DESERT RAT REGIONAL - MARCH 26, 2011
Well, the cozy little town of California City has endured another onslaught of chili cooks and a few bikers - of the heartiest type. It seems like winter didn’t get the message that it was supposed to be well South by now! It all started with us blowing into town on Thursday morning and getting set up on location, soon to be joined by Ray and Kyra of USC fame and later Bill Woodring who came blowing in - literally. Thereafter, Karl (Smitty) Smith made his presence known with his new mansion on wheels. Smitty changes RVs like most people change their underwear! So it’s always a surprise to see Smitty arrive. We all hunkered down for the night as the atmospheric disturbance became rather intense but we did awake Friday morning to calm conditions, at least for a little while. This brought the arrival of Ron Harris in his large motorhome and soon to follow Fred and Patty Summers, pulling Patty’s Cow trailer behind their SUV. Also arriving was Patricia and Armando Sanchez in their motorhome and Mark and Cindy Haught with their comfortable trailer. They all get settled in and began preparing to cook stew in their Dutch ovens. Absent from this stew challenge was Jim and Barbara Beaver. I had received a phone call from Jim stating that he couldn’t even see his trailer as it was covered in snow and still snowing heavily in Mammoth, California. Jim was most upset at not being able to attend as he was the defending champion in red chili. Jim also has an excellent mountain man stew. The wind shifted to the West at 10 to 20 knots with temperatures hovering in the mid-50s. Charcoal was lit and the stew challenge was on. Dirty Ole Phil (Him in Charge as he likes to be referred to) made his appearance to make sure all was running smoothly and then disappeared like a desert rat chased by a coyote. With the arrival of Donnie Gordon from Lost Wages, the stew challenge was underway and I once again was in stewdom heaven. We had five excellent Dutch oven stews and a great panel of judges.
Saturday morning brought ominous looking skies, wind fluctuating from southwest to West moderately with cool temperatures. As the cooks arrived they parked their vehicles so that they could work as an anchor and windbreak. This wasn’t the prettiest chili cookoff ever but it was practical! Mike (ughlee) Austin, wearing two hats this day - one as emcee and the other as cook - got the cookoff started. The weather eventually had to take a backseat to all of the activities. Mike managed to get all of the usual contests in (and some not so usual) between stirs of his pot. Mike, however, was unsuccessful in recruiting any desert tortoise into the turtle club because of the cool weather. “Are you a turtle?” Tony Austin was also cooking chili. Tony is becoming a power to be reckoned with. Speaking of powers to be reckoned with, we had some past world champions judging and cooking. Norm and Bobby Gaul came to judge from Pahrump, Nevada. Cooking was Jim Beaty, Ron Burt and Maud Swick. We all managed to get through the day without any major mishaps, spilled chili or explosions. Him in Charge was there all day to keep an eye on everyone and everything. At the award ceremonies the cooks all showed their love for what Phil Morosky does at putting this chili cookoff together. Dirty Ole Phil mentioned he was thinking of retiring but the cooks made it plain to him that wasn’t going to happen. So the Desert Rat Regional Chili Cookoff will be scheduled again for next year. Him in Charge and the American Legion were very happy with the monetary outcome of this cookoff. Now for the worker bees and the winners.
Chairman - Phil Morosky
Chief Judge - Jim Maehl
Emcee - Mike Austin
Scorekeepers - Donnie Gordon, Louise Dinneweth, Pat Morosky, Maryellen Weber
Wranglers - Bob Dinneweth & Willma Maehl
Winners :
Beef Stew - Ron Harris
Open (Non ICS) Salsa - Ed Heinig
Red Chili (31 Contestants)
3rd Place - Tony Austin
2nd Place - Jim Beaty
1st Place - Patricia Sanchez
Chili Verde (12 Contestants)
3rd Place - Irene Menchaca
2nd Place - Mike Austin
1st Place - Rick Decker
Salsa (13 Contestants)
3rd Place - Eileen Beaty
2nd Place - Ron Harris
1st Place - Armando Sanchez
