Oh My Ganache

Tonight was our ward's annual chili cookoff. I think this activity is more popular and is better attended than any other activity our church does, including the Christmas party. It really is so much fun. Well, since Troy shot an elk this year he was determined to add an elk chili to the lineup. There was also a dessert contest so I decided to enter that one myself. Troy and I decided on a tasty looking chili con carne recipe found in The Joy of Cooking and then made a few special modifications. For the dessert I used a double-decker chocolate sour cream cake recipe, filled with whipped cream and topped with fresh berries and ganache. Oh. It was awesome. The kids and I spent the afternoon cooking and baking away and I have to say that assembling the cake became a family affair. It only takes a little cream and chocolate melting together on the stove for the family to come running and pretty soon we all found ourselves dipping in fingers, spoons and left-over berries into the extra chocolate concoction. We tried to keep our actual tongues out of the pot. But we did get a little greedy. It wasn't long until we all had not only brown fingers and dripping chins, but even the dog was partaking off the floor. It was a party. And we were all very happy. We got cleaned up just in time to head off to the church, chili and cake in tow. I'm very glad we all ate up that yummy chocolate before we left because our cake got reduced to a few crumbs before any of us got a single taste. Stomper was especially disappointed, so I foresee additional cake making at our house in the near future. (Darn.)

How did the chili do, you ask? Well, I have to say, it rocked. To quote the Simpsons, "Well if it isn't the pope of chili town!" We did not take away first place, (that went very deservedly to my friend Tressa - I must have her recipe) but we did manage three awards. The first award was The Meatiest (something to be proud of, I'd say). We then won the (???) Best Vegetarian. This was due no doubt to the fact that not a single pot of chili there was vegetarian, and someone decided that wild-caught elk was the closest thing to meat-free. (Okay...) But we did win the 2nd best overall, which I credit to the fact that we labeled our chili as the one with the elk meat, officially, "New Mexican Chili with Elk." There were so many chilis there that there was no way everyone was going to try every single one. (Okay, I did. I didn't even sit down at a table - I just walked behind the chili line with a spoon and cup in hand and tried a taste of each. There were some definite stand outs. I think that #9 got totally hosed. It was good. And #3 was so hot that I was dripping sweat for the next 45 minutes.) So you have to draw a little attention to yours so that people will actually try it.

I think chili cook-offs need to be a more common occurance. After all, you know the saying,

"Beans Beans Good for the Heart
Beans Beans....Great for the Heart!"