NEWS
I hope you all saw Cindy Reed Wilkins on the Food Network last night. If you missed it, see the Throwdown Against Bobby Flay Sunday at 4PM, 11PM, and 2 AM Eastern Standard Time. Cindy did a great job.
“At the Cowtown CASI Pod's meeting held 7/25 the pod presented the Presbyterian Night Shelter with $11,100.00 as a result of the 30th anniversary Cowtown cookoff.
The pod also voted to send $250 to CASI for the Terlingua defibrillator fund.
Elections were also held for the 2006-2007 chili year. Election results are: Great Pepper, Dale Reinecker; Pepper Popper David Sexton, Jr.; Chili Scribe Tina Barnes; Chili Penny Shirley Sexton. Steering Committee members are Kelly Killingbeck, Roger Foltz, Jim Johnson, Ron Barnes, Suzie Manske and Ray Calhoun. Regional Referee is Darryl Baxter, Area Referees are Ron Barnes, Dee Palmer and Beth Moon.” (Dale Reinecker)
POTPOURRI
Happy Anniversary to Bobby and Patsy Elliott. Also, over the weekend, Happy Birthday to Stan Moore (Saturday) and Mike Parker (Sunday).
“It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.” - P. G. Wodehouse
News items and pictures for the CHN can be emailed to pepperdean@ctesc.net
NEWS
At this point, there will be no Halloween Party at TICC. We don’t have anyone to host it. If you would like to do this, please let us know as soon as possible so we can schedule and promote it. Thanks.
“Time is growing short to send in your information & payment for the 2007-2008 Cooks Register. Payment must be mailed by August 1st to received the reduced rate of $18, after that the price is $20. Since the finished book must be to the printer by October 2nd, any information received after September 10th, may not get in the book. The sooner I get the information, the better chance I have of getting it right. Didn't get a form? Either go to the web site www.goatgap.com or e-mail (goatgapgazette@sbcglobal.net) me for a Word file form or more information.” (Debbie Eiland Turner)
“I was advised that the shirts to be ordered for past TICC Champions will be polo type shirts. These will be paid for by CASI. If anyone wants a 'khaki' type shirt, you can order one for an additional $15-18. You may also pay for additional shirts if you want one. Please let me know which is your preference on shirts, and if you want to get more than one, of either type. RBFoltz@aol.com “ (Roger Foltz)
“As of today there are 2 Directors and 26 Great Peppers who have not registered for the Great Peppers Meeting. You can make our job easier by mailing your Registration & Credentials TODAY. Registration deadline is August 17th or $15 late fee (no exceptions). If you have lost your form there is one in the Terlingua Trails or e-mail me rross@tstar.net. Thanks.” (Ruby Ross)
“Just a reminder that tonight night - July 27th on the Food Network at 10pm Eastern Standard Time will be the show that was taped on Chili with Cindy Reed Wilkens and Bobby Flay.” (Ken Rodd)
POTPOURRI
Happy Birthday to Charlie Atherton, Rodney Lilly, and Carolyn Seelig. Happy Anniversary to Pam and Mark Zimmerman.
“If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going.” - Professor Irwin Corey
News items and pictures for the CHN can be emailed to pepperdean@ctesc.net
NEWS
Pod credential forms are starting to come in at a steady pace. The issues we’ve encountered with the deficient forms fall pretty much into two categories. The most common is that all pod officers and referees must be paid through September 2007 for the credentials to be cleared. Membership dates can be easily checked through the CASI Information System and dues can be paid directly through the CASI website.
The second oversight that keeps coming up is question, VII.B. that asks for information about special pod activities to promote CASI, chili, and cookoffs.
If your pod credentials have not been sent in yet, please check to make sure these areas are taken care of. Thanks.
I’ve received credentials for the following pods: Alamo Area (complete), Black Gold, Borderline, CASA, Classic CASI, Concho Valley (complete), DAM, Highland Lakes (complete), Pasadena, Pepe,s, Pod on the Pedernales (complete), POR, Rose City, Sotol (complete), Space City, State of Alabama (complete), Sunshine State Pod (complete), Thousand Trails Lake Whitney (complete).
“This Saturday Capital One Bank has invited "CASI" to participate in their open house in Austin and especially their "pancake stacking" contest for NON PROFIT organizations. The teams have to be two people ( Myself and Steve Ashman a new CASI chili cook that joined in February). They are paying $1,000 dollars to the winner, $750.00 to second place, $400.00 for third place and $200.00 for 4th place. Steve and I will do our very best to win this event as the money will go to the DEFIB fund. Steve and I are excited to support this new Corporate Member of CASI (Joined on Thursday). Their support of Lone Star Weekend was just unbeliveable!!!.” (Ken Rodd)
RESULTS & UPCOMINGS
“Another wonderful time was had at Lone Star RV weekend cook off in Austin, Texas. Cooks came from far and near and some of us came in on Monday and some each day until 66 started their pots on Saturday. We wish to thank Ken and Yolie Rodd and the entire staff at Lone Star Rv for their fun, food, and fellowship. They always seem so happy to see us and you know how overwhelming some of us can be at any given time. I was told that 70 of the 76 entries had already reserved for next year, so that should tell you something folks. Special thanks to our Judging team of Jimmy Taylor and Jeannette Cardenas, our referee John Caffey, our Tally team of Bucky Seelig and Billy Doss and helpers, our monitors and all of the totally awesome Judges that were there judging.
Special Traveling Award was given to Dani Medlin for flying in from Arizona to be with us. We were proud to have 3 new cooks sign up for CASI, Karol Menhard, Anthony and Marianne Delgado. We welcome you and hope you had a great time. Tim "Mule Train" Perry was once again, a great entertainer on Saturday evening, after a full tummy of our steak dinners.
And the Winners are..........................
1. Sue Caffey Rockdale
2. Larry Kinnison Marble Falls
3. Carrie Kinnison Marble Falls
4. Honey Jones Canyon Lake
5. Joyce Jowers San Antonio
6. Tamara Dees Bulverde
7. Debbie Ashman Austin
8. Billy Doss Georgetown
9. Linda McDonald Victoria
10.John Caffey Rockdale
Show
1. Bubba Reinke Martindale
2. Marianne Delgado Adkins
3. Doyle Smith San Antonio
GOD BLESS US ALL AND GOD BLESS AMERICA.”
(Sue Caffey)
“A full-filled, must-attend event on Saturday, August 5 – The Schulenburg Festival at Wolters Park in Schulenburg, Texas. RV parking and overnight camping with limited electrical hookups on first come, first serve basis. Lots of huge shade trees for day-trippers.
CASI Chili Entry Fee $20.00 with turn-in at 3:00 p.m.
Jackpot Bloody Mary Contest – entry fee is $10 and judging for taste and showmanship (no team identification) begins at 10 a.m. sharp with cash prizes to top 3 winners and a trophy to top showmanship.
Jackpot PINTO Bean Contest – entry fee is $15, turn-in at noon – cash to top 3 winners.
Lots of arts and crafts and food and beer booths!
Weekend of continuous music and entertainment starting Friday night with Highspeed Hayride, Wade Bowen and Randy Rogers Band - $15 entry; Saturday is Texas Dream Band, Highspeed Hayride, Texas Unlimited Band and Aaron Watson - $5 entry after 7 p.m.; and Sunday The Duika Brothers, Triumphs and Texxas featuring Tony Florus.
For more info, check out the website at www.schulenburgfestival.org or contact Virginia at 979-561-8573 / meyer@cvtv.net or Sharon at 979.562.2410 / sbujnoch@cvtv.net .
Hope to see ya there!” (Pat Krenek)
FORUM
“We can never have a fair open cook off as long as there is chili cooks judging. It is just human nature to look for your own chili.” (Bruce Stewart - DFW)
POTPOURRI
Happy Birthday to Raymond Pilchiek and Nick Roberts.
“The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.” - Robert Frost
News items and pictures for the CHN can be emailed to pepperdean@ctesc.net
FORUM
“The cut meat vs. chili grind ‘controversy’- ah yes- few topics generate more heated debate these days, with valid points made by proponents of each. Unless the type of meat is specified for a given cook off, I use a complicated set of guidelines in choosing what to cook that particular day. Most of these are meteorological (expected temperature range, humidity, elevation above or below sea level, possibility of cyclonic activity, etc.), but occasionally other earth process factors come into play (i.e., seismicity, volcanism, glaciation, among others). Of course, presence of comets cannot be discounted in the formula any more than can global climate change be ignored. But, as long as one enjoys themselves, to each their own, unless of course the meat type is specified, or you happen to be traveling to Arizona to cook and Carson Smith offers to provide cut meat- then, by all means, cook a cut meat recipe!” (Bill Dees – central Texas)
“Let's all take a moment and get back to what the real controversy is when we are talking about using cut or ground meat to make our chili with. It is how our chili will be judged and that we insure that our chili will be judged fairly on its own merit and not by what type of meat it is made from. We all like to cook our favorite type of meat and that is fine as we are all individuals and that is one of the thing that defines who we are as competitors and cooks. But is having a mixture of different meats in a cook-off really a good or bad thing? Over the years CASI has developed and adopted many rules to make sure that the cook-offs we participate in are fair for every contestant. These rules govern every part of the cook-off process to insure that it is done correctly and fairly in a manner that is consistent at each of the individual cook-off's. Many of these rules deal with making sure that the contest is fair by insuring that it is a blind judging system therefore insuring that no chili can be marked to be identified later during the judging process. This being said how blind can the judging be if only three cooks prepare one type of meat and the other twenty cook the other type of meat? Introduce into this the fact that as in many cook-off's there is a shortage of judges on the preliminary rounds and we have cooks sitting on the preliminary judging table. Is there a chance for discrimination here based on the type of meat used? You bet there is, we all hope that everyone will judge fairly each chili on its own merit but will they? There is a chance that they may not and that is why the rules have been developed to eliminate or minimize that chance. The only way to eliminate that chance is to have all cooks working with the same type of meat in their chili at each of the particular cook-off's, then there is little or no chance that any of the chili's being judged will be discriminated upon due to the type of meat it is made with. I believe that there is a need to have a new rule that the type of meat that is to be used in each cook-off is defined and advertised as such before that cook-off, this would eliminate the possibility for the chance of this type of discrimination. For small cook-offs this is not a problem as most do currently define the type of meat to be used. But what should we cook at Terlingua and the other big open and regional contest? Let the members of CASI decide what is to be cooked in these contest as we are the cooks. Cut or grind, vote for your favorite meat to use at these cook-offs and that is what we will all cook, but when the judges are seated they WILL be judging every chili by the same 5 criteria and not the silent 6th what type of meat it is made from. I know the membership of this organization will make the proper decision on what needs to be cooked at these events and once it is decided we will all be judged alike without the chance of possible discrimination.” (Ken Swart - Central Texas)
“OK, to throw my own two cents in for what it’s worth. Back eon’s ago, when C.A.S.I. was a sparkle in Ray Kings’s eye, literally from the first few GP meetings onward, some one was always proposing to regulate the meat. It was always defeated for the reasons Richard Knight expressed. The only rule in the book concerning meat is the provision of starting with raw, un-marinated meat the day of the cook-off. The use of cut meat began occurring after Allegany Janie won with it. This did not just start with the cut vs. grind question, which has been going for at least the 25+ years that I have been in CASI. One only needs to look at the display matrix on the tally computer, or study the judging sheets side by side to see how many cooks judge low until a sample that passes resembling theirs. The crux of the problem is the use of cooks on the judging table. It is impossible to regulate human nature, though many have tried. A cook who is preparing what they believe is the best example of chili, will, by human nature, think poorly of anything that does not resemble what they have cooked. The logistics problem of having enough public judges is legion. Pre-registration doesn’t work, even at state championships, though it does at least give a target to shoot for. Limit the number of cookoffs in an area? That’s not going to happen. Even when you have arranged for enough judges – and they don’t show up – cancel the cookoff? The use of cooks on the early rounds (or even non cooking cooks on the Finals) - this is the basic unanswerable question.
The next problem is where do you stop when you do begin regulating meat? CHILI GRIND ONLY is published and cooks turn in chili made from ground hamburger, sirloin, or chuck – not Chili Grind. I’ve heard the argument made that there are area’s in the country, especially the northeast, that they don’t know what Chili Grind is. The butcher ought to know what a coarse sausage grind is, or how to pass something through the grinder with a #__ blade. I was raised in the Northeast, and for many years in the 60’s, I watched my father-in-law cook up a pot of ‘Kelly’s Irish Chili’ on the stove at their home – coarse grind meat – he was probably the first chili head I ever ran into. OK – so now you change the wording to GRIND ONLY – you still have the same problem in reverse, you haven’t changed anything. The only solution is to go back to the era when there was no specification, and you had an infinite number of public judges available. The other solution is similar to BBQ cookoffs – you show up with a roast that is inspected by the referee, then you do with it what you want on site. That’s not gonna happen.” (Bob Horan – Houston)
POTPOURRI
Happy Birthday to Jackie Ralston. Happy Anniversary to Charlie and Jeanie Atherton.
“It's a lot like nature. You only have as many animals as the ecosystem can support and you only have as many friends as you can tolerate the bitching of.” - Randy K. Milholland
News items and pictures for the CHN can be emailed to pepperdean@ctesc.net
RESULTS & UPCOMINGS
“Results of the 1st Annual Armadillo Resort CCO
17 Chili's Judged
1st: Lester McElyea - Garland, TX
2nd: David "Budda" Manske - Arlington, TX
3rd: Suzie Manske - Arlington, TX
4th: Roger Foltz - Mesquite, TX
5th: Jim Bair (1st Time) - Grandbury, TX
6th: Tom Floyd - Farmers Branch, TX
7th: Tina Barnes - Euless, TX
8th: Harvey "Goober" Meeks - Lewisville, TX
9th: Bill Sweigart - Hurst, TX
10th: Patricia Pilcheck - Bluffton, TX
SHOW
1st: Moss Man - Morris Moss, Garland, TX”
(Ron Barnes)
“It's chili in Illinois. Next weekend (July 29 & 30) the Illinois State Championship Chili Cookoff will be held on Saturday and the Windmill City Chili Cookoff on Sunday in Batavia IL. For those a little shy on points, the Windmill City CO is the only opportunity for points anywhere that day.
Turn-in both days is noon. On Saturday there is no meat restriction; cook whatever you want (if it's legal). But, I'll let you in on some local history; everyone of the past winners has used beef.
Sunday is chili grind only. Not that we have anything against cut meat, this is just for convenience.
Everyone is invited, so if you need any information contact Bill or Cheryl Pierson at 630.879.7934 or email at WCCCO@comcast.net. Hope to see you in Batavia.” (Bill Pierson)
FORUM
“The judging at Terlingua, specifically at the Final table will eventually have to change. As one of the photographers, I started to notice that over 2/3rds of the same judges return to the table each year. One of the reasons, is that we give preference to our sponsors for a judging seat. While this is so called good "PR", it sets a dangerous precedent.
History once again pokes in its head. The most classic example of a repeat judge was Jo Ann Horton. While she is an excellent judge, she became a celebrity judge. She was noted for liking the taste of cumin. When it was known that she was on the table, the cumin would come out in the cooking area.
While this may seem conspiracy theory, it is really not. I just have seen enough history to know that situations will repeat themselves.
One of neatest things about the early New Site TICC at the Rancho, was the fact that the final judges were constantly changing from year to year. It gave a better mix of scores on the Final table.
I think that Dianne and Luhn have done an excellent job of not talking about the cut of meat on the final TICC table. We have to keep it that way. Somewhere some of these judges are being heavily influenced about the type of meat, be it cut or grind. By now, you should know to be an honest judge, you have to throw out any pre conceived notions and judge the chili strictly on its own merit and only while it is in front of you.
It may come to the point that a judge (at TICC ) will have to be individually questioned as to whether or not they are prejudiced against a cut of meat, at least after an individual orientation by an approved official like Luhn.” (Donn Shands – Houston)
“My wife and I have been working the judging area at TICC since 1990. The semi and final judges are still looking for cut meat. They have been programmed for years. We have five criteria on our judging sheets, the cut of meat is not one of them. The head Judge and/or the table monitors should instruct the judges as such.
As far as the spices giving all the flavor to the meat, I disagree. Chili grind will take the spices far better than cut. If you don't believe this, cook your cut meat chili and then wash your meat. You will find no chili taste. True there is a big difference in cuts of meat. A good butcher will grind good cuts of meat not junk. But it is also true if you have all public judging the greasier the better.
I have been eating chili since I lived on a ranch in the late 40's and early 50's. I never seen cut meat in chili until we started cooking competition chili in the 80's. Cut meat was used in stew.
Promoters and head judges should have the right to specify the type of meat. After all they specify the number of cooks allowed after 50, no campers, white gas and etc.” (Bruce Stewart – DFW)
“I would vote for grind. That is what 80% of the chili CCO's use. Why not use what you practice with. The first year I was at TICC I was a judge.
After the table was through one of the judges said how did you like the cut meat? I told him what was the difference. He said he gave it low marks because he wanted to see chili grind used???? Cheers.” (Jim Maturo – Florida)
POTPOURRI
Happy Birthday to Benny Atwood, Sharren Christopherson, and Ray Medlin. Happy Anniversary to Karen and Bubba Reinke.
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” - Oscar Wilde
News items and pictures for the CHN can be emailed to pepperdean@ctesc.net
