The Brown County Public Library will be holding its second ever Chopped! at the Library on Friday at 5:30 p.m. This friendly, outdoor, cold cooking competition will be held under the solar panels in the Library’s lower parking lot at the end of East Gould Street.

Six teams will compete in two rounds‚ savory and sweet, to see who can make the most delicious dishes from a box of mystery ingredients and pantry items. Dishes will be judged by members of the audience and this year’s guest judges, Jim Oliver and Amy Huffman Oliver. The top teams will then continue on to round 2 and one team will go home as Chopped! at the Library Champions.

In an effort to bring awareness to food insecurity in Brown County, this year’s Chopped! is a Food Pantry Edition, featuring food pantry staples and will double as a food drive for the Library’s Little Free Pantry. Unveiled at last year’s Chopped!, the Little Free Pantry is located in the upper parking lot off Locust Lane and is stocked with donations of non-perishable foods, free to anyone 24/7. Bins will be available at this year’s event to collect donations of canned and boxed foods to help stock the Little Free Pantry. In addition, at the end of the competition, any non-perishable foods will be added to the LFP stock.

If you are interested in showing off your culinary skills, gather a team and sign up. Teams can consist of two to four people, age 10 through adult. Teams with children must have a minimum of one adult participating. Competition details and teams registration can be found online at https://browncountylibrary.info/events/chopped-2024/.

Not interested in cooking? Join the audience! Cheer on your favorite team, sample the dishes and maybe even serve as a judge. It’s sure to be a fun evening for all!

Questions about the competition? Contact Tess at (812) 988.2850 or [email protected].