And the Winner is… Nicky the Cook. Nicky won Grand Champion last night. D-Man and I tied for First Place and Shamrock, who had never made mashed potatoes before, won the “I Try My Best” award.

From top left clockwise, D-Man, Shamrock, Nicky the Cook, and Me.

Nicky, being the smart dude that he is, made a meatloaf. You know, to go with the mashed potatoes. It was the best freakin’ meatloaf I have ever tasted. It was half beef and half lamb with a sour cream/cucumber/tomato sauce. Delicious.

Shown here, fresh from the oven, without the sauce.

Shamrock also had the forethought to bust out a green veggie and we sauteed some asparagus in butter with a little lemon zest and garlic. L-I-V-I-N. Livin’.

Yes, it was as delicious as it looks.

We judged the potatoes first, then we ate dinner, and after dinner we tallied the votes and had the awards ceremony. Dinner, for me was wonderfully torturous. I had had to taste the potatoes so many times during the judging that by the time I got to the table to eat, I was stuffed. My plate was beautiful, though. I made a little raft out of asparagus for my meatloaf to sail upon the sea of mashed potatoes. And then I ate it.

It wasn't a sad plate for long.

Man, did I have a full belly after that plate.

In going through the process of having a competition we learned a lot about what we need to do to stream line the process for next time. For example, a box of plastic disposable spoons for sampling is a must. We also came up with a name for our group, who will be sponsoring various food competitions in the near future. Our name is the Society for Adventurous Ne’er-do-well Diners or S.A.N.D. for short. Catchy ain’t it? The best part is that sand is not delicious. We haven’t made any decisions on whether to open the competitions up to the public or not, but we did decide that the next round of battle will be the notorious Green Bean Casserole.

Well, today is going to be a day of reading on the couch. Sounds great doesn’t it. The only person, other than Pancake Land, who I will be getting off the couch for is Prince Jazzbo, who I promised to help clean up his yard if he needs my help. Other than him, and P.L., everyone else can piss off. In a very polite and friendly kind of way. The truth of the matter is that I will probably read for an hour and get bored of it and have to find myself something to do. So, don’t really piss off.

But, right now, I’ve gotta go make a potato poop. More soon. ~SC