Eating Your Words 2010: The Winner!

We knew it wasn't going to be easy.

Given the extraordinary caliber of creativity displayed by the entries for Eating Your Words 2010, Jennifer of Savor the Thyme and I were happy to cede the task of picking a winner to our esteemed guest judge, Andrew Zimmern. After days of deep deliberation, one entry finally spoke clearly above all the others . . .

Scrabble Cookies by Caroline of When Adobo Met Feijoada

Caroline's clever little confections perfectly mimicked this beloved word game and gave new meaning to the phrase 'playing with your food' - all the while letting the food do the talking! The message wasn't lost on Andrew, who wrote:

"Caroline's Scrabble board takes the cake for four reasons:

1. 'Zimmern' is worth almost 100 points in Scrabble;

2. I respect the artist's restraint. With the remaining letters, I would have been tempted to spell 'wiener' and/or 'poop';

3. Who doesn't like Meyer lemon cookies?

4. Hello Mister Zimmern, Pick Me . . . simply genius. "

Congratulations, Caroline! Your winning entry will appear on Andrew's blog and you will receive an aebleskiver pan from Aunt Else's Aebleskiver. We hope that you and your family will enjoy the many delicious treats you will undoubtedly create with this beautiful piece of cookware. Perhaps you'll share with us some Brazilian-Filipino fillings for the pancake balls . . . ?

There were so many fabulous entries that Andrew really did have a tough time making a final choice and as such, also gave us his runners-up for honorable mentions:

Spelling with Sushi by Phyllis and Kris of me_HUNGRY 

If you're not already a sushi fan, this vibrantly colorful and intricate dish should convert you!

Magnetic Poetry Kit Cookies by Meaghan of The Decorated Cookie

After composing a love poem, who wouldn't love consuming the poetic composition?

We had a few entries that unfortunately didn't quite meet the rules for prize eligibility, but one caught Andrew's eye: the Andy Warhol-esque mushroom image from Sanura at My Life Runs on Food. Sometimes, a picture is worth quite a few words.

Congratulations to Caroline and the honorable mentions, as well as to all of our participants. Also, Jennifer and I would like to express our deep gratitude to Andrew Zimmern, for taking on the challenge of choosing from among such an outstanding pool of entries, and to Chad Gillard and Aunt Else's Aebleskiver, whose generosity allowed us to present a prize worthy of the imagination and hardwork that went into these incredible submissions.  

Thank you all for making Eating Your Words 2010 such a success!

Jennifer and I hope you'll join us again next year . . .