Whilst living in Wymount Terrace, the BYU married student housing, we had a very limited selection of cable channels. We had several ESPN channels, basic cable, a few BYU channels, etc. The real kicker was that for some reason, BYU felt that we needed channels that exclusively use various languages such as Russian, German, Spanish, and Japanese! So, four out of the twenty channels we had were basically useless to me. Somehow through our limited TV options, we developed a love for a new kind of programming.
We fell in love with The Food Network.
We found hours of entertainment watching cooking competitions, reviews of restaurants, stakeouts of restaurant employees, how-to-cook guides, and loved just about everything they had to offer. I never thought I'd enjoy the network, but I do! Even Nate loved Tuesday nights because there were several episodes in a row on of Chopped. Chopped quickly became our favorite cooking competition. Four competitors started on the show, hoping to win $10,000 by winning. There are three rounds: appetizer, entree, and dessert. Each contestant is given a basket with the rounds' mystery ingredients (they all have the same ingredients) and must complete a dish using all the ingredients within the allotted time frame. At the end of each round, one competitor is "chopped" until the last person wins the dessert round. We loved watching it and seeing how these chefs concocted crazy-delicious dishes out of the most random ingredients.
Turns out, a lot of our friends also liked the show! So when our friend Landon has his birthday, his wife threw him a Chopped birthday party! We had 4 couples compete in our Chopped Night. The Hendricks and Burrups cooked the appetizer with the mystery ingredients that the Lamprechts and we picked out. Then, with the mystery ingredients that the Hendricks and Burrups picked out, the Lamprechts and the Millers duked it out for the title of dessert champ.
 |
| Birthday boy! |
We brought the curry paste and the asparagus, while the Lamprechts brought the beans and cheese. We were so excited to see what the Hendricks and Burrups would do with our mystery ingredients!
 |
| Appetizer ingredients: Curry paste, asparagus, mozzarella cheese and black beans |
While each team was cooking, the four judges were running around trying not to give
too many tips, taking pictures, asking questions, checking on the time, and mostly getting in the way. Each team had 30 minutes to prepare and serve their dishes.
 |
| Jon and Nicole starting their appetizer |
 |
| Yum! |
 |
| Keisha was excited! |
Landon explains their dish:
 |
| Our official timer |
 |
| Keisha and Landon cooking up a some bright veggies |
Jon explains their dish:
 |
| The Burrups plating in the last few seconds |
 |
| Keisha and Landon perfecting their presentation |
 |
| The final dishes. Don't they look good?! |
 |
| Their attempt at serious faces as they prepared to be judged |
After some serious deliberation about taste, texture, appearance, and the use of the mystery ingredients, we decided on a winner. And the winner is... the birthday boy!
 |
| The Lamprecht's broiled somethingfruit looks so yummy! |
 |
| Jordan was deep in thought about what do to next |
 |
| The judges are excited to try our concoctions. |
We ended up basically making the same thing: broiled fruit with caramelized sugar/jello mix, a sauce made out of the sour cream, and crunched up rice cakes to top it off. The Lamprechts piled it all together in one piece, while we broiled slices of the fruit and had the sauce on the side.
 |
| Singing "Happy Birthday" |
 |
| Judgement time. |
The dessert round turned out to be okay. The fruit was pretty tart and it didn't caramelize like either of us had hoped, but it was fun nonetheless! The Lamprechts pulled out a victory over us and we all celebrated for not having food poisoning.
Keisha is a great organizer and we were so glad she did that for us! We loved the friends we made at Wymount and miss them very much :)
