No costumes ‘round our building today, but we’re having an event that appears to be proving popular enough that it should be continued in following years: a chili cook-off. A dozen or so contestants brought in crock pots full of chili of varying color, flavor, and spiciness. (Question, though: can green tortilla chicken soup really be called “chili”? I think it should be disqualified. It is tasty, though.) The rest of us brought in acoutrements. Voting ends at noon. Sampling has been going on all morning.

Maybe next year I’ll have to give it a whirl… but the competition would be stiff. Were I to have brought a pot of my usual chili along today, well, I wouldn’t have voted for it. There are some amazing chilis out there.

Might be time to go through and sample some more. The little styrofoam cups are just the thing, though one guy should win the innovation award for sampling utensils: he brought along a 6-cup muffin tin. Brilliant!