Two weeks until the biggest football day of the year - SUPERBOWL SUNDAY! Want to enjoy the game, the ads, and the half-time show with friends and family? Then throw a party! One idea to heat up the day even more is to host a chili cook-off before, during, or after the game. Chili and Football go hand-in-hand, and a Superbowl party is the perfect opportunity to share yummy food with a little friendly competition.
Below are the must have’s for any Superbowl Sunday Chili Cook-off:
The Chili: Have your guests bring their chili in a crock pot. At chili cook-offs I host, the rules are you can make any type of chili you want– beef, chicken, vegetarian, spicy, mild, with beans, without beans – pretty much anything goes, as long as it’s homemade. But other competitions have different chili categories and award a winner in each. For ideas of how to plan and judge a chili cook-off, see my previous blog posts.
- Make it easy by having entries in crock pots.
Winning Chili Recipes: Here's my tip of how to win your cookoff: look on the ICS web site for past chili cookoff winners and their recipes. That's how we won our cook off this fall; why reinvent the wheel?
The Chili Accompaniments: Be sure to include the extras for the top of the chili. Shredded cheese, sour cream, diced onions, chopped tomatoes, and crushed tortilla chips are all things that can go on top of chili to enhance the flavor.
The Snacks: Even if you do a chili cook-off, don't forget the game day snacks. Chips and salsa, guacamole, nachos, cheese or bean dip, garlic bread, and cornbread all go great with chili. Cut up veggies with ranch or even a salad balance out the other junk so at least your guests get a little something healthy. And don't forget dessert! I personally like cookies, brownies, cupcakes - things you can eat with your hands, to keep dishes at a minimum.
The Drinks: Beer, lots of it. Conserve fridge space and have a cooler with ice for the beer.
The Awards: We have lots of different options for chili awards on our web site. But to add some laughs at the party, I’d recommend one of our funnier trophies. Two of my favorites are The Golden Throne and The Bomb Trophy .
The Message: Of course any award can be funny if you add witty engraving. Below are some ideas for engraving for your awards, some tasteful, others not so much...
1. “We Wish You Hadn’t Entered the Chili Cook-Off” Award
(this is the most popular saying for the Worst Chili Award)
2. “Was That Really Chili?” Award
3. Honorable Mention
You will be in our thoughts later…
4. Best Chili Overall
Mighty Fine Cookin’!
5. Hottest Chili Award
Whoa!! That’s quite a fire!
6. Hottest Chili Award
It hurts coming and going!
7. Hot A** Award
Wipe my butt with a snowball please!
8. Roadkill Award
Was that meat?
9. Exhaust Fume Award
Chili with the most beans
10. Wild Game Award
Best of the Beast
The Superbowl is a great excuse to get together with family and friends, and hosting a chili cook-off is sure to bring an unique twist to your party. But no matter what, Superbowl Sunday is all about hanging out with family and friends and having fun (plus the commercials)!
Cheers,
Jessica