The weather is finally starting to cool down in the Castle Country Area. The decrease in temperature, although welcome, has left some residents looking for a way to warm up as the winter season begins to take hold. Well, look no further than the Carbon Masonic Lodge’s Chili Cook-off on Saturday, Oct. 19. To discuss the event, Castle Country Radio sat down with Ben Martinez from the lodge to learn more about bringing the heat.
Our first topic of conversation was the inspiration behind this event, with Martinez explaining,” You think about it and it’s getting cold, and it gets a little chilly outside; Pardon the pun.” Martinez continued,” You want to have a hot bowl of something, whether it be soup or in this case chili to warm you up a little bit, warm you from the inside out. And probably the best thing we’re looking forward to is just having the community come out and get to know and hang out with us and have a good time.”
We then dove into what Martinez personally was most excited about with the event,” I’m just looking forward to seeing the different kinds of chili that are there because we all grew up with a certain type of chili. I’m sure everybody else had their mom’s or their grandma’s recipe of chili growing up. And I’m excited to see what everybody else has, what everybody else wants to bring to the party and, you know, see what different tastes there are.”
We also asked Martinez what he thinks makes the best chili,” it’s got to be meaty. You know, everybody talks about how, you know,’ oh, I don’t like it, we have no meat chili.’ To me, that’s just not chili.”
This event will also feature some “hot prizes” which even to Martinez, were unknown. Judging for these prizes will be local officials and public figures,” We do have community leaders, leaders of our community government that are going to be involved in it … You know, you hear the stories and you see these guys’ names all over, but maybe the chance to get to meet them and say hello.” Also included among these public figures will be Dave Hocanson and Ryan Piccolo from Dave and Ryan’s Movie Review, which airs on KOAL 107.3 FM and 750 AM.
In addition to the judged prizes, there will also be a people’s choice award, with each chili having sample cups in front. If you find yourself enjoying a particular chili, you can buy a bowl for just $5.
The Carbon Masonic Lodge’s Chili Cook-Off will be held on Saturday, Oct. 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the lodge located at 39 North, 100 East in Price. For more information on the event, you can visit its Facebook page here.