We're No. 2, We Try Harder

Today our still-unnamed cooking club hosted a booth at the annual SPBA (the animal society) chili cook-off, an endeavor that had us busy all week developing the recipe, designing the booth, emailing logistics, acquiring aprons, cooking beans and chopping onions... But it was all worth it when we won second place!

To savor the full flavor of this victory, you have to understand that the first place winners have been unbudgeably taking the title for six years straight now. They plan their booth all year, dress in toques and matching uniforms, all very elegant. We put ours together in two weeks, using the theme of the full moon (which was last night), so we called it Luna Llena Chili and used a poster of a wolf howling at the moon. We just got our aprons yesterday! And of course they were too big.

Kristin from the Canine Center had the booth across from us, and had brought along a new five month old pup called Beto, wearing an "Adopt Me" sign. He looks like part border collie with cinnamon brown, white and black markings. Very mellow and friendly even with all the people swarming around him. He was rescued from the Bahia area and now he's all ready for a new home.

I must have seen almost everyone I know in San Carlos, including my friend Maria, Capt. of S/V "Arigato Jack," who hinted at upcoming cruising plans.


We had all sorts of challenges: a strong wind that threatened to knock down our décor, no electricity so we had to use gas burners and a lot of worries about burning the product. But our seven-woman team was equal to it, and when we were announced as second place winners we howled like a bunch of teenagers at a Beatles concert. Or a pack of she-wolves at the moon.


And yes, I'll share our recipe as soon as I make note of our last-minute refinements.