The day started early, 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 23rd as we waited patiently in a line of many competitors to sanitize our cooking gear and wait even longer to pass inspection. Our 8′ x 10′ booth became home for the next 11 hours as we raced against the clock to cook a hefty serving of approximately 12 gallons of Jason Haskin’s hearty ghost pepper and steak chili (amongst many delicious ingredients). We had a custom made cook top/counter working in our favor along with a little wood working and tech savvy flare to spare on the booth decor, being our third year in the chili making game we were very much ready this time around!
As the hours passed and our food cooler became more spacious, the people started trickling in as we continued to play musical pots with the copious quantities of cooked chili in need of further simmering. As a result of our efforts we completed our recipe in a timely fashion and were given an opportunity to prepare our area for the inevitable torrent of people awaiting entry. Between the hours of 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. was indeed the peak of chili feasting for Springfield’s population and from our booth location it’s hard to determine how many people actually came and went, but we all know it was A LOT! Many people were interested about our club and what we do (some were confused that we were the Ozark Mountain Trading Company and sold boats) and hopefully we will be seeing those familiar faces in the near future.
We may not have walked away this year with any awards this year for braving the class IV-V+ crowds of the cook-off, but for many paddlers it has never been about a trophy or prize as much as it is about the sweet reward of accomplishment.
Thanks to all of the volunteers that donated their time, effort, knowledge, and materials to make this possible and thanks to Bush’s beans for the free black beans! CLICK HERE to see the News-Leader’s link to see what you may have missed!
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