[CH] the 9th open fields, 2007...
KnoxBill (knoxbill@comcast.net)
Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:03:25 -0400
what if you gave a chile festival and the chiles didn't show up?...
the consensus is that it was the best ever...every year i hear that
phrase uttered a few times (even when standing ankle deep in mud), but
this year i heard it everywhere...
the weather (even tho it was at fault for the chiles not being there)
was perfect...sunny skies, nary a cloud in sight, high 70's, slightly
cool at night, enough breeze to keep the bonfire going...
the food...my gawd...*tons* of delicious food...butch outdid himself
with the gator tail and the fried oysters...paul's curried pig and ted's
vegetarian stew and the zangers yeast cornbread and those hog wings were
amazing...it went on, and on, and on...old faves like the hab-peach ice
cream and new favorites like kendra's amazing fresh habanero brats...no
one went home hungry...
people who hadn't been seen in years showed up...l.b. was there, and the
zangers (who brought the food network to the field for the first time
with 'eat the heat') made a long overdue appearance...cameron was back
after missing last year (gavin, 'the smores king' served up his
specialty around the campfire)...
to be sure, there were chiles...most of them were not ripe yet, but
there were lots of green ones and enough ripe (mainly fatalis and
members of the hab family) that i didn't hear any complaints...people
just picked fewer than in years past, and as always, appreciated what
they got...once again proving that we don't drive hundreds of miles for
the chiles...
the first annual open fields world-class step-up-for-charity sauce
contest went on all saturday afternoon...i don't know how many salsas
and sauces were entered, but it must have been close to a
hundred...every time i walked past the judging tent, it didn't seem like
the number of bottles and jars awaiting tasting had diminished, but the
pile of tasting cups had doubled...toward the end the tasters wre
slowing down a bit, but they evaluated each and every one (except for
one they disqualified 'cos they couldn't get the lid off)...
the first annual open fields world-class step-up-for-charity chile
lottery was a total success...there were three tables full of items,
ranging from a pink flamingo to pecan wood (smoked chiles, mmmm) to
chile photos and chile x-rays (nice framing, jeff), chile paraphernalia,
and other chile memorabilia...some really nice stuff...
tickets were a buck apiece, then jim drew numbers and the winner picked
a prize...the tables were restocked as the event went on...i heard that
we donated $1600 to jim's charity with this event...hooray for
us...double hooray for jim...
sunday rolled around, and we had to leave...it was harder this year than
most, because it was the best yet...the only way we can make it better
is if you are there next year...hope y'all can make it...
--
knoxbill
I'm free -- and freedom tastes of reality.
-- The Who