Will Whelton was already deep into his research as the sound of holiday bells rang through the crowd of about 150 still entering the chili cook-off inside the Marriott at University Place on Sunday afternoon.
He had finished nine of the 12 chili varieties, shuffling his judge's clipboard and chili bowls to grade each on a 10-point scale. At the time, his top choice had "a nice onion flavor."
"Lower marks go to the ones with too much of just one flavor, like meat or beans," Whelton said. "A good one is a combination of heat and different flavors."
Whelton was one of five community judges at East Lansing's Chili Cook-Off inside the Marriott, part of the city's Winter Festival at the intersection of M.A.C. and Albert avenues.
Twelve chili contenders, including Beggar's Banquet, Maggy's Sports Grill, Harper's Restaurant & Brewpub and the East Lansing Fire Department, were competing to be named East Lansing's best. Katie Dunn, the event's co-planner, said 800 people were expected to come taste the chilies.
Lansing resident Susan Richard's 7-year-old niece Desiree was on her seventh serving of the same chili. She said the chicken, corn, spiciness and soupy texture made it her favorite.
"My mom makes it just like this, that's why I like it," Desiree said.
After tasting all 12 of the chili varieties, Richard jokingly said she wanted to bring in her recipe, which includes a spicy blend of beef and beans, to rival the competition.
In the end, Harrison Roadhouse won over the taste buds of the public, while Harper's was the judges' favorite.
The winter festival also included horse-drawn carriage rides through downtown, live music, ice sculptures and a roasted chestnut stand.
Bob Rinkel and Dennis Fulbright worked at the chestnut stand cutting slits into the nuts before putting them on the grill.
Fulbright, a plant pathology professor and chestnut researcher, said the holiday season is when Michigan's 100 chestnut growers typically sell the most.
Rinkel, a chestnut grower from a farm outside Leslie, said two generations in the United States haven't eaten the sweet nut much because of a chestnut tree blight in the 1950s.
"They're a very sweet nut, and depending how you roast them — it's personal preference — they can be soft and chewy or more crunchy," he said.
Across from the chestnut stand, 3-year-old Mitchell Seitz fed Comet and Cupid, a pair of reindeers from Pewamo.
The reindeer are involved in about 80 events during November and December.
Seitz walked around the reindeer enclosure and picked up food pellets for the 10-year-old females who quickly gobbled them down. He smiled when the reindeer stuck out their tongues for the pellets on the ground.
"I like them a lot," he said, pointing to Cupid at the time.
The owner of the reindeer, Dave Aldrich, said children are usually excited to get a chance to pet the animals.
"Of course little kids know the reindeer. Adults are the ones who have to ask what they are," Aldrich said.
