CAREFREE ARIZONA CHILI COOKOFF - FEBRUARY 18, 2012
Hello Chili Heads!
On behalf of myself and Co-Chairman Larry Goldenthal, Chief Judge Dennis Macklin, Chief Scorekeeper Allene Macklin and Event Coordinator Stacy Nupoff, thank you all for your interest and participation in the First Annual Carefree Resort Chili Cookoff.
Some of you have had questions regarding Maricopa County Environmental Services and the requirements for cooking. Stacy and I met with MCES this past Friday and now have answers for your questions/concerns. We are happy to say that this will essentially be a piece of jalapeno cake with one little twist (more about that below). Following are the specifics as conveyed to us that they will be interested in.
- Holding temps must be maintained throughout the entire event that your red and green is on the stove. 160 for white meat and 145 for red meat.
- We will not have to wait for inspection prior to cooking
- Cooks hand washing station at each cooking station—-5 gal fresh,—- 6 gal for catching gray water
- Standard three compartment for utensil washing at each cooking station.
- Here is the twist. Slicing and dicing must be done in a permitted “commissary” unless you bring pre diced products in store packaged containers. We will make our cold prep section of our kitchen here at the resort available to you for slicing and dicing. We will make sure it is available to you at convenient times both on Friday night and Saturday morning. MCES has provided me with a “Commissary Form” that you as cook and we as sponsors will need to get you to sign which will serve as proof that we adhered to this rule.
As you can see, all of these, with the exception of the Commissary, are practices that you are already doing at any cookoff. MCES has indicated that during the course of the event they will stroll through.
As of this writing I have received 19 applications and two more that have requested information. The category breakout is as follows. Red-16 Green-8 Salsa-12
Miscellaneous items,
1. The prize money for Peoples Choice will be 100.00
2. Special room rate for cooks will be 99.00 per night with a free breakfast buffet. Call the Reservations Department here at the resort. 480-595-5000 and ask for Terri Thate. The promo code for the special is CHILI.
3. Lean Rimes is in concert on Friday the 17th in our Opera House. We will be offering discounted rates to cooks.
4. For advance registration please send your entry fees to Stacy Nupoff at Carefree Resort PO Box 3500 Carefree, Arizona, 85377
5. Dan Haggerty of Grizzly Adams fame will be a celebrity judge. Dan is a great guy and you will enjoy meeting him.
6. Live band Saturday afternoon
7. We are confirming as of this writing who our charitable causes will be. That information will follow later.
Below is a copy of the response letter that most of you have received. I have copied it here for those of you that may not have it for relative information regarding prize monies and contact info.
As Co-Chairman of the first Annual Carefree Resort Chili Cook-off I would like to thank you for your interest in our event.
The Resort is offering a cooks rate of $99.00 per night with a complimentary Cooks Buffet Breakfast. The event is Saturday February 18 2012. Please follow this link to www.carefree-resort.com for all pertinent information. When the link opens, go to the left tab and click on events. Please ask for Terri Thate when making your reservation and mention promo code CHILI for the special room rate.
I would like to mention that first place in red is $2500.00 and that on Friday night country superstar Lean Rimes is in concert here at the resort. We are also offering a special admission rate to cooks for the concert. We hope that the amount of prize monies will draw at least twenty entrants for International qualification. Right now our number is 16.
We are pet friendly, have RV parking but no hookups. Please, do not hesitate to contact me at my cell listed below moving forward. I look forward to meeting you.
As applications come in, I will continue to update all of you regarding category numbers. I look forward to meeting all of you and having a Carefree event here at Carefree Resort.
Don McDowell | Corporate Director of Facilities
Carefree Resort & Conference Center
dmcdowell@bridlie.com
Phone +1 (480) 595-3740| Fax +1 (866) 439-9571|
Room Reservations (Terri) +1 (480) 595-3716
