Top chefs named at Calmont School's annual chili cook-off

FUNDRAISER—A fourth-grader sells a bag of beans to a young customer to raise money for Darfur refugees during Calmont School's annual Chili Cook Off on May 16 at the Calabasas campus. The Folsom family of Lake Sherwood received the firstplace trophy for their chili at the Calmont School second annual Chili Cook Off and Family Fun Day on May 16 in Calabasas.

Parents Geoff and Kristen supervised the student chefs, secondgrader Maysen and fourthgraders Jack and Tanner, while they invented a new recipe for Chocolate Chipotle Chili.

"Very imaginative," said Rick Nasch, event coordinator. "They used pureed cauliflower for a thickening agent." The chili was topped with asiago cheese, sour cream, and bacon cooked in chipotle chili peppers.

The competition featured 20 types of chili, from the traditional Texasstyle beef and beans to exotic vegetarian concoctions. Each chili represented a different grade or the segment of the staff.

Middle school history teacher Chris Layman from Maryland represented the East Coast with his chili called "Meat-nanza."

"People really get into their chili recipes," said last year's first-place winner, Shannon Smith of Calabasas. "The room was packed with people tasting, voting and comparing notes. It was so hard to vote for just one."

While the chili simmered in the lodge, the children participated in old-fashioned sack races and tug-of-war games, listened to student bands or shopped at the Calmont Marketplace.

The sixth-grade girls formed a group called Environmental Helpers and sold crafts and handmade jewelry to raise money for the endangered Amur Leopard. Abby Gore from Agoura Hills made bean bags in her booth to earn money for the refugees of Darfur.

The second-place chili trophy went to Joe, Nicole and Joey Bui, representing seventh grade. Two chilis tied for third place: sixthgraders Rick, Sheila, and Cory Nasch and fifth-graders Beverly, Dennis and Sam Chester.