Gourmet Garden Bloggers Cook Off In Noosa

Isn't it amazing where blogging can take you?  The opportunities can be wonderful, but no one is going to hand you anything on a platter, you have to get out there and chase it.  I learned that very early in life and it has served me well.  And so it was that I entered the Gourmet Garden Herbs and Spices search for Australia's "Best Blogger come Cook" competition.  That was over a year ago and it will culminate in the final later this week on the Sunshine Coast, to be held in conjunction with the Noosa International Food and Wine Festival.

For the next three days, I will be enjoying this opportunity that blogging has presented me with.  I like this kind of competition, because it is based on merit.  It's not a popularity contest, where I have to ask anyone to vote for me.  I have never been good at popularity contests on this blog nor in real life, because I cannot sustain being something I am not, for long.

This competition is all about the cooking, the Gourmet Garden Herbs and Spices and how we put it all together.

I have finally constructed a nice tasting dish as my entry, which at least now puts me in the ball park.  I have a 1 in 9 chance of winning the $2000 in cash and the $5000, 12 month ambassadorship witrh Gourmet Garden.  It's going to be difficult to pull off, but whatever happens with regards to my result, it will be entirely up to me.

Here's how I did it last time in the semi finals, encapsulated in a little 6 minute video.  It is the professional me, not the mummy me, screeching around the Beach House after the kiddos.  It will give you some idea what I will be up to in Noosa this week.  Click on the photo below to see the video.

The Chinese Pepper Steak recipe I cooked for the semi final, is here.

I have some wonderful competition.  We have been chatting on Twitter this week and have arranged a couple of dinners at some of Noosa's top restaurants. This being Noosa International Food and Wine Festival week, I expect the buzz in town will be up beat. The business end of the event comes on Friday, when we all prepare our dish to be judged by Sammy and Bella, winners of the first series of My Kitchen Rules.  There will be an Australian winner and an international winner.

You can check out the blogs and the cooks behind them, who have made the final, by clicking on the shots of the bloggers or their logos below.

Somewhere Around Here Blog

You can follow all the antics of the final in Noosa on twitter and instagram @desireempire  The hash tag for the event is #ggcookoff and you can view the 3 day program of events here.

So off we all go Beach Dwellers, into the flames of cooking craziness. 

Til next time 

Today I am linked up here

Essentially Jess