PHOTOS BY JENNIFER COLTON
The top prize at the 10th annual Chuckwagon Cafe Dutch-Oven Cook-Off went to Irrigon’s Shannon Lancaster – for the second year in a row.
“This is exciting. I’m in shock,” Lancaster said. “This year, with this many cooks, it was hard to say (what the chances were).”
The Chuckwagon Cafe has hosted the cook-off every September for 10 years, inviting cooks to set up Dutch ovens behind the restaurant. Community members then stop by, purchase a “tasting plate” and sample each of the cook’s offerings. The first 40 tasters receive ballots and cast votes for their favorite entries.
The cook with the top number of votes is declared “People’s Choice Winner” and receives an apron, bragging rights and $100 cash. Last year, Lancaster’s “Them There Beans” took the top honor. Saturday, she again claimed the title, this time with her “BBQ Meatballs.”
Lancaster beat out a dozen other dishes, 13 cooks and seven teams, in the 2013 cook-off.
Nichols, who has participated every year, said he will be retiring from the cook-off this year and passing his torch on to his daughter. The duo entered the competition together this year on the team “Like Father Like Daughter”
“In my book, they’re all winners,” organizer and Chuckwagon Cafe owner Cathy Stolz said.
For some cooks, the large taster turnout proved problematic. Although some cooks prepared for 50 tasters, 120 people purchased plates.
“I was amazed by the number of people that were here,” Larry Ross said. “I kept looking at the Umatilla Boosters, and I never saw the end of the line until I had sold out.”
Organizers have extra dishes available to supplement tasters if cooks sell out each year.
“No one leaves hungry,” Stolz said.
All proceeds from the event were split between Hermiston Boy Scout Troop 679 and the Umatilla Booster Club. The clubs split proceeds from the tasting plate donations as well as the 30-minute, 30-item auction.
Each group also boosted its earnings with concession sales: The Booster Club re-opened its elephant ear cart, a staple of the Umatilla County Fair, and the Boy Scouts sold a number of fruit cobblers prepared inside their own Dutch ovens.
Scouts said the money is used for summer camps and equipment the troop needs to host those camps.
“It’s going pretty good,” said Umatilla’s Noah Roberts said after dishing berry cobbler. “We’ve raised a lot of money, through the auction and selling.”
Lancaster said the $100 she won will go toward entering next year’s competition, but the main draw to the Chuckwagon Cafe Dutch-Oven Cook-Off is being able to help area youth.
“The money isn’t what it’s about. It’s about supporting the kids,” she said. “I’d challenge everyone to come out next year, give it a try and support the kids.”
