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‘Melt your face’: First annual Cornhusker Country Chili Cookoff in 1981

"Mystery meat, grease, and a total disregard for sanitation," said one contestant. "Use any tomato paste. It's all tomato juice and fresh tomatoes, and this will naturally reduce. We'll just boil it down for a couple of hours, and it'll just melt in your face. Or melt your face depending

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The first annual Cornhusker Country Chili Cook Off was in full swing today with *** chance to try some 15 varieties of chili. This spicy event is attracting chili cooks and lovers from everywhere. We got into some heated discussion with *** couple of the contestants about what they think is so special about their chili recipe mystery meat, grease, and *** total disregard for sanitation. Don’t use any tomato paste. It’s all tomato juice and fresh tomatoes, and this will naturally reduce. We’ll just boil it down for *** couple of hours. And it’ll just melt in your face or melt your face depending on the way it turns out. It could go either way. While another entrant claims his recipe is the first of its kind, it’s authentic Texas style chili. It’s really just *** combination of the right spices. You gotta have New Mexico chili peppers and the rest of the correct spices to go into *** chili. I won’t say what those are, but they’re all on the up and up. But what really counts is who’s picking the winner. Look, Second, aroma. Third taste any food. The proceeds will go to the Nebraska Kidney Foundation. Yolanda Lerner, Newswatch 7 update.

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‘Melt your face’: First annual Cornhusker Country Chili Cookoff in 1981 sees wide variety of recipes, flavors

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Updated: 5:30 PM CST Feb 4, 2026

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The first annual Cornhusker Country Chili Cookoff was in full swing in 1981, giving the community the chance to try over a dozen varieties of chili.The spicy event was attracting chili cooks and lovers from everywhere, and a couple of contestants let us in on what they thought was so special about their recipe.”Mystery meat, grease, and a total disregard for sanitation,” said one contestant. “Use any tomato paste. It’s all tomato juice and fresh tomatoes, and this will naturally reduce. We’ll just boil it down for a couple of hours, and it’ll just melt in your face. Or melt your face depending on the way it turns out.”More from the KETV Archives:Ralston High School develops musical in 1986 that sheds the light on importance of theater, arts in schools”They wanted a lot of different elements in it. Things like censorship. They wanted statements on censorship, statements on philosophy, statements on goals. All of that,” said one of the organizers.7 Nebraska City students and their teacher try to break record for hours spent playing cards in 2006″I was actually dealing the cards, and I started to fall asleep in the middle of dealing out cards,” one of the students said.

The first annual Cornhusker Country Chili Cookoff was in full swing in 1981, giving the community the chance to try over a dozen varieties of chili.

The spicy event was attracting chili cooks and lovers from everywhere, and a couple of contestants let us in on what they thought was so special about their recipe.

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“Mystery meat, grease, and a total disregard for sanitation,” said one contestant. “Use any tomato paste. It’s all tomato juice and fresh tomatoes, and this will naturally reduce. We’ll just boil it down for a couple of hours, and it’ll just melt in your face. Or melt your face depending on the way it turns out.”

More from the KETV Archives:

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Ralston High School develops musical in 1986 that sheds the light on importance of theater, arts in schools

“They wanted a lot of different elements in it. Things like censorship. They wanted statements on censorship, statements on philosophy, statements on goals. All of that,” said one of the organizers.

7 Nebraska City students and their teacher try to break record for hours spent playing cards in 2006

“I was actually dealing the cards, and I started to fall asleep in the middle of dealing out cards,” one of the students said.

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