Atenas Charity Chili Cook-off & Carne Rico JERKY

Wow, let me start by saying we had so much fun at the Atenas Charity Chili Cook-off this Sunday in Atenas, Costa Rica. The annual event donates all proceeds to the local orphanage, Hogar de Vida, and raised $20,000 last year alone! I can't wait to hear how much money was raised this year, sure to be alot since they have not posted an update yet, must be too much to count:)

Our new business, Carne Rico JERKY was a SILVER sponsor in the event and we handed out free samples of our BEEF JERKY all day with our great friends, Andrés and Doreen. We met a ton of great people and got some great feedback on our product, so we could not be happier with the results of being sponsors for such a great cause. We have already begun to receive orders for Jerky too, so it looks like Matt will be smoking Jerky all week to start making deliveries. Speaking of my husband, Matt submitted 5 gallons of chili for the cook-off and took home 3rd place!

Not bad for a first timer. We smoked our meat and chilis adding an extra flavor to our awesome Texas style chili, which seemed to be a great hit! The fundraiser was located at Quinta Romavista which was a superb location with mountain views and gusting winds. I never broke a sweat and the sprawling grounds left plenty of room for the thousands of patrons to dance, eat, and swim, among other things. The kids, Max & Sara got their faces painted, ate ice cream, bounced in bouncy houses and finished off with a cool swim.

Baby Sofia even got to join in on the fun with her official Carne Rico Baby Gear! She was a great mascot and at 2+ weeks old, she was a good sport, enduring the 6 hour day without a cry.

It was another perfect day in Atenas and we can't be happier in our new home town. All the supporters were happy and eager to help and all the volunteers did a top notch job! I only wish I could have eaten some chili, because if ours only won 3rd place, that means there might have been at least 2 more worth tasting. Too bad all the chili was gone by the time I made it into the Chili arena. Oh well, better luck next year. At least I got to share some of Alex's delicious home made ice cream at the end of the day with my beautiful children. Pura Vida!

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