Contests - - Page 15

by gansie

Pop Quiz, Hot Shot

I know we’re all mourning the end of summer and groggy from all of our Labor Day weekend (eating!) adventures (mine involved Thursday to Sunday wedding festivities) but, too bad, it’s time for a Back-to-Simmer Pop Quiz!

My friend Gypsy (formerly, Unbearable) recently trekked through Spain and fit in a quick visit to Tunisia before starting law school in the fall. This lovely girl brought me back a truly edible gift from her travels: spices!

Below is a picture of the spices. Endless Simmer challenges our very knowledgeable readers to guess which spices are which. You’ll have until Thursday, September 4th at 6pm to send answers to contests@endlesssimmer.com. We’ll post the correct spice names and the winner on Friday morning.

The ES Spice Master will receive a variety of ~~cheating~~ spice blend packets from Amazing Taste.

Good luck, my students. And as we know this is a fairly daunting challenge, the entry with the most correct picks wins, no need for 100% accuracy.

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Gansie’s upcoming televised debut is causing quit the stir, with passions flaming between the pro- and anti- pot chicken pie people:

Mike Donlon: I am going to vote regular and often (it is allowed). CHICKEN POT PIE

Not Cooking: Pot Pie is a baked-good and a poor measure of COOKING ability. Booo.

With 71 votes in, lasagna has just inched ahead of chicken pot pie, and mac ‘n’ cheese is making a strong move as well. There are 3 days left to vote, so head over to Capital Cooking Show and weigh in.

– In other voting news, it’s a dead heat between the Greek Gazpacho and the Avocado-Sesame Gazpacho in our weekly Who Cooked it Better? Meanwhile, JoeHoya points out some further craziness:

Best gazpacho of all? Poste’s version with heirloom tomatoes from their courtyard garden, a sprinkling of black salt and a dollop of dijon ice cream in the bowl – hands down.

– But the singular Comment of the Week Award has to go to ES contributor/poet laureate Maidelitala for her flowery description of gansie’s latest runny egg yolk photography:

the glistening deep-vermilion of the tomato/

the coy curl of the shaved scallions/

the erotic gooeyness of a scarcely running yoke.

That’s some haiku shit right there! Way to raise the commenting bar, Maidelitala. And while we’re at it, a very happy birthday to our favorite veggie lactard from the entire ES community.

Photo: Roland

by BS

Riding the Pine

As you know, we here at Endless Simmer are effing obsessed with pine nuts. OK, maybe it’s just me, but I know there are more of you out there! So, Endless Simmer is embarking on a high-tech research project to chronicle every single dish that can be made with pine nuts. You’ll see the results in the near future on ES, but first, we need your help.

Here’s the deal: We’re holding a Pine Nut Recipe Contest.

Send us your very best pine nut recipe, and you could win a free subscription to La Cucina Italiana magazine! Only the best of the best will take it home, so be sure to bring it. Here are the rules/standards:

– All recipes must be original. It’s OK if you’ve already featured it on your blog, but no Cindy McCain-style recipes please.

– The crazier/more creative, the better. You’re probably not going to win by telling us how great pine nuts are mixed with basil and spread on pasta. But if you make soup, pies, bread, or biscuits with pine nuts, that’s more like it.

– Send photos if you have them. Will definitely improve your chances.

– Email the recipes this a-way, with the subject line “Pine Nuts”

Photo: Sa_ku_ra

in Contests 9 comments

by gansie

Lights! Camera! Cook!

A little while back I interviewed Lauren DeSantis, the host of the public access show Capital Cooking. And even though my write up wasn’t terribly nice, Lauren entertained my idea of meeting up to talk about featuring DC food bloggers on her show. I’m such a self-serving little bitch. I know.

Anyway, Lauren and I hung out at her and her husband’s gorgeous Penn Quarter apartment (she’s a lawyer by day) and chatted about her show, about food, about Alton Brown. And how in awe I was of her ability to cook, look cute, not cut herself and make conversation all while being filmed. But I’ll get back to that in a second. By the end of the night we came up with some fun ideas on how to incorporate the vibrant blogging scene on to her show.

Hence the FOOD BLOGGERS CHALLENGE. EEK! Lauren rounded up three other DC food writer/enthusiasts and we’re gonna fuck shit up on public access!

My Opponents

Lauren DeSantis / Capital Cooking
April Fulton / The Food Scribe
Alison McConnell / Humble Gourmand
Johnna Rowe / Johnna Knows Good Food

We wanted to really play up the idea of blogging and make it as interactive as possible so we need your help with Phase 1. We’re letting our combined blog audience pick which dish we’ll make on the show. The episode will air in winter so we’re going with a comfort food theme.

The Choices Lasagna / Chili / Chicken Potpie / Mac-n-Cheese

Everyone will create their interpretation of the dish and then be judged…I’ll let you know more about the judging in a bit…

Go vote for the dish you most want me to put a fried egg over.

And let’s start thinking about my on-air outfit! Britannia? Help! And yes, I know, I have many hours of practice just by looking at the photo above. (I’m wearing this band on my shirt.)

in Contests / Personal / TV 27 comments

by El

Guac-Off 2008

Last Christmas Eve, my godfather arrived at our house with a gorgeous bowl of guacamole. [Where else besides California would guac make an appearance during Christmas??] While definitely tasty, we started our usual competitive banter: this time over who made a better guac. It was clear that just arguing would not resolve the question, which is how the challenge came about. It was determined that during my summer trip home, a guacamole competition was in order!

Click “MORE” for Rules, Recipe and RE-MATCH (2009)….

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

The Endless Simmer world was introduced to the Capital Cooking world this week, leading to comments such as those from Yvo:

So… is she naked under an apron, or is that a dress meant to look like an apron?

…and Brian to profess his undying love:

i think i love her. i don’t care what you think of me.

– – –

BS and photog Brian teamed up to bring us another celebrity shot that didn’t include a face. At least this time it wasn’t just their feet. Attempting to guess the secret celebrity’s identity, Brenna said:

It’s Sway, the mtv reporter, i’m 100% positive!

That was my guess, too, especially since he’s from Oakland. But according to Brian that is incorrect. So keep those guesses coming in.

more after the jump:

Who’s That Eating?

You all responded so well to our Where’s Waldo contest last week that we thought we’d go ahead and make it a regular feature. Except this time, our mystery eater isn’t an ES commenter, he’s a genuine real life celebrity. So who is the mystery eater? Here are your clues:

– He’s at Habana Outpost Eco-eatery in Fort Greene, Brooklyn

– He drank a strawberry margarita. Food unknown because he forgot to take his meal ticket from the cashier to the cooks.