Forward

The following is an account of a journey.  A journey that is taken by every man who can call himself “a man.”  An impossible journey for perfection.  There is nothing unique about my quest save for that it is my own.  There is a goal, and that goal is to win a trophy, given to me by my peers, in a contest pitting me and the product of my labor against others with similar experiences.  We will come from different levels of expertise, with varying levels of passion, and certainly with different recipes, but we will all call our products “Chili.” 

 

I pronounce on this day, the 22^nd of October, 2012 A.D. that I will win the “Cruisin’ into Waterville” Chili cook off in 2013, not only on taste, but on presentation, and I will defend my title annually against any offender who wishes to wage battle against me unless I am sick or have to work on the day in question.  Or if other emergencies would arise, a nuclear winter, perhaps, that would end the annual celebration of the completion of construction on Waterville’s portion of Route 12.  This is a promise I make and a promise I intend to keep.

A note about the meat:

All meat is purchased from the Pulaski Meat Market in Utica, NY, unless otherwise noted.  I have been a frequent customer of theirs for literally my entire life.  My father used to work for them over 30 years ago and they have the best meat and nicest staff in the Utica area.  Also, it smells fucking amazing in there.