New chefs pitch in to cook chili

POLSON — The monsters, ghouls and ghosts who ran through the streets of Polson during the Monster Mash on Saturday had a delicious treat waiting in the Linderman Gym courtesy, in part, of a witch and a devil.

The cooks — who masquerade during the rest of the year as third graders Whisper Herman and Errin Bigcrane — were two of the Linderman students who helped prepare chili for the runners during the after-school program last week.

They had a bowl full of onions ready to add to the pot of chili by the time the hamburger started cooking, and were learning the proper tools and techniques to use to make homemade chili from Malika Cunningham.

Cunningham, a cook for the schools, has made the chili for the run for the past several years. This year, she decided to include the kids and kick off a new addition to the after-school program that will feature a cooking afternoon once a month. 

It will allow the kids to experiment with different kinds of food and recipes, Cunningham said. They’ll be the main chefs, then the recipe will double as a snack. 

Last week, Cunningham took the chefs through the process of cutting all the vegetables, cooking the meat and adding the correct spices to make the chili.

The after-school program runs on weeknights until 6 p.m.

Herman and Bigcrane weren’t sure if they’d participate in the run, but did have the witch (Herman) and devil (Bigcrane) costumes ready for some trick-or-treating that night.

The kids made enough mouthwatering chili to feed 350 people, most of whom participated in the costume fun run. 

“It’s for the community,” Cunningham said. “They can come in and have a hot bowl of chili.”

The run took place on Saturday. More than 200 runners showed up during the rain to take the challenge while dressed as their favorite characters.