And the Winner is.....

I recently talked Tony into being more involved in church by signing up to make chili in the first annual chili cook off. After much consideration, Tony got excited to cook in the cook off and hoped that his efforts of throwing together a Hodge podge of chili together would pay off. He didn't care about the community or church participation, he was in it to WIN! He said so. On October 12 we arrived at church with our crock pot of chili, boys in tow. Tony set up his crock pot with the other 13 contestants and readied himself for the testing to begin. Each cook had to serve someone else's chili, so the audience didn't know whose chili was whose. There were five judges not from the church but included notable people such as a former Mayor, a well-known channel 3 weather man, and a city council man to name a few. They took a long time working their way down the line, tasting and analyzing everyone's chili and making notes on papers. When they were done they conferred and decided upon a unanimous winner! The church lady announced..."And the Winner is #2"..."Tony Coffey!" I looked up in surprise to see Tony just as flabbergasted as myself. Then after the initial shock wore off he went to claim his $25 prize. The judges stated that his chili had great texture and flavor and that the spicy kick didn't come until the end, which was unusually great. Funny. We don't have a recipe for this famous chili and doubt we can ever duplicate it exactly, and we will always wonder what made Tony's chili special compared to the other 13 chili's there, but that's for another day. Today Tony is basking in his glory, he thinks, as the new hero of the church..... (no, really, he really thinks this!) :) And now he is a self-professed chili expert and his head is so big it can no longer fit through the front door.

So let's all give Tony a big round of applause on his big win!