1st Annual Tidwell Cook-Off!

You read that headline right, in honor of Memorial Day we decided everyone would convene in Ohio to host our 1st annual Big Don Tidwell's cook-off! Big Don is my dad and he taught us all to cook, hence the cook-off being named after him. We split up into teams a few weeks ago, met over the phone and email to plan our menus and grocery shopped once we were all together in Columbus. My mom took care of inviting people, getting decorations, getting t-shirts made and creating a trophy!

Our AWESOME last minute t-shirts!

The trophy!

Each team was required to make: an appetizer, a side, a main dish and a dessert. There were prizes for each category as well as one grand prize for best overall. The judges were our family and friends. What started as a small cook-off for 15 people quickly morphed into one for 50!

The ballot

I'll post all of the recipes (from Team 1 anyways) in the coming week, but for now, here were the menus. We had so many other ideas that we're going to make them for our smaller family BBQ on Monday (specifically homemade potato chips!)

Team 1 (my sister, my niece and I)

Appetizer: Mexican Grilled Corn Crostini

Side Dish: Grilled Vegetable Panzanella Salad

Main Dish: Lemon Thyme Chicken

Dessert: Mini Fruit Pizzas on Homemade Sugar Cookies

Team 2 (my older brother, his girlfriend, my nephew and his friend)

Appetizer: Filet Tenderloin Slider

Side Dish: Asian Slaw

Main Dish: Grilled Spareribs with Bourbon BBQ Sauce

Dessert: Mascarpone Cream Filled Cake with Fresh Berries in Amaretto Liquor

We (Team 1) ended up winning the competition but I think our guests were right when they said they were the real winners for getting to eat all of this delicious food. Clearly they were, when we stumbled into the kitchen after a long day and all that was left was a few berries!

The scorecard

My sister and I with our great trophy

The winners - we're number 1!