Nurturing my inner... contestant

I think the last time I entered an "official" contest could likely have been high school.  There was a statewide poster contest to advertise for hiring the handicapped.  Since I was in advertising class at the time, it was one of our projects.  Which was such a fantastic idea because it was more than just doing something hypothetically for your teacher.  This was the real and honest big grown up world with all its gritty competition.  Sorry to report, I didn't end up winning.  This is not a prescripted sitcom.  But I did get an honorable mention.  Something I recall being quite proud of.

After that moment of obvious high school greatness, I have not been one to throw my hat into much of anything.  Probably because I peg myself as a loser before I even try.  I think about all the amazingly creative, talented, smart, more capable people who I'd be competing against and I talk myself right out of it.  Rationalizing that the expenditure of effort would be a waste of time to only get the, "Sorry, better luck next time." speech.  Today I changed that.

Whole Foods was having a Small Bites contest on their blog.  And today was the very last day to enter!  I do well with a looming deadline as it gives my procrastinating backside a good swift kick.  Perhaps it was because I had been outside in the heat for a lunchtime run earlier in the day.  Perhaps I was too lazy to go through my normal list of why it was best not to get my hopes up.  Or perhaps it was because I knew I'd be blogging about it and it wouldn't have been much of a story if I stopped after the first paragraph.  (Man, this blogging stuff is turning out to be monster accountability for me.)  But I went ahead and put in a submission.  And here it is:

Fire & Ice Bites
Peppadews (red, small peppers from the olive bar or you can sometimes find in jars)
Herbed goat cheese (on recommendation from the cheesemonger in the specialty cheese section)
Fresh basil, chive or dill
Toasted pignoli (aka. pine nuts)

Take a prepared peppadew, stuff with herbed goat cheese, add a sprig of your herb of choice and a couple of toasted pignoli. The peppadew brings some nice sweet heat, the goat cheese cools it down and the pignoli adds just a little crunch.

Peppadews stuffed with goat cheese

So how hard was that?  Not very.  How risky was it to enter the Whole Foods contest?  Minimally.  And I felt brave for doing it!  In fact, I already feel like a winner!  Not sure how long it will take to find out if I truly am a winner in the more direct sense of a $50 gift card, but I'd certainly take an honorable mention with pride.

I enjoy eating (not just a hobby, it is a passion) and am cooking more frequently.  Becoming wildly adventurous too!  So stay tuned for more food related postings.  There are many little recipe contests like this all over the place.  There are also poetry, photo, science, music and athletic contests... whatever you enjoy!  I do realize, statistically speaking, that you may not win or even place.  Your chances could well be a one in a million long shot.  But that shouldn't stop you from going for it.  Enter the contest before you can remember all your usual, well-rehearsed reasons why you shouldn't.  There is real excitement in giving your best effort to something you've never done before!

Officially winning or not winning isn't really the point of entering a contest.  It reminded me to take more chances without fear of failure.  I'm not going to let myself assume I know the end result before I've even given it an honest go.  Never know.  I could be surprised this time and end up in a cookbook!  And if not, I still come away with having indulged in a really delicious snack today.