This is a little departure from my usual Saturday night out to dinner post. Last Saturday I was invited to not one, but two parties and I really wanted to attend them both, so I took a night off of work and did just that! So start scrolling down and let’s get these parties started!
The Sherman Avenue Block Party/Chili Cook Off
So a couple of week’s ago I got this block party invitation via facecrack from Cassie Fox Zell. One thing I absolutely love is getting invited to a party! I think this stems from back in my high school days and into my early 20’s when I wasn’t the best behaved person in the world and when I would show up at a party, I’d usually hear these words: “Who invited him?” So I love to get party invitations and I was excited to attend this block party. And it’s going to start in about two seconds if you keep on scrolling down!
See, I told you! Here we are at the First Annual Sherman Avenue Block Party/Chili Cook Off. It’s really a nice day for this and there’s a decent crowd here already!
And here’s the two pretty co-hosts of the party, Cassie and April! Really great to meet both of them!
I wasn’t sure if I’d know anyone here, so it was a pleasant surprise to turn around and bump into my friends PJ and John!
Here’s Cassie and her husband Tim joining in with PJ and John for a photo opportunity created exclusively for the MBIP camera!
This is not just a block party, it’s a chili cook off. People from the block have brought crock pots of chili and they will be judged. I’m wondering how many of these crock pots have beans in them? And that thought is personally making me ill, so let’s just keep moving along here.
Here’s Cassie showing the prizes for the winners of the chili cook off. There’s specially made wooden spoons for the winners that the judges choose, and I’ve brought my own MBIP prize, a can of Hormel beanless chili...and the operative word there is...BEANLESS! Beans do not belong in chili, people! Don’t get me started no this...oh, it’s too late I already have! The original Texas chili recipe did not have beans in it, read this and weep if you’re a bean lover!
Before the chili is eaten, there’s snacks and side dishes to sample. The only prerequisite here is that it must be orange colored, which is fine by me!
Jerry came up and said hi to me. We’re facecrack friends and it was nice to meet him in person. It turns out Jerry works with my friend, John Ingles at Multi-Sad! And so we must cue this up once again! Oh and don’t forget to check out John’s app, especially if you follow high school football, just click here to check it out. And while we’re shouting out all things Ingles, there’s this too! And this. Okay, back to this blog, already in progress.
John brought something very unique to the block party, it’s a bag with a box inside of it and inside of that box is a bag containing wine. Whew, I’m dizzy thinking about that and I’ve only had two beers so far!
And there’s PJ with a glass of the aforementioned bag-box-bag wine. Cheers!
Here I am with Cassie on the right and Marsha on the left. The three of us were the only ones at the party who agreed that beans do not belong in chili! I love both of them and yes, I obsessed over the bean thing during the whole party. I probably won’t get invited back next year! Just a sidenote here, I really hate how my hair is all fluffed up in this photo. Yikes!
You can’t see it from the photos, but they had nametags at the party and on mine I wrote, “Asshole.” So Stu came up and showed me his nametag, which said, “Drunk.” Ha ha ha! Love that! And below he’s pictured with his pretty wife, Lisa. And yes, they’re rooting for the Cubs in the playoffs!
And now it’s time for the chili to be sampled, ready, set...
Sample!
Here’s Brian enjoying a bowl of one of the many styles of chili available.
Barbara was one of the chili judges and check out the scorecard the judges had to fill out. This is really an official deal going on here!
And here’s the winners of the chili cook off, from the top: Nathan won the most spicy, Stu won the meatiest, Nate won most original and Cassie won best in show. Congratulations to all of them!
But who won the prestigious MBIP Hormel Beanless Chili Award? This is the chili that took that honor, it’s the only beanless chili that was on display and it was so delicious! It was flavorful and spicy, but not overpowering. And it had corn in it, which added a nice texture to the chili. This was really some of the best chili I’ve ever had and it won the coveted MBIP Hormel Beanless Chili Award. And who won this prize?
Cassie took the honors! Thanks to her for making the only beanless and very tasty batch of chili and for the invitation to the block party! It was a lot of fun and I’m already looking forward to next year’s party! And speaking of parties, there’s yet another one to attend, so let’s keep rolling along!
Tim and Jeanette’s Wedding Reception
My friends, Tim and Jeanette got married earlier in the evening and the reception was held at the German-American Society Lindenhof Hall, which is where we happen to be standing right now, so let’s go enjoy the festivities!
Here’s the front room and as you can see, there’s quite a crowd in here!
Before we mingle, let’s head to the bar and get...
A beer! Okay, time to find the bride and the groom...
And here they are, ladies and gentlemen, please meet Jeanette and Tim Brickner! Tim, you may now kiss the bride.
Aww...
Here’s some of the guests in attendance at the reception.
This is Tim’s brother, Chris.
Oh, deer!
Okay, time to sit down and eat!
Here’s Tim and Jeanette walking around greeting everyone at the reception.
After dinner it was time to cut the wedding cake.
And then they fed each other a piece of the aforementioned cake, in true wedding reception tradition!
Check it out, I’m not the only one taking pictures, there’s like a paparazzi thing happening here!
The Nikbeats were playing at the reception and they’re a fabulous band! Check out their facecrack page for upcoming gigs.
Jeanette and Tim got the traditional first wedding dance on the floor for the evening.
I saw Robin taking pictures and filming the dance and asked if she was the wedding photographer. She told me she was just the cousin with a camera! Well she was doing a wonderful job!
After the first dance, The Nikbeats really got into a groove...
And they got the joint rocking on the dance floor!
Cheers and congratulations to Jeanette and Tim! Thanks for a fun wedding reception and we’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Posts: Saturday Night @ The Fish House, The Silver Dollar Tavern and Ulrich’s Rebellion Room.