Fall is fast approaching and with it, a touch of insanity for at least one of the spice girls. But let me explain…

A few weeks ago, we set up our booth at the annual Sequim Air Affaire  -  a small airshow/antique car/wing walking/spice selling event held at our local airport.  Lots of new people to meet, and one of them happened to be Betsy of the Captain Joseph House Foundation, a non-profit created to support Gold Star Families.  As we talked, we discovered that Betsy has a huge heart and a wonderful cause which we were eager to support.

Fast forward to earlier this week when Shannan , AKA Spice Girl #1, received a call asking her to represent Dungeness Gold in a Captain Joseph House Benefit Chowder Cook-Off to be held outdoors (with no electricity) in October in Port Angeles, WA.  We’d read the brochure and materials earlier and Spice Girl #2 (me) had discounted the event as way out of her comfort zone.   Unfortunately, I had neglected to convey how much I DID NOT want to participate and before I knew it, #1 had signed us up.

Enter the challenge of converting a family-favorite smoked salmon and mushroom chowder to a Dungeness Gold-spiced chowder to be cooked over a camp stove and served in a quantity of at least FOUR GALLONS to a variety of attendees at this very popular event.

In our ensuing discussions, #1 assured #2 that she would be responsible for the cooking, the clean-up, the details, and the challenges associated with cooking a vat of chowder outdoors for strangers.  I’m just saying that she practically begged me on bended knee not to strangle her, and as of today, I’m on board to be chief chopper, temperature reader, server, and otherwise reluctant but silent chef’s assistant as we make our way through this new challenge taken on by Dungeness Gold’s Spice Girls.  Wish us luck!