How to Enter the Instructables Cooking Contest

by Weissensteinburg

2.1K114

Intro: How to Enter the Instructables Cooking Contest

There are so many instructables on how to make different foods, but what is the best food that the instructables community can think of? That's what I'm set to find out.

For easy access: Contest Group

Edit: The contest has ended. Results can be found here.

STEP 1: Criteria

We want this contest to be a learning experience for you too. That being said, don't post up how to cook up your favorite recipe that you found in an old cook book. We want this to be something developed by you.

Here are some examples that would be great:

*You saw a picture of a dish in a magazine, and tried to replicate it.
*You took making a simple pizza from store bought ingredients up to the next level by altering the sauce with new ingredients, adding cheese into the dough as you knead and stuffing the crust.
*You were watching a cooking show on tv, and only liked the idea of the recipe they were making, so you took that dish and made it your own!
*Or best of all, it's just a recipe you made as you went, and perfected over many preparations!

(You get extra points for inventing the recipe specifically for this contest...obviously we're on the honor system in that regard...so it won't be that much extra)

You can enter as many instructables as you want, and more than one of yours can get in the top five.

STEP 2: Judging and Prizes

*All entries need to be submitted by 12:00 AM, July 9th, 2007 EST.

I will judge all of the submissions based on the following characteristics:

*Completeness
*Spelling and grammar
*Adequate pictures
*How easy it is to replicate
*Whether or not it is new
*If you posted a story behind it
*Originality
*Presentation
*Appeal

Using that, and the rating of each instructable, they will narrowed it down to the five top instructables. Everyone in the top five will receive stickers and a patch. From the top five, The Grand Panel of Judges will select a winner to receive the grand prize (details below).

Who exactly is on this "The Grand Panel of Judges?"

*Myself, of course
*My Dad, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America
*My Mom, she is "that lady" the Jewish woman whose cooking everybody loves, who still makes her Grandmothers amazing recipes

...obviously, I am not eligible to win ; )

How are you going to make this worth my while?

Well...the Grand Prize Winner will get to select from any of the following Grand Prizes:

*Laser engraved cutting board
*Laser engraved wooden spoons
or
*Laser engraved spatula set

You can enter as many instructables as you want, and more than one of yours can get in the top five.

STEP 3: Resources

Here are some things to help you with your ventures:

Instructables

How to make a great instructable

How to cook

How to add an instructable to a group

My Sister's Kitchen (To give you inspiration)

Methods

Cooking Resourcefully

Please feel free to suggest more links to add.

STEP 4: How to Submit Your Instructable

In order to be eligible to win, add your instructable to the Cooking Contest Group by
12:00 AM July 9, 2007 EST

Have fun!

*Note the rules of this contest are subject to change

14 Comments

!Andrew_Modder! 16 years ago

;-( i have developed MANY From scratch recipes, in which are superior, and tasty. But.. my digital camera broke!!! so i cant enter! :-(

Weissensteinburg 16 years ago

If you really want to, you could use one of the disposable CVS one, or just get a disposable camera, and ask for the pictures on a CD.

Weissensteinburg 16 years ago

In the former example, I meant a cvs disposable digital camera

heyzuphowsitgoin 16 years ago

o, and if i retake the pics, will i need to show it iced or plain... i only made the cake but people can ice it their own way/

heyzuphowsitgoin 16 years ago

i made up a great cake but my bro deleted all the pics >( i hav half. Will that work?

dchall8 16 years ago

I have some questions about the judging. Your comments are in italic below.

I will judge all of the submissions based on the following characteristics:
*Completeness

Do you mean that the Instructable lists the ingredients, lists the steps in the cooking process, describes how to remove it from any cooking containers it might be stuck to, and suggests how to serve it?

*Spelling and grammar

So recipe my for enchiladas, writ in Spanish, needs to be translated, write?

*Adequate pictures

Do you mean pictures of how things are supposed to look when the recipe is going according to plan?

*How easy it is to replicate

No pinches or handfuls of anything?

*Whether or not it is new

Are chocolate chip cookies new? Or is my secret ingredient for CCC new?

*If you posted a story behind it

Like, "It was Thanksgiving of 1969, we were all at my grandmother's house, and I was making my grandmother's famous chocolate cake. Unfortunately I forgot to add the oil so I ended up with a giant chocolate biscuit. I was humiliated in front of the entire family and have never been invited back to family gatherings. We fed almost all of the "cake" to the dog, but I ate a piece anyway. It wasn't bad. Since then I've perfected the recipe and now I'm selling them for $6.50 per 2-inch square biscuit on the Las Vegas strip. So suck it family!"

*Originality

How does this differ from whether the recipe is new or not?

*Presentation

Two pictures of chocolate chip cookies: One is a sheet of cookies coming out of the oven on a well-used cookie sheet. The second is a picture of two of the same cookies on Blue Willow china, one cookie overlapping the other, with chocolate shavings and a drizzle of raspberry sauce doing switchbacks across the cookie. Is one presented better than the other?

*Appeal

So how does fresh okra salad with cooked spinach garnish and baked Tofurkey croutons appeal to you? Is that more or less appealing than chocolate chip cookies?

Weissensteinburg 16 years ago

First off, I'll let you know, not all of the categories will be worth the same. I'll be using a point system, and will assign a certain number of points to each categories, and some will have more than others. For isntance, the story, and if it's new won't count as much as having enough pictures, or explaining it right. 1. Exactly, It just needs to document the process from beginning to end. And, if applicable, any mistakes you made while developing the process. 2. Although instructables are allowed to be written in other languages..I'd have a tough time scoring one written in Spanish. 3. Yes...I'd rather not have an instructable on cookies with pictures from an instructable on how not to make cookies. 4. Well pinches and handfuls can be find if it's not something that needs to be exact....so no pinches of baking soda in bread recipes ;) I'm judging this section on how easily it is to follow, If I were to make it. 5. This section is more if you made it for this contest...just to show you put in that extra effort..it will only be worth one point, because this is on the honor system. 6. Yeah...that would be a great story..lol 7. Like I said, new is if you made it for this contest. You would get more points here for your "fresh okra salad with cooked spinach garnish and baked Tofurkey croutons" than you would your cookies. 8. Although the second one would be great, this is a more discretionary section. I will base this on how well you convince me to want them, I'll use some comments for opinions on how good the dish seems to them as well. If you just go haphazardly at it, and don't put out an effort to make me want them, you won't do as well here. After all, what good is a recipe no one wants to make? I'm not sure if you actually were wondering, or were being sarcastic for most of that..but I hope I helped.

dchall8 16 years ago

No, I was serious, even if my examples were less serious. Thanks. You cleared some things up that I misunderstood. Plus the discussion about cameras wasn't going anywhere good.

Weissensteinburg 16 years ago

Sorry, don't read number 8..I messed it up here: 8. Although number the second one is good, I want to know how well you present your dish to us. I won't take off points for not having it on china, but keeping them on the baking pan probably wouldn't get you full credit. 9. This is a more discretionary section. I will base this on how well you convince me to want them, I'll use some comments for opinions on how good the dish seems to them as well. If you just go haphazardly at it, and don't put out an effort to make me want them, you won't do as well here. After all, what good is a recipe no one wants to make?

Weissensteinburg 16 years ago

I've added two more links to the resources page, thanks to drinkmorecofee.

Brennn10 16 years ago

Thanks Weissensteinberg for letting me know!