Sykesville engineer stirs it up in the kitchen

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Tom Fedor⁄The Gazette Steven Hudgins standing in his kitchen of his Sykesville home on June 27. Hudgins enjoys entering his recipes in cooking contests.

An Eldersburg resident since 1968, Hudgins paved the way as Carroll’s first county engineer.

But Hudgins would rather talk about chili. Modestly, he brushes aside his engineering success, and claims cooking as his true specialty.

Hudgins speaks of the first chili recipe he entered into a contest, sponsored by Marlboro, two years ago. Dubbed ‘‘Wake-Up Call,” he pointed to the second-place chili recipe as a masterful creation. He won $2,500 worth of prizes for Wake-Up Call.

‘‘My chili recipe is unique because I use some unusual ingredients,” he said, but he would not disclose those ingredients.

The secret, though, is in the ingredients, he said. He casually divulged that beer, coffee, a dash of cinnamon, and a hint of lemon and lime tend to do the trick.

‘‘I used to test my recipes on my co-workers at lunch,” he said with a smile. ‘‘They loved it.”

More recently, Hudgins entered a Southern Living cooking contest, and plans to try his luck in other contests. ‘‘When you enter a cooking contest, you want to set it apart from the rest,” he said.

His approach to cooking, it seems, is much like his mentality in life.

A Carroll County government employee from 1974-1980 Hudgins helped create many of the county’s buildings.

Hudgins was involved in the Hashawha Nature Center, writing the master plan that launched Piney Run Park in South Carroll, designing and building the Freedom Swim Club in 1972, and the development of Carroll Community College, just to name a few.

Following his time in the Carroll County government, Hudgins went to the Howard County government, where he worked in the Bureau of Environmental Services.

He retired in January. Reflecting on his time as an engineer, Hudgins looks fondly on a long list of projects. The most memorable of all, he said, was his role in the county’s water system.

‘‘I was involved in the master plan for water and sewage for the entire county,” he said. ‘‘It was the one project that came out to be the most important thing I was involved in. It’s changed a lot but, a lot [has] come into existence over the years.”

In between projects, Hudgins found time to volunteer and kick up some dirt on the baseball field. Sports coaching, he said, was a direct effect of raising his two sons, Keith, 38, and Brad, 34.

Hudgins has participated as a coach for the Freedom Optimist basketball and baseball teams.

‘‘I played baseball growing up and my sons played too,” he said. ‘‘I have done volunteering because it’s an effort I’m interested in. I think coaching is something parents should be involved in with their kids.”

Hudgins also volunteers for Carroll Lutheran Church, where he organizes fundraisers and serves as the master of ceremonies for events.

‘‘You need to enjoy life,” he said. ‘‘Usually the people who are really busy tend to manage their time better to do what they want to do.”