The first time I bought a mattress, it made me a little sick to my stomach. Why? In general: people with wanderlust do not own furniture. My mattress only held me in place for about 7 months, and I managed to keep crossing borders and oceans for years, despite owning my own bed (this must have been before TSA got really restrictive). I bought that mattress 7 years and 11 months ago (but who's counting?). Last I checked, it was growing mold in my brother's garage.
Sans moldy mattress, I just hosted another Chili Cookoff at a house I own in Homer, AK: at a property that houses 6 mattresses (7 if you count the futon). Knowing my squeamishness at giving my life any kind of anchor, imagine the mental turmoil of planning a fifth annual something. I never really imagined being here this long. I never really imagined being anywhere this long-- because I really like new places: New places, new people, new events, new jobs, new adventures.
But, there is something really fun about being able to collect this many friends in your garage on a Sunday night.
My ex-boyfriend and I started this chili cook-off tradition together, and the terms of our break up were that we would keep co-hosting it. Homer has a lot more interesting "ex" transactions than this one, but we still managed to butt heads once or twice getting things together. I resorted to my Midwest passive aggressive roots, which he was mature enough to completely ignore, and we managed to pull off the biggest chili feed yet without a hitch.
There were 24 chilis and around 120 people in total, and if you don't believe me, come smell the garage. All sorts of meats were represented and a few veggie chilis were presented as well. The guys that won the Golden Crockpot (our judges' award) were complete strangers to both of us and to most of the people in the garage. They were a pair of Coast Guard guys ("Coasties" as they're locally known) named Tim and Colt, who heard about the event through a friend of a friend. The Golden Ladle (the prize awarded by vote of the masses) went to Zach Brown for his "'Cause Beans are for Poor People Chili", which was a meat-only event that I would have given a prize for name alone.
Kelly Snow won best presentation for use of PBR logos: we really promote infringement of trademark laws. And, Randy Pine won spiciest for a rabbit chili that sent me running outside to refill my beer. He and his roommates just went into their yard, killed some wild rabbits with a .22, and made chili out of them.
Bill & Judy Steyer won the Golden Peeler for best veggie chili with an Indian kick. Megan & Jan Spurkland made Ginger Moose Chili and won the Golden Nut, which, as it sounds, is a totally made up award for a chili that was very interesting and that we didn't have a prize for, specifically.
The best chili, in my personal opinion, was called Chuck Norris, and was made from slow-roasted pork ribs and cherry tomatoes.
Greece, and Africa, and the Maldives had to wait, but I've definitely bookmarked a spot in this little community, if only by one annual event. Hospitality is hard to practice as a rolling stone: its just really difficult to pack an adequate number of mattresses or crockpots.
Sans moldy mattress, I just hosted another Chili Cookoff at a house I own in Homer, AK: at a property that houses 6 mattresses (7 if you count the futon). Knowing my squeamishness at giving my life any kind of anchor, imagine the mental turmoil of planning a fifth annual something. I never really imagined being here this long. I never really imagined being anywhere this long-- because I really like new places: New places, new people, new events, new jobs, new adventures.
But, there is something really fun about being able to collect this many friends in your garage on a Sunday night.My ex-boyfriend and I started this chili cook-off tradition together, and the terms of our break up were that we would keep co-hosting it. Homer has a lot more interesting "ex" transactions than this one, but we still managed to butt heads once or twice getting things together. I resorted to my Midwest passive aggressive roots, which he was mature enough to completely ignore, and we managed to pull off the biggest chili feed yet without a hitch.
There were 24 chilis and around 120 people in total, and if you don't believe me, come smell the garage. All sorts of meats were represented and a few veggie chilis were presented as well. The guys that won the Golden Crockpot (our judges' award) were complete strangers to both of us and to most of the people in the garage. They were a pair of Coast Guard guys ("Coasties" as they're locally known) named Tim and Colt, who heard about the event through a friend of a friend. The Golden Ladle (the prize awarded by vote of the masses) went to Zach Brown for his "'Cause Beans are for Poor People Chili", which was a meat-only event that I would have given a prize for name alone.
Kelly Snow won best presentation for use of PBR logos: we really promote infringement of trademark laws. And, Randy Pine won spiciest for a rabbit chili that sent me running outside to refill my beer. He and his roommates just went into their yard, killed some wild rabbits with a .22, and made chili out of them.
Bill & Judy Steyer won the Golden Peeler for best veggie chili with an Indian kick. Megan & Jan Spurkland made Ginger Moose Chili and won the Golden Nut, which, as it sounds, is a totally made up award for a chili that was very interesting and that we didn't have a prize for, specifically.The best chili, in my personal opinion, was called Chuck Norris, and was made from slow-roasted pork ribs and cherry tomatoes.
Greece, and Africa, and the Maldives had to wait, but I've definitely bookmarked a spot in this little community, if only by one annual event. Hospitality is hard to practice as a rolling stone: its just really difficult to pack an adequate number of mattresses or crockpots.
1 comment:
:) Makes me so happy to read this! Here's to tradition! xoxoxo, Heidi (&Judah)
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