#9: comfort food - November 2009

We opted not to have a cookoff in October and instead had a non-competitive vegan Thanksgiving dinner at the Treehouse. In November, the comfort food cookoff was held at Blühaus on the cold and rainy night of November 22nd.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Jen: grilled 'cheese' and tomato soup (VeganRella on rye bread)
Laryssa: shepherd's pie (lentils, veggies, & mashed potato)
Yaara: I'm broke (rice & lentils, "just like mama used to make")
Jeff D: southern six pack (biscuits & gravy)
Malloreigh: fuckin' poutine! (fries & tofu with mushroom gravy)
Angelique: a former cheese lover's addiction (mac & 'cheese' with cornflake crust and tomatoes)
Corinna: faux chicken pot pie (tofu, veggies & gravy in a pie crust)

Also in attendance were Dan, Kaylie, Kerstyn, Ben, Luke, Jen's roommate Jesse, and a whole bunch of beer and Southern Comfort. Jeff Z was stuck at work, sad to miss a delicious cookoff at home.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
second piece: Jeff D
most authentic: Jen
presentation: Angelique
most comforting: Angelique
overall favourite: Malloreigh/Angelique

overall winner: Angelique

#8: tofu scramble - September 2009

As people are generally broke and/or travelling during the summer, cookoffs went on hiatus. Tofu scram-off was held at the house of 2 Girls, 5 Bikes on the 6th of September.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Amanda: "Shrapnel" featuring summer fruit, mint, and chipotle.
Laryssa: "Chinga tu Madre" featuring chipotle, black beans, corn, fresh salsa, and avocado.
Malloreigh: "The O.G." featuring coconut, mustard, and fenugreek.
Yaara: "The Italian Scrimmage" featuring roasted garlic, assorted tomatoes, and basil.
Kaylie: "Southern Muslim in Autumn" featuring Indian barbecue, cauliflower, and dates.

Also in attendance were Jen Clark, Jeff Z, Jeff's sister Natalie, Anita, Kerstyn, and Angelique. And a whole lotta mimosas.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
I don't actually have a picture of the poster after scoring, but if anyone can remember who won, feel free to fill this in.
texture:
presentation:
second piece:
creativity:
overall favourite:

overall winner: Yaara

After we had all stuffed ourselves with booze and food, there was a rainy adventure in a nearby park, of which there are numerous photos on Jeff's facebook.

#7: salad - June 2009

First cookoff at Blühaus. We spread out a beach blanket on the kitchen floor and had an indoor picnic, accompanied by mojitos. This was a somewhat distressing cookoff because Amanda had an allergic reaction to Malloreigh's salad dressing and spent the rest of the evening lying on our couch until Jeff and I drove her home. Keri had mono and did not attend, but sent her entry along with Laryssa.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Amanda: "Flaccid Sandy Bitch" rice noodles, lime, lemon, shallots, asian pear, green onion, and cardamom.
Chelsea: "Shag Carpet" yams, onion, celery, hazelnuts, peppers, silken tofu sauce.
Malloreigh: "Basic Tossed Malad" spinach, tofu, capers, red onion, nuts, avocado, 'malad' dressing.
Laryssa: "The Wild Forest" baby spinach, cherries, carmelized pecans, mushrooms, red onion, facon bits, creamy orange garlic dressing.
Angelique: "Allahta Tabouleh" Lemon, bulgur wheat, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, red onion, chickpeas, cucumber.
Jeff: "Strawberry-Ginger FOB Salad" Mixed greens, strawberries, candied pecans, red onions, edamame, sesame-ginger miso dressing.
Jen: "Afternoon Delight" Cucumber, mint, pomegranate, ginger, lime.
Keri (absentee entry): "The Mono!!!" Classic potato salad with dill and capers.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS

Second piece: Keri
Presentation: Laryssa
Mouth marriage: Chelsea/Laryssa
Creativity: Laryssa
Best overall: Malloreigh

Overall winner: Laryssa

#6: appetizer & 1oz cocktail pairing - May 2009

This was the last cookoff at the Enchanted House. We had to limit the cocktails to 1oz of booze or less each so that people wouldn't end up with alcohol poisoning.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Malloreigh: "Spring In South Asia" Anise, shiitake mushroom, mango, and avocado on brown rice crackers. Served with aloe juice, anise liqueur, and pear garnished with green onion.
Laryssa: "Everything You Love About Summer" Avocado, cucumber, rice noodles, raspberries, teriyaki tofu, and mint in rice paper. Served with coconut, white rum, raspberries, strawberries, and mint.
Jeff: "Vegan Mini Burgers" black bean patties topped with red pepper relish and homemade veganaise on a homemade whole wheat bun. Served with a whiskey sour.
Angelique: "Not-so-Lox and Cream Cheese Bites" Smoked tofu, vegan cream cheese with dill and capers on onion dusted crackers. Served with redneck German lemonade - Old Milwaukee and 7-Up.
Amanda: "Vagina Boats" Green onions, sunflower garlic spread, poppyseeds, and raspberries on baby arugula leaves. Served with Love Canal Juice - muddled raspberries, lemon, lime, gin, 7-Up, and mint.
Jen: "Sweet & Spicy Tofu" Tofu fried in oil, ginger, and cayenne, topped with avocado, red pepper relish, and black sesame seeds. Served with a Negroni - campari, sweet vermouth, and cream sherry garnished with cherry and orange peel.
Keri: "Your Mom" Almond crackers topped with roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and mint. Served with a Melon Mom - honeydew, rosewater, simple syrup, lime, and a shit tonne of gin.
Ben: Tortilla chips with spicy guacamole. Served with mango juice and tequila garnished with a gummy worm.
Yaara: "Let's Not Pretend It's Healthy" Pine nuts, walnuts, vinegar, and spinach. Served with blended hemp nut butter, raw cocoa, fireball, and stevia.

Unfortunately I do not have a photo of the scores, so I just put in what I have written in my notebook, which isn't much. If other people have better memories, feel free to fill in the blanks.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
Appetizer:
Drink Jeff
Pairing: Jen
Second piece: Keri
Creativity:

Overall winner: Amanda/Malloreigh

Obviously, we all got exceedingly drunk on this lovely late spring day in our nice clothes. This day is when the 'your mom' joke officially died. Jeff's drink made everyone need to take a smoke break. A slug crawled on someone's hand. It was a damn fine time.

#5: mush/dip - April 2009

This cookoff was hosted at the Enchanted House and was attended by many people; there were ten or so entries. The theme was a "mush" or dip with a vehicle to eat it with - for example, a cracker.

edit by Jen: according to information I wrote down from the poster hanging on the fridge at the Enchanted House, the winner of this cookoff was Laryssa.

#4: PIZZA - March 2009

Our fourth cookoff was Pizza Off. This was a crazy cookoff - we had thirteen entries! Malloreigh made a quadruple batch of pizza crust, so attendees were required to bring only their toppings. We had some truly fierce entries, but of course... there could be only one winner. (I believe it was Britt.)

We utilized two ovens, with each pizza getting a twenty-minute cooking time. It was surprisingly efficient!

Amanda C - Avocado and Banana Pizza
Amanda K - Samosa Pizza
Britt - Thaitanic Peanut Sauce Pizza
Malloreigh - Garlic White Sauce Meditteranean Pizza

Goodness help me but I can't remember the rest. Other Cookoffers are welcome to contribute!

The best part about this cookoff for the hosts at the House of God was that we were privileged to keep all of the leftovers (though there weren't many). We were moving the next day so this food came in quite handy.

#3: pie - March 2009

Our third cookoff was held in March of 2009 and was supposed to be specifically fruit pies, but a few people missed the memo. This was held in the attic suite of Yaara's old place on 12th Ave.

Competitors were:
Laryssa, with a coconut lemon cream pie
Yaara, with a bosc pear pie with a whole wheat crust
Jen, with an apple and swiss chard pie (it was supposed to be rhubarb which is apparently hard to find in March)
Jeff Z, with a bourbon peach pie
Jeff D, with a chocolate avocado pie with almonds
Amanda C, with a strawberry rosewater pie with a lemon poppyseed crust
Amanda K, with a peach mango pie
Keri, with a chocolate banana coconut pie
Jade, with a chocolate almond tofu pie

I believe this is when we started getting really crazy with the categorization, too, so our overall winner was Amanda C, but we had a separate category for people who had never made a pie before, and Jen was the winner there with the pie of failure that turned out to be delicious.

Also in attendance were Malloreigh, Dave, and Nina. We all got nicely sauced on Baby Duck and went into sugar-induced comas, writing haikus on the typewriter. This cookoff was without our official poster-size chart of entries and was instead recorded on a typewriter, so this is all based on memory and photos.
I was going to post the family portrait of us and our pies, but the blog is not wide enough to view it, and I am not proficient enough with html to make it so.

#2: chili - February 2009

our second cookoff was chili. it was the first cookoff we scored. it took place in february, 2009.

the participants were amanda, laryssa, keri, malloreigh, and yaara. jeff zipp and jen clark attended for their first times.

keri made a chocolate chili that blew all our tops off and won the competition. keri doesn't even like chocolate! sneak attack. amanda's chili was a smoky tempeh chili and it was truly delicious. laryssa made a fruity chocolatey chili. yaara made a simple bean chili. malloreigh made a curry chili and everyone told her it "wasn't really a chili" even though it had beans and chilies, which is what a chili is, anyway.

this is all iirc, btw, fyi.

#1: Lasagna - January 2009

Our first cookoff was held in January, 2009. It came about because Keri made lasagna one night and Malloreigh wanted to prove that she, too, could make lasagna, though she never had. Amanda and Yaara participated as well, each making their own version of lasagna. There was no scoring, and Sam made a salad to go along with the entrees, which has not been practiced since.