Cowboy Chili Cook-Off

Every Fall my company hosts a Chili Cook-off!  It started 9 years go when I first joined the company and my department at the time wanted to spice up the season while also fundraising for a local charity.  I've since moved into a different department, but I was excited to see that this year's cook off was one of the best we've ever had!  The committee did a Texas/Cowboy theme and it turned out fantastic!

These are various pictures of the decorations.  Mom would be proud that they incorporated Mr. John Wayne!

There was a LOT of competition this year.  The crock pot wars have varied over the years but, this year there were 20+ chilies entered!
Top Left: Each entry has to come up with a creative name for their chili recipe to keep the voting anonymous.  I got a good kick out of this particular entry called "Don't Touch My Willie, Chili" and decorated with a bandanna and braids.  It's the perfect savory blend of Willie Nelson and Kevin Fowler!  Excellent name!
Top Right: I voted for this chili just because of the name, "Texas Tech Tailgate Chili".  It was pretty tasty and worthy of the name!
Bottom Left: Instead of drawing a thermometer to measure the financial donations, we drew the state of Texas!  The cowboy pride was in full force and we raised more than $600 for the North Texas Food Bank!

Here are the categories for the winners:
“100% Texan” (Best Overall)
“Don’t Mess with Mama” (Most like Mom’s/Grandma’s)
“Run for the Border!” (The hottest/spiciest!!)
“Keep Chili Weird” (Most Unique/Creative)
“Farmers Market Veggie” (Vegetarian)

I think it would be fair to also share these creative names of chili entries!:
Amarillo by Morning
Alright, Alright, Alright
The Chicken Coop
Texas Tech Tailgate Chili
Nacho Mama’s Chili
Pig Out Chili
Hog Wild
I Get Carried Away
Come and Take It
Don’t Touch My Willie, Chili
Texas Born & Bred (served with bread)

In other random news...Texas (the south really) is all a buzz for the return of Blue Bell Ice Cream.  I know, I know...the rest of the nation can't understand why we are so brand loyal to a company that found traces of listeria in their factories.  I'm not going to debate that fact but I've been seeing Blue Bell trucks alllll over!  I had to snap a few pictures.  Even the truck drivers seem happy!
A news article summed it up nicely by calling this phenomenon, "hysteria for listeria!"

Lastly, I have to confess that I've started reading Life and Death, the new Stephanie Meyer Twilight Saga book!  This tenth anniversary book is not what I was hoping for but as a loyal fan, I couldn't help myself.  We shall see how the gender swap book works our for Meyer.  
Left: This is the new book and you can buy it on Amazon for about $13.
Right Top and Bottom: These are random pictures of Abby over the last week.  In the car she likes to ride on a pillow in my lap up front, but I was proud that I finally got her to sit in the back seat. She has her head cocked like she doesn't understand. That was short lived...  In the bottom picture, she is cheesing up her smile while following me around the house waiting for her dinner.  I'm just a sucker for that under-bite!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

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