I Want to Be the Next Iron Foodie 2010!

When I saw an email about the Iron Foodie 2010 Contest, sponsored by Marx Foods and The Foodie BlogRoll I knew I had to enter. 25 challengers are selected to receive a mystery box of 8 wonderful secret ingredients hand-picked by Marx Foods. The object is to use 3 of those ingredients in an original, creative, Iron Foodie-worthy winning recipe. It gets both my creative and competitive juices flowing! To enter, all interested participants need to answer five fun and thought-provoking questions for the judges to select the 25 challengers by... so here goes!

Why do you want to compete in this challenge?

I am a junkie for cooking competition shows--Iron Chef, Iron Chef America (Morimoto crush alert!), Chopped, Top Chef and I love to watch what the chefs create with the ingredients they are given and try to determine what I would have done with the same ingredients. I recently had a blast in the Marx foods and Joanne Eats Well With Others Recipe Impossible Winter Squash competition. (My entry of Kabocha Cupcakes with Maple-Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting is here.) Getting that box of mystery ingredients was a total thrill and call me greedy but I want more--more challenge, more mystery and of course more of Marx Foods great ingredients!

Limitations of time/space notwithstanding, whose kitchen would you like to spend the day in & why? Julia Child, Thomas Keller, Ferran Adria, James Beard, Marie-Antoine Careme, or The Swedish Chef?

Although Julia Child and James Beard would be right up there, the sheer fascination of spending the day with Ferran Adria would have to win out. I have spent many an hour salivating over his "A Day at El Bulli" book at Barnes & Noble and I would love to spend a day in his workshop watching him create and perfect his "deconstructionist" recipes and then get to enjoy his 30 course tasting menu.

What morsel are you most likely to swipe from family & friends’ plates when they aren’t looking?

I'm not too proud to admit that I will swipe an endless variety of food items off of my family and friends' plates when they aren't looking and even when they are. (I do usually ask first!) Being a complete food lover with a Libra's inability to make decisions, I am happiest having dinner with you if you are willing and eager to share bites from our respective plates--the more different tastes the better. Also I tend to try to order side salads with my burgers and sandwiches in order to feel better about myself, so if you got the fries, beware...I am stealing some! ;-)

Sum your childhood up in one meal.

My mom's Chicken Fricassee with mashed potatoes and her warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies for dessert congers up childhood to me. Making simple, homey, comfort food is something my mom excels at and her fricassee with it's moist chicken and creamy gravy was/is my only choice for my Birthday dinner. She also makes the best chocolate chip cookies--soft, chewy and addictive.

The one mainstream food you can’t stand?

OK, I may actually get kicked out of America for this but I really can't stand pumpkin pie. There is something about the pureed pumpkin and the combination of spices that just doesn't work at all for me. It is everywhere this time of year--lattes, teas, even smoothies--yikes! It gives me the shudders just thinking about it.

Keep your fingers crossed that I get selected for the challenge round please! ;-) Even if I don't, answering the questions was fun. I'll keep you updated...

BTW: Judges--I tried a bazillion times to get the badge to look right but it doesn't seem to want to work on my blog. It looks fine in preview. ;-( I assure you my cooking skills are better than my technical skills!