My Visions and Dreams of a Contest Chef....Idaho Falls Cookoff...

So I had visions and dreams of being "The Next Food Network Star" and I entered a cooking competition. It was a holiday bake-off and you could enter a holiday treat and a holiday dish. My mind immediately went to all of the great candies I make at Christmas time. I also thought of Gram's fudge and how it is the best fudge recipe and best fudge I've ever had. All of the other fudges are sugary and they use yucky dark chocolate. I was very excited about this cooking competition because we actually got to cook in a restaurant kitchen in Idaho Falls...."The Cellar". I was excited about that because it seems like a very ritzy restaurant...even though I've never eaten there. I went with visions and dreams about all of the money (300$ for first prize in each category!) I was going to win especially since I was also entering my clam chowder...which I think is the best clam chowder ever made.

So I arrive at the competition and it is very hot. I have to plate my fudge for 20 judges and 5 taster plates. As I'm plating, my fudge is melting in the sun. I also have to have a display plate for a photo...thus the pretty one. Now remember in my mind this is supposed to be Christmas/Holiday treats. As I'm looking around I'm seeing really pretty stuff...but none of it looks like holiday treats...So I'm thinking it is in the bag. How can gram's fudge not win. I was concerned that it was getting soft, but it is still great. So after I get my stuff done with the fudge, I get to go into the cellar kitchen and begin plating my soup. I was supposed to cook it at the cellar, but they didn't think they would have enough space for everyone, so I volunteered to make it at home. Then I had to drive it 40 miles and serve it. I managed to actually keep it really warm, but I think it sat too long. I was kind of worried about that. But I got into that restaurant kitchen, and I was very glad that I got to cook at home. I'm going to be honest, going into this "posh" kitchen made me kind of get grossed out. It was not really clean and it was not really functional to me. I was a little sick. It was kind of like when Andy took me to his dairy for the first time. I've known my whole life where milk came from, but to actually go in and see them getting milked with the manure flying and the milk coming out, it kind of makes you think twice before drinking milk. This kitchen made me think twice about all restaurant kitchens. Let's just say, any visions I had of trying to become a chef were slowly leaving. Well I got my soup all dished up and then it sat. It had already sat for about 1 hour...so it continues to sit before it gets served to the judges, but I'm confident it is the best soup ever. I look around the kitchen and see some of the stuff being made and I'm even more confident.
My dish is then taken out to be served and I get to wait. We wait for a couple of hours for the judges to actually get through everything. I would imagine that being a judge sounds fun, but I don't know if it would actually be that fun. That is a lot of food to try and a lot of weird people cooking it. So we are waiting for them to announce the winners and I'm just sure that my recipes are going to win. As they announce the winners and my name is not called for the dish, I think well Gram's fudge is the best...so I guess I just have to win that one. I know they are probably trying to spread out the awards. Me and my big head! Well after they announced all of the winners, I found myself standing there clapping for people who were not me. I hadn't won. It was kind of a blow to my ego because I thought I was such a good cook, but as I looked around, I decided that the judges picked pretty. The two winning recipes were below. I couldn't compete with pretty, but I know my food is good. I'm already planning what to make next time that is a little more pretty and still just as good as the two items I entered. I guess as a consolation, I'm still being published in the Idaho Falls magazine (I think...with my recipes) and also KCLE's holiday cookbook. That will be fun! Just in case you are wondering, I've put in the two photos that beat me out!

This was the winning holiday dish. Now I don't mean to be a sore loser because it was really pretty and it looks really yummy, but if I wanted to make this at Christmas time, can anyone tell me where I can find raspberries that look like that in the winter in Idaho...I don't think so!

This guy was actually cooking in the kitchen when I went in and this was the winning holiday dish. It did look yummy and it was fun to watch him cook. He had already entered a few times in their cooking competitions and won some prizes, so I was up against a repeater and a good cook. I would have loved to try some of the stuff, but they wouldn't let us.

These are some of the other entries. I lost to a cheesecake and I will concede that one.