I have some good news and bad news: my nachos placed second.

The difference between first and second place was one point. <em>One point</em>. And spicy sour cream dipping sauce which I did not have but my competition did.

Here are my nachos:
<a title="My second place nachos by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7001409330/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/7001409330_a709313140_z.jpg" alt="My second place nachos" width="640" height="427" /></a>
This of course was a very disappointing loss for me. Did I mention the difference of one point between first and second place?!

I thought for sure that this was my year to win the nacho competition after two honorable mentions. But as A. put it: these are good nachos and at least you did better than the two previous years. <em></em>

<em>Um, thanks.</em>
<a title="Nacho Competition Participants by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7001408956/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7277/7001408956_7459d39d88_z.jpg" alt="Nacho Competition Participants" width="640" height="427" /></a>
Then again, at a nacho competition everybody wins.<!--more-->

There were some really delicious nachos this year. These included a number of traditional entries as well as two non-traditional entries: Thai nachos and a sweet-dessert nacho. In my mind the Thai nachos were completely unexpected (they had sweet potatoes on them) but I thought the flavors were stellar. The dessert nachos were also amazing with homemade chips, chocolate and cinnamon and a fruit salsa.
<a title="Thai Nachos by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7147493819/"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5271/7147493819_b98d6e63bb_z.jpg" alt="Thai Nachos" width="640" height="427" /></a><a title="Sweet Dessert Nachos by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7001410738/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7268/7001410738_cf088b350b_z.jpg" alt="Sweet Dessert Nachos" width="640" height="427" /></a>
Clearly with this many great entries it wasn't an easy choice for the judges. So I guess I'll have to forgive them for my second place finish.
<a title="The judges by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7147495367/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7261/7147495367_647c6d37a6_z.jpg" alt="The judges" width="640" height="427" /></a>
I have a hunch they have no idea how much time I spent putting my nachos together. It's actually kind of insane.
<a title="Individual nachos by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7147495709/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7232/7147495709_4fdf743961_z.jpg" alt="Individual nachos" width="640" height="427" /></a>
First I enlisted some nacho consultants. A huge thanks to <a href="http://www.macheesmo.com/about/" target="_blank">Nick at Macheesmo</a> for doing all of the hard work for me so that all I had to do was find the ingredients and and follow the recipes. For the record, Nick is a long time friend of mine and he's just written an incredible cookbook based on the food blog he writes. Check it out: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1469966662/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=macheesmo-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1469966662" target="_blank">Cornerstone Cooking</a>.
<a title="Nachos by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7001410710/"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5449/7001410710_1657a62d6a_z.jpg" alt="Nachos" width="640" height="427" /></a>
After some long distance email consultation, I made my own <a href="http://www.macheesmo.com/2012/04/homemade-taco-seasoning/" target="_blank">taco seasoning</a>. I made my own <a href="http://www.macheesmo.com/2012/05/the-homemade-trials-salsa/" target="_blank">homemade salsa</a>. I cooked the <a href="http://www.macheesmo.com/2012/05/rib-nachos/" target="_blank">pork ribs </a>for 4 and a half hours and freaked out about whether it was actually done or not. For the record this maybe the first time I've ever cooked meat in my Mladost apartment. (Side note: The <a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/12/05/celebrating-fakesgiving/" target="_blank">Fasksgiving chickens don't count</a> because I buy those precooked at Billa.)  <em>And</em> I made a <a href="http://www.macheesmo.com/2012/05/rib-nachos/" target="_blank">spicy cheese sauce</a>.
<a title="Winning Nachos by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7147494815/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8160/7147494815_bf54129aa7_z.jpg" alt="Winning Nachos" width="640" height="427" /></a>
These are serious nachos. And I am seriously sad that I didn't win.

Luckily I also made a big pitcher of margaritas to share at the party and I was able console myself with this thought: there's always next year.
<a title="First place Nacho hat by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7001409626/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7101/7001409626_3cb9c2ccf1_z.jpg" alt="First place Nacho hat" width="640" height="427" /></a>
Of course the only problem is what can beat rib nachos?!