Ok, I have to admit, winning the K'Motion Chili Cook-off last night was the furthest thing from my mind. In fact, when they were announcing the winners, I was shoveling in my dessert as quickly as I could so that I would be ready for the baby trade--Dan holds while I eat, then I hold while he eats. He took first shift, it was my turn. There have been years past where we have made great efforts to try to place in our church's beloved chili cook-off, but this was NOT one of those years. In fact, I really wasn't wanting to enter a pot at all. However, since this event helps fund one of the best things about our church--an amazing children's program, and because my kids would be so disappointed in not having a pot in the contest, I decided at about 1am the night before to message the commander in charge...ok, count on another pot of chili--if it's not too late. A few of you have asked for the recipe, although I'm not sure how serious you were about that since most requests come with a chuckle...so I thought I'd oblige. Here you go...the prize winning recipe...and all the details that go into it...don't be intimidated...if I can pull this off, so can you! :)
Chili:
1:40pm Oops. Forgot to thaw hamburger. Quick, grab 4 lbs. out of the freezer. Thank goodness my Dad is a vet and keeps our freezer stocked with corn-fed Iowa beef. Put a 2 lb. package on defrost in the microwave while I run and take a shower.
2:00pm First package is mostly thawed. Switch to package number two. Defrost while I run to the flower shop to pick up oldest son's corsage for his date for the winter formal that night.
2:20pm Put 4 lbs. of mostly thawed hamburger in frying pan. Yell downstairs, in my not-so-patient voice, for my oldest to come back to finish putting the trash can liner in the trash can while I stand with raw hamburger packaging dripping down my arms, frustrated out of my mind that I can't just throw it away. (Yes, I know the sermon today was on patience. But I needed that sermon yesterday.)
Chop 1 yellow onion. Put it in with the hamburger and brown. Begin opening cans and pulling out spices...not much time to put into this, so grab my 9-year-old and have her help brown the hamburger. Run to help child who's potty-training make it to the potty. Missed again. Strip down wet clothes and add to mounding "accident" pile in the laundry room. Yes, I DID take time to wash my hands.
Drain grease from browned meat...well, most of it anyway. I put as much into the strainer as I could fit and then figured a little grease left won't hurt anybody, I don't have time to strain more than one round. Put meat back in pan. Yell down again to oldest, this time making sure he gets in the shower before his big night. Run upstairs to help very frustrated husband, taking his only couple of hours of precious free-time to put together a new treadmill for his wife, only to get it together and realize something isn't working. Find out that I really am no help to him at all, get back to kitchen to work on chili.
Add:1 large can Brooks Hot Chili Beans
1 can Great Value Tomato Juice
1 can Great Value Tomato Sauce (notice how much I splurged here, lots of generic stuff)
Uh-oh. I don't have a can of crushed tomatoes. I usually don't get so "fancy" when I make it just for home, but I have always added tomatoes for the cook-off. Oh well. It's not worth another trip out and an extra 3 bucks, I figure at this point I'm just making this for my kids. If someone wants tomatoes in their chili, there are 20 other pots to choose from. Scratch the tomatoes.
Time to add spices: I grabbed a bunch, I didn't use them all. This is what I remember using. No time to measure. Just pull off the lids and dump.
chili powder (if I had to guess, maybe a Tablespoon)
seasoning salt (same)
cumin (same, made sure I grabbed cumin and not cinnamon by mistake this time)
red pepper (some, but not as much)
black pepper (who knows how much)
salt (again, who knows)
Bring to a boil, stirring everything in. This is where I usually try it and repeat with more spices to taste. But not this time. No time. Dump everything into the crock pot, set it on low to simmer until we leave. Oh yeah, forgot about that. When should we leave? A couple of years ago we were a little late and we missed the judging. All that work to make chili and we missed it. Better text someone...I'll bug Kim this time...What time do chili entries need to be there?
One final thing, if you want to have the best chance at duplicating this prize winning chili: have your husband load it in the back of your van, lid secured, set on a cookie sheet to catch any spills. Drive through our neighborhood with its incredible hills and curves and bumps. Ask your children to watch the chili in the back and listen to them scream every time it spills out of the "secured" crock pot. Make sure it not only spills out on the cookie sheet, but that it hits the van carpet as well. It will give you just the right proportions for winning the contest, and leave you with the winning aroma and color in your van carpet to remind you of the incredible night for days and weeks to come. (No, I really won't take the time to clean it up.) Then let your anger and frustration churn as you take a dripping, messy crock pot into the church kitchen, getting chili all over your hands and clothes. Only then is it ready for some tough judging.
Last year we got second place. (If you want that recipe, it's on the back of a chili beans can. I know, we are quite innovative over here.) Because of that, my kids were just sure we'd win first this year. The whole car ride over, Dan and I tried to tell them that just because we place in one year doesn't mean we will the next...there are just too many variables. Both of us knew that this wasn't a year of much effort on my part. We were just glad to make it on time and have none of our kids show up in their pajamas. And we were just hoping that the potty trainer wouldn't have any accidents at the cook-off and that a certain little baby would still be wearing his new contact by the time we made it home. So I was just a little surprised to be taking home the trophy this year. I'm still wondering if my kids paid off the judges, you know, to give me a little encouragement to get back into the kitchen more often than I have been lately. Who knows. But more than the trophy, I loved that my kiddos were so thrilled. That was a gift.
We love chili cook-off night. My kids love K'Motion. I love that we are in a church that loves children. Maybe we don't have a lot of bells and whistles at our church, but we do have adult leaders who love my kids enough to share Jesus' love for them in a way that they can both learn and enjoy. So in all of the commotion yesterday of making a pot of chili for the K'Motion Cook-off--and the sake of my kids--I was reminded again that it doesn't take a lot of fancy stuff to make something wonderful. Yes, wonderful might mean a pot of prize-winning chili. But I think, more importantly, what's wonderful is reaching the hearts of children. So thank you to all of you who serve my kids. This year is a year in particular where it really means so much to their Mama.
And the chili? Well, there's the recipe. I won't be the least bit offended if you don't make it. :) And if you do, but need to find the interruptions to make the recipe just right, come to my house--my kids will be happy to help you with that!
