It was fiesta time at the Church of the Immaculate Conception when the Catholic Women’s Club hosted their midwinter chili cook-off on Saturday, Feb. 8. Twenty-two chilis were lined up for tasting in the church’s Klauer Hall. Among the more exotic offerings were vegetarian chilis, seafood chilis, and a moose meat chili, ranged alongside a variety of cornbreads and condiments. The panel of judges—Michael Dinsmore, chef and owner of Wood Creek Grill, Sue Dyer, Norfolk’s first selectman, and Byron Kidd, of Glastonbury, a candidate at the master’s program in gastronomy at Boston University—held conclave with their notebooks in the chapel. They awarded first prize and $100 to Martha Mullins, above left, for her spicy black bean chili, Ka Ching. Other prizes were awarded to Geri Brodnitzki and Bill Blanchard, above, and Carol Gollan. Mullins was overheard consoling her father, Frank Dooley, who did not reach the podium, “Your chili was great, Dad, but it’s hard to beat caramelized kielbasa.” Proceeds from the cook-off will be distributed to a variety of causes including the church’s scholarship fund, its sister church in Ghana and the FISH emergency shelter in Torrington.