Pretzels, Tacos, and Chili

This weekend we had a fun food weekend in Cincinnati, which didn't just involve chili. For people that complain nothing happens in Cincinnati, you're wrong. Yeah, its not NYC or LA, but Cincy isn't as small was we like to make it out to be.  You won't find anything to do by just sitting around and complaining about it. There is plenty to do, just have to go out and find it sometimes.

On Friday we attended OTR Pretzel Fest. This event was a fund raiser for another great Cincinnati event, Bock Fest. To raise money for this years Bock Fest, the organizers held Pretzel Fest, cost of entry was $35 which included a brat/mett ticket and 4 beer tickets.  Various local cooks brought in gourmet pretzels, Taste of Belgium cooked their delicious waffles, Mecklenburg Gardens prepared the sausages and Christian Moerlein beers were served, including the tapping of their bock beer The Emancipator. Entertainment was provided by the local band The Dancing Pigs. Pretzels, brats, beers, music, what's not to like? Photos I took of the event can be found here.

Two years ago when Twitter began to take off, I was hesitant to join. I wasn't quite sure what the point of it was, but decided to give it a try anyway. I am glad that I did. I have become connected to many people that I wouldn't have, I feel it keeps me more aware of whats going on in the community and the world, and a lot of you found out about the Quest via Twitter. On Saturday night, Laura of @CincyNomerati, "hosted" a TweetUp at Tacqueria Mercado Downtown. Obvious name for the event: Tacos and Tequila Tweetup. It was a good opportunity to meet some of the food bloggers I follow and other Cincinnatians whom I have only known via twitter. Bob Schwartz (@5chw4r7z on twitter) has a write up of the tweetup here.

Sunday, Gold Star Chili held a Chili Cookoff at Findlay Market. Findlay Market is one of my favorite Cincinnati landmarks, so I don't need a reason to go, but the cookoff made our Sunday at Findlay Market even more enjoyable. 30 different chili cooks brought their special recipes to Findlay, and local Firefighters served as the judges. Us regular folk were allowed to sample the chili after the firefighters were done. We didn't get to sample all 30, but what we did sample was quite good. Mary Beth Weaver and James Czar were the winners and were declared "Chili Meisters". You can find photos I took of the cookoff and Findlay Market here.