Great weather and advertising led to a robust attendance at this year’s Mount Vernon Chili Cook-Off.
Cooks took to cooking their ingredients Saturday morning in uptown Mount Vernon, with roads blocked off by 9 a.m. for the festival.
More than 20 teams and chilis were present at this year’s cook-off, and a large crowd was there to taste the wares.
“You people are my favorite, the ones who keep on coming back,” said Anton Rood to one of his repeat customers Saturday afternoon.
Smoky, cinnamon, sausage, venison, pork, spicy and other variations of chili and all sorts of accoutrements were present at many of the booths hoping to sway their wares.
And by just after 5:30 p.m., the first competitor was already scraping the bottom of their pots, running out of chili. The grilled cheese and grilled peanut butter station was one of the next to run out of fare at 6 p.m.
Gone this year was the people’s choice award, instead focusing on adjudication by a panel of judges.
“We had a lot of people in attendance, with many of our competitors running out of chili,” said Sue Margheim, Mount Vernon chili cook-off chair. “We also had a lot of great chilis here today.”
There were three categories for the competition this year – theme of booth, best meatless chili and best chili with meat.
Best booth theme went to Chameleon’s, with their large chameleon carved pumpkin and choice of hot sauces to heighten their chili for everyone’s tastebuds.
Best meatless chili went to The Plantiful Pantry. Second place went to East Meats West.
Best meat chili went to Spicy Sisters. There was a tie for second place between Salty Sods and Dorm Room Brewing.
The Chameleon’s booth dishes up some of their chili. Chameleon’s, with their chameleon carved pumpkin and other elements won for best theme for the booth at Saturday’s contest.