The youth group at Camas Church of the Nazarene has a chili feed fund raiser every year. Whoever wants to contributes a crock pot of their favorite chili recipe. The smell is wonderful and stomachs are growling by the end of the morning service. Members of the youth group serve everyone sampler cups of every entry. Then people can go get a bowl of their favorite and cast their votes by putting money into the can next to their choice.
Each year, I go through the line and savor all the different spice and flavor combinations. I’m always amazed at the variety. I’ve thought about making up my own chili entry by simply taking portions of some of the others and blending them the way a coffee buyer makes a special blend: Three cups of this one because it’s spicier than the others, two cups of this one with a lot of tomato, one cup of that one because the green peppers add just the right zing, and a cup of this one because it’s a bit sweet. It would be fun to see what I could come up with.