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I'm going to give everybody until 5 p.m. today to enter the contest to win Alton Brown's book, "Good Eats: The Early Years." The winner will be announced on this blog on Monday.

Until then, I've got a few fun recipes to share. These were the three winning recipes in a contest held at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. W&L spokeswoman Sarah Tschiggfrie tells me this is the sixth year they've had a "Recipes from Home" contest for first-year students and their parents. This year, the contest drew 75 recipes. The winning recipes were served at the college's Parents and Family Weekend Luncheon last Saturday.

I remember being a homesick transfer student at Roanoke College, so I can imagine how wonderful it would be to see one of my mom's signature dishes piled up on the plates of my fellow students.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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PLEASE keep those ideas for "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" coming (blog post below)! Meanwhile, I have big food news out of Maryland -- the 30th Annual National Oyster cook-off has ended and several people went home with shiny silver trays and big grins on their faces. I know Maryland is not super local to Southwest Virginia, but the winter holidays are probably one of the biggest oyster-eating seasons in these parts, so maybe you guys will enjoy these recipes.

Jackie Hardin of Galena, MD won Grand Prize with her Oyster Tacos with Chipotle Cream Sauce. Your first reaction may be similar to mine - oyster tacos? But they actually sound pretty good - fried oysters with a cornmeal coating served in soft taco shells with slaw and the sauce. If you like oysters and you like fish tacos, this might be a neat twist.

Other winners were Jim McDuffie of Durham, NC, with his Outer Banks Poached Oysters on Smoked Pimento Cheese Grits with Fried Green Tomato Croutons, Brendan Cahill of Lusby, MD with Beach House Oysters with Sherry and Loic Jaffres of Leonardtown, MD with Oysters Bourguignon in Puff Pastry.

I'm going to share a couple of these recipes with you now. I'm trying to figure out if the rest are available online somewhere or if you have to write in to the Maryland Department of Agriculture to buy the cookbook. As soon as I hear back from the PR lady, I'll let you all know.

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Peanut butter, peanut butter, oh how I love thee, peanut butter. I love thee on raw apple slices, on sandwiches with jelly or apple butter or honey, in chocolate candies, in cookies and pies and cakes, and even in savory dishes like Thai food. I would like to shake the hand of the man or woman who one day decided to put peanuts in a grinder and ultimately created thee magical spread.

I love thee crunchy or creamy. I even love thee in the reduced fat version if that's what I must eat. I love that eating thee gives me energy from protein and good fats, but I do not like that I must stop eating thee after a couple of tablespoons or else I'm liable to be shaped like a giant peanut. That might be the only drawback.

November is National Peanut Butter Month, and to celebrate that, the folks at Jif are having a contest for little peanut butter lovers. Kids can invent a sandwich that includes peanut butter as an ingredient and enter the recipe at www.jif.com. It's called the Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest, and last year's winner was Jordyn Boyer, who created a peanut butter chicken cheesesteak po' boy with chicken, peppers, onions, apples and mozzarella cheese.

Jordyn won a $25,000 college scholarship, kiddos. And the deadline to enter is November 13, so put on your thinking caps and drag Mom and Dad into the kitchen and start playing around with peanut butter. You never know what it may do for thee.

The Aloha Roll took First Place at the state fair.

Forty-five finalists from across the state of Virginia came to the State Fair in Richmond this month in the hopes that their angel food cake creation would win the Virginia Egg Council-sponsored Best Angel Food Cake Dessert Contest.

Here are the three top place winners, along with a description of their dessert from the egg council:

First Place - Aloha Roll by Vince Dobyns of Hampton:  This flavorful angel cake is rolled, filled and garnished with so many wonderful Hawaiian flavors, it’s easy to see how it got it’s name AND how it won the 2009 competition. It is so colorful, it’ll easily be the focus at a dessert buffet and will totally shine, when served during the Christmas holidays.

Second Place - Berry Citrus Punch Bowl Cake by Deanna Persinger of Raphine: This fabulous trifle is so impressive – great flavor, gorgeous, and so creative – a real winner!

Third Place - Matthew's Key Lime Angel Food Cake by Matthew Kelly of Crewe: This cake is just amazing – it packs such a powerful Key lime punch it takes you instantly to the tropics. The Key lime extract is the secret and it’s not available in everyday groceries. Check for it on-line at www.faeries finest.com.or other online sources. You won’t be sorry you went to the trouble to get it.

Read on to see the recipes for these winning cakes:

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This week, I've received word that TWO fellows with local connections are finalists in national cooking competitions! Katsuko "Katz" Sandifer, who up until recently was a kitchen manager at The Casino Club at The Homestead in Warm Springs, is one of four finalists in the professional category of Ocean Spray's recipe contest. His dish is Asian Shrimp and Scallops with Ginger Cranberry Syrup. Patrick Maggi, owner of Blues BBQ in downtown Roanoke, is one of 10 finalists in the American Pizza Championship. His winning creation is a Prosciutto Pear Pizza, a sweet and savory combination of poached pears, prosciutto and Gorgonzola cheese.

Katsuko Sandifer

Katz was born in Japan but his family moved to America when he was about 13 and he went to high school in Chapel Hill, N.C. He received an Associate's Degree from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. He says he worked at The Homestead for about five years, starting as an intern and moving his way up to a kitchen manager. He recently quit and moved to Rhode Island to finish up his culinary degree at Johnson & Wales University. He would like to eventually be a teacher at a culinary school.

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www.muttscomics.com

Crabby is probably my favorite character on the Mutts comic strip. I laugh out loud just about every time he is featured on the strip. What does that tell you about me? Well, let's not go there.

I chose to mention Crabby today because I have a wonderful prize package from the folks at Old Bay seasoning that I want to give away to a lucky reader before summer is over. The prize pack includes an Old Bay beach towel, a can of Old Bay seasoning, a packet of Old Bay Seafood Steamers, an Old Bay bottle opener/key chain and a temporary tattoo, all stuffed inside a very nifty Old Bay beach bag. The bag has a shoulder strap, as well as a mesh bottom to keep sand from getting trapped inside.

To enter to win this package, I'd like to know what makes you the crabbiest in the kitchen? Is it poor kitchen tools? Not enough cabinet or counter space? Too many cooks poking around in your soup? Leave a comment with your crabby story no later than 5 p.m. Friday. I'll pick the entry that I think Crabby would pick if he were a judge. The winner will be announced on Monday.

Lindsey Nair/The Roanoke Times

www.leaperrins.com

Paul Griffin and his family, of Roanoke, are one of 10 finalists in a Lea & Perrins Worchestershire sauce video contest! Apparently, Lea & Perrins is launching a new product, the Thick Classic Worchestershire Sauce, and they held a contest asking customers to write, shoot and produce a 60-second "wRAP" video to help introduce the new sauce. The "wRAP" part is a play on words, because Lea & Perrins bottles come in a paper-wrapped bottle and the videos were supposed to feature a rap about the sauce.

The Griffin family outdid themselves. I have not had a chance to get in touch with them yet because the voting closes at midnight tomorrow, so I wanted to get the word out as quickly as possible so folks from this area can support our local contestants. I watched the Griffin video on the Lea & Perrins Web site and had to laugh. The shot of them walking across the yard in slow motion like some bad-a** group of rapper thugs was hilarious.

If they win, the Griffins stand to score $5,000 in cash, $500 worth of beef and a case of Lea & Perrins Thick Classic Worchestershire Sauce. In my home, we dress our steaks with nothing but worchestershire sauce and freshly ground pepper, so this stuff sounds really tasty to me. The only annoying part about the contest is you have to register on the Web site to vote, but it only takes a second so don't let that stop you from taking part. The Griffin video is the one titled "Non-stoppin Poppin Toppin."

Oh, and if you hail from closer to Charlottesville, you may want to check out the video by Danny Vigour of Crozet. He is also one of the 10 finalists, and his "Dawn of Flavor" video about a Neanderthal family that is civilized by their discovery of the new sauce is VERY giggle-worthy.

Funny that blog reader Michelle brought up the Pillsbury Bake-off in her most recent comment, because I just received a big package of information from Pillsbury about their 44th Annual Bake-off contest. That's right, it's that time of year again! You could win a grand prize of one million if you dream up the best new recipe using a featured brand of products.

Most Pillsbury products (rolls, breadsticks, pie crust, brownie mix, etc.) are fair game for the primary ingredient; the secondary ingredients can come from a list that includes Jif peanut butter, Smucker's jams, Crisco oil, Eagle sweetened condensed milk and Hershey's cocoa or chips.

If you have an inspired recipe, you can enter online at www.bakeoff.com. That's also the place to find any additional information you may need. All entries must be received by 11:59 a.m. central time on April 20, 2009. 100 finalists will travel to Florida on April 12, 2010 to compete. Have you guys seen the documentary on the bake-off? It's pretty wild.

To get you motivated, here's a tasty appetizer recipe that was a finalist in the 43rd contest (2008). If you enter, best of luck!!

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It's Nona again, folks. Hope you all had a great, last-of-summer weekend. The blog software we use here is running very slowly, so thanks for your patience waiting for today's Fridge Magnet entry.

Here's some sweet news. Three bakers from Southwestern Virginia have been invited to compete for cash, eggs and bragging rights in the Virginia Egg Council’s Search for the Best Chiffon Cake Contest.

According to a press release from Mary Rapoport of the VEC, first-, second- and thir-place winners from 28 county fairs held accross the commonwealth are eligible to go to Richmond on Saturday to whip up their vintage cake recipes for a shot at one of three cash prizes and a hefty supply of Eggland's Best eggs.

Denise Murphy of Vinton, Joni Underwood of Pilot and Vicky Thompson of Salem were the winners from the Salem Fair. Denise won first place for her orange chiffon cake; Joni claimed second prize for her chocolate brownie version of chiffon, and Vicky took third place for a recipe titled "Nanny's Chocolate Chiffon Cake."

Which brings me to the question of the day: Do we have any chiffon cake fans out there? Even the egg council admits it's a recipe you don't see often these days. "Folks born after the 1950s don't seem to know of this delicate cake at all and have never even tasted one," the release said.

I have tasted a lot of cakes in my life, and this is one I can't recall.

The Food Network encyclopedia said the cake was believed to be created in the late 1940s by a professional baker. "Chiffon cake is distinguished from others of its genre by the fact that oil, rather than solid shortening, is used. It contains leavening, such as baking powder, and stiffly beaten egg whites, which contribute to its rather sponge-cake-like texture."

So it sounds like this cake is a cross between tyipcal batter cakes that are made with butter and angel food cake, which is made only with egg whites and no oil or other fat.

It also sounds delicious. I e-mailed the egg council to ask for the winning local recipes, and will post them as soon as I get them.

How about it, readers? Have you ever sampled, or made, a chiffon cake? If you have made one, what do you think and how hard is it to make?

Mondays are difficult anyway, but today I had a very serious and important responsibility added on to my job.
The challenge: To judge an office chili cook-off at the Art Museum of Western Virginia that had reportedly already resulted in extensive trash talking among the staff.

When I arrived with my co-worker and fellow judge , Kevin Kittredge, we were greeted by a delicious, spicy aroma and nine steaming pots of homemade chili. The museum staffers hovered around and watched us, presumably waiting until we had completed the judging so they could eat lunch.

In reality, I believe they were studying the judges for some inkling as to which way we would lean.

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