It's getting hot...time to get "chili" Published Sept. 18, 2014 By Suzanne Y. Torres 17th Force Support Squadron GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Time to grab those ladles, pots, recipes, beans and form cooking teams now to enter this year's Armed Forces Chili Cook-Off, held at the Goodfellow Recreation Camp Sept. 27, starting at 8 a.m. The Cooks' Party starts at 6 p.m. the evening before the competition. Very much like any following, chili cookers travel from competition to competition garnering points as they place in those contests. After receiving various points, they can qualify to enter the largest, most competitive chili cook-off event ever, in Terlingua, Texas. The 2014 International Terlingua competition is already showing a lot of competition with nearly 300 individual cooks qualifying and 123 show teams qualifying. To entice and get the mouths watering, the competition will include categories for teams and individuals in the Terlingua, chicken, ribs, beans or "anything goes" categories. "Anything goes" category is for Chiliheads-in-Training, where competitors can have fun while they practice their cooking skills. During this hot time, cookers not only have their best food put forth, but also look good as many decorate and show the "chili" spirit. First, second and third place winners will be chosen at the end. Here's a bit of information by author Linda Stradley, from the website "What's Cooking America." There are many interesting tidbits on the site, but here are a few as good information and humorous under Chili Competitions - Chili Cook Offs: "On October 5, 1952, headlines of The Daily Times Herald of Dallas, Texas said "Woman Wins But Men Do Well in Chili Event." Mrs. F.G. Ventura of Dallas won the Texas State Fair contest and her recipe was declared the "Official State Fair of Texas Chili Recipe" and first-ever "World Champion Chili Cook." The event was planned by Joe. E. Cooper, ex-newspaper man, to help promote his newly published book on chili. It was a no-holds-barred affair as to ingredients, except that beans could not be used. The most famous and well known chili cook-off took place in 1967, in Terlingua, Texas. The cook-off challenge started when H. Allen Smith wrote a story for the August 1967 Holiday Magazine titled "Nobody Knows More About Chili Than I Do," which claimed that no one in Texas could make proper chili. This offended many Texans who would never consider adding beans to their chili. When Frank Tolbert, famous journalist and author of "A Bowl of Red," saw Smith's article, he started open warfare in the press with a column he wrote for the Dallas News. A reader suggested that Fowler answer the challenge, which he did. The cook-off competition ended in a tie vote when the tie-breaker judge, Dave Witts, a Dallas lawyer and self-proclaimed mayor of Terlingua, spat out his chili, declaring that his taste buds were "ruint," and said they would have to do the whole thing over again next year. This year's event at the rec camp will have many opportunities to tease the taste buds or maybe have you screaming to the emergency room. Either way, come on out, taste or compete, and stir the pot. Call the rec camp at 944-1012 for further information.