Flash in the Pan

NPR's Morning Edition had an interview with Ellie Mathews, who won $1 million in the Pillsbury Bake-Off and who has written a book, The Ungarnished Truth, about her experience. The NPR link has an excerpt from the title, along with Mathews's winning recipe. The Bake-Off has received other coverage from NPR - back in December, when it came down hard on a Potsdam, NY annual food pantry fund raiser that used the trademarked term.

Labels: contest, cooking, Pillsbury

I spent the latter part of Sunday afternoon eating pickles. Just pickles - and the occasional wine cracker and swig of peppermint-flavored water (tasted better than I had expected). I was a judge in a pickle contest of an eastern European festival held in Deerfield, Massachusetts. When I left, it was with a few observations:

• Some people should be encouraged in their culinary activities, and some ought to be stopped now.


• It's easy to overlook the qualities of a pickle when you put it next to the main part of a meal. But balance of flavor, crispness, color, and a taste of something other than vinegar are key.


• Pickled hot peppers are fine if they have some redeeming pepper flavor. Hot peppers that only burn the mouth are painful.


• Pickled beans are pretty boring (if the two samples I tried are any indication).


• I'm not going to be purchasing pickled eggs in the near future.


• The variety of opinions that often cropped up among the four judges was impressive, and trying to come up with a method of choosing first, second, and third place winners in limited categories was even more of a marvel.


• When there are only two entries in a category, getting second place is a breeze. But for first, you have to do something.


• There are apparently 48 categories of pickles that, in theory, you could judge in a competition.


• When they hear about it, most people think that judging a pickle contest would be fun - and they'd be right.

Labels: contest, Deerfield, judge, judging, pickles

Do you have a kinship with the cranberry? Like to add those little red globes that bounce to almost any dish? Ocean Spray is having its first Ultimate Cranberry Recipe Contest. Creator of the winning recipe walks away with $25,000. That could buy many of the "red wonderberry," as the company calls them. (It sounds like they could really do with a trip away from the office.) Here are some of the requirements from the press release:

Recipes must be original, use a minimum of 1/2 cup of any Ocean Spray product (beverages 1 1/2 ounces), and fall into one of the following categories: Beverages, Snacks and Appetizers, Salads, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Desserts and Baked Goods. Recipes will be judged on creativity, use of product, taste, overall appearance and ease of preparation. Entries must be postmarked by August 23, 2007 and received by August 31, 2007.

Four semi-finalists head to New York in November for a final judging. Each finalist gets a trip for two to New York and a year's supply of products from Ocean Spray. There's more, and official entry guidelines (are these things ever non-official?)

Labels: contest, cranberries, cranberry, Ocean Spray, recipe

A weekly round-up of odd kitchen events:

• Toddler Tippling A San Francisco area Applebee's served a margarita in a sippy cup to a two-year-old - accidentally. The apple juice and margarita mix were stored in identical bottles and the manager grabbed the wrong one. Obviously he was looking for the whiskey sours. (AP)


• Pass the Pud A Delhi celebrity chef is filming a 40-part series on British cooking to air in India. It was thumbs up for bangers and mash, down for Welsh rarebit. Who says the glory of the British Empire is over? (Independent Online)


• Weiner-Weight Bout A 107-pound woman managed to eat 26 franks and buns in 12 minutes during the annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Growing up in China, food was always scarce, so she learned to eat a lot when it was available. Just don't come between her and the plate. (AP)


• Getting the Last Honk For years the French have been force feeding geese to fatten their livers for foie gras. It now appears that those livers can transmit amyloidosis, a rare disease that affects various organs. Symptoms range from fatigue and weight loss to swelling and kidney damage. And certain death, at least for the goose. (Reuters)


• I'll Drink to That A Japanese person was just named the world's oldest living man at 111 years. He attributed his longevity to abstention from alcohol. Let's party ... kinda. (Reuters)


• Toss Up The Mexican city of Tijuana, having seen dozens of drug war killings in the last few years, has decided to pick its collective chin up with Caesar salad, invented there in 1932. A local restaurant industry association hopes to give the city "a better image." Nothing like mass salmonella outbreaks to make you forget murder. (Reuters)


• Forget the Market, Let's Get the Royalties The man believed to be the model for the face adorning Cream of Wheat boxes finally got a grave marker with his name after almost 70 years. (AP)


• With a Shot of Ranch, Please Pepsi is selling a cucumber-based soda in Japan. (AP)

Labels: Applebee's, Britain, British, Caesar, contest, Cream of Wheat, cucumber, foie gras, hot dogs, India, margarita, Nathan's, Pepsi, salad, soda, Tijuana