Final Results Recipe Contest

Hello Blog Pals,
This January I posted a recipe contest and got a lot of recipes from my friends Sandy, Jerry, Ben, and Ajdin.  My stuffy friends overwhelmed my kitchen staff with a ton of great recipes to make.  I got through most of them and I am saving the  recipes that are more "winter" based for next year being that it's May 7th today and I still haven't made it through all the recipes.

Here are the winners as judged by my expert team of judges.

Easiest preparation goes to Ben's party meatballs.  **Editor's note** if you use pre-made frozen meatballs this meal is even easier.  Drunk Fox also says this a great meal to enjoy with a beer, wine, something mixed from the bar.  This was a crowd favorite at the house.

You might notice there is not any dip visable for these party meatballs, that's because a certain fox who loves bar food (and shall remain nameless) could not get enough of the dip.  Time to restock.

Regional Favorite:  Congratulations are in order for Ajdin since his banana bread recipe won in the regional recipe category.  We are not sure what region banana bread come from but it was certainly a favorite for stuffies and humans alike.  Little Bear mentioned that the only way this could be better is with honey in it.  This was best when it was right out of the oven.  Great job Ajdin.

Stuffies waiting patiently for photo shoot to be over to devour this treat. 

Coolest named dish: Jake's special cranberry chicken wraps.  Big Bear chose this recipe for the coolest name, probably because it has the word "special" in it and he loves feta cheese.  Way to go Jake.

Jake, you should open a restaurant focusing in healthy California cuisine. 

Honorable mention: Ben's chocolate peppermint cookies.  These cookies were delicious.  The only thing that I would recommend is that the recipe would make more.  **Editor's note** this also wins in the honorable mention category because breaking the mints was beary therapeutic.

These were great and didn't last long at the house.  Humans and stuffies alike enjoyed this recipe. 

Little bears who live in cold climates seem to be dominating the recipe contest.  But Sandy wins the the budget category with his Bacon wrapped port tenderloin.  **Editors note** this is a budget meal because bacon and pork tenderloin are always on sale.  This also wins the category for stickiest paws with the apple juice and brown sugar sauce.

Kermit is very excited - good thing there was a bottle of wine to keep his steady. 

Regional Dish #2 also goes to Sandy for his spinach dip.  Reindeer appreciates the vegetarianness of this meal and Drunk Fox always likes a good appetizer/bar bite.  There were so many recipes to choose from we needed to add another category for regional dish. 

"Reindeer, would you like another wheat thin for this amazing dip?"

Judges Favorite:  The dish that won judges favorite was from....drumroll please....Chef Ben's pomegranate spinach salad with feta.  Everyone loved this dish.  Reindeer liked how you could make it vegetarian, drunk fox loved the chicken, and Little and Big Bear liked it because you could customize the salad to fit their needs (i.e. add smoked salmon or extra veggies or extra chicken).

Everyone loves a good salad.  Carnivores and vegetarians alike.

The panel of judges thanks everyone for their submissions.  If you are interested in the recipes I have attached all recipes from the 2016 contest here.  Now, I must get to the post office to send off the prizes for our winners.  Thanks again everyone!

Recipe Contest Update #1

I can't believe how many recipes I have gotten from my recipe contest.  In fact some of the recipes were seasonal and now it seems odd to be making some of these items in the Spring. Anywho, let's get down to business. 

Recipe: Ben's Spinach Pomegranate Salad

Chef: Ben

Reindeer is very interested in this dish.  Reindeer thinks the feta cheese, baby spinach and pomegranate make an excellent combination.  As a tried and true vegetarian Reindeer gives this two paws up.  Thanks Chef Ben.

Our next entry is from Jerry and Ben's friend Jake.  It's called Jake's Special Cranberry Chicken Wraps.  These wraps have chicken, feta cheese, baby spinach and some miracle whip to hold it all together.  Jake these were delicious, Drunk Fox and I are partial to chicken recipes.  Way to go. 

Another recipe for Reindeer courtesy of my friend up north.  Sandy submitted this awesome spinach dip recipe.  Reindeer appreciates the vegetarianness of this meal and Drunk Fox likes this recipe because it reminds him of bar food/bar appetizers.  Rarely do Reindeer and Drunk Fox agree on a dish but this is one that meets both of their tastes.

Ben shared another recipe called Ben's so good and easy party meatballs.  Drunk Fox is all about this one.  He loves meatballs (we made these with Turkey as per Ben's suggestion), created a great dip with chili sauce and grape jelly, and baked them in the oven.

A cooked set of meatballs courtesy of Ben sure brings out a crowd. 

All of this good food needs a dessert type dish.  This next one comes from our tour guide friend.  Freshly bake banana bread is one of our favorites.  Little Bear loves the bread (probably reminds him of something you could pick up at Starbucks) Reindeer appreciates the vegetarianness of this recipe, and I am always happy to try banana bread fresh out of the oven.  

Round one has been very successful.  I need to get on my roommates to help me make the recipes for round two which include:

1) Ben and Jerry's Poor Bear Soup

2) Ben's curried squash soup

3) A special dessert from Jerry

4) Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin from Sandy

5) Dark Hot Chocolate from Sandy

A well deserved hike and a recipe from Jake's kitchen

Lately, the weather has been a little wet.  As you can see there is lots of mud at this trail head but Sequoia and I have been itching to go hiking so we had to put on the charm to get our roommates out on a rainy day. 

We went hiking at this trail a few weeks ago.  Now there is more proof that Spring has arrived.  I believe this is a Trillium.  

After the hike I chowed down on a great recipe from Jerry and Ben's friend Jake.  Chicken, dried Cranberries, Feta, Apple and Spinach. It's surprisingly hard for a little fox to wrap a tortilla with all of these goodies so this picture doesn't do any justice for how good the sandwich is.

Thanks for the recipe Jake!