other delicious things. After shredding the pork, I put it in the pot with the rest of my chili ingredients. In the end, I was pretty proud of my results.

I'd like to say that this story ends with a big blue ribbon, but it doesn't. It does end with my husband stating that I brought pride to the family for a tasty chili.

I did, however take home 3rd place for the dessert category. I made caramel apples inspired by boycheesesandwich.blogspot.com Here I am proudly hold my third place prize (and my sweet, sweet baby girl).