4/7/2009
Spicy Dining at Meadowood
It is said that Will Rogers judged a town by the quality of its chili, which he called a “bowl of blessedness.” Rogers certainly would have given high praise to Meadowood had he visited during the Worcester retirement community’s recent Chili Cook Off.
Nineteen residents and staff members created their favorite chili dishes for tasting and voting by residents.
Dale Wilson, Meadowood’s executive chef, explained, “We hold a cook off twice a year. This was the first time we did chili. We got a lot more entries that we thought we would get. It’s something for the residents to be excited about on a Tuesday in the middle of winter.”
Staff member Tim Antosh of Royersford added, “We’re always trying to do something different to get the residents involved.”
Gareth Williams, dining services director, called the event an opportunity for the residents and dining staff to do something together. “We have a lot of really good cooks here,” he said. Admitting that as a native of England, he is not a chili expert, Williams said after sampling 19 dishes, “They were all very good. Some of them were real hot.”
One of the competitors was Margaret Vose, who moved from New England to Meadowood eight years ago with her husband, John. Her three-bean chili included bay leaf, oregano, brown sugar, jalapenos, chili powder and all spice. She acknowledged, “It has a real bite.”
The dishes came with descriptive names and labels indicating how spicy they were. Some of the choices: Buffalo Chicken Chili, Original Texas Chili, Three Bean Chili, Grandma’s Chili at Its Best, Ultimate Vegetable Chili and Beef Shoulder Chili.
The residents voted for three prize winners. Syl and Gladys Rittenhouse, who moved to Meadowood from Telford, said they liked the choices so much that it was hard to pick a winner.
“A Smoky Spin on Chili” by Allan Ojeda of Lafayette Hill, a member of the dining staff, earned the most first-place votes and an overflowing gift basket. He said plenty of paprika is the key to his dish.
Tom Moeller, another dining staff member from Lafayette Hill, placed second with beef chili. Third place went to another staff member, Tom Gondek of Hatfield, for his Italian chili.
Return to List
