SBHS turned up the heat with its Annual Chili Cook-off, a beloved fall tradition that combines festive fun with culinary creativity. Students have been participating in this tradition for the past decade. This year there were 4 teams. They are instructed to come up with their own recipes for the chili, cornbread, and desserts. Also, they have to come up with a theme for their booths. Each team had one month to prepare and plan the prepared dishes of chili, cornbread, and dessert. The groups mainly consisted of two to three people.
SBHS juniors Jade Alacron and Alyssa Blacknall made up The Eternal Rest. Their chili included bacon, and cornbread featured pumpkin, while their cupcakes were filled with jam and coffee.
“We might win with our cornbread, but I’m not too sure about our dessert or chili. Not too confident. We’ll probably win on the decorations of the food,” Jade Alacron said.
SBHS sophomores Isabella Dickerson and Alina Reyes and junior Vandraelle Elisma made up The Witches of Salem. They planned for around a month. For their chili, they used crushed tomatoes, kidney beans, ground beef, and a chili mix.
“Hopefully we will win,” said Reyes.
The third group is The Ghost in the Graveyard. SBHS sophomore Ka’liyah Harris, junior Abigail Jocelyn, and senior Ayonna Lewis. They planned for a month. Special ingredients for their chili included “love” and Worcestershire sauce. Their cornbread featured a honey butter glaze on the top of it for our cherry cheesecake brownie.
“I feel like maybe we will get the best chili,” said Lewis.
SBHS juniors Phoenix Knowles and Lilith Acanda had originally been planning for a year.
“I’ve been planning since last year. Originally, I had a different theme in mind, but we weren’t able to do it. So we decided to turn it into ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ instead,” said Acanda.
Phoenix had only a few hours to think of an idea to help.
“I have never watched the ‘Nightmare Before Christmas.’ This was my first time. It was the very last minute for me because I watched my first Tim Burton movie about two weeks ago,” said Knowles.
Their special ingredient is chorizo, along with green chilies, and as for their dessert, they made a dirt cake using cornmeal and sugar.
“I think we might win on the desert; I don’t think we’ll win on the cornbread,” said Acanda.
The winners of best cornbread and best chili went to Ghost in the Graveyard. Halloween Town heat won the best dessert, while Witches of Salem won best decorations.
