***I've turned into a horrible blogger. It's like New Year's Resoultion in reverse. But my sister-in-law agreed to let me rip off one of her entries until I can post one of my own.***
So now, in the words of my sister-in-law, Sara Cardon, this is our Iron Chef Adventure. Enjoy!
One of my most favorite things we did this Christmas while in Boise, was my family's first attempt at doing "Iron Chef"-- a cooking competition on Food Network that we are all addicted to. First, we divided into two teams of three each, with the most competent chefs as the leaders-- Team Joan: my mom, me, and Jonathan
and Team Sarah: which consisted of my sister-in-law Sarah, my brother Devin (who will here-on be known as the Pessimist for continually saying, "We're doomed!! Oh great!! We're doomed!!") and my sister Whitney. 
My dad and little brother Taylor were the judges, along with two other "unbiased" taste-testers from our home ward. Here they are at the Judge's Table.
If you've ever seen the show, you'll know how the basic competition goes, but after reading this you may think my family is considerably bizarre and fanatical. However, we received our "secret ingredient" just moments before the competition began-- PEANUT BUTTER!!--which must be used and feature in EVERY succulent dish. We then had to quickly come up with three dishes we could cook and plate in 1 hour or less-- NO recipes....okay, okay, we were each allowed one. We ran frantically to the grocery store where we were given 20 minutes (extra) and $15 to shop for additional ingredients. Once back into "kitchen stadium" if you will, the madness broke loose. Six chefs trying to create six different dishes in ONE kitchen (one stove top, 2 ovens, one microwave, etc.) plus the Luce going nuts that all of a sudden four of her new best friends were no longer paying attention to her, was total CHAOS!! 
But miraculously, the deed was done!! Each team completed three seriously delicious dishes!! Not one fire, nor mishap, nor disgusting dish came out of that kitchen (you can see the aftermath of dishes though).
Although I try not to create monstrously long blog entries, I believe this event merits one (even if it is just my parents reading it). So, here is a run-down of the courses for each team: Chef Joan: 1)Coconut Shrimp with sweet and sour peanut butter dipping sauces, 2)Thai Chicken Fettuccine with Peanut Butter sauce, and 3) Chocolate Peanut Butter Molten cake with vanilla ice cream. As for Chef Sarah: 1)Apple-Peanut Butter-Raisin baklava, 2)Stir-Fry Stuffed dinner Crepes with Peanut Butter Sauce, and 3)Monte-Cristo Peanut Butter Sandwiches with Whipped Cream and Bananas. All of it was fantastic!! How would the judges ever determine a winner?!? In the end, it came down to little Taylor's scores-- the pickiest eater of them all, and though I'm sad to admit it, we were beat by PBJ. Little Taylor gave the PBJs a perfect 10 for taste, plating, and originality. Originality?!? I know, I know. Luckily, we all had a blast despite there being any winners or losers, and my mom and I have sworn to avenge ourselves this Thanksgiving at Iron Chef South Carolina. If your family is looking for something new to do next Christmas, give this competition a whirl....just hire someone to come and do the dishes afterwards.
9 comments:
Well, thank you sister-in-law for updating Sarah's blog!
That is such a fun idea! However, I have no creativity and my dish would have been peanut butter on celery sticks. SO kudos to your family for being so creative!
You guys are so much fun... :) Nunca se me hubiese ocurrido hacer eso. Que divertidos! Too bad I am allergic to peanuts, the dishes sounded great too!
Why not use Sara's rundown on Battle Peanut Butter? She summed it up rather well! I'm still impressed that we all pulled it off(:!
holy cow! you guys are amazing! I'm so impressed!!!
I tagged you....go to my blog and you'd better do it! it's easy!
Horray for Iron Chef!! Sounds like you guys had fun. :)
...oh! and I want some of those recipes. They sound good!!!
Um, I don't think I've ever had that much energy in my life. I really don't think I could ever win a competition like that. Mainly because I couldn't stay awake for all of it, but also because I can't cook. Oh well. Someday someone will be fooled by my shiny hair and fall in love with me regardless. 2 years down the road though, they'll be regretting that decision. Haha. I am so stoked that we will be living by each other again. I can so see weekend trips happening A LOT. I want to see the beach and you can come see the DC!
Okay, that sounded like a ton of fun. I seriously have to do that with my family one of these days. Problem is that no one in my family really likes to cook as much as I do. We probably wouldn't even come up with anything as gourmet as you described. You could have even won the real iron chef!
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