ARMADA, MI — It was a perfect frigid, winter day for a chili cook-off.

The morning of Saturday, Feb. 17th started off with a dusting of snow and temperatures in the low 20s, but that didn’t stop almost 1,000 hungry people from heading to Blake’s Orchard and Cider Mill in Armada for their 8th annual chili cook-off.

About 40 amateur chefs from the Detroit metro area whipped up almost 300 gallons of piping hot chili for the guests. The chefs and patrons also enjoyed fresh apple cider, hard cider, craft beer, wine, and live music.

Chili categories this year were 4-legged (beef and pork), 2-legged (poultry), no-legged (vegetarian), and exotic (venison, elk, buffalo, and maybe Sasquatch??). I actually did see a contestant’s chili named “Sasquatch Chili”

This was my second straight year serving my homemade chili recipe at the Blake’s cook-off and what a blast it was. It took me nearly 6 hours Friday evening to cook up 9 gallons of chili. I made this batch medium spicy that included 12 pounds of lean ground beef, 20 cans of white Great Northern Beans, 60-plus cans of diced tomatoes, 4 cans of Blake’s el Chavo habanero hard cider for some sweet and spice, Dove dark chocolates for a little sweetness, plus some other secret ingredients that I can’t tell you.

I tried to butter up the chili judges by adding the Blake’s cider to my chili. The other gimmick is adding the Dove dark chocolate in hopes that someone from the company finds out I use their chocolates as an ingredient and then decides to sponsor my chili. The other two helpful gimmicks are having a catchy chili name and wearing a shirt that gets you noticed by the attendees so they vote for you.

So we cleverly called our recipe Chili Vanilli, like the music group, and I wore a black T-shirt that said Make Chili Great Again. The chili name and my shirt were a hit, but there was some good competition in this area: A female contestant I met wore a White Beans Matter T-shirt and a few tables away from us I found a hilarious chili name called `Chili Bean is Not my Lover.’

So, why did I make so much chili? Nine gallons seems like a lot, right? Last year in my first contest at Blake’s I made a rookie mistake. I only made about 4 gallons and ran out with an hour still to go at the cook-off. I wasn’t going to run out this year.

The 8-quart crock pots that I used last year simply weren’t big enough this time, so I bought a 26-quart roaster that worked just fine, plus used two more 8-quart pots. Blake’s Festival and Events Manager Koral Garland did a nice job preparing chefs for the contest with emails giving helpful hints, including letting contestants know they should bring at least 5 gallons of chili.

Several of the chefs were doing their first chili cook off, like Rob Bronson and Bonnie Socks Baetz from Livonia, MI, who made a delicious smoked pork chili that had a nice spicy kick at the end. They shared a table space with us in the Orchard Cafe building at Blake’s.

Christal Smith and Karen Eick Soper are veterans of the Blake’s cook-off after competing in their first one last year. They made a very tasty chili that included Sam Adams Boston Lager and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as unique ingredients. After running out of chili like me last year, they came prepared this year with 2 giant roasting pans filled with chili.

Prepping for the event was a process that wasn’t the easiest. Three days before the cook-off, I spent an hour at the Lenox Township, MI, Meijer grocery store picking up more than 80 cans of beans, tomatoes, ground beef, and other supplies. Our chili cook-off tablemates Rob and Bonnie said they smoked their pork for the chili three days before the contest, then still had to make the chili.

Another challenge was when we first arrived with our chili and supplies, we had to write our contestant number (ours was 25) on 2-ounce plastic cups that we would be serving the chili in to guests. Blake’s provided us with unlimited cups; unfortunately, we had to write the number 25 in permanent marker on each cup so that attendees would know which chili they were sampling. Sue estimates we wrote on about 350 cups, but my hand’s writer’s cramp told me it was more like 600. Either way, I wrote the number 25 so many times on Saturday that I dreamt about it last night!

Once the event started for the hungry attendees at 1 pm, it was like flood gates opened. A non-stop line of people slowly shuffled by our table for over 2 hours picking up chili samples from the chefs. Sue and I feverishly scooped chili into 2-ounce cups virtually non-stop, with only a few chances to drink our Blake’s hard cider beverages. Next to us, Rob and Bonnie did the same.

The crowd was hip, cheerful, full of energy, festive and getting full on some hard cider, craft beer, and damn good chili from the chefs. Many of the attendees thanked us and the chefs on both sides of us for participating and serving the food. You could tell the experienced chili cook-off attendees because they used pie and muffin tins to gather as many samples as possible.

When the event ended at 3:30 pm, we still had about 8 quarts of chili left and Rob and Bonnie still had a lot remaining. Looks like our plan of making a whole lot of chili worked because the rest of the chefs in our row all ran out with 45 minutes to go.

So who won? Sad to say, I did not win. Of the 40 different chefs, there was only one winner from the professional chef judges in each category, some people’s choice winners, and an overall winner. There wasn’t a ranking of where each contestant finished, so I’m guessing I finished in a tie for second with 30 other chefs.

In the end, this was all about friendly competition.

If the other contestants were like me, it wasn’t about winning the contest. I think it was more about ordinary people – like me – who make great batches of chili at home and getting together for a big chili party. Prior to the start of the cook-off at 1 pm, I walked around to every contestant table in the 2 different buildings and one outdoor tent location and talked to the chefs. Every person I talked to was laughing, talking “chili,” talking about life, talking about the exciting Detroit Lions, their families, and whatever else that came to mind.

Strangers got together with one common goal of serving up their famous recipe in the chili cook-off and in the end, became friends.

Blake’s Orchard and Cider Mill does a great job of bringing the community together by hosting events like this all year. It’s a reason why it’s one of mine and my wife’s favorite places to visit. I’ve run in several of their 5k running events in the spring and fall. We always seem to meet and become friends with strangers at the after-race parties. Their next race is the Chasing el Chavo 5k run on May 4th and I’ll be running in it again.

As for the chili cook-off for 2025, I’ll definitely be back as a contestant. I learned some take-aways on what to do differently next year…and I’ll also be looking forward to meeting new chili chef contestants.