Sugar Challenge
My family finally got together for the holiday! (And incidentally I got to meet the new baby!)
As promised there was a new challenge this year. SUGAR. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds and the competition was fierce. My youngest sister and her family opted out. They celebrated with my folks over the Solstice. (I was not available.) Andrea (the middle sister) and Butch hosted and friends of theirs stopped by. We’ve known them for at least 25 years, they’re family! In spite of every Besnett debating in their head if their dish would stretch there was plenty to go around.
Because of timing, scheduling, and all the comings and goings courses were not served individually this year. Instead the feast was piled up for everyone to take some and find a seat. So I’ll have to give you the plate by plate low down the way I saw it.
That soup in the corner was Darcy’s offering. She’s the new Mom, the mother of the 1 yr. old and the mother of Adian who is maybe in 2nd grade? Anyway, she’s got a lot on her plate and still managed to produce a very tasty offering in spite of all the obstacles in her path. Admittedly I was one of them.
The soup is a curry with sweet potatoes and peas. Darcy figured she’d just grab some curry powder out of the cupboard at Andrea’s. That’s when I got in her way. Most commercial curry blends have cinnamon in them, and I’m deathly allergic. Sorry Darcy. In my defense I did mix her up a curry blend that I could eat. I tried to make it better and many of us agreed it was a very tasty soup, but Darcy wasn’t happy with her offering and that’s probably mostly my fault.
Alyx, my niece, is prepping her dish with her new niece tucked into her hoodie pockets. She also did a sweet potato dish, but the main ingredient (all that green stuff) is minced brussel sprouts. This is why the competition is so close. Everyone manages to find a way to challenge their own abilities and up their game. A lot of people who don’t usually like brussel sprouts thought it was great. Alyx told me she got nervous and may have added a little too much pepper. For a novice cook it was a great effort. Unfortunately the judges ruled it didn’t place.
Mom and Dad went all out with that duck. It was beautifully cooked, nicely carved and pretty tasty. The dipping sauce was genius. It had a crushed raspberry base. Between the honey in the marinate and the sugar in the dipping sauce it was a great presentation of sugar without being crazy sweet.
Karina and I thought they should have at least placed but the judges didn’t. I suspect the judges like the notion of Mom and Dad continuing to take the main dish next year. I know I do!
That’s Andrea, our hostess, with her carrots. She did a flambé with brandy. She got the judges involved, but most of the group missed that part of the presentation. Her modest entry involved a lot of time and effort and she could have raked in cheers if she’d made it a production. They were perfectly cooked carrots, beautifully plated. Her son Zac (last year’s winner and the other judge) knew one of the extra guests wouldn’t touch carrots. The fact that he not only ate them, but liked them gave Andrea extra bonus points. When they announced her second place the judges said that was the reason.
Karina has been swamped. As a professional baker she’s working extra with catering orders this time of year. Adding to her stress was her assistant quitting right before Christmas production started. Bless her boss for gifting her the perfect solution to our secret ingredient.
The beans are steamed, the nuts are sugared but it’s the sauce on the wings that had the judges attention. Made with pure sugar cane syrup – thank you Alex!
I know this post is getting long, but hey it was a BIG MEAL. We still have to have dessert. I coerced Dylan (Karina’s boyfriend) into being on my team rather than hers. I needed the help! He doesn’t have a lot of cooking experience, but he stepped up with flying colors. With dessert we knew we had to take sugar seriously so we spent a day in my kitchen experimenting with pulled sugar.
In planning for dessert I knew by the time we got here everyone would be too stuffed to want anything too heavy. I had the perfect solution. We made both peppermint and cayenne pepper sticks. I made handcrafted marshmallows. At Andrea’s we made hot cocoa with organic sugar and high-end cocoa powder and to seal the deal spiked it with Bailey’s Irish Cream.
The peppermint and cayenne sticks stuck in the cocoa were perfect. The great part was that dessert was adjustable to taste. Everyone had control of the spices. They could have alcohol or not. I even offered good coffee as an alternative to the cocoa. We got RAVES. Of course Dylan and I thought we should have won. We placed third.
The victor for the day, and judge (along with Butch our host) for next year is our baker: Karina. I’m happy for her. She can use the break over the holidays given her busy work schedule. It also means next year the judging will be at a whole new level. Those two can really talk about food! Watch out family – I’m playing to win!
Posted on December 30, 2013, in Bio, seasonal, winter and tagged Alex Roberts, Brasa, Chopped, Christmas, foodie, sugar. Bookmark the permalink. 9 Comments.
Yum. All that food looks delicious! I always say sugar goes well with everything, and your post proved that. 😉
Happy holidays, Lisa!
It really was a very close competition!
Oh how fun reading this Christmas meal challenge story! I read every word, drooling, even about those entries that didn’t place. It sounds like you all have a blast with your creations. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next year. 🙂
I remember reading about your holiday challenge last year as well– EPIC!! I didn’t realize you were deathly allergic to cinnamon. So sad! Cinnamon is something I could put on just about anything/everything. I eat some cinnamon every. single. day.
Looks like you had a great Christmas, and I wish you all the best for the upcoming year!
It is hard to dodge the cinnamon, especially at this time of year. I felt really bad for messing Darcy up!
Goodness, look at that sweet baby and all the delicious food. Yummy! Makes me hungry, Lisa.
Sara and I have had guests from the US with whom we then traveled around Ecuador. Just got back yesterday. Trying to get back into the swing of things. Hope you had a happy New Year!
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
Happy New Year to the two of you as well. Looking forward to you having time to fill us in on Ecuador at Christmas.
What a meal! Looks scrumptious! The kids are pretty cute, too!
The kids are great!