Walter Street Raises Money for SOME With Chili

Photo by Claudia Holwill

On Saturday, Nichole and I had the pleasure of spending a gorgeous fall afternoon at a block party that epitomizes how awesome our neighborhood is.   You see, this annual block party isn’t just a block party.  The residents of Walter Street — a tiny street between Independence Avenue and C Street, and 12th and 13th Streets in SE — have turned their annual block party into a chili cook off and fundraiser for SOME (So Others Might Eat).  Anyone from the neighborhood is welcome to come sample the food and anyone is welcome to enter into the competition…for a small donation to to the local non-profit.  Nichole judged last year’s competition and was a bit more prepared than I was for just how much food would be coming.  I’m still not hungry after consuming so much but it was all so good, it was hard to not take an extra bite here and there.

Nichole and I were joined by Lee Coleman from Trusty’s and Terri Cutrino from Jose Andres’ Think Food Group at the judge’s table.  In total, we sampled a grand total of  33 chili entries, three desserts made with chili-ingredients, and 7 corn breads.  I think Walter Street’s next big fundraiser should be a cookbook that pulls together all of these recipes…

The Winners:

• Traditional:  It was a tie.  John Dials and John Koogler
• Vegetarian: Alpita Shah
• Freestyle: Mary Bussjaeger
• Cornbread:  Michael & Becky Skinner
• Table Decorations: Lynn Stabenfeldt & Greg Burns

The “trophies” that the winners received were original works of art painted by Quest Skinner, a local artist who can be found every weekend at Eastern Market.  The winners of the Traditional competition also were awarded the most coveted of awards … The Walter Street Chili Festival Apron of Champions, designed by Paula Elliott of Hollis, New Hampshire.   The winners’ names will be embroidered on the apron along with the names of prior winners. (photo of the coveted apron and the paintings are in the slide show above)

In last year’s competition, Walter Streeters were nearly swept in all competitions (winning only the Cornbread competition by Carmen McLean).  But this year, Walter Streeters made a better showing by taking 4 of the 5 competitions.

Nichole:  While Claudia is correct that I judged last year’s contest, I’m not sure one can ever be prepared to eat that much food. And there wasn’t one entry that wasn’t delicious – so it was tough to pick the best. There were chilis inspired by Morocco, India, California, Texas, and Cincinnati, among others. But, despite all the amazing chili – it was the Walter Street Neighbors who made the day awesome. Garret Hargrave deserves a huge round of applause for organizing this awesome event for the second year in a row. I’m truly honored to be able to participate in this event and I’m grateful to Walter Street for letting me be a part of such an awesome event!