Chili Festival: 321 Earl St. Chili

Chili legends evolve with the taste, experience, and wisdom of their chefs. As an undergraduate at Queen's University, living at 321 Earl Street, my housemate AC and I combined the best elements of our mothers' recipes and then added, subtracted, tweaked, and overhauled the dish, eating about 147 pots during our fourth year. The result looked nothing like either of the original recipes and, according to my dad, nothing like chili either. We entered the Clark Hall Pub Chili Contest in 1999, where we were robbed like Kelly Gruber on a triple play when the Clark Hall nerd herd, sensing they had a ringer in their midst, relegated us to a darkened corner where the judges would find us only after the competition had them running for the head. 321 Earl St. Chili fueled the Iv'y Rod & Gun Club on Lake Simcoe today, receiving rave reviews from our international panel of judges. Bottom line: meat, potatoes, and Old No. 7 - it just doesn't get any better than this. Here's the recipe for 321 Earl St. Chili. Next up in the Parking Lot Chili Festival is Brad Suisham's Asparagus Chili.