Chili cook-offs champion this time of year, evidence that one and all seem to have chili recipes. Sometimes that ladle gets stuck in a beanie rut. Chili for the Soul enlightens the spoon and its stirrer with ideas like pulled pork and butternut squash chili; braised short rib chili with bacon; pumpkin chili with avocado cream; and vegetarian sweet potato and black bean. Butternut squash chili and spaghetti chili blur the soup-chili border while mango-black bean-chipotle-Coke chili wins the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink award.
Summers at the beach? Amateur hour. We're all about fall excursions with cool breezes and no crowds. For example, while we're here raking up seemingly endless waves of fallen leaves, the folks in Gulf Shores, Alabama, are hauling in bushels of fresh oysters. Thankfully, The
Hangout cracked open a way to share all of these good things with the rest of us,
creating its first Oyster
Cook-Off six years ago. This year's eat-fest, presented by Alabama
Gulf Seafood and hosted by The Hangout on Saturday, November
9, shows how far the popularity has spread with celebrity chefs coming in from
as far afield as Hawaii. The
Optimist joins more than 70 notable chefs and restaurants
from the Southeast and beyond participating in the event. Chefs will create
their own "Rockefeller," "Cajun" or "raw" oyster
dishes as they compete for more than $10,000 in prizes. Beginning at 11 a.m.,
oyster connoisseurs can ante up tasting tickets ($2 each or $30 for a book of
20) to sample the fixins. An Absolut bloody mary buffet, live music, cooking
demos, football viewing, oyster-shucking contests, games and prizes keep the
party flowing. Friday, November 8 pre-party runs from 7:30-11 p.m. for early
comers.
Party down at Atlantic Station with People's Fest 2013 on Saturday,
June 22 at 6 p.m. “Feel good food” tastings will drive away hunger while rocking
all night to live music from Marc Broussard, Sonia Leigh, Ben
Deignan and Jameson Elder. Sip drinks throughout the night while rooting on
chef favorites in a friendly cook-off. Tickets are $25 and benefit City of Refuge!
