Sibling Rivalries: Chili Edition

[brave_heart_verity]

Flyers have been going up around the Forum and Commercial District for the last week or so. This morning,the lights in the VSW Meadhall came on. By noon, anyone getting close enough to an open door would know: chili's on!

Inside, everything's set up and waiting for the hungry and the curious: Clint's cooking in one corner, and Verity's in the other. Between them, tables are laid out with the necessities: bowls, plates, spoons, and plenty of napkins. There's beer and iced tea, some lovely tres leches cakes provided by the Nexus' favorite Japanese detective, and various toppings for the chili: bottles of sriracha and sweet Thai chili sauce, red pepper flakes, green onions and red, lime wedges, diced bell peppers and jalapeños, crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream. Cornbread and tortilla chips round things out.

Long tables with a mix of benches and chairs fill the hall on either side of the fire pits. One has board and card games stacked neatly at one end (they were neat when they were put out, at least). Another has two boxes, one wrapped in purple paper and one in pink, for depositing voting slips.

Poll #17301 1st Annual Chili Cook-Off

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

View Respondents

Who gets your vote?

View Answers

Clint--Avengers Assemble!
3 (42.9%)

Truthfully? Verity.
4 (57.1%)

The fire pits are lit, the food is waiting, and there are games in want of players. What are you waiting for?
((There will doubtless be further Cupid-based shenanigans, but this weekend, it's all about the platonic relationships. Bromances, BFFs, and family ties rule the day! Let's celebrate! Threadhopping, tangents, games, and mischief are all encouraged. Just don't start a food fight or Verity will have to yell.))

Comments

Clint Barton's "Avengers Assemble" Chili

[aw_hawkguy]

Clad in a purple tee shirt, heavy apron, and welding mask, Clint Barton toils over a tall pot, stirring its contents and checking them regularly. "Come an' get it, kids!" he calls. "The chili that amazed Asgard! The chili that beat an evil robot! The chili that saved the world! Come and get it!"

The chili in question is rich and thick, a mixture of red kidney beans, black beans, stewed crushed tomatoes, and just a few lentils that's had the excess water slow-cooked out of it to the point that spoons stand up straight and every muscle on Hawkeye's not-inconsiderable arms stands out when he goes to stir. A veritable menagerie of ground meats add to that robust body, including beef, venison, bison, and alligator. As well as mouth-watering, it's also eye-watering--carmelized onions and garlic are only the beginning of the spicy flavor profile, which rolls up tabasco and diced jalepeno on its way to incur the curses of spice merchants with a blend of turmeric, cumin, worcestershire sauce, chili powder, and a note of molasses and liquid smoke to finish.

Those with gentler mouths are advised to take theirs ladled over a bowl of crumbled-up cornbread, topped with shredded cheese, a generous dollop of sour cream, and a few fresh minced chives. Those desirous of a hotter experience are welcome to some of this year's new experiment, his "Infinity Gauntlet" salsa: scotch bonnets, red savina habaneros, komodo dragon chili peppers, bhut jolokia, Trinidad moruga scorpions, and Carolina reapers, blended cold with chopped tomatoes to preserve enough heat to make Volstagg blanch.

In the Pink Corner...

[brave_heart_verity]

Clint may be slaving away over his chili, but Ver? She's relaxing. She's got a book and a beer and the occasional amused smirk to throw her brother's way. Her chili is done and nobody has to fight with it. (The casual demeanor or fauxhawk shouldn't fool anyone; she's super serious about all this.)

Her chili is also, it should be noted, amazing. Maybe she doesn't have fancy names for things, but she's got a chili that started life as a beef roast and fresh tomatoes, a mix of kidney and black beans and chickpeas, stewed together until the tomatoes were soft and creamy and the beef was falling apart. Then the beef was shredded and the pot was seasoned and spiced and put to simmer. Caramelized onions, roasted garlic and bell peppers, a blend of chilis, smoke and bittersweet chocolate, a hint of black tea and a note of something more exotic round out the flavors.

This is a good, proper stew: thick, warming, inviting second servings because no taste buds were killed in the eating of the first. But if someone is so enraptured they never want to taste food again, she too has a little pot of stewed-down chilis with which to heat individual servings to taste. But she takes no responsibility for what happens after.

[brave_heart_verity]

"I didn't know we were supposed to come up with fancy names..." Okay, so now she's feeling a bit whiny. Deal with it. "Do you always name your food?"

[aw_hawkguy]

"Well, I've been making this chili for team get-togethers for years," Clint explains. "Gotta distinguish my recipe from Tony's, or Cap's. And don't tell anyone, but Nat makes a mean white borsht. Like you could break out of a gulag with it. Besides, it's all just fun."

[brave_heart_verity]

It's still kind of weird for her to think about the Avengers hanging out like normal people. Also, she's not sure what white borsht is, but like hell she's going to admit that to him.

"I dunno. I think invoking your celebrity status is cheating."

[aw_hawkguy]

"All's fair in love and cook-offs," he counters. "Actually, just cook-offs. Besides, around here, nobody cares about my day job. You've got local friends, that means you've got a leg up on me!"

[brave_heart_verity]

"I care!" She's quick to point that out. "Steve cares. All of them. Jim cares. Matt probably does. Although I don't think we should let Jim or Matt vote, it wouldn't be fair. And Felix cares about your costume history."

There's so much of a 'so there' tone you could almost serve that up in a bowl.

[aw_hawkguy]

"Well, it's not like it's gonna change their vote. I don't have a Pat Buchanan arrow, thank God."

[brave_heart_verity]

"I would really hope not. Although, a hanging chad arrow would probably confuse the henchmen while you go after the boss..."

Oh, how times have changed. She's giving him ideas for the trick arrows. What has her life become?

[aw_hawkguy]

"Hey, now that's an idea. It'd be perfect to use against the villain who runs his criminal empire as a representative republic." Teaming with Captain America is sort of a full-time civics class.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Yes. Because that's definitely the problem with the criminal empires in Manhattan. Bureaucracy." Her eyes roll, but her lips smile. It's a dumb joke but she loves him anyway. (Possibly more because of it, but she's not admitting that, either.)

[aw_hawkguy]

"Hey, some'a those branches of AIM are pretty bureaucratic," he points out, grinning at her smile. Ah, he got you, Verity. The Avenging Archer never misses his mark!

[brave_heart_verity]

Yes, yes, she adores her brothers, even if they're goofs and occasionally quite stupid. It's not exactly a secret.

But she's still going to try and distract him from that subject. "Are they? I thought they were trying to co-op the Occupy movement."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Aw, that made the news?" he groans, chuckling. "I'm pretty sure that's AIM-as-usual. Big claims, not much to back it up." When he's not in the middle of a brawl or a running firefight, Clint is surprisingly easy to distract.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Of course it did. You think Jameson would let something like that just lie around when he could be on the front page with Spider-Man?" Nobody can be 'on' all the time. He'd have burnt out if he tried. And, like he said, this is supposed to be fun.

"Didn't they grow a MODOK one time or something?"

[hellburger]

Kazuhira Miller, a weak-willed mortal, cannot resist the siren call of free food in a toasty venue. He wanders into the hall, scoping out the spread and the impressive decor before sidling up to Verity's table. Seems it's ladies first, as usual with this guy.

"So ... I'm gonna to assume you're the 'Verity' half of this competition? I don't think we've been introduced." He offers a hand. "Kazuhira. Or Kaz for short."

[brave_heart_verity]

Poor, poor Kaz, being lured into the dark and seedy underbelly of delicious food and good beer. What will become of him? He was such a nice boy...

Verity thinks he might have been at movie night. She hopes he doesn't remember. Have a slightly awkward smile, Kaz. "I am. Nice to meet you." She sets down her book to shake his hand. "Hope you're hungry."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Isn't he the mayor, now? What's he doing still running the paper?" Clint sighs and shakes his head.

"Yeah, AIM built the first MODOK, and most'a the ones that came after. Not really a success story--he was supposed to be MODOC, Designed Only for Computing, but I guess they cribbed the wrong notes, 'cause he decided he was Designed Only for Killing, and took over." He sighs. "Hell of a thing to put on a resume, though: 'I built my boss and then he conquered me.'"

[brave_heart_verity]

She gives a little shrug. "It's a cozy arrangement for a politician."

She snerks at the bit about the resume. "On the one hand, it shows commitment to a cause and a willingness to accept shakeups in the hierarchy. On the other hand, I wouldn't leave them unsupervised."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Explains a lot," he admits.

"It doesn't sound like they would leave themselves unsupervised, either."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Which is probably for the best. Or the worst, depending how they try and solve that problem."

A beat. "Given who we're talking about..."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Yeah, maybe we don't want them solving that problem for themselves. Again."

[hellburger]

This one has a mind like a steel trap and that movie night didn't escape it, but he's enough of a gentleman to avoid bringing up a sore subject. Especially with someone who's offering him chili.

"For a hot bowl of chili and good company? Always," he says with a winning smile. "So do I get a sales pitch? What makes this superior to Mr. Barton's?"

[brave_heart_verity]

The fact he won't bring it up is a blessing and she will take it without complaint.

It's a very nice smile, and she does like nice smiles. "I don't have a sales pitch. What I have is something delicious that will speak for itself." She gives the pot a stir before ladling some chili up for him. "Sure, I could give you some spiel about how the beef is grass-fed and the vegetables are all organic, or try to invoke your pity by going on about how early I had to get up in the morning to get everything ready, but there's only one thing we really need to be talking about: how spicy do you like it?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"Maybe letting them join the Occupy movement wouldn't be so bad, in that case. How much trouble can they really get into in a tent city?"