And The First Runner Up Is.........

Okay, truth in blogging. I have had three beers, two vodkas, and it's Sunday evening, early. I am also right now working on a little snifter of Kahlua. What’s more, I’m writing this post early because on Wednesday I will be quite busy getting ready for our trip to Chicago. I hope the story is coherent.

If you remember, a while ago Mark entered a chili cook-off at a local bar. He lost. The chili cook-off was phase one of a greater cook-off involving a rib cook-off, and a wings cook-off. The bar, Sidelines in Wilton Manors, recognizing a truly gifted chef, decided that despite losing, Mark’s chili deserved a second chance. So this past weekend Mark threw himself into recreating his losing chili for Sunday’s grand finale.

The last time Mark had entered the contest he depended on me to tell him if his chili was good. Honestly, I loved it. Unfortunately for Mark I have a very fragile palate when it comes to spices. Paprika will burn a hole in my stomach. So this time around after Mark fed me a few spoonfuls of his chili, and I pronounced it to be the most fantastic shit I had ever eaten, Mark dumped a pile of minced jalapenos into the pot. This apparently did the trick. Mark came in second. Now it might seem like a bad thing to come in second, but he was competing with other genres of bar food. They had ribs, chicken wings, and chili all competing head to head with each other, and lets face it, ribs trump chili.

So while the judges were tasting and voting on the best food entered in the contest, I was killing time at the bar. Damn they took their time about it. Exactly three beers, and two vodkas of time. So what about the Kahlua that I’m working on now you ask? That’s what Mark won. A lovely basket of vodka, Kahlua, whiskey, and a bottle of ‘table wine’, whatever the hell that is. Oh, and they also threw in a five pound bag of peanuts. I'm very happy that Mark won something, and not just because it was a basket full of liquor.
I'm getting sleepy now. I think I'll go take a nap, even though Sixty Minutes isn’t even on yet.