This past weekend I took a trip back to my hometown of Oxford, N.C., to attend the North Carolina Hot Sauce Contest. The festival was fantastic - booth after booth of hot sauce vendors, wineries, and breweries from all over our great state. It's rare for so many local producers to gather in one area, making the event that much more enjoyable. Sometimes, though, it's tough to tell the good from the mediocre (I'm looking at you, vendor who tried to pass off ketchup as "hot sauce"). Luckily, there is a source to guide us...