If you and your family were going to have a cooking competition, how would you do it?

[helena]

We love cooking shows and cooking competitions.

We've had a bake-off, but that was a long time ago. Everyone made a dessert of their choice and my in-laws came over to judge. It was a lot of fun!

 

So how would you organize a cooking/baking competition? We have four people and we'd prefer to judge each other instead of having people come over to do it. 

 

I've thought of an ongoing competition for a month where each week would do a different meal, like breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

 

Or, like the cheesy show we're watching right now :) we could draw a letter and everyone can only cook with ingredients that start with that letter. 

 

A set amount of money?? 

 

I don't know... what do you think? Any fun ideas? 

[mommymonster]

This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but every Friday my boys have a "Chopped Challenge" -- they get four ingredients in a basket and have 30 minutes to make dinner. They are youngish -- 7 and 10 -- so it's mostly a straightforward thing. Since they are young, we don't do a competition, but I'm not sure why you couldn't make it competitive.  Last week for their "challenge" they had frozen shrimp poppers, a head of cabbage, a lime, and corn tortillas that they needed to make into dinner. They ended up making shrimp popper tacos with coleslaw. It was surprisingly good. 

 

Could you do a "Chopped Challenge" with two family members "competing" and the other two family members "judging"? You could switch up competitors and judges, so everyone gets to compete against each other? 

 

Happy cooking!

[Rebel Yell]

What about score sheets? Or a bingo card? Things like:

Best tasting

Best presentation

Most surprising

Most colorful

Tidiest workstation

Used the most dishes/utensils to prepare

Used the fewest dishes/utensils to prepare

Dish I'd most like to eat every week

Dish i'd want for a special occasion

[HS Mom in NC]

My 3 older brothers invited me to theirs but it conflicted with a scheduled activity for my kid. 

They selected 2 ingredients, for example cumin and peaches, and each contestant had to make 2 dishes with each ingredient.  So 2 dishes had to have peaches in them and 2 had to have cumin in them. Then everyone tasted all of them and voted for a winner.  No one was allowed to vote for themselves.

After the voting and declaring a winner they ate it and played poker.  They invited my middle daughter over because she loves games.  They taught her how to play Texas Hold 'Em and then they taught her to cheat at Texas Hold 'Em.  That's an uncle's job after all.

We also have croquet tournament and the winner gets to take home the world's ugliest trophy. It's a 1970s, avocado green and metallic gold ash tray with an antique croquet ball glued to the top. If you win you get to add something to the world's ugliest trophy.  It's been bedazzled, had a brass cherub attached upside down to the base with a red plastic bead glued to its navel, it has a pair of big nose/mustache glasses glued to the antique croquet ball, pearl earrings glued to the cherub's ears, plastic sticky bunnies from the time SIL won on Easter among other things.  There's a ceremony where we play Fanfare for the Common Man and the former winner hands it to the new winner.  Winners are instructed to display it in "a prominent place"  at home and are under a blood oath to return it for the next competition or we'll come and claim it for ourselves using whatever means necessary. 

It's been kidnapped with a ransom note made of cut out letters from magazines reading, "No cops or the trophy gets it."  I still don't know which of my brothers stole it the Thanksgiving my husband won it (no one will talk and it's been more than a dozen years) so in retaliation we got into my siblings' and parents houses under false pretenses and stole all their remotes (back before universal remotes were an option) and let them develop some marital friction over it and then called and explained they'd get their remotes when we got out trophy.  Good times.

So have fun with it!

[momee]

Helena!

 

I have no ideas for your contest but have missed talking food with you on here!

 

We've moved and I now have..a great kitchen~ :001_tt1: (it isn't all blingy but the counterspace is bigger than my previous 48 inches).

Wish you could come to the other ocean and cook with me.

 

Have fun with your competition.  Sounds super fun.

Edited July 13, 2016 by momee

[helena]

This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but every Friday my boys have a "Chopped Challenge" -- they get four ingredients in a basket and have 30 minutes to make dinner. They are youngish -- 7 and 10 -- so it's mostly a straightforward thing. Since they are young, we don't do a competition, but I'm not sure why you couldn't make it competitive.  Last week for their "challenge" they had frozen shrimp poppers, a head of cabbage, a lime, and corn tortillas that they needed to make into dinner. They ended up making shrimp popper tacos with coleslaw. It was surprisingly good. 

 

Could you do a "Chopped Challenge" with two family members "competing" and the other two family members "judging"? You could switch up competitors and judges, so everyone gets to compete against each other? 

 

Happy cooking!

That's a good idea! I have more control over keeping it from getting expensive,  or use it as a way to use up odd stuff in the cupboard. :)

[helena]

What about score sheets? Or a bingo card? Things like:

Best tasting

Best presentation

Most surprising

Most colorful

Tidiest workstation

Used the most dishes/utensils to prepare

Used the fewest dishes/utensils to prepare

Dish I'd most like to eat every week

Dish i'd want for a special occasion

A score sheet kept over the summer would probably go over very well here!

[heartlikealion]

If there are no leftovers/the item disappears quickest, you win? lol

[helena]

My 3 older brothers invited me to theirs but it conflicted with a scheduled activity for my kid. 

 

They selected 2 ingredients, for example cumin and peaches, and each contestant had to make 2 dishes with each ingredient.  So 2 dishes had to have peaches in them and 2 had to have cumin in them. Then everyone tasted all of them and voted for a winner.  No one was allowed to vote for themselves.

 

After the voting and declaring a winner they ate it and played poker.  They invited my middle daughter over because she loves games.  They taught her how to play Texas Hold 'Em and then they taught her to cheat at Texas Hold 'Em.  That's an uncle's job after all.

 

We also have croquet tournament and the winner gets to take home the world's ugliest trophy. It's a 1970s, avocado green and metallic gold ash tray with an antique croquet ball glued to the top. If you win you get to add something to the world's ugliest trophy.  It's been bedazzled, had a brass cherub attached upside down to the base with a red plastic bead glued to its navel, it has a pair of big nose/mustache glasses glued to the antique croquet ball, pearl earrings glued to the cherub's ears, plastic sticky bunnies from the time SIL won on Easter among other things.  There's a ceremony where we play Fanfare for the Common Man and the former winner hands it to the new winner.  Winners are instructed to display it in "a prominent place"  at home and are under a blood oath to return it for the next competition or we'll come and claim it for ourselves using whatever means necessary. 

 

It's been kidnapped with a ransom note made of cut out letters from magazines reading, "No cops or the trophy gets it."  I still don't know which of my brothers stole it the Thanksgiving my husband won it (no one will talk and it's been more than a dozen years) so in retaliation we got into my siblings' and parents houses under false pretenses and stole all their remotes (back before universal remotes were an option) and let them develop some marital friction over it and then called and explained they'd get their remotes when we got out trophy.  Good times.

 

So have fun with it!

I like the way you guys think.  :thumbup:

Edited July 14, 2016 by helena

[helena]

Helena!

 

I have no ideas for your contest but have missed talking food with you on here!

 

We've moved and I now have..a great kitchen~ :001_tt1: (it isn't all blingy but the counterspace is bigger than my previous 48 inches).

Wish you could come to the other ocean and cook with me.

 

Have fun with your competition.  Sounds super fun.

:seeya:

 

Glad to hear about the kitchen upgrade! Tomorrow our new oven is delivered and we're all excited. Our old one was junk, so I know everyone is going to be baking and making pizzas. 

 

It'd be fun to cook together! I wish there was some kind of cooking club, you know, like a book club.