..not Linda O'Brien
The Kot Family Chili Cook-off was held at the Lake House this past weekend. What first began as a last minute idea four years ago has become an intense and serious competition. Previous winners include Joe Wojciaczyk (2007), Karen O'Brien (Alekna) (2008), and, our very own, Jonathan Rimkus (2009).
Thanks to Baby January's general tendency to make me tired and slow, Jon and I missed the work portion of the cook-off day. Unfortunately, our late(r) arrival meant the back breaking work of raking leaves (in the icy rain), reorganizing the garage, sealing the windows and investigating holes being eaten in the side of the house and under the deck was left to my lovely parents, aunts and uncles. We arrived to warm and cozy house where the guys watched college football while the ladies chatted and played a variety of games. Libby was wild with excitement, crying and sticking her full face out the car window when we were still more than five miles away, and, of course, she was knee deep in the lake the minute she was unleashed.
As the sun set and darkness started to fall, each of this year’s seven entrants were called, one at a time, to the cook's kitchen and asked to put their chili into a crock pot and cover it with foil so no one could see what it looked like, thus barring any preconceived notions about whose would be the best. 2010 competitors (in no particular order): Auntie Linda (who sent an email claiming victory prior to the contest, so I will name her first), Mom, Dad, Auntie Ellen, Uncle Bob, Jonny and Uncle Johnny.
The chili was to be judged on a scale of 1 to 5 on each of the following dimensions - Taste, Smell, Texture, and Appearance. Heat is not a part of the competition (although some, Jonathan, wish it were). Mom was designated as the server and would not partake in the chili tasting this year (or possibly any future years, as this is her second year with no taste buds to call her own - although she vowed each chili was delicious).
Each taster was provided with one ladle of each chili, one at a time. One could see and hear lots of sniffing and tasting, and hmmm-ing and ohh-ing. All participants were asked to keep all commentary to themselves, i.e., "this ain't chili," in order to preserve the subjectivity of the contest, as well as each chef's feelings. At the end, all score cards were turned into the cook, who requested assistance in calculating the final scores. No one was interested in being a human calculator, so Linda sprung up to volunteer.
While the scores were being tabulated, we discovered Mom developed her own system to ensure that anonymity of each cook. We found that the chili in pot #1 was not actually served first, nor #2 served second and so on. It caused a lot of confusion for those not doing the actual serving. Mom provided us with her “key” so that we could fill up on a bowl of our favorites!
Mom and Auntie Linda came in with the results. You could cut the tension with a knife! For the first time there was a tie! And not just one tie, but a tie for both first and for second! It was announced the co-winners were: ELLEN and LINDA!!! And the second place finishers were: JOHNNY WOJCIACZYK and LOIS. Well, to say that everyone was shocked is an understatement. I, for one, knew how delicious my husband's chili was, and refused to believe he could be knocked from his first place pedestal to not even getting an honorable mention! I followed my mother around insensately questioning her about her tabulation process...finally she handed over the scorecards and I discovered a grave error. While the tabulations were correct, those "winners" assigned to the pot numbers, alas, were not. It would seem there was a "failure to communicate" between the cook and the human calculator. One of them was talking about the chili number being served and the other about the pot number. (So, when Mom asked for the score for #1, she meant pot #1 and Linda provided the score for serving #1.) This is all very confusing to read (as it was in real life), and I have suggested using one set of letters and one set of numbers next year.
I asked to speak with Linda privately; she had not only been driven to tears by her win, but was continuing to dance about the house with her little trophy. I would have to tell her the devastating news, that not only she was not a winner, she wasn't even a second placer. She was inconsolable.
In the end the true co-winners were ELLEN AND BOB.
Congratulations Grossbergs.
Congratulations Grossbergs.
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| Yes...this is what they were wearing... |
And in second place, two former winners, JOE and JONNY (Rimkus).
After this year's controversy there is no telling who or what will be submitted next year...one thing is for certain, if Baby January is anything like his/ her daddy, his/ her submission is sure to be a contender!
