Karen in her birthday suit about to send off the runners
It's hard to go wrong with over 50 hungry runners and 10 batches of mouth-watering chili. There was quite a variety of recipes including veg., beef, bison, pork and turkey. Some were mild, some where heavy-handed with the heat. But in the end, there was a very clear victor.
Kate Blumberg took the blue ribbon for both Best in Turkey Class and Best in Show with her patented "Kate's Super Easy Chili." Brendan Kearney won for Best in Beef Class and came in 2nd overall. Greg Picklesimer came in 3rd overall. Stuart Kaufman won for Best in Veg. Class.
If you tried a batch or two last night, but weren't sure who made it, here's the breakdown.
Back row, left to right:
Batch 1: Deb Downs (Veg.)
Batch 2: Stuart Kaufman (Veg.)
Batch 3: Ray Charbonneau (Beef)
Batch 4: Scott Abrams (Spicy Beef)
Batch 5: Liz Peoples (Beef)
Front row, left to right:
Batch 6: Brian Tinger (Bison)
Batch 7: Brendan Kearney (Beef)
Batch 8: Bryan Hilliard (Turkey)
Batch 9: Greg Picklesimer (Beef and Pork)
Batch 10: Kate Blumberg (Turkey)
Kate's winning recipe is posted on the site. Thank you to all the chefs for their preparation and for feeding everyone. Thank you to all the judges (Molly, Sara, Karen, Josh and Carrie) for sucking back all that chili and rating them.
Also last night, SRR raised over $1000 (including a 100% match from another organization) and donated it to Partners in Health for Haitian relief. And Matt Noyes orchestrated a really wonderful tribute to SRR and our Thursday Night Run by getting an official letter of recognition and appreciation from the Mass. Senate (if I have that correct).
Our next culinary contest will be in the spring (date to be announced). The competition will be for cookies with chocolate as an ingredient. Start getting your baking on!
Karen in her birthday suit about to send off the runners
Off go the runners
Greg Picklesimer giving his chili one last stir
Blaine Evans down the final stretch
One of SRR's finest stripping down in her final stretch
The crowd waiting for the judges to finish so they can eat
The crowd still waiting for the judges to finish so they can eat