Ladies and gentlemen, bloggers and blogettes, masters and mistresses of the universe, I hereby announce the 2nd Annual 5 Second Rule Virtual Cookie Swap!
[Quick break as crowd roars its enthusiastic approval.]
Last year, the venerable Diva on a Diet took home the big prize for her winning Hungarian Horns. What did she win? A box of lemons from my Meyer lemon tree, and a stack of 5 Second Rule note cards. I even got to meet Diva, who lives in New York, at a San Fransisco blogging conference earlier this fall, so that was a thrill.
But I'm off topic!
The rules are only slightly different this year, and the prize is EVEN BETTER.
The Rules: Just like last year, describe (but don't actually give) your favorite homemade cookie in a few short sentences in the comments section. Your prose should make our lips tremble, our bellies grumble, and our dental cavities quake. This should be a cookie you have made before with great success, because honestly, I don't want to make nasty cookies. If the cookie recipe isn't originally yours, that's okay -- just tell us whose it is and what you do when you bake it to make it your own. Do not submit links or actual step-by-step recipes at this stage.
The Judging: After the entries are all submitted, you -- the readers -- will also act as the preliminary judges. I will write a follow-up post next week, and you will have two days to vote for your favorite cookie concepts to determine the 3 finalists. I will not permit ties this year (I have a book to write) so in the event of a tie, I will announce a concept-off on my 5SR Facebook page, and fans of that page will break the tie by voting within 24 hours.
I will then contact the 3 finalists and ask them to email me their recipes.
The Winners: Then I, or any of my associates whom I deem worthy (and who may be related to me or live in my neighborhood), will bake up the finalists' cookies. Judges will be tapped, and we will taste all the cookies and announce a single grand prize winner. (We will follow the judging model from last year's pecan pie bakeoff.) The two runners-up will get bragging rights, but no prize. Sorry -- no soup for you.
The *WILD CARD*: There will also be a wild-card raffle. Everyone who participates by submitting a cookie description in the comments below will be entered in a random drawing to win a prize. There will be only 1 wild card winner.
The PRIZE: I have not one, but two copies of the newly released cookbook by Jill O'Connor: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids (Chronicle Books, 2009) to give away. Jill is a pastry chef, hilarious author, and a friend of mine (see my disclosure) and I will devote a separate post to her wonderful new book next week. One book will go to the Grand Prize Winner and one will go to the Wild Card Winner. Will these two winners also get a few 5SR note cards or Meyer lemons in their prize boxes? Perhaps!
So go ahead. Leave your concept below. This space will remain open until Monday night, 12/7/09 at midnight PST.
[p.s. My sincere thanks to Heather W. for her contribution to the food bank! We're at $150. Can we reach $200?]
