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The leaves might be changing colors, but it’s not really fall until you’ve prepared your first pot of chili. If you want to see how the pros do it, there are at least two chili festivals in October:
•Chili Fest is on Saturday at Headwaters Park West. The event is open to the public from noon to 4 p.m. The awards ceremony begins at 4 p.m. and will be followed by an after-party. Get more information at ChiliFestFortWayne.com.
Admission is $5 (ages 14 and older). Children 13 and younger get in free. Those 20 or younger must be accompanied by a parent. Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society.
•On Oct. 17, it’s the Wabash Chili for Charity Cook-Off at Paradise Springs Historical Park in downtown Wabash. The gates open at noon. Tasting tickets are $5.
There will be food vendors, raffles and children’s activities. Proceeds benefit several local charities; see the list at www.chiliforcharity.com. The park is at Allen and Market streets.
Possums clogging merrily around a bonfire. Hey, it could happen.
Actually, the Possum Trot Orchestra and the Apple Jack Cloggers will entertain guests at Joseph Decuis’ next Harvest Dinner on Oct. 8, which will feature wine and representatives from Michael David Winery in California.
The “Farm-to-Fork” event, which also includes a bonfire and hay ride, will be at 6 p.m. at Heritage Farm.
You can get directions when you make a reservation; call 672-1715.
The four-course dinner is $125 (all-inclusive).
This fall, the restaurant will have more cooking classes at the Emporium’s kitchen, dubbed the “Culinarium.” Classes are “Soups and Gumbos” on Oct. 24 and “Cooking for the Holidays” on Nov. 14 and Dec. 5.
Each class runs from 1 to 3 p.m. and costs $65. Reservations are necessary; call 672-1715.
And the Emporium’s popular sidewalk cookouts – with grilled Kobe burgers, sausage, barbecue beef, pastrami and gumbo – will continue every Friday through October.
The food is available from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine. If it’s too cold, the cook-out will be moved inside the Emporium.
No reservations are needed; takeout is available.
Sneak a peek at the beasts during their off-season when Black Pine Animal Park has its third annual beer tasting and hog roast from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 10. This outdoor event in Albion will go on rain or shine.
Tickets for “Lions and Tigers and Beer Black Pine!” are $20 in advance or $25 at the gate, which includes a park tour. You must be 21 (with valid ID) to attend. The classic-rock band Six ’til Midnight will perform.
Order tickets online at www.blackpineanimalpark.com or call 260-636-7383.
Suzanne Rumsey knows how to use leftovers.
In May, she was cleaning out her freezer and, based on what she found, decided to create a Greek Chicken and Barley Salad. Then she entered the recipe in a contest on a whim and forgot about it – until she got a phone call from Cooking Light magazine.
Rumsey, an assistant professor of English and linguistics at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, discovered she had won the Family Dinners category in the magazine’s Ultimate Reader Recipe Contest. She and 11 other finalists headed to the magazine’s headquarters in Birmingham, Ala., for a cook-off, where she took the $20,000 grand prize.
Her recipe will appear in Cooking Light’s January/February issue. And the magazine also will donate $5,000 to her favorite charity, Heifer International.
•B. Antonio’s Pizza has this October special: Get a 16-inch, one-topping pizza, 10 wings and a 2-liter of soda for $25. The dish of the month is penne carbonara with chicken, bacon, mushrooms, onion and garlic butter sauce. To order, call 484-2400 (Chapel Ridge) or 490-9222 (Lima Marketplace).
•Congregation Achduth Vesholom will have its eighth annual corned beef sandwich fundraiser Oct. 22. Advance orders ($12) are due by Oct. 16. After that, lunches are $14. To order, call 744-4245 or visit the Temple, 5200 Old Mill Road. Cash, credit cards and checks are accepted.
