Giveaway: Do you host a local chili cookoff?

Someday, the Democratic National Convention will be over, hurricane season will settle down, and it will be chili cookoff season again.

And imagine this: I just got something called "Chili Cook-Off in a Box," a sort of book/kit by Gina Hyams. It includes a cookoff handbook, judge badges, numbered pot IDs, judging scorecards and prize ribbons.

A group that holds a chili cookoff deserves this. So: I'll give it away. Email your contact information and details on your chili cookoff (time, place and what it raises money for, if anything) to me at kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com. Make sure you put "chili kit" in the subject line of your email.

Deadline: 9 a.m. Friday.

What's coming up in food world

• Get your chili on at the 7th annual Plaza-Midwood/Chantilly Chili Cookoff Saturday. Gates open at noon at 1318 Central Ave., near Sammy's and the Family Dollar. There also will be live bands, a bake sale, a bike show, a raffle and other stuff. $10 gets you a lot of samples, and raises money for Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte. Drink tickets are also available "for a reasonable price," according to the release. Of course, if it's five-alarm chili, "reasonable price" might mean "how much are you willing to pay for a squirt from a fire hose"? Details: www.pmccookoff.com or email Nancy Cole at colen@hpccr.org.
• HoneyByrd Sweets is back to making toffee after Howard and Kathryn both were sidelined by health troubles. They won't have their stands at the Charlotte Regional or Matthews Community farmers markets, but they's taking orders for the holdays and offering free shipping. Get the details and the list of candies at www.honeybyrd.com.
• Go, Kim Hansen! The Charlotte blogger is a finalist in the Avocado League, an online contest for game-day avocado recipes feature the hometown flavors of the eight finalists. She needs online votes through Oct. 28 to win $5,000 and a year's worth of avocados. Her recipe for Avocado and Cream Sauce is currently in second place, behind Chicago but ahead of that tiny town to our left, Atlanta. To vote and get the recipe, go to http://www.theamazingavocado.com/bighit/
• Tea fans, it's time to get reservations for the annual Matthews Victorian Christmas Teas, put on by the Matthews Woman's Club at the Historic Reid House in downtown Matthews. The teas are held Dec. 2-5 and include lots of tea-related nibbles. Tickets are $25. You have to call to get one: 704-849-5063.