Our Birthday Tasting Party at Madison’s Soup, Stew, Chili and Brew Festival 2026

Tiny cup of Hungarian mushroom soup.

Hungarian mushroom soup, Anne’s favorite bite of the day, from Off Broadway Taproom.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: in addition to our annual road trips, my wife Anne and I have a twice-yearly tradition of spending our birthdays together, often traveling beyond Indianapolis to some new place or attraction as a short-term road trip -— partly as an excuse to spend time together on those most wondrous days, partly to explore areas we’ve never seen before. That’s every May for me and every October for her. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

Last weekend it was Anne’s turn. This year she wanted to see one of Indiana’s state parks that we hadn’t previously visited. In researching the area around the park that she’d chosen (which we covered in its own separate photo gallery), I learned it’s next door to the city of Madison, which — as luck purely had it — would be holding a special occasion on the very weekend we’d be observing her special occasion: their 24th annual Soup, Stew, Chili and Brew Festival. The name is self-explanatory — dozens of vendors and organizations have tents up and down the length of quaint ol’ Main Street Madison and (mostly) offer one or more of the items proclaimed in the festival name.

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The Three Best Quote-Unquote “Recipes” in My Repertoire

homemade chili

Your opinions about The Way Chili Should Be will vary. All I can tell you is my wife and son are fans of this version.

This is not now, nor will it ever be, a home cooking blog. I don’t mind cobbling together the occasional recipe, but I rarely have the patience or attention span to work with the kind of recipe that requires twenty-plus ingredients, some of which I can’t pronounce. Also, my wife does most of the cooking because she works less overtime than I do. In those select moments when I’m motivated and free to cook, three dishes are requested more often than any other. They’re not complicated compared to the average recipe, they’re not fancy, and they’re definitely not healthy, but they’re each a part of simple old me.

Please note: many of you are much better cooks than I am. Many of you will and should turn your nose up at these because of your vastly superior culinary skills. I’m not mocking you; I’m acknowledging your advanced knowledge in this field with utmost sincerity. I was in the fast-food industry for twelve years and developed above-average skills suitable for a fast-paced mass-production grill area, but that career path dead-ended thirteen years ago. Since that time, I’ve done the best I can with the fading talents, remaining free time, and affordable ingredients allotted to me.

(If you want to see me cooking something truly terrible, I’d be happy to share the nightmare fodder from several low-carb cookbooks I resorted to during my 2004-2005 diet. You haven’t known gastronomic misery until you’ve had a sugar-free dessert baked in a crust made from vanilla whey protein powder.)

This way for the secrets of my kitchen! What few there are!