Blogstyle Iron Chef: Pickles!

Well, this month certainly was a challenge.  Who woulda thunk it would be so unappetizing to the masses to come up with a recipe involving pickles? 

Sorry Chairman ~

there clearly is a reason Food Network has not used pickles as it's secret ingredient.

We had two brave souls willing to battle for the October Blogstyle Iron Chef title:

 Sarah @ I Blame My Mother with Pickle Rolls



Cheryl @ Spinning Coaster with Fried Pickles

In true Iron Chef style, I sat my judges and the chairman down at our dining room table. {after I cleaned off my mountains of coupons, *ahem*}

Now, before we get to the tantalizing dishes, let me first introduce our judges:

Our first judge is a pickle connoisseur and often eats them straight from the jar,

Nathan!

Our second judge is a picky pickle eater and prefers hers sliced rather than whole,

Lillian!

Our third and final judge is the hardest to please, choosing to spit out what does not please his palate,

Topher!

Thank you judges!

First, we offer to your discriminating taste buds a fine combination of Brown Sugar Ham, Cream Cheese and a large dill pickle.  For garnish, a smear of sour cream and a squiggle of mustard - this is simply for show, seriously - don't eat it with the pickle. Bleck!

Last but not least, we offer to our esteemed judges the ultimate in late night bar food: pickles, deep fried and served with a side of Ranch, the good stuff, no wimpy light or fat free stuff on this plate!

Curious use of a "Finding Nemo" plate... wonder if the chef is getting you prepared for a night at the rim of the large fish bowl in the girls room after eating so much fried goodness???

After careful consideration and 3 reminders of the rating scale {"yes, Topher - 5 means the best, so 1 means worst"}, the judges have reached their decision...

The winner, by 2 points:

Fried Pickles!

To see how it all shakes out, head over to Heidi's house at Sacred and Profane.  Ooooo - I can hardly wait to see who will be the proud owner of the Pick-a-deli, certainly a dilly of a prize!

A special thank you to my ever tolerant husband who humors me and to my little ones for being willing to stay up past your bedtime to eat high fat snacks just before going to bed {like I had to twist those arms...}.

Blogstyle Iron Chef Challenge!

Welcome to the guest blog of Blogstyle Iron Chef! 

Now, first things first.  If you are new to Iron Chef, take a moment, click here and see what the contest is all about.

Welcome back, to those who are not new and to those who left to find out about the hullabaloo!

This month I am so excited to shake things up over at Sacred and Profane, the home of Blogstyle Iron Chef.  After winning a Blogstyle Iron Chef with my Slow Cooker Roast recipe, being a guest judge and attempting Sous Chef to my 3yr old daughters winning recipe in the kid challenge I figure it is time to get on the flip side of it.  Yup, Heidi is lettin' me wear the awesome title of Co-host!  Go me. Go me. It's my birthday. {um, no it isn't, but feel free to send gifts anyway}.  Woo hoo!

Here's how it works, in general terms: 

• Heidi and I are revealing the secret ingredient today.
• You post a recipe or find one you've already posted that incorporates the secret ingredient.
• Leave a comment at Sacred and Profane by next Tuesday with the link to your entry and Heidi will add it to her post.
• Next Wednesday we'll use Random.org to pick 3 contestants for the month and we will announce those contestants. 

Heidi will have a poll in her sidebar for voting as well as voting from guest judges, be sure to steer people to her blog.

The winner will be announced on the last Wednesday of October and prizes will be awarded!

What does it take to be a guest judge you wonder?  Oh, my friend, wonder no more!  A guest judge simply agrees to try all three dishes and let one of us know via email which was your favorite. It is super fun to post your thoughts on your blog, but not a requirement.  If this sounds like your calling, contact Heidi here.  No, go ahead, she doesn't bite, and while you are there look around her blog - it is hi-lar-i-ous.

On to the prizes...no, wait..not quite yet...how about if we reveal the secret ingredient, first?

{Cue menacing music...}

The Chairman has entered the building! 

*swoon*

Chairman Schweri, we must know,what is our ingredient for October???

...PICKLES!!!

Dill, sweet, bread and butter, homemade, candied, baby, half sour, fermented, german - it doesn't matter! You pick the pickle!


Let me be clear - you don't have to make a pickle. Thank goodness, that would take forever! 

We are looking for you to post a recipe that FEATURES pickles as one of the main ingredients. Things like Pickled Meat Loaf or
Pickled Tortilla Roll-Ups or perhaps you make a killer Fried Pickle? Let's have 'em! Post your Pickle recipes!!


The winner of this competition will win a $10 Gift Card to Target, Walmart or Smith's courtesy of Heidi, as well as this LOVELY prize, compliments of Michelle, the Tupper Queen!

How did I come up with such a fitting prize? All of the pickles I hauled out for the Chairman's picture would not go back in to their respective jars, so I called to duty my trusty 'ol Tupperware Pick-a-Deli, and I just knew the winner must have one too!

So, there ya have it. The contest, the ingredient and the prizes. What are you waiting for?

"Allez! Cuisinez!"

22 of 52

Beach Babes...

tryin' to make the most of a very not-so-hot summer at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon.

Forever in Blue Jeans, party at Carin's place!

******************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
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20 of 52

Good friends are essential in life. Why is it in our efforts to be a good friend we rarely call on our friends to help us out {imagine!}, but often insist they call us when help is needed?

If you don't know what I am talking about then may I suggest a new set of friends? Oooo, is that a bit of "tough love" I am throwing out? You bet and I feel the best to deal it because I am notorious for wondering why my friends didn't call me to watch their children or to make them a meal or to pick up something in a time of need and yet, and yet, who do I call when I am on the potential receiving end - um, not a single person except perhaps my parents {and I am fairly certain I have tapped that line too much already}.

When we were losing our house a few years ago and I attempted to work a third shift factory job to save it who did I call on to help watch my three young children so I could sleep? Not a single person... instead I fought to stay awake all day after working until Patrick came home at 6:30pm. I can not even tell you how much it still hurts me when I think of the look of my dear neighbor when I finally came clean about that summer and she knew I did not lean on her to watch the kids... something I will never do to a friend again.

What leads me to this? Well, this email is super deep for all that it amounts to is a picture of Patrick and myself out hiking at Snug Harbor. Do you know why we were able to take that hike? I took the time to ask my friend if she had a few hours in her day to take my children so that we could have some "kid free" time. We have done this more in the past two months than the whole 10 years of our marriage. It has finally dawned on me that my friends are far more likely to take me up on offers of help if I allow them to help me first.

If I hadn't taken the time look at what we would have missed...

Visit Forever in Blue Jeans, this is catchin' on!

******************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
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10 Amazing Years

Ten years later and still so in love...

St. John's Episcopal Church, Alma, MI

July 24, 1999

The hottest day that summer!

Our wedding party

Ballard side of the family

Morrison side of the family

Schweri side of the family

Mother-Son Dance

Father-Daughter Dance

First Dance

Our wedding photographer had one heck of a sense of humor

The cake was good but really under-decorated in hind sight

Bridesmaids sneaking some groom time

Bride surrounded by handsome faces

Millionth kiss to the clinking of glasses
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Remembering those we've lost in the past ten years:

Patrick's Dad

My Uncle Greg, a very talented man who played the music at our wedding

My Grandpa Stewart

Father's Day Fun

What a fun Father's Day! We started out with a special gift for Patrick, a hard bound book full of pictures of the kids. We snuck away to the park a week before Nathan left for his loooong trip to Mexico (and thus missed Father's Day) and I snapped pictures of the kids wearing three of Patrick's favorite Redwings hockey jerseys. Lilly is wearing a jersey with our last name that I had made for Patrick as a wedding gift, almost 10 years ago.

We enjoyed breakfast at Perkins, picked up a few snacks and bottled water and headed out to Michigan's Adventure! Topher had fun taking Daddy on all of the rides he is finally tall enough for, he is far more of a thrill seeker than I would have ever imagined.

Lilly loved the "flying" elephants and airplanes but freaked out on the log ride, we generated many stares from people as she screamed her head off. The water park was a wonderful and refreshing treat in the hot afternoon.

What a fun way to spend Father's Day!