...or, wherein I find out that Ilan Hall is actually super nice, and pretty funny in real life. He totally forgave me for making fun of him and everything (for the record, he is NOT afraid of starfucking fangirls, and isn't into the dick. He was just trying to sleep when I tried to prank him). When he opens Gorbles (his coming-soon restaurant in LA - Scottish and Jewish!), go give him lots of your money and eat his bacon-wrapped matzo balls.
So, last Thursday was the 2008 Tillamook Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off. It's the 100-year anniversary of Tillamook Dairy, so I think their PR firm really busted out all the stops. Next year I'll enter a recipe, but this year I attended to cheer on fellow blogger and hottie Catherine Wilkinson of The Dish. She hasn't been blogging much these days, but she doesn't have any kids left to get sick or married, so she thinks she might be getting her groove back soon.
Catherine didn't win the cash money prize, but she did win the Widmer Brothers (local beer-makers) Brewmasters Choice award. One of you is saying "boo-urns", but the rest of you are saying "boo." And rightly so. Fuck sake, even the god-fearing dairy farmers and cheese-makers themselves voted for hers!
The Josis of Wilsonview Dairy
I also got to meet the Dairy Princess. For some reason, I was completely smitten with her (seriously, I have like 6 pictures of her), and wanted to see her get a little drunk. Such boorish behavior never befits a princess, though, and she was, in fact, a perfect lady all evening.
Look at Catherine's mac & chee. It's truly boner-making, isn't it? The fuck is up with some weird mac & chee sweet potato casserole winning? It was good, sure, but I really wonder if it wasn't just the Oregonian penchant for bong hits doing the voting here.
There were about a dozen or so judges, and the event on the whole was really well-attended. This was a good thing, as I passed out about a million of my Foodbuzz blog cards. I'm still waiting for that sweet spike in blog traffic. Yep, any day now....
Anyway, she was a really good sport about it. I don't know what I would've done. Prolly gotten drunk and pulled someone's hair. Or tried to make out with the Dairy Princess.
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25 comments:
LOL! I love the write up! The Dairy Princess is cute...i friggin love the mac and cheese shot Heather!...great shooting.
Hm, just out of curiosity, did you mean fellow blogger and hottie or fellow (blogger and hottie), following the distributive property of math? My vote is the latter, whoo-hoo!
I shudder with anticipation over the increase in blog traffic, if only to get the winner here and defend the sweet potato mac and chee creation. Catherine's is boner-inducing indeed. Ahem.
Hmmmm, I agree. I am skeptical of the sweet potato mac and cheese. Maybe I would have to have been there. Nice documenting though, I like your new camera!!....
I take serious southern-girl offense to the bastardization of mac & cheese (like the winner did). And I love watching a chick wearing a tiara and sash get smashed. That's probably also attributable to southern roots.
Your carzy! Trying to corrupt the sweet Dairy Princess. You sound like you had a ball! Those contests are frustrating because you really put your heart and soul into it something weird wins. Im still stewing about last Christmas' company Bake off. A navy bean cheese cake won over me( his riff on bean pies)!
I'm saying Boo! (although I do love a Simpsons reference). Sounds like a really fun event as well as being a travesty of justice.
BTW - roasted tomato bechamel has been requested on the foodycat mac & chee tonight. You have a convert!
Hint: If you really want to increase your blog traffic, post pictures of you making out with the princess. Also, bong hits a plus, also. You betcha!
haha - i've just made a big -eff-off pit of mac & cheese to accompany this afternoon's Football. Then I saw this, and realised nothing I could do will match these guys. Jesus, you Americans sure do love that mac & cheese!
Th masses must have been highly under the effects to not have voted for Cathy's cheesy, gooey creation. It sure sounded like a blast though. Go food bloggers!!!!!!!!!!!
Great use of your new camera Heather! This looked like a fun event. Though am really confused as to how mac and cheese could win using sweet potato???!!!
Peter has given you a good piece of advise there...
Sweet potato mac n cheese casserole? Yeah, that would not get my vote. But you mentioned Catherine would be using chanteralles, which is an automatic win. Especially for an Oregon contest.
Thses judges clearly did not appreciate the concept of using local shrooms with local cheese.
assholes.
I'm envious. I don't think we have anything like a mac 'n' chee cookoff in California.
Though I would win with my pizza-flavored mac 'n' chee.
Great post!
And, for the record, I would have TOTALLY voted for that mac 'n' cheese. And for the dairy princess.
sweet potato? harumph... There's a time and a place, people...
Great write up and pics!
Now, what is missing from this post??? Oh yeah...the part where Heather is yelling at the raffle ticket guy from Tillamook to "PICK ME, PICK FUCKIN' ME!!!" I didn't know that free ice cream could do it for her.
We had soooo much fun. Heather is, well, Heather is mucho caliente! Gorgeous, hilarious, super sick, and my hero - you should have seen those chanties! Lushness!
I'm cool with my 'beer tap' trophy! It's not as cool as $5,000 (I was so totally going to Bhutan!), but it's all good. The best part was meeting and hanging with our Heather. And her spousal unit is major cuteness multiplied by very sweet and nice - especially to put up with our insanity.
And the sweet potato winner...never got to taste it, but the winner was super sweet and sometimes you gotta just let that stuff roll.
Heather...you're the best. Seriously. Thanks so much.
Petah - The Dairy Princess was so cute. And nice, and goofy. Perfect traits for a princess.
Mark - Haha, it had occurred to me to say "fellow hottie blogger", but your mathematical breakdown is impressive.
Tammy! - It was very fun tasting all the different macs and chee, and drinking free hefeweizen. Next year!
Syd - I think your fondness for seeing a girl in a tiara and sash get smashed is attributable to your fondness for making out with drunk princesses.
Courtney - I didn't try to corrupt her! I just wanted to see her get a little shwilly. :) That bean cheesecake sounds like a Dutch oven waiting to happen. :P
Foodycat - I was wondering who would be the first to get the Simpsons reference! And it's a Brit girl.
Jube - I like that you threw in the "you betcha" at the end. Really drives it home. But we don't talk like Wisconsinites here, not even the dairy folk.
Leigh - That's like saying "you Brits sure like your fish and chips". ;)
Valli - Hers was a pure cream and cheese sauce too. Pure decadence. She was very gracious about not winning.
Judy - There were big slices of it throughout, and it was more like something I'd expect at the Thanksgiving table.
Brittany - Some of the judges appreciated it, just not enough of them. ;(
Cookiecrumb - Pizza? Now that's what I call mac & chee!
Lo - The Dairy Princess already got enough votes. :P
Kittie - I know, right? Oh well. Next time!
Catherine - The plezh was all mine, I promise. (btw, I was screaming for the free cheese)
I may be resident in the UK but everything I know of value is from the Simpsons. Yesterday I got to say "zookeeper, those two monkeys are killing each other".
wow! was that really ilan? i can't recognize him under the beard! that mac n cheese looks AWESOME, i'm so bummed you didn't win... i really liked your recipes. mac and sweet potato? huh. i'm a traditionalist when it comes to mac n cheese. oh well. your post cracked me up :)
Hilarious. Dunno about sweet mac a cheese, but did try it with cauliflower recently. Sounds like sacrilege, I know, but it was really great. Maybe it was the 10 lbs. of cheese I put in it...
Whoa, you are pretty funny. But no recipe? If nothing else get Catherine drunk and get it from her.
What the hell is up with Ilan?
I didn't recognize him.
i though Ilan was into Spanish food...why does he look like a rabbi from brooklyn? odd. you writes funny.
Thanks for the link, Heather...and the chat. I think I remember what we were talking about. (yay, wine!)
I've never put much effort into learning a good Mac & Cheese recipe, but I need to. My husband says it's the only think I can't cook well. HMM!
Personally, I think my M&C is good, but apparently he doesn't. And he is completely inept at explaining exactly what it is about it that isn't right. Now, I'm not really into Paula Deen type food (not that I wouldn't LOVE to have her cook for me for a few days!) but let's face it, it's just not healthy. That kind of food makes you fat and slow. Sure, it's fine in moderation, but Mac & Cheese is not something I can eat just a few bites of. I prefer a bucket.
Personally I think you're great! Amazing even :)
So my friend randomly found your blog and decided I better check it out to see what you wrote! So I did, obviously.
Thanks for including me in your blog! Glad I could entertain you!
I'm a fun time, what can I say?!?!:)
<3 Katie-The Dairy Princess
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