Chili Cook Off | MowryJournal.com

The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind.

The 4th Annual SCV (our home: Santa Clarita Valley) Charity Chili Cook-off supports two local charities. From the event’s website:

The Santa Clarita community will once again show their support for two great non-profits, Single Mothers Outreach and SCV Food Pantry, while sampling 40 excellent chili entries.

So worthy charities, food … and the event takes place 4.5 miles from our house.

We’re in.

New Ideas

This is our first-ever Happy Hour foodie event.
This is our first-ever Tuesday evening event.
Another solo appearance for Mr M’s Woodshop, as we only have one 6′ table. This is event # 70 for us … and the last time I soloed on one table was at event # 11. This time, however, Mrs M will join me to sample the chili and make sure I get sustenance while I’m vendoring.
I took one of my new display crates, turned it to the side and used it to hold small sous chef boards, large sous chef boards, pigs & pizza servers.
No room for a wrap station … so if anyone buys a board, they get it, unwrapped, in a bag or just under their arm. Never done that before!

Observations

Our Spring Fling. After doing only 2 events in the first quarter – and celebrating the birth of Granddaughter # 2 – this is our third spring event. We’re doing 8 events in 9 weeks. Come June, I will be tired.
I love local.
We’ve got a long-standing theory that food events involve cooks – and cutting boards belong there. Wouldn’t you think? Oh, and this event is held in the micro brewery for one of our favorite local restaurants, so I’m thinking alcohol will be involved. OF COURSE we’re interested!
Magic Bottle Openers are surprisingly popular … and it was really wrong for me to sell out of them before this event. My work list grows ever-longer.
Surprise! It’s an outdoor event. Who knew?
Surprise! It’s an 8′ table, not a 6′ table. No worries; I filled it.
Canopies are great when they keep the setting sun from blinding your customers. Too bad I didn’t have mine.
Lights are great after dark so people can see your stuff. Too bad I didn’t have mine.
Great crowd. Nice people; saw several customers & key people to stay in touch with. Was promised a couple of orders to come in soon. Soon.
About 400 people were there, I think. 5 vendors. 40 chilis to try, and a brewery to sample.
Goal accomplished. I broke even – almost exactly. If you don’t count labor. Or admin costs. Or my aching ankles.

The Food

Tuesday Dinner: Chili. Right? I had 7x one ounce servings. Or something like that. And a brew from Wolf Creek Brewery.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 18
Booth cost: $150 (plus 2x Chili Cook-off tickets for $50). Note: it’s a charity event. I hope to sell several boards, of course, but breaking even would be great.
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: 2
Total sales: $250
# containers of product taken: 8
# boards available: 58
# transactions: 1
# soap & lotion vendors: nope, though the wonderful Refined Vintage Boutique was there, offering handmade soaps as part of what they do
# woodworking vendors: just me
Edge grain vs. end grain: 0:1
Returning next year? Maybe.

Boards sold: 1

Cutting Board 16 – End 018. Purpleheart, Hard Maple & Jatoba. End grain. 14″ x 21″ x 1-1/2″.

This event is an annual fundraiser sponsored by the LA Sheriff’s Department to benefit the Special Olympics. Various departments (teams? groups? commands? no clue.) make their best chili and compete against each other for awards in categories such as “best spirit,” “people’s choice,” and “best team.”

The public buys tickets for $10 each, and get a taste of 30+ chilis made by the various departments for their consideration.

This event is local, supports a good cause, and is a place that cooks congregate … and cooks use cutting boards. We’re in.

We did this event last year, in the heat, and had frustrating sales of $380 in our single booth. This year, we’re in a double booth, and …

New Ideas

Much better location this year: we’re on flat ground. Last year, we had to scavenge landscaping rocks to level out our tables.
The weather was good this year: the high was 84*, I believe. The threats of rain didn’t happen (welcome to Southern California). The crowd was definitely bigger this year. More classic cars showed up. It was a bigger event, from every perspective.
Lots of new products available this year, from goat milk lotion to beard oil, from lazy Susans to pig cutting boards.

Observations

Local, Local, Local. Can we do more local events, please?
We had a family dinner Friday night, and loaded the lotion products into the younger Mrs M’s truck (she doesn’t let Christopher drive it anymore, I think) so she could drive straight from her house to the event Saturday morning. I drove my typical Jeep load, and had the canopies up before my partner arrived. Perfect timing.
The elder Mrs M had to work at her “job” today, so the younger Mrs M joined me in the booth. The elder Mrs M reminded me that the younger Mrs M should not be lifting things in her delicate condition. Apparently I need a reminder to take care of the younger Mrs M, who’s breathing for two now.
The elder Mrs M needs a vacation.
Large events don’t always equal large sales, nor do small events always equal small sales. This was a very good event for us … though I wish we could figure out how to do one day event set-ups with less sweat. We travel heavy to events, whether they are one day or two days long. It’s a choice.
A frustrating choice, at times, but a choice.
The event location is the Jack Bones Equestrian Center, off Parker Road in Castaic. It’s adjacent to a jail, and the Sheriffs have inmates form crews to clean up after the crowd is gone. Most events don’t have clean up crews that are all dressed alike.
We loaded everything into the truck for Sunday’s event, so I had to employ new packing strategies. It worked OK, except I forgot to pack the chairs left leaning against the fence. I remembered not packing them when I was almost home, so I had to turn around and go fetch them.
I love local events.