#30: cooking with booze - January 2012

Liquor-off was held on the 22nd of January in Nina's lovely Mt. Pleasant home. This was also the third anniversary of cookoff — hard to believe. Unfortunately not many people were able to come, we had only eight in attendance. But it was a Sunday, and it was incredibly rainy and windy.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES

Amanda: "whiskey winter" whiskey-soaked currants & apples baked in sweet bread, with a spiced whiskey butter glaze

Jen: "SoCo adobo" cider-infused chili with chipotle sausage & apples, served with a Southern Comfort-infused cornbread and topped with sour cream & cilantro
[I neglected to get a photo of Yaara's entry because I was helping her serve up & then I got distracted by eating because I am a failure. It looked a little like the love child of stroganoff and pad thai.]
Yaara: "Grandma's special sauce" thick rice noodles in a coconut-vodka sauce with crimini mushrooms, marinated tofu, and parsley

Märt: "venomous frost-spider's revenge" yam, potato and cranberry baked with Grand Marnier, orange, and lemon

Laryssa: "drunken Sunday" red wine dark chocolate ice cream with a raspberry-wine coulis, topped with basil & toasted almonds

Nina: "randy brandy brownies" flourless chocolate brownies with a brandy caramel sauce and soy whip

Märt was competing for the first time. Also in attendance were Jen's friend and neighbour Steph, as well as Laryssa's friend Gabi, who had intended to make a stout cake but ran short on time, so she just brought the bottles of stout instead. Malloreigh's entry fell on the floor at the last minute and she decided to stay home out of sadness.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
seconds: Jen
presentation: Amanda
creativity: Yaara
booziness: Yaara/Märt
overall favourite: Jen

overall winner: Jen

best name: (unscored category) Yaara


Amanda's spiced whiskey

testing out the soy whip