REGISTER TODAY FOR THE FIRST AREA INTERNATIONAL CHILI SOCIETY COOKOFF IN BLUFFTON, SC

Bluffton, SC, Jan­u­ary 24, 2012–Mark your cal­en­dar and reg­is­ter TODAY to par­tic­i­pate in the First Annual RED APRON CHILI COOKOFF, the first sanc­tioned chili cookoff to be held in Hilton Head/Bluffton SC on Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 25.  This first annual event will be held at Tanger 2 Out­let Cen­ter Hilton Head.

The RED APRON CHILI COOKOFF will ben­e­fit Bluffton Self Help, Inc. a United Way Agency and is named to rep­re­sent the Bluffton Self Help, Inc red apron logo.  This first year event has open­ings for more than 20 cooks in each of the four plus “People’s Choice” where the spec­ta­tors pick a win­ner.  The sanc­tioned cat­e­gories are The Com­pet­i­tive Red, The Chili Verde, Salsa and the Home­style Chili Cookoff.

The COMPETITIVE RED sanc­tioned chili cookoff fol­lows the rules of the ICS and is defined as any kind of meat or com­bi­na­tion of meats, cooked with red chili pep­pers, var­i­ous spices and other ingre­di­ents, with the excep­tion of BEANS and PASTA which are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.

The CHILI VERDE sanc­tioned chili cookoff fol­lows the rules of the ICS and is defined as any kind of meat or com­bi­na­tion of meats, cooked with green chili pep­pers, var­i­ous spices and other ingre­di­ents, with the excep­tion of BEANS and PASTA which are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.

In the SALSA cat­e­gory the salsa must be home­made by the con­tes­tant whose name with ICS num­ber appears on the Con­tes­tant appli­ca­tion.  It may be brought to the site that day or it may be pre­pared at the Cookoff.

The HOMESTYLE Chili Cookoff (THE NEW CATEGORY) is defined as the cook’s favorite com­bi­na­tion of ingre­di­ents result­ing in a dish sea­soned with chili pep­pers and spices.  There is no restric­tion or require­ments as to the ingre­di­ents, but the entry must be home­made and have chili pep­per flavor.

All sanc­tioned events fea­ture cook­ing on site while spec­ta­tors watch and each cook must make 32 ounces of chili for judg­ing.  Spec­ta­tors will have the oppor­tu­nity to taste the “People’s Choice” entries, pre­pared on site or brought to the cookoff, while the cooks pre­pare their offi­cial entries for the four dif­fer­ent cat­e­gories.  Cooks par­tic­i­pat­ing in the four cat­e­gories have the option to bring an extra pot of chili with beans to also enter the “People’s Choice” unsanc­tioned com­pe­ti­tion.  Judges will be selected from local celebrity chefs and personalities.

Cooks inter­ested in enter­ing only the “People’s Choice” cat­e­gory and not the sanc­tioned cat­e­gories (Red Tra­di­tional, Chili Verde, Salsa and Home­style) can do so.  The “People’s Choice” cat­e­gory will be voted on by the spec­ta­tors and fea­tures local restau­rants.  For more infor­ma­tion on this cat­e­gory, con­tact Lili Cole­man at Bluffton Self Help.

The four sanc­tioned cat­e­gories, sanc­tioned by the Inter­na­tional Chili Soci­ety (ICS) fol­low all the rules and reg­u­la­tions set by ICS and cooks (both ama­teur and pro­fes­sional) must be mem­bers or join the Chili Soci­ety prior to the cookoff.  The ICS is the offi­cial orga­ni­za­tion that sanc­tions chili cookoffs. These events are world­wide and ben­e­fit char­i­ties or non­profit orga­ni­za­tions. All win­ners of ICS sanc­tioned cookoffs qual­ify to com­pete for cash prizes and awards at the World’s Cham­pi­onship Chili Cookoff. The ICS is one of the largest food contests/festival orga­ni­za­tions in the world. Their sole pur­pose is to pro­mote, develop and improve the prepa­ra­tion and appre­ci­a­tion of true chili and to deter­mine each year the World’s Cham­pion Chili through offi­cially sanc­tioned and reg­u­lated com­pet­i­tive cookoffs.

The cooks in all the cat­e­gories are pro­vided space to cook and are required to sup­ply their own tent and cook­ing equip­ment includ­ing a one-pound propane stove, plus fol­low all the rules and reg­u­la­tions out­lined by ICS.  There is no access to elec­tric­ity on the cook­ing sites and a lim­ited water supply.

The win­ner of the Com­pet­i­tive Red is guar­an­teed a spot in the South Car­olina Chili Cham­pi­onship to be held in Bel­ton, SC in April and if less than 20 cooks par­tic­i­pate, the Last Chance Chili Cookoff in 2012.  If more than 20 cooks enter the com­pe­ti­tion, the win­ner is eli­gi­ble to com­pete in the World’s Cham­pi­onship Chili Cookoff.  The World’s Cham­pi­onship Chili Cookoff is to be held on Magic Island in Charleston, West Vir­ginia on Octo­ber 5–7, 2012.

If ten or more cooks par­tic­i­pate in the Chili Verde and Salsa cat­e­gories, the win­ner pro­gresses on to the World’s Cham­pi­onship Chili Cookoff as well. Ten or more in the Home­style cat­e­gory will qual­ify the win­ner to com­pete in the ICS World’s Cham­pi­onship Home­style Chili Cookoff.

The offi­cial hotel for this event is the Hilton Gar­den Inn located off High­way 278 in Bluffton across from the Tanger II out­lets.  A spe­cial rate has been set for this event.

The cost to enter the cookoff is $35 per cook­ing team per cat­e­gory, plus any ICS mem­ber­ship fees.

Spon­sors to date include Bluffton Today and Island Packet.  Addi­tional spon­sor­ships are available.

For more infor­ma­tion about the cookoff and to par­tic­i­pate con­tact Lili Cole­man at Bluffton Self Help, Inc., on line at lili@blufftonselfhelp.org or call Bluffton Self Help at 843–757-8000.  Reg­is­tra­tion will also be avail­able at Blufftonselfhelp.org.

BLUFFTON SELF HELP, INC.

Bluffton Self Help, Inc. is a non­profit orga­ni­za­tion in Bluffton, SC and was founded in 1987.  The mis­sion of the orga­ni­za­tion is to help those indi­vid­u­als in the greater Bluffton area who are in need of short-term, doc­u­mented finan­cial assis­tance and to also pro­vide them with the most fun­da­men­tal needs, such as FREE food and cloth­ing, while urg­ing them to become more self-reliant.  In the past year the agency has assisted over 22,000 clients.

UNITED WAY OF THE LOWCOUNTRY

United Way of the Low­coun­try cam­paign con­tri­bu­tions fund 32 part­ner agen­cies and 42 pro­grams in Beau­fort and Jasper coun­ties. Those part­ner agen­cies focus on one or more of United Way’s pri­or­i­ties to achieve bet­ter HEALTH, EDUCATION, SHELTER, NUTRITION and INCOME in Beau­fort and Jasper counties. ###

What Red Apron Chili Cookoff

When Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 25, 2012, 10 am until 4 pm

Where Hilton Head/Bluffton, SC at Tanger II Out­let Cen­ter Hilton Head off High­way 278

Who Ben­e­fits Bluffton Self Help, Inc. a non­profit orga­ni­za­tion in Bluffton, SC and a United Way agency. BSH was founded in 1987 to help Bluffton neigh­bors in crit­i­cal need of short term finan­cial assis­tance, food and cloth­ing, while sup­port­ing them to become self-reliant.

Why To ben­e­fit the clients of Bluffton Self Help, Inc and to stock the food pantry at Bluffton Self Help

How (for COOKS)

25 or more cooks will com­pete in four sep­a­rate competitions.

The COMPETITIVE RED sanc­tioned chili cook off fol­lows the rules of the Inter­na­tional Chili Soci­ety. is defined by the Inter­na­tional Chili Soci­ety as any kind of meat or com­bi­na­tion of meats, cooked with RED chili pep­pers, var­i­ous spices and other ingre­di­ents, with the excep­tion of BEANS and PASTA
which are strictly forbidden.

The CHILI VERDE sanc­tioned chili cookoff fol­lows the rules of the Inter­na­tional Chili Soci­ety as any kind of meat or com­bi­na­tion of meats, cooked with GREEN chili pep­pers, var­i­ous spices and other ingre­di­ents, with the excep­tion of BEANS and PASTA which are strictly forbidden.

SALSA, make on site or brought to the event.

The HOMESTYLE Chili Cookoff. Home­style chili is defined by the Inter­na­tional Chili Soci­ety as the Cook’s favorite com­bi­na­tion of ingre­di­ents result­ing in a dish sea­soned with chili pep­pers and spices. There is no restric­tion or require­ment as to the ingre­di­ents, (except receipt must be proved prov­ing it was pur­chased), but the entry must be home­made and have chili pep­per fla­vor. Must be made on site. A min­i­mum of two gal­lons of chili must be pre­pared includ­ing 32 ounces for judg­ing. A one-year Home­style ICS mem­ber­ship fee is $20 and allows the mem­ber to par­tic­i­pant in any ICS sanc­tioned Home­style Chili Cookoff.

No ICS mem­ber who holds full mem­ber­ship, includ­ing ICS Home­style, may par­tic­i­pate in Home­style and Com­pet­i­tive Red at the same event.

The PEOPLE’S CHOICE fea­ture is chili with beans and spices, pre-prepared by each contestant/cook and offered through­out the day to spec­ta­tors for “tast­ing” for a mod­est fee. The RED APRON CHILI COOKOFF requires every par­tic­i­pant to pro­vide two gal­lons of their People’s Choice chili in order to have their entry fee waived.

Local chefs and food crit­ics will judge the entries and the win­ners will be announced imme­di­ately fol­low­ing the competition.

All cooks (AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL) must be mem­bers of the Inter­na­tional Chili Soci­ety, sup­ply their own tent and cook­ing equip­ment includ­ing a one-pound propane stove. Each cook must make a total of at least two gal­lons of chili plus 32 ounces for judg­ing. All chili is pre­pared on site. Cooks bring three wash basins. One with 10:1 ratio of water and bleach. One with soapy water. One for rins­ing. Cooks also bring hand sanitizer.

Check in is between 7 and 9 am NO EXCEPTIONS. Chop­ping is between 9 am and 11 am. Light the stoves at 11 am. Judg­ing is at 3 pm. Spec­ta­tors can sam­ple chili after the judge has col­lected the judg­ing sam­ple. All deci­sions are final. Meat and all ingre­di­ents must be pur­chased from a gro­cery store and receipts must be pro­vided and will be checked by vol­un­teers prior to the start of the competition.

Booth dec­o­ra­tions will be encour­aged and one win­ner will win a two-night resort stay in the area.

Costs to enter the cookoff is $35 for sanc­tioned RED,  GREEN and HOMESTYLE,  and $25 for Salsa, PLUS ICS MEMBERSHIP FEES.

How (for SPECTATORS)

Spec­ta­tors will pay $10 plus a bag of non­per­ish­able food items or $15 with no food items to donate. Entry to the cookoff will begin at 10 am and last until all chili has been con­sumed. Beer and wine will be avail­able so proper iden­ti­fi­ca­tion is required to receive the wrist band to allow the pur­chase of alco­holic beverages

Restau­rants and stores in Tanger II will offer spe­cials to spec­ta­tors while the cooks pre­pare their chilies. Hilton Gar­den Inn in Bluffton located across from Tanger II is offer­ing spe­cial hotel rates of $79 just men­tioned the Red Apron Chili Cookoff.

It’s time to whip out that world famous chili recipe you’ve been keep­ing under wraps. The Red Apron Chili Cookoff is com­ing to town on Feb­ru­ary 25^th, and you still have time to enter any or all four cat­e­gories in the con­test tak­ing place at TANGER II Out­let in Bluffton, and ben­e­fit­ing Bluffton Self Help.

Ever won­dered how pop­u­lar Chili Cookoff con­tests really are?

Well, ICS (The Inter­na­tional Chili Soci­ety) is the largest food con­test, fes­ti­val orga­ni­za­tion in the world! And Bluffton Self Help is bring­ing a sanc­tioned ICS Chili Cook-off right here to Bluffton. It is the first sanc­tioned chili cook-off to be help ever in the Hilton Head/Bluffton area. The RED APRON CHILI COOKOFF will ben­e­fit BSH, a United Way Agency. This first year event has open­ings for 20 cooks in each of the four categories.

The Cat­e­gories and Prizes are:

• Best Com­pet­i­tive Red Chili (top prize — up to $500 plus a week­end resort stay in Hilton Head area)
• Best Chili Verde Chile pre­pared by a cook (top prize — up to $500 plus a week­end resort stay in Hilton Head area)
• Best Salsa (top prize — up to $250 plus a week­end resort stay in Hilton Head area)
• Best Home­style Chile (new cat­e­gory) (top prize — up to $250 plus a week­end resort stay in Hilton Head area)
• People’s Choice Chili — your favorite recipe made with beans and offered for spec­ta­tor tast­ing through­out the day.

If you’re not really the cook and more the cook’s best friend… there’s a job for you, too — TASTING!
The prizes will be awarded accord­ing to pop­u­lar vote from the event’s expert tasters.

Put this on your cal­en­dar now!

WHEN: Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 25^th
WHERE: TANGER II OUTLET
COST FOR COOKS: $35 for sanc­tioned RED and GREEN plus ICS Mem­ber­ship fees,  $25 for Salsa and $35 for Home­style plus ICS Mem­ber­ship fees)
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Bring 2 gal­lons of chili to offer to spec­ta­tors for tast­ing, and your $35 entry fee will be waived.
COST FOR TASTERS: $10 plus a bag of non­per­ish­able food items or $15 with­out food dona­tion
BEER AND WINE: With proper iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, wrist bands will be pro­vided to allow pur­chase of alco­holic bev­er­ages
TIME: 10:ooam — 4:00pm; judg­ing at 3:00pm;  tast­ing through­out the day; Spe­cials avail­able all day at par­tic­i­pat­ing Tanger II stores and restaurants.

Spon­sor­ships are avail­able and more infor­ma­tion is avail­able at bluffonselfhelp.org or by call­ing Lili Cole­man 843−757−8000.

Spon­sor­ship Lev­els include:

The Resort Sponsorship

(dona­tion of a 2 night week­end stay in a Hilton Head or Bluffton area hotel/resort)

This includes:

Appro­pri­ate list­ing at the event

Two free event tickets

$100 Celebrity Cook Sponsorship

(Open to area restau­rant chefs or celebrities)

This includes:

Cook­ing slot in the cookoff of choice

Two free event tickets

Appro­pri­ate spon­sor list­ing at the event

$250 Sil­ver Sponsorship

This includes:

Name inclu­sion in all reg­is­tra­tion packets

Appro­pri­ate spon­sor list­ing at the event

Two free event tickets

Appro­pri­ate men­tions via pub­lic address at the event

$500 Gold Sponsorships

This includes:

One Free Chili Cook-off Team entry (must join ICS)

Appro­pri­ate spon­sor list­ing on all event publications

Name inclu­sion in all reg­is­tra­tion packets

Appro­pri­ate “event area” spon­sor­ship within the cook-off, if requested

Four free event tickets

Appro­pri­ate men­tions via pub­lic address at the event

$1000 Plat­inum Sponsorship

Receive the above ben­e­fits at the Gold level plus:

Four addi­tional free event tick­ets (total of eight)

Promi­nent logo inclu­sion on event web­site, if provided

Logo inclu­sion on all event pub­li­ca­tions, reg­is­tra­tion packets

Recog­ni­tion and logo (if pro­vided) pres­ence in all event media advertising

Oppor­tu­nity to par­tic­i­pate as a judge of the Chili Cookoff

Spon­sor­ships are tax deductible and made out to Bluffton Self Help, Inc.