40 F&DB Challenges Completed!

On September 25, 2020, Jax-Tiger issued a cooking challenge. The first one was fun, despite having only a few participants. Jax was busy with work (if I recall correctly), and I volunteered to coordinate the challenges. And here we are, three years later, forty challenges deep.

Suggestions from participants, voters, and viewers helped the format evolve over time. I thought having a consistent order of things would help with managing expectations. The rules have been (perhaps, regrettably) loose, with the prevailing idea being, “let the voters decide,” whenever anyone wanted to interpret the intent of the challenge differently. It has served us well.

Other than one particular a-hole who suggested more than once that I was counting votes in my favor (in a public vote, where any one at any time could’ve checked my math) and the assholes who try to make their vote choice as annoyingly hard to interpret as possible, most of you have been great! Haha. I chose not to call out the voting assholes because knowing the nature of the beast, it would’ve invited more people to do the same. Why am I calling it out now, you ask? Because it will no longer be any concern of mine.

I always try to handle things fairly for everyone, but when I opened the thread and saw Mad Dogg’s post and realized it was a group submission with many dishes, I knew immediately that I was in a no-win situation and I’d be the one to look like the a-hole. Fine.

But c’mon, guys. Y’all had a fabulous party with a stunning looking array of foods, made by some of the best cooks on TD. Why wouldn’t y’all want to do a separate thread showcasing the food and the event, with each TD person submitting their dish for the challenge? I get that y’all wanted to wow us. It certainly had impact. Thankfully, Ron and Nfamous shared their pics and processes with the group.

When I commented that I was going to confer with the committee, I was trying to use humor to buy some time while I tried to figure out the right way to handle it. When I said, “The committee has decided there is no reason to care,” it was because I’d just had an epiphany that I didn’t HAVE to stress about it! This isn’t some paid employment. I’m doing it for fun! But it’s not fun when you feel uneasy about making a decision, so why continue? Also, Gris can attest to the fact that I’ve been considering ending my time as challenge host for awhile. This just helped me see that it was time.

I will count the votes on this 40th challenge. I will announce the winners. I will even ask the winner what the next challenge will be. But I won’t set the date, issue reminders, announce the rules, or count the votes ever again. I have updated the stickied thread with the challenge info, and will add in today’s winners after they are announced.

On another note, I’m proud to say I’m the only one who has submitted a dish in all forty challenges! Woohoo! I know I’m not a great technician in the kitchen, and I’m far too lazy to make some of the labor intensive dishes that some of you make, but I DO understand the concept that it has to look good on the plate and complicated does not always mean better.

On another other note, I have been consistently amazed by many of the posters whose creativity, energy, and willingness to showcase and share their talent, skill, and imagination is just mind blowing. Y’all rock.

Jax-Tiger, thanks for starting this TD food challenge tradition. Long may it live!