Outside the Box: Chili Cook-off Alaskan Style

MAIN HALL

What better way to set the scene of an Alaskan themed Chili Cook-off than to be met with a moose, a wolf, and her cubs.
I used my birch tree props behind evergreen trees to give depth to the set. I made birch trees from wall insulation.

Clients were met at the front door by mama bear and her three cubs.

Clients and guests checked in at the front desk, to the bear awards I had made to set the
scene of Alaska.

The first four scene setting window panels set the scene of arriving in Sitka, Alaska. When my family took an Alaskan cruise, this was my first impression. We passed many towns set on the hillsides by the water. Notice the sky plane. These birch trees in the

two photos above are actually real ones in the garden outside the office.

As you can see in this enlarged photo, the second set of four posters show a cruise ship by an iceberg. Tucked into the trees is a wolf, bear, and deer. The fourth poster, by the red

chairs in the back, shows a train. My family actually took the train to the top of a mountain that prospectors had hiked in the days of gold prospecting. The centerpiece on the table is one of my chicken feeders with birch branches and greenery. This was the fourth year I had searched for vinyl red and black Buffalo Plaid tables covers. They just weren't available. I scored this year and found a site that sold them.

CONFERENCE ROOM

Sign Pole with Alaskan Towns

Woodsman guarding cornbread and other fixings

The were oversized dear and bear amidst greenery for the centerpiece.

The above three photos are in the conference room where most of the chilies were

displayed. You can see two of the panels on the end wall, with husky dogs and Northern lights by an ice berg. Each chili pot rests in an aluminum tray to help prevent spillage.

You can see the voting cups by each one. The chili labeling signs got too big, as this

is a highly COMPETITIVE office. I enlarged the top photo for you to see the greenery,

trees, and animals I used for the 10' long table.

I brought my stuffed huskies to the party to add to the scene.

KITCHEN

The office kitchen area theme was an Inuit Village by a lake. As you can tell by the

window panels, there is salmon fishing occurring. This centerpiece used silk hydrangeas, ferns, and assorted greenery in another one of my chicken feeders.

Once in a while, I like the staff and clients to try to earn prizes, so I include games. Here are two of them on my new water rugs. I had a child sized kayak at the back. The object of the game was to toss the plush salmon into the boat using a plate spatula/dish attached to a VERY LONG extension rod. It was doable, but HARD. The right side shows

a buoy I made. There was a plush seal sitting on top. You can see in the picture below the stool had a plate of plush shrimp, that you used with my snowball thrower to shoot through the green hoop. The idea was to feed the seal some shrimp. To keep to the Alaskan theme, there was even a whale in the water.

Here is a photo of me showing you the shrimp and throwing machine.

Above is a photo off the lobster crab pot. You had to stand back 5' and using the grabbers, you had to grab and fling a plush lobster into the pot. You got five chances. Not easy.

Above is hubby and his brother laying the "river" for the log rolling game. I bought plush logs on Etsy and piled them on a scooter. You had to try to push the logs down the river without them toppling over from their pile. I used blue variegated scrunchies for the river. I untied them for their length. That is a stuffed otter and crabs in the river.

Strawberry cupcakes and Boston Cream Pies

Moose and Bear cake pops, chocolate cream cupcakes, berries cream pies, and candy-loaded bar cookies

The DESSERTS were themed around my MOOSE BAR. The monitors over the counter

had moose in a river. I had moose and deer statues, along with trees placed on moss runners. I used my rustic log serving pieces.

I bought a new cupcake sized pan that makes bowls. I made them out of brownies.

I made a chocolate cream cheese filling, added miniature marshmallows, chocolate chips, and crushed graham crackers. These went FAST. I also had two mousse cakes from a bakery (the only things I hadn't baked). They were placed on the stand next to the cookies. I made tree sugar cookies, using a new fast drying frosting recipe for which I had been searching on Pinterest for YEARS.