Like so many other recipes, Steve's Sweet Chili Seasoning has a story behind it. The first thought of creating a sweet tasting chili came in May of 1997. I wish I could say that sweet chili actually originated in my brain, but it actually came from my then newlywed wife Julie, who after taking three bites of my hot and spicy chili, had a mouth full of smoldering tastebuds and tears in her eyes. As small whisps of smoke were clearing her face she asked me, "Can you make a chili that is sweet? At first I thought that this was just a silly idea, but then I remembered that many people add a little bit of sugar to tomato based sauces to neutralize the acidic taste of the tomatoes. Maybe there was some merit to the idea after all. It was definitely worth a try. About a month later I was making chili again, and I decided to add a little bit of brown sugar. Also to go easy on my wife's tastebuds, I cut down on the cayenne pepper and cumin. Needless to say, my wife really enjoyed my sweet chili and I started making sweet chili on a regular basis. To this point, I really didn't have a formulated sweet chili recipe that I used. Working as a chef, I just kind of kept a mental recipe in my head and added the ingredients until I felt it tasted right. At the time, I was working for Casey's General Stores home office in Ankeney, Iowa as a cook in their cafeteria. One afternoon, my friend Merle Rassmussen had agreed to participate in a chili cookoff for the company, and was looking for ideas. I started telling him that I started telling about my sweet chili and he was sort of intrigued. I can't remember exactly how the conversation went from there, but we decided that we should a make a big batch of sweet chili for the chili cookoff. We called it Casey's Sweet Chili. For the cookoff, I developed the recipe, which we gave away during the chili cookoff. To this day, there is a guy who works at the Casey's Headquarters who uses that sweet chili recipe every week. I wish I could say that Merle and I won the chili cookoff, that evening, but some teenage kid walked away with the honors. But what I did realize was that my creation of Casey's Sweet Chili received a sizeable number of votes. Enough votes to convince me that the recipe was a winner. A few months later, I was offered a job as a foodservice manager at Northwest Missouri State University, and I left Casey's General Stores and didn't think much of my sweet chili recipe until, once again, my wife placed another sweet chili thought inside my head. In November 1998, we were taking part in a craft fair and bake sale sponsored by our church, and we thought it would be a good opportunity to make some extra money to buy Christmas gifts with. My wife had already decided to make some cookies and candy, but I was racking my brain, trying to think of something that I could make and sell. Julie said, "Why don't you take your sweet chili recipe and mix the dry spices together, and sell the sweet chili seasoning?" I thought that was an incredible idea and immediately started to work on the project. Using the Casey's Sweet Chil recipe as a guideline, I created a sweet chili seasoning that I felt was even better. I proudly packaged my chili creation, in little plastic bags, and placed a "Steve's Sweet Chili Seasoning" label on every bag. I packaged 30 bags of "Steve's Sweet Chili Seasoning" and I sold every one, and had requests for 14 more. That was the first day that I realized that there might be more to this sweet chili idea than what I ever thought. From that day on I have been introducing people to "Steve's Sweet Chili Seasoning. I also kept on revising the recipe until I had it perfected. Then in November of 2005 finally, I was able to have "Steve's Sweet Chili Seasoning" professionally packaged with a really great looking label on it. This is the story of how "Steve's Sweet Chili Seasoning drew it's first breath. There is much more to the "Steve's Sweet Chili" story to tell though. More peoople, places, and events than I have time to tell at this moment. All I can say is thanks to everyone who has helped me get "Steve's Sweet Chili Seasoning" to this point. "Steve's Sweet Chili Seasoning" still has a whole journey left ahead of to travel, and I would love it if you joined me for the ride. Have A Great Day!! Steve Reed a.k.a - The Chili King of the Universe