Chili Cook-offs

Last night we went to the Avalon Park Oktoberfest where Mr. Toddler - pictured above - had a blast.

Today, the Oktoberfest continues with a chili cook-off. I have been looking into these cook-offs for the food journalism book that I am writing. These competitions followed the beginning of the Pillsbury Bake-Offs - covered by the women's pages.

Here is a link to a history of the chili cook-off. In it, the author notes that food history had recently been corrected to show that the first such cook-off was in 1950. It was learned in a newspaper clipping.

It is these bake-offs and cook-offs that were the initial culinary competitions - creating the foundation for shows like Top Chef and the Cupcake Wars of today.