Stampede countdown begins with chili

The Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede is right around the corner. The queen and princess were just crowned on the weekend. Out of eight amazing contestants congratulations to our new Queen Lacey Palichuk and Princess Ava Padfield. I know Ava’s parents Tim and Jodene and am sure they are bursting with pride as they should be.

The other sign that the Stampede is coming soon is the big Chili Cookoff this Saturday. Our community has many incredible events and this is a fun one. I used to be involved in the food safety end of the event. The participants were always eager to follow all the food safety guidelines to ensure their chili of choice was safe for everyone to eat. The Alberta Health Services health inspectors now ensure food safety guidelines are followed so you can be confident all the chili choices are safe to taste. No guarantees on setting your mouth on fire though!

In keeping with the spirit of Stampede here are a couple of different very simple chili recipes that you can use as is or use them as a building base to custom create your own special recipe. If you decide to be creative be sure to write down what you use and how much. I’ve made some really good chili over the years, I even won a contest once when we lived in North Carolina (thanks to my Uncle Joe and Aunt Dorothy’s pickled jalapenos) however I never wrote down any of my recipes and really wish I had.

I hope you have a wonderful week and are able to get downtown on Saturday to do some chili tasting as we kick off our very own Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede!

Joanne Smith is a registered dietitian.