Burying the Hatch-et

I'm done with the Hatch Chile Recipe contest.  I submitted my third recipe a few weeks back, and was selected as a finalist for the third time.  I made a batch of "Hatch and Sour Soup" and brought it to Central Market yesterday, excited to replicate my first-place win, or perhaps my second-place showing, or even get a third place to round out the trophy case.

There were eight of us with various Hatch creations, and I thought it must be a very competitive Hatch year.  Then they announced that they had recieved ten entries.  OK, two of them must have really sucked.  Like "Hatch and Dirt."  Or "Hatch-Infused Nonpotable Water."  But no, it seems that two people didn't want to come to the "finals."  So that left eight of us.

We presented our creations to the celebrity judges (the Sunday morning weather girl on the local WB station, the owner of a plumbing supply company, and some guy who won the "Be a Judge for a Day" contest - as a side note, he went from the Hatch contest to a local car show where he also judged "best use of spoiler").

The winner was a weird green Hatch beverage from a woman who juices everything.  It had Hatch, spinach, kale, pork, and a touch of lasagna.  They announced second-place - a Hatch stew creation.  And finally, third place was deep-fried Hatch covered in bacon.  When I saw the deep-fried-covered-in-bacon entry, I actually thought that would win, because, well, it was covered in bacon and deep-fried.  They thanked us all and sent us on our way.

So, not only did I not win, or come in second, or even third, there is more than a passing chance that my recipe came in absolute last.  And since the "finalists" were everyone who filled out the form, my potential last place finish is for the entire universe of entered recipes.

It's not that I thought I'd win, I just thought I'd beat at least somebody.  I am the reigning Hatch Chile Recipe contest winner from 2007!  And the second place Hatch Chile Recipe contest winner from 2010!

OK, I thought I'd win.