Recipe Contest Announcement

Today has been a very frustrating day between my computer and myself... let's just say there is no easy (or quick) way to make 30 copies of a dvd I made for my students (especially since it took forever to get one good copy). Anyway, I finally got things sorted out and I want to get to my planned post. I've wanted to do this every Friday for months now, but I have always been up against a deadline. But today is different: I planned it out last night!

For my latest contest (I need to get interest in this blog up), I'm asking for your submissions of recipes. To make things clear, I have made some guidelines and criteria for judgement.

Criteria to win this contest:

• Ingredients must be widely available. If it's not in my regularly used grocery store you will be penalized - and moreso if I can't find it in a few others.
• Cost should be as minimal as possible. It shouldn't cost me $30 for one serving. I'll rank them from most expensive to least expensive (barring no sales - I'll do the math. Math makes me happy).
• The dish should be easy to make. I will actually be making these and ranking them based on how easy they were to make (which also means your instructions should be clear).
• The dish should be creative. That means no ripping it off from the internet (though I admit it will be hard to catch). If you give me a recipe to make hot dogs or rice crispie squares I will be a bit suspect of your efforts - though why anyone would submit that as their recipe is beyond me.
• The dish shouldn't be too simple or too complex. Basically I'm talking about the number of ingredients here. It shouldn't be one thing (I'd say 5 is probably the minimum) and it shouldn't be 30 ingredients. Use your common sense when judging this. I'm more concerned about things being too simple than too complex (see above points about complex dishes though).
• Is the dish tasty? I'll be sharing my cooking with others so I won't be the only judge on this matter.
• Is the dish healthy? Lots of sugar (or other chemicals) is probably not a good idea. Natural foods are best (though I will accept pastes, sauces, etc. - don't go overboard with stuff like that though).
  
• The dish can be anything you want it to be (though don't think that you can bribe me with desserts).
• Please use measurements that I can understand. Cups/tablespoons/etc. or L, mL, etc. (including both would make my life easier).
  

All entries become the property of my blog and me (Michael Davidson) and will be posted (all entries that are at minimum edible) in this space the weeks following the judging of this contest.

Each recipe will be given a score (probably an average of the above 7 criteria - evenly weighted and out of 10 each). The winner will receive a Season One DVD of The Next Great Chef (I'm too sick of technology today to get a camera out and take a picture of it - perhaps in an update for this contest).

Entries are due no later than Thursday July 5th, 2007 at 11:59pm Pacific Time (that's a Thursday night and gives you three weeks). All entries are to be emailed to pieceofdust@gmail.com. Each individual may submit only one entry and must include their mailing address with their entry for it to be valid.

If you have any questions regarding rules or anything else, please post them as a comment so that everyone can see them and I will respond to everyone (so that it's fair).

Happy cooking!

Problem of the Day Part V

I had three readers email me in the correct answers: Alex G, Carly G and Heather D. These are last weeks answers:

1. 29 Days in February in a Leap Year
2. 26 Letters in the Alphabet
3. 3 Blind Mice (See How They Run)
4. 7 Days in a Week
5. Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs
6. 12 Signs of the Zodiac
7. 60 Minutes in an Hour
8. 1001 Arabian Nights
9. 200 Dollars for Passing Go in Monopoly

This weeks one is somewhat similar. You need to decode what the arrangement of words means. The formatting on this is a little messed up (every time I've tried to post it, there is a big space before the boxes.... I think that's Blogger just being weird!

Anyway, here are the problems:

Arrive Time

Cycle Cycle Cycle

HOROBOD

0 B.A. M.Sc. Ph.D.

Hi Ho Ag

Remember to email pieceofdust@gmail.com with your answers and "Problem of the Day Part V" in the subject line. Thanks and good luck!

Environmental Tips Contest Winner!

Well, after a day of four posts, I barely get one in today (and for those of you in Ontario and the rest of the East, this is coming in quite late). This is also something that should have been announced a week ago, so sorry for the delay and the sporadic posts. I'm trying to make good posts daily, but it's been very hard the last week or so.

So without further adieu, your winner for the contest I started two whole weeks ago is Rebecca. Rebecca gave 16 ways you can help the environment, 8 of which I deemed to be unique. To claim your prize, please email pieceofdust@gmail.com with your mailing address and I will send you your prize. You have one week to respond to my email. So if any of my readers know who Rebecca is (I have a very good idea, but I have learned not to make assumptions), please let her know.

Thank you for all the entrants. I now have many more things to add to my list!

Problem of the Day Part IV

I am making some changes to the problem of the day so that it is fair to all involved. Please do not post any of your responses on here. Instead I ask you to submit your responses to this email I have set up to deal with this blog: pieceofdust@gmail.com

This way anyone who wants to try the problems can try. Everyone who submits correct responses will be credited with a point. Unless otherwise noted, only one response per person will be accepted, so make sure you have the correct answer (unless I explain that there is more than on answer).

The answers for last week that I accepted:

1. 99+9/9 = 100

2. 55/5-5 = 6

3. ((7 + 7) * 7) + (7/7) + (7/7) = 100 OR 777/7 – 77/7 = 100

That's 3 points for Heather D. I know someone can catch her. I heard she was bragging about getting all of these.

This weeks is part of a larger group of problems. Each of these expressions are missing words. Lucky for you, the words are replaced by the first letter in the word. It is up to you to decipher these expressions or phrases. I will give you the answer to the first one as an example and then you're on your own. You can earn up to 9 points in this round, so do what you can. Entries are due by 11:59pm on Monday April 23^rd:

1. 12 M in a Y (12 Months in a Year)

2. 29 D in F in a L Y

3. 26 L in the A

4. 3 B M (S H T R)

5. 7 D in a W

6. S W and the 7 D

7. 12 S of the Z

8. 60 M in an H

9. 1001 A N

10. 200 D for P G in M

Good Luck!

Problem of the Day Part III

Answers for the last installment:

1. A Deck of Cards is cut, passed around the table, but not eaten (unless you eat cards)

2. The Three daughters are not triplets because they are three parts of quadruplets, quintuplets, etc. The father could also have been unfaithful or a sperm donor, though the first explanation is simpler.

3. Your breath is impossible to hold for an hour (as far as I know) and weighs virtually nothing.

Today's questions are math related:

1. Arrange four “9”'s to give you 100 (this isn't a trick, use the “9”'s with any mathematical symbols but the only digit you can use is “9”)

2. Arrange four “5”'s to give you 6

3. Arrange seven “7”'s to give you 100

There may be more than one way to do these, so every unique answer will get a point.

Good luck!

Contest Reminder

Last Wednesday I posted a contest. This is a reminder that you have until 11:59pm PST TUESDAY APRIL 10th to respond. Currently I have seen three responses and all of the contributions have been good. The person who gives the most number of unique ways to help the environment. To spur you on, here is a picture of what the prize is:




The chocolate consists of one (1) Cocoa Camino Certified Organic Almond Dark Chocolate (55% cocoa) Bar, one (1) Denman Island Razzle Dazzle Chocolate Bar (Organic Belgian Dark Chocolate with Dried Raspberries), and two (2) Chocolate Smiling Buddhas. You can find more information about these chocolate companies at Cocoa Camino and Denman Island Chocolate.

Good luck with coming up with ways to be nice to the environment (hint, check some of the other sites I have mentioned on the blog for some really good tips)...

Problem of the Day: Part II

I got to thinking that once a week perhaps isn't the most interesting (especially considering how quickly the last problems were solved), so I thought I would slip a few more in this week. I may or may not make this a regular thing, but that will depend on how fast people answer. I also had some issues with getting my post for today written on time, so I'm posting this now to give me a bit more time to write today's post. I know these don't have anything to do with today's theme, but I might as well give them... Today's problems are riddles. I have specific answers in mind, but other answers will be evaluated on a case by case basis. If they make sense, I will give points for them. 1 point for each correct answer.

The riddles are:

1. What do you put on a table, cut and then pass around, but would never actually eat?
2. A father has three daughters who were all born on June 5^th, 1985. They are, however, not triplets. Explain.
3. What is impossible to hold for an hour, yet weights virtually nothing?

Good Luck!

The responses from the last problem were correct:

1. o, t, t, f, f, s, s, e (the first letter of the numbers 1-8)
2. j, f, m, a, m, j, j, a (the first letter of the months January - August)
3. 8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7, 6, 3 or 10 (the numbers in alphabetical order 1-9 or 1-10)
   

50 Actions You Can Do to Be Nice to the Environment

I started this list a while ago and thought it would be a good idea to share it with my readers. Some of the things are very simple while others require some work. Maybe I will inspire some readers to make some changes in their lives. Who knows? Here is my list (the last one is kind of lame as I was trying to make it a nice round number):

1. Compost Food Scraps

2. Plant a Tree

3. Turn off your lights when you're not using them

4. Take the bus instead of driving when possible

5. Walk, Run or Bike when possible

6. Turn off the tap when you're brushing your teeth

7. Pick up recyclables that people have thrown on the road and put them in a blue box (or bring them back for money)

8. Have shorter showers

9. Don't have so many hot showers

10. Don't have a shower unless you need to

11. Use soaps and cleaning materials that are biodegradable

12. Recycle paper, metal, glass and plastic

13. When buying a car, consider the mileage that it gets

14. Use energy efficient light bulbs

15. When possible, eat organic foods

16. When possible, eat local foods

17. Use leftover water from boiling/cooking food to water plants instead of pouring it down the drain

18. Put your computer on standby or hibernate when you're not using it

19. Unplug appliances such as televisons, stereos and dvd players when not in use (they still use electricity)

20. Put on warm clothes instead of turning the heat up

21. Open the window instead of turning on the A/C (for cars and houses)

22. Collect rain water to feed your plants or put in your toilet

23. Vote for leaders who have the environment in mind

24. Ask your energy provider if they have renewable sources of energy

25. Switch to renewable sources of energy

26. If your energy provider doesn't have renewable sources of energy, ask them why not?

27. Write to your government representatives in support of carbon taxes

28. Run for office and promote policies that show respect to the environment

29. Tell your friends and family members to do the things on this list

30. Talk to local children about this list

31. Grow your own food

32. Support businesses that try to make themselves sustainable

33. Don't drink bottled water

34. Buy clothes made from organic fabrics

35. Learn as much as you can about sustainability and share that information with others

36. Use better insulating windows to keep your house warmer

37. Invest in environmentally friendly companies

38. Don't use paper unless you need to

39. Eat less meat

40. Use reusable containers and bags if you have to bring a lunch

41. Switch to a low-flow shower head

42. Reuse plastic containers instead of buying tupperware.

43. Don't put apples, oranges, etc. into plastic bags when grocery shopping

44. Bring cloth bags when grocery shopping

45. If you have to use plastic bags, find ones that are biodegradable

46. Submit assignments electronically when possible

47. Scan things instead of photocopying them

48. Wash plastic food bags as well as zip lock and reuse them

49. When washing dishes, instead of using the tap to rinse every dish and spoon, fill up your second sink to rinse the dishes off.

50. Remember that we only have one earth. If we destroy it, there's no second chance.

I realize this is not quite a comprehensive list, therefore I'm asking all of my readers to add their own. There is a prize (some nice high quality chocolate - I'll come back and revise this post with specifics soon!) for the person who gives me the most unique ways to help the environment. The criteria is that it must be an activity that an individual is able to do, and the activity has to be reasonably easy and affordable to do. I'll evaluate them on a case by case basis.

All responses should be posted as comments to this post and your name MUST be included. The deadline for responses will be Tuesday April 10th at 11:59pm PST.

Good luck!

Problem of the Day: Part I

Being a teacher, I have several “Problem of the Day” lists and I thought I could do some sort of contest on my blog. This is how it will work. Each Tuesday I will post a question on the blog. Anyone who thinks they know the answer can guess what the answer is. The first person to get the right answer each week will get one point (or one point for each question asked). I will keep a running total within the blog (I may even post it on the sidebar if you're lucky) and at the end of a few months I will give a prize to whomever is leading. You will need to mention your name when posting your responses. Since this will be a long running contest, I will have to think of a good prize. I will work on that, but I wanted to get the contest started this week. So here is the first problem:

We start with patterns. The following letters and numbers represent a logical sequence. It is your job to figure out what that sequence is and to give me the next two letters. I am giving three problems this week, so three points are up for grabs.

1. o, t, t, f, f, s, ____, ____

2. j, f, m, a, m, j, ____, ____

3. 8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7, ____, ____

Please explain how you came up with the answers or you won't get the points.

Good luck!