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I've never entered a cooking contest but I'm thinking about giving it a try. My biggest problem is that most of my cooking is done by eye and by taste, so I'm going to have to spend some serious time measuring things so I can submit the recipes.

Have you seen the FN Ultimate Recipe Contest? That would be a good one to win. $25 grand. I could find a way to use that.

Same here and I'm sure the rules are really strict. Pillsbury grand prize is a million dollars and new GE appliances. Boy, I sure could use those appliances! LOL

@PerkyMac...I downloaded an application, filled it in and was chosen to be interviewed by the producer. Little did I know that my wife contacted them and pitched the idea of having her challenge me, but keeping it a secret. So they interviewed her separately and they went with us.

So we were both sitting in the audience, me with my shopping bag of ingredients I had chosen, when they announced me and called me down to the stage. They then called for my opponent and lo and behold it was my sweetie.

It was a lot of fun; we bantered back and forth and joked around a lot. I busted her about not knowing her way around the kitchen, asking if she was making her specialty, Kraft Mac & Cheese, etc. In the end I "won" with tilapia with a gorgonzola cream sauce over spinach fettecini with sauteed tomatillos. I forgt what she made. 1st prize was the knives, runner up got the blender. Being married and getting both prizes, I guess you can say we both won.

I've entered a few contests, but never made it to the demonstration stage.

I have had a few recipes chosen for inclusion in recipe books, magazines, web sites and even a video game.

C'mon de facto Grandpa - you know you've got to explain the video game recipe. You can't just leave that hanging out there in cyberspace!

Congrats on all the chosen ones - you were remunerated or just felt rewarded?

We moved to AZ last April, but for the six years or so before that, I always entered some of the cooking contests at the State Fair of Texas. I didn't do the contests where you had to cook at the fairgrounds, but rather the contests where you cook the items at home and bring them in for judging. There are 21 days of contests with varying themes and ingredients, so it's a lot of fun. I need to look into the Fair here to see what contests they have.

I have, and my recipe was chosen as one of the 10 regional semi-finalists (there were three regional semi-finals, 10 recipes were chosen for each of them. After that, 2 winners from each group went to the final cook-off in NYC). While I was incredibly excited, I have a huge problem with TV cameras and exposure (I so know what you're talking about, ErikaWaz!). So much so that I kept hoping to get sick and not have to show up for our regional cook-off in Newark:-).

Well, I didn't get sick, but I had another problem - we were given an hour to cook, and for 30 minutes of that hour they couldn't find me a food processor I explicitly listed as "necessary equipment" in my application. So imagine that - everybody is cooking away, cameras and reporters are everywhere, and I am waiting for a food processor! The most unpleasant part of this came when one of the contest PR people tried to tell me (in quite a nasty way) that I didn't ask for the said FP in my application - basically, she told me I was lying (luckily, I had a copy of it with me or I would have believed her myself). Up to that point, I was actually taking it all in good fun and making fun of me and my luck, but this made me feel sick to my stomach. I do realise that it's human nature - when people do something wrong, it's always easy to blame it on someone else, but I felt like crying. However, I did, eventually got the FP, managed to complete my recipe (albeit 10 minutes after we were supposed to stop cooking but still in time for the judges' tasting) and was awfully chuffed when people were lining up to try a piece and fought over the last bite! Hubby later told me that I was the only contestant giving food away to the general public:-)

Of course, I wasn't one of the two winners who advanced to the finals:-). Don't tell my husband, but I was actually relieved because I certainly did not want to go through all that again - ever! And I certainly had enough cameras and reporters in my face for the rest of my life. But all that aside, every time I remember the queue in front of my station and people's reaction after they tasted my food, it makes me smile and feel really, really good. I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but it's true.

I entered a local "International" cooking contest when I lived in Baton Rouge. I won first prize in the appetizer category and was then called and subsequently interviewed by a food writer for the Times Picayune. I prepared several recipes for her and there was an article devoted to me and my recipes. :) I've also been involved in a gingerbreading contest. While I didn't expect to win when placed against some local chefs, I was peeved to lose to a competitor who used inedible products when the contest rules stated "edible ingredients only". I complained and the contest sponsor agreed that they overlooked the rules. Oh, well. At least I got lots of compliments from some really talented chefs!