{"id":83070,"date":"2024-07-20T16:27:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T23:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=83070"},"modified":"2024-07-20T16:28:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T23:28:21","slug":"the-pandemic-couldnt-stop-this-community-chili-cook-off-the-north-long-beach-competition-is-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/food\/the-pandemic-couldnt-stop-this-community-chili-cook-off-the-north-long-beach-competition-is-back","title":{"rendered":"The pandemic couldn’t stop this community chili cook-off; the North Long Beach competition is back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dozens of community members stopped by the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library in North Long Beach on Saturday for free chili and friendly competition at the seventh annual chili cook-off, organized by the DeForest Park Neighborhood Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event, which took place in the library\u2019s meeting room, was the first since the pandemic put a three-year pause on the competition. This year, three people entered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its peak, the event had 18 submissions and also included a poetry challenge, said DeForest Park Neighborhood Association president Dan Pressburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amanda Griswold of Valley Village was awarded first place for her buffalo chicken chili, taking home a basket filled with different hot sauces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She made the 32-mile drive down to participate in the competition that she first entered in 2017 when she lived near Jordan High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Maggie St. Thomas, left, tries her competitor Amanda Griswold’s chili at the annual Deforest Park Neighborhood Association chili cook-off at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library in Long Beach, Saturday, July 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Amanda Griswold serves up her chili, Saturday, July 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Her first entry, a Thai fusion chili, also won her that year\u2019s first-place prize of a trip to Canc\u00fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s winning concoction contained typical chili ingredients along with a brown ale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeer should always be in chili,\u201d Griswold said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

District 9 Councilmember Joni Ricks-Oddie attended the event with her husband and vice president of the DeForest Park Neighborhood Association, Keith Oddie, along with their two children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad they decided to resurrect the event,\u201d Ricks-Oddie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Long Beach Councilmember Joni Ricks-Oddie eats and judges chili at the annual Deforest Park Neighborhood Association chili cook-off at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library in Long Beach, Saturday, July 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Genesis Valderrama ties up the chili cook-off sign at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library in Long Beach, Saturday, July 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before she was elected to City Council, Ricks-Oddie served as the vice president for the DeForest Park Neighborhood Association and played a key role in recruiting chili cooks for the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it began through a partnership with a local realtor, the chili cook-off took place at DeForest Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie St. Thomas, who lives near the Traffic Circle, took home second place with her chili containing ground beef, sausage and potatoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said it was the first time she had entered any chili competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n\n\n\n

Support Long Beach food coverage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Boost your community’s voice; donate to the Post’s restaurant coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/givebutter-widget>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Isaac Martinez and Mary Camacho stopped in to enjoy the free chili after hearing about the event on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They moved to North Long Beach six years ago and said they were eager to get out and explore community events after pandemic restrictions were lifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martinez checked out a chili cookbook from the adjacent library before leaving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The event was the first since COVID-19 put a three-year pause on the competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23521,"featured_media":83066,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[59],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32323],"class_list":["post-83070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","tag-north-long-beach","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83070"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83078,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83070\/revisions\/83078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83070"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=83070"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=83070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}