Chili cook-off
The Simmons Middle School faculty held a holiday celebration with an ugly Christmas sweater contest and chili cook-off in December. Photos courtesy of Simmons Middle School.
After the children went home for their winter break, the faculty of Simmons Middle School held their own holiday celebration with an ugly Christmas sweater contest and chili cook-off. On Friday, Dec. 19, around 16 faculty members brought batches of their own chili recipes for tasting.
The contest was judged by the experts in heat: Hoover’s fire department. Lieutenant Larry Florence and firefighters Mike Savage and Quinntel Walker tasted all the entries, which included some unusual recipes such as white chili and venison chili. Florence said he enjoyed both the food and the chance to wind down before Christmas with the teachers.
“We go up there a lot of times on emergency calls, and it was good to go up there in a more relaxed manner,” Florence said.
The firefighters picked the top three cooks: assistant principal Kevin Erwin, English Language Learning (ELL) instructor Wendy McBride and sixth grade social studies teacher Danny Pair.
Erwin said his recipe stood out because he uses a bunch of hot peppers, but he preferred the taste he got of Pair’s chili. Pair had another hot chili, full of jalapenos, poblano and Anaheim peppers. Both Erwin and Pair enjoyed the time for good food and fellowship with faculty members.
