- Borrow grills from your neighbors in advance. Make a square with the grills -- they are the anchors for each point of the square.
- Two teams will share a six-foot table. Skirt the table with the colors that will coordinate with each team's uniforms (figure A).
- We hung our banner over the common area. The common area is where you put the spices and ingredients (figure B) that will help the teams make a really creative meal. These items are fair game for the teams to use in their potatoes and burgers.
Note: If it happens to be real windy when you have your party, you can cut some slits in the banner (figure C), so that the wind will go through it instead of on top of it. - The items you use can be items found in the hosts' pantry and refrigerator. Some items you can use are:
Canned soups (tomato, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken)
Soup packets (soup onion mix, vegetable soup mix
Various types of pastas
Tabasco
Soy sauce
Salad dressings
Marinades
Spices - You will also need to provide utensils for each team (i.e. spatulas, tongs, wood stirrers, knives, etc.)
- For the judges table, the teams will need to write their recipe down. For the recipes, you can use the same color theme for each team (figure D).
- Your teams may come up with some really unique recipes (figure E). Here is what our teams came up with:
Black and Blue Burger that consisted of hot sauce, bleu cheese, catsup, pepper and basil, their secret ingredient. They also flavored the baked potatoes with bleu cheese, butter and basil. Hawaiian Burger consisted of the secret ingredient, orange marmalade, and they combined it with peach and pineapple juice, lemon pepper, and ginger to create their Hawaiian burger. Instead of baking their potatoes, they diced them and sauteed them in oil with black pepper, lemon pepper, orange marmalade, peaches, and ginger. Mexican Burger consisted of their secret ingredient, jalapeno peppers, black beans, and corn. For their potatoes they used the same ingredients as they used in their burgers. Power Burger consisted of the secret ingredient, roasted red peppers, and seasoned salt, pesto, black pepper, salsa, black olives, cumin and cracked red pepper. - The host and hostess will be the judges for the contest. For the prize, we stuffed a chef hat with newspaper, hardened it with fabric stiffener and then spray painted it gold. It was then mounted to a piece of fabric covered cardboard (figure F). The burgers can be judged on a point system. Points can be given for Taste, Creativity and Presentation.
Expert Tip: Jeff Robinson, Culinary Expert, says that whenever you want to do something different with potatoes, there are a lot of things you can do. You can make French fries, spicy French fries, potato chips, etc. There are a variety of food processors that will slice potatoes in lots of ways so you could create something interesting. He also says that whenever you are trying to do something different with your hamburgers and you want to do a gourmet hamburger bar, try different spices. There are many different spices available at the grocery store. Just try one at a time to see what happens. Also, there are many different cheeses for cheeseburgers. Try something new to make your grill out a little different.
RESOURCES :
Backyard Gatherings: A Collection of Fresh Ideas, Recipes and Easy ...
Model: 1888052252
Author: Gooseberry Patch
(October, 1997)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
Gooseberry Patch
Delaware, OH 43015
Fax: 740-363-7225
Sophisticated Entertaining: Spirited Food for Grown-Up Parties
1557883459
Jeanne Benedict
(October, 2000)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
HP Books
Tool, Equipment and Special Event Rental (HSS RentX)
HSS RentX
Denver, CO 80222
Website: www.hss.com/usa.shtml
Decorating Fabric: Print, Stencil, Paint and Dye100 Inspirational Projects
Model: 0754806766
Author: Susie Stokoe
(March, 2001)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
Lorenz Books / Anness Publishing Inc.
Website: www.lorenzbooks.com
Iron Chef: The Official Book
Model: 0425180883
Author: Kaoru Hoketsu
(May, 2001)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
The Berkeley Publishing Group
New York, NY 10014
Phone: 212-366-2000
Grilling (Williams-Sonoma Collection)
Model: 0743226429
Author: Denis Kelly
(June, 2002)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
Scribner Book Co./Simon and Schuster
New York, NY 10020
Phone: 212-698-7000
GUESTS :
Marc Friedland
Image Expert
Creative Intelligence
4988 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
Phone: 323-936-9009
E-mail: mf@creative-intelligence.com
Jeff Robinson
2700 E. Broadway
Maryville, TN 37804
Phone: 865-740-7791
Culinary Expert
Private Chefs, Inc.
Krista Lawlor
Craft Expert
Creative Ta Da
E-mail: creativetada@bellsouth.net
Website: www.creativetada.etsy.com
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