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Inferno Fest is Back, Heating Up the Chicago Area!

inferno-fest-2017HIGHWOOD IS HEATING UP: INFERNO FEST IS BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28th FROM 4:30-9:30 PM, EVERTS PARK

Highlights include assorted spicy food creations and Inferno Fest Eating Contest

HIGHWOOD, IL (JUNE 28, 2017) – Celebrate Highwood is fired up to announce the return of Inferno Fest on Wednesday, June 28th, from 4:30-9:30pm in Everts Park (130 Highwood Avenue). Back by popular demand, Inferno Fest will test the taste buds of the most fearless food enthusiasts with the hottest and spiciest foods and beverages. For those worried they may not be able to handle the heat, have no fear, the event will take place in conjunction with all the fabulous vendors at the weekly Highwood Evening Gourmet Market.

The 2017 Spicy Flave Awards

the-flave-awardsThe International Flavor Awards, in conjunction with the people that bring you the Annual “Midwest Fiery Foods Fest/ Bacon, Brew & BBQ Fest” are excited to invite you to compete in this year’s Spicy Flave Awards. The Spicy Flave Awards are held annually to honor hot & spicy foods producers from a variety of product areas such as hot sauce, salsa, BBQ Sauce, wing sauces, mustards, condiments, pickled products, beverages and much more. Again this year, entries are just $50 per category entered, pay for 3 and get a 4th free or enter 5 products for $250 and get your 6th & 7th FREE. 1 place winners in each category receive a hand-blown glass award and 2nd & 3rd places receive extra-large multi-color ribbons! Take a look at the categories and rules here:

www.theFlaveAwards.com

ALSO!! With your entry into the “Spicy Flave Awards” you’re given the opportunity to vend at the Midwest Fiery Foods Fest/ Bacon, Brew & BBQ Fest for FREE!!! You don’t need to attend the event to enter the contest. We feel this is an amazing and cost effective event that will allow companies the opportunity to introduce and sell products to attendees over the course of the weekend plus…

Zach’s Chili Challenge

ZCC-LogoZach is a fighter. After being diagnosed with a Medulloblastoma in 2008, he has since had two relapses and is currently battling this sneaky, nasty, disease called cancer. Zach is in his senior year of high school and while going through awful chemo and radiation treatments, he fights though, going to school full time all the while getting straight A’s! He got his driver’s license, he’s even the home coming king! Zach’s perseverance is an inspiration. Zach is asking you to Bring the Heat and Bring the Hope to Zach’s Chili Challenge and…

Firetalkers – Interview with Guinness World Record Carolina Reaper Eating Champ Greg Foster

greg-foster-guinness-world-record-holder-carolina-reaper-chile-pepper-eating-contestJust a few weeks ago at the first annual Arizona Hot Sauce Expo, daredevil chile pepper eater Greg Foster of Irvine, CA break the Guinness World Record for consuming the largest amount of Carolina Reaper chile peppers in one minute.
Greg was able to set a new record by munching down a mind-blowing 120 grams of Carolina Reapers (which came out to be 16 pepper pods) within 60 seconds. These Guinness World Record Reaper Challenges are held at all of the hot sauce expos produced by Steve Seabury and High River Sauces, which included the aforementioned Arizona Hot Sauce Expo, plus the NYC, California, and Portland Hot Sauce Expos.

For those of you who don’t know, the Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper peppers are the Guinness World Record hottest chile, and average at around 1,569,300 units of the Scoville Heat Scale. Carolina Reapers were developed and grown by Ed Currie of the PuckerButt Pepper Company.

So how exactly did Greg did it? I recently chatted with him and asked him how he got into fiery foods, what he did to prepare himself for this challenge, and what it was like to go through the nuclear heat pain after consuming all of those chile peppers…

Why You Need to Enter THE Chile Pepper Awards

the-chile-pepper-awards-2016Calling all manufacturers of spicy goods! Do you want your product to be seen by 200,000 chileheads? Does a full page in Chile Pepper to showcase your product sound good? What about being included in Chile Pepper‘s renewal notices? An award to prove to your peers and customers just how tasty your product is?

If your answer is a resounding YES!, then you need to enter The Chile Pepper Awards competition. And the good news is that there’s still time to meet the deadline of October 21.

NEW PRIZES THIS YEAR!

– Banner ad just for entering the contest. Whether you enter 1 product or 10, your banner ad will be on www.chilepepper.com. ($595 value for free)

– Ad in Chile Pepper Bazaar. One for every THREE entries. Remember 200k hungry, high-income, speciality product buying readers are waiting to see your…

Grilling Tips From Rocky Stubblefield, Plus Exclusive Stubb’s BBQ Giveaway!

stubbs-bbq-rocky-stubblefield-giveaway-contestJuly is National Grilling Month, and it’s is the perfect time for backyard cooks to fire up 2016’s hottest Bar-B-Q trends. Barbecue expert Rocky Stubblefield of Austin, Texas-based Stubb’s Legendary Bar-B-Q offers tips for these top trends to try now:

  • Boosted burgers: Create over-the-top burgers by coating each patty with Stubb’s Bar-B-Q Rub, then sprinkle with a little smoked sea salt to really enhance that smoky barbecue taste. Let the patties sit for a while before cooking – you can actually see the flavor seeping into the meat!
  • Steak stand-ins: No barbecue is complete without coleslaw, so deconstruct the classic with grilled cabbage “steaks” marinated in Stubb’s Chicken Marinade for 15-30 minutes, then grilled over medium-high heat 3-4 minutes each side. Baste with 3/4 cup Stubb’s Sweet Black Pepper Anytime Sauce mixed with a quarter cup of mayo in the final minutes of grilling and serve with shredded carrots and finely chopped onions on top.
  • Smoky heat: Get just the right amount of heat to suit your taste by mixing in your favorite hot sauce with Stubb’s Original or Sticky Sweet Bar-B-Q Sauce, then heat together in a pan, adding hot sauce to taste. Throw in a little finely chopped onion for some extra tang and texture.
  • Smoking is the new grilling: For smoking meats on a charcoal grill, use hardwood chunks, or on a gas grill, use wood chips. Soak wood chunks…

Enter Hot Sauce Depot’s Awesome High River Sauces Giveaway Contest

WIN-in-the-Hot-Sauce-Depot-and-High-River-Sauces-Giveaway

Hot Sauce Depot is having a contest to give away a bottle of 1032 K Hot Sauce, the scientifically engineered hot sauce developed by GE, Thrillist, and High River Sauces. Only 1,000 bottles of this limited edition sauce were produced, and it sold out shortly after going on sale back in April. The 1032K Sauce is part of a prize pack courtesy of Steve Seabury of High River Sauces.

The contest is going on throughout July, and all you have to do to enter is…

Win Tasty Prizes in the “Show Off Your Meat” Video Contest!

Sauce-Goddess-Video-Contest

The sun is shining, which means it’s prime grillin’ time outdoors with family and friends! It also means tubs of ketchup, mayo, mustard and artificially flavored BBQ sauces go flying off the shelves. Stop the numbing of our collective taste buds! Don’t cook naked meat then try to cover it up with condiments. Instead, jazz things up with healthy and additive free Sauce Goddess spices and sauces. Show us how you stand up to the cover up and show off your meat!

Now through September 2, 2016, you can submit a video that depicts what showing off your meat means to you. The top 10 with the most votes will move on the final round where three winners will be determined by a panel of celebrity judges. There is no limit to the number of videos you can submit, but keep them all PG-rated so we can share with the world. Prizes will be given to the finalists with additional awards going to first through third place. For more information, go to…

Hot Sauce Giveaway Contest Drawing

I wanted to have a contest for all those unable to visit the recent Fiery Foods and BBQ Show (I’ve been in the same boat many times!) because this website is for everybody in the greater chilehead community, not just those who get to attend hot shows all the time. So I decided to give away a prize pack for one lucky individual. This past Saturday I posted a video of myself holding up a phrase on a sheet of paper and to enter the contest all one had to do was simply e-mail me that phrase.

51 people submitted entries in the time allotted, and I put their names on slips of paper in a bowl for the drawing. Watch the video to see who wins…

This is not affiliated with the National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show or Sunbelt Shows, Inc.

Fiery Foods Show At-Home Giveaway Contest

You could win this awesome hot sauce prize pack if you copy the phrase I hold up on this sheet of paper verbatim (include any punctuation, hyphens, cross every t and dot every i). You can be eligible only if you are not attending any of the 3 days of the Fiery Foods Show in Albuquerque, NM in 2010. Send the phrase to the e-mail address in this video to enter. You have until 11:59 PM Central Time Monday, March 8, 2010 to enter. Any e-mails received after that date and time will be disqualified.

This is not affiliated with the National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show or Sunbelt Shows, Inc.

Can’t Make it to the Fiery Foods Show? Here’s a Contest Giveaway Just For You

Giveaway Contest Hot Sauce Prize PackAre you feeling bummed that you won’t get to attend this year’s Fiery Foods and BBQ Show? Here’s something that might lift your fiery spirits – I’m having a contest that’s open for those who are stuck at home or work during the FFS. This is a cool little giveaway that will include the following as the hot sauce prize pack for the winner…

Super Bowl Box Contest

Super Bowl Box ContestThat’s right guys and girls it’s that time of the year again. Peppers and More is proud to be hosting its second annual “Super Bowl Box Contest”. The entry fee will be the same as last year – one bottle of hot sauce or any one product that is spicy. This will entitle you to get 2 boxes in their pool.

Prizes will be divided into four baskets and given away at the end of each quarter. In the event of someone winning multiple quarters they would ask that you donate your second prize to our troops overseas. This is not required but what better way is there to help out the men and women that sacrifice for us everyday. They will have the boxes set up on the old forum so that it will be much easier to keep track of. Please click here for more details.

Chile Pepper Book Contest Drawing – Winner Announced!

Out of the 52 people who entered the Complete Chile Pepper Book Contest, six answered all 4 questions correctly. These peoples’ names were put into a cup and were chosen at random. Here is my oldest son picking out the winner:

Thanks for everyone who entered!

If you’re wondering what the answers to the questions were, here they are:

1. What is the most widely grown pepper in the world? Answer: Bell Peppers (capsicim annuum).

2. What explorer is credited for first calling chiles “peppers”? Answer: Christopher Columbus.

3. In what city and state is the Chile Pepper Institute located? Answer: Las Cruces, New Mexico.

4. What chemical compound makes chile peppers taste hot? Answer: Capsaicin.

Even if you didn’t win, you can tell pick up a copy of Bosland and DeWitt’s The Complete Chile Pepper Book at Amazon. It makes a fantastic gift for gardeners, chileheads and hot sauce fanatics alike.

Win a Free Copy of The Complete Chile Pepper Book

The Complete Chile Pepper BookAs promised, I’m giving away a copy of Dave DeWitt and Dr. Paul Bosland’s new book The Complete Chile Pepper Book: A Gardener’s Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking that was generously donated by Dave himself. To enter, simply go to the signup page and answer four trivia questions below. You have from now until the end of day on December 31st to enter. I will choose one entrant from random and ship it to wherever he or she is in the world.

Here are the trivia questions:
1. What is the most widely grown pepper in the world?
2. What explorer is credited for first calling chiles “peppers”?
3. In what city and state is the Chile Pepper Institute located?
4. What chemical compound makes chile peppers taste hot?

Go to the official form to see the rules and details and to enter the contest!

I consider the book to be a must-have and it is now available from Amazon.