The Amateur Gourmet

Wow! 50 sign-ups, that's crazy. Thank you all so much for your interest. This should prove to be a very entertaining project.

Now then, unfortunately, because 50 is way too many to have a proper Survivor contest I'm going to have to eliminate 41 of you. I know, I know: Adam, how can you be so cruel? But it's not cruelty, people. It's necessity. If we do an elimination every week (which we plan to do), it would take 50 weeks to get through everyone who signed up!

So 9's the number, and here's how we're narrowing it down: a Scavenger Hunt!

Before we begin, my apologies to those without digital cameras. I know I said it was only encouraged, not required---but I lied. You will need a digital camera to participate. If you don't have one: beg, borrow or steal one--do what you have to do. This game is about survival and as we all know, survivors have digital cameras.

Now then, on to round one...

THE MASS ELIMINATION SCAVENGER HUNT

Here's how we play. In a moment, I will give you a list of 50 things to find and photograph over the next four days. For everything you find and photograph, you will get one point. You must (and this is key) include yourself in the photo of the object. In other words, no Google image searching here: you must prove to me that you are there holding and/or slapping this object. And you will do that by including yourself in the picture. This will also serve as an identifier later when we narrow it down to 9: one of your scavenger hunt photos will be your ID photo for the rest of the game.

Now let me say right here, I don't expect you to find all 50 items. That'd be ludicrous. Instead, you must balance quantity of items found with speed and efficiency. You will be rewarded for posting your photos in a timely manner. Here's the point breakdown:

Posted by TONIGHT (Wednesday) at 11:59 pm, you get 20 points.
Posted TOMORROW NIGHT (Thursday) at 11:59, you get 10 points.
Posted FRIDAY NIGHT (Friday) at 11:59, you get 5 points.
Posted SATURDAY NIGHT at 11:59, you get 1 point.
And it's due on SUNDAY at 11:59.

Now remember you can post without finding all 50. So one strategy may be to scramble and find as much as you can before tonight and get those 20 points. Another might be to wait the four days out and get all 50 points by finding every object. That's up to you.

Finally, there's the matter of posting. My e-mail account would explode if you all sent me up to 50 pictures each of you holding strange scavenger hunt objects. Therefore, I ask that you use a conventional picture uploading site like Flickr (which seems to be the best) or Snapfish. Upload your photos to one of those sites, then post the link to your album in the comments section below. This will keep everyone apprised of the point spread and will let people know what they have to do to win. That will also factor into the strategy.

Also, posting the link in the comments below will time-stamp your entry so we know how many time points you get.

And that's it! Oh, and participants are limited to those who signed up in the initial post. I'm going to close sign-ups there once I post this post.

Now here we go. Here's your Scavenger Hunt list.

Your Scavenger Hunt List

(Remember, you have to be in all these pictures!)

1. A horny melon.

2. The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.

3. A small child eating an ice cream cone.

4. A cheesemonger behind a cheese counter.

5. Nutella.

6. A potato that resembles a celebrity. (NOTE: I may award bonus points here for creativity, up to 5.)

7. You with an olive on each of your fingers.

8. A milk truck.

9. An Asian market.

10. You wearing a chef's hat.

11. An old man eating steak.

12. The oldest issue of Gourmet you can find. (Note: make sure the date is visible in the picture.) (The pic with the oldest issue will get an extra 10 points).

13. A kid in a candy store.

14. A fruit tree.

15. You watching the Food Network. (5 points if Mario Batali's on the screen). (-5 if it's Rachel Ray).

16. A salad bar.

17. A mandoline.

18. You and someone else eating spaghetti Lady and the Tramp style.

19. A cop (in uniform) eating a donut.

20. A pluot.

21. A bottle of red, a bottle of white.

22. Butcher behind a butcher counter.

23. Someone selling food on the street.

24. A man in a suit eating a hot dog.

25. A pregant woman eating a pickle.

26. An heirloom tomato.

27. A wood-burning oven.

28. Mario Batali.

29. The food section of the magazine stand in your local book store.

30. A Starbucks employee (in uniform) giving you the finger. (This gets 10 bonus points).

31. You crying, peeling an onion.

32. A lunchbox from an old sitcom.

33. You in the Amateur Gourmet pose (see masthead). (Bonus 5 points if you look like me while doing it--ya know, red sweater, glasses).

34. A completely empty refrigerator.

35. Corn with the husk on.

36. A wok.

37. A chocolate-dipped strawberry.

38. The driver's license of someone with food in their last name. (Like, "Harry Corn.")

39. A sink full of dirty dishes.

40. An ice cream truck.

41. Peas and carrots.

42. You, having shaken up a bottle of soda, opening it up so it sprays on you. (Extra 5 points if this is a funny picture).

43. Jello wrestling.

44. You beating a beet.

45. Tofu.

46. You making S'mores.

47. A waffle maker.

48. You driving through a drive-through.

49. Movie theater popcorn.

50. You drinking a stiff drink.

That's it! Good luck!

I just want to make sure everyone understands (regarding the post below) that you only get to post pictures ONCE. Once you post the link to your photo album, that's it. Cool?

And also, I forgot to mention that we have two corporate sponsors who work in book publishing--they'll be donating cookbooks to the winner! More on them later...

When one creates a scavenger hunt featuring 50 random unrelated food objects, activities and/or postures, one does not expect that many people will actually engage in said scavenger hunt. One expects that a small few--hopefully nine--will engage and that one may then say: "Foresooth! Everyone who participated is a winner!"

Instead, 14 kindly souls participated in our Round One Mass Elimination Scavenger Hunt. My friend Katy (who you may remember as our blogsitter from months past) wrote me an e-mail saying: "Do you understand how much power you have? I can't believe you got all those people to do whatever you wanted. Make them all send me a dollar next, okay?"

Now Katy would have you believe this is about power, but it's not. It's about fun. And I was so glad to read in the comments that those who participated had fun in the process. I had fun looking at all of your pictures. Some of them were hysterical.

In the not so fun department, I spent the last few hours (seriously! I invested serious time) figuring out our top nine "survivors" who will go on to compete in Amateur Gourmet Survivor 2004. It was indeed very close. I was equal parts stringent and generous, being a stickler for the horny melon (durians didn't count) but eager to award points for creativity (see Harry and Catherine's posts). In the end, I think our nine contestants earned their positions in the Top Nine and will provide a perfect group dynamic to engage us for nine weeks. And so, without further ado, I present (in descending order of pointage), your Amateur Gourmet Survivor contestants for 2004:

1. WENDY

Hailing from Toronto, Canada, ay, Wendy "learned to cook from [her] dad, but no formal training was included." She can "follow recipes but [doesn't] know which spices match what food combinations." She is pictured above with her Ben Affleck celebrity potato. You can see the rest of her scavenger hunt here. Congratulations Wendy, you've done your province proud.

2. DALLAS

Despite her name, Dallas comes to us from Bloomington, Indiana and has the added advantage of being my former comrade in middle school. (Don't worry, no favoritism here. She stuffed me in a gym locker). According to Dallas, she cooks "well enough that it's edible if you add enough ketschup." You can see her scavenger hunt on her homepage here. Will Dallas win the Amateur Gourmet Dynasty? Stay tuned! (Admit that was clever.)

3. HARRY

Call him the Israeli underdog (he's the somewhat less hairy one above), Harry took his home state disadvantage and made a masterpiece of scavenger hunt photography (see, for example, his horny melon). Harry "fell in love with cooking about six years ago" and calls himself "the master of the grill" since he knows "when to use direct heat and when to use indirect heat." Check out the rest of his photo album here. Keep shmaltzing it up, Harry!

4. ANDREA

Like Alec Baldwin and yours truly, Andrea hails from Long Island, New York and has a penchant for irritating Starbucks employees (see above photo). (Just kidding, you know that got her 10 points, don't you?) Andrea "likes to think [she's] a good cook" but "it does not always work out as planned." No matter, you can savor her verve and wit with the rest of her photo album. But we're not fooled...we can't wait to see this Long Island Lolita growl.

5. CATHERINE

Like Harry, Catherine faced a home state disadvantage (she's in Singapore) (which isn't in and of itself a disadvantage, only in regards to an Americocentric scavenger hunt) and turned lemons into lemonade with a spectacular array of photos. Pictured above, she stages a jello wrestling match between an armless-skeleton and "overdressed-for-tropical-climate man." (See the rest of her photos here.) Catherine's only cooked for a couple of years, but if she applies even half the ingenuity she invested in her photo album, she'll be in great shape--putting the zing back in Zingapore. (Hey, it's 2:39 and I've got 4 more peeps to go...)

6. NICK

Despite his late-in-the-game entry (well not that late, but a full 10 points late), Nick came ahead with an impressive array of photos. Hailing from Philadelphia, PA (home of the liberty bell), Nick "made scrambled eggs at age 7, didn't cook until [he] tried making cookies at 13, burned [his] hand, didn't touch a stove until 17, made fajitas at 17 and [has] been a FORCE for the past 5 years making all sorts of kitchen disasters go from 'theoretical' to 'full-fledged real disaster.'" Well, that's the spirit, Nick--disaster is the Amateur Gourmet's middle name! Check out the rest of his album here. And watch out for tricky Nick---disaster spelled backwards is "he'll beat you at Survivor."

7. MICHELLE

Michelle, ma belle--she does the Amateur Gourmet pose, very well! Coming to us from "Seattleish, WA" she has "no formal cooking training" and "mom only taught her how to scramble eggs" so that makes her "self-taught." No matter! Michelle not only wowed us with her scavenger hunt, she also found the oldest issue of Gourmet and won an additional 10 points (the issue was from 8/96). We trust that Michelle won't let her success get to her head and usurp The Amateur Gourmet title, since she's already dressed for it. Or will she?

8. FAE

First there was Tammy Faye, and then there was Fae. One a fallen evangelical star, the other the owner of a Culinary Institute of America t-shirt which she bought at a thrift store and wears to make herself feel like she knows what she's doing. Fae came at her scavenger hunt full force and even posed nude for it. (I'll let you find that photo on your own!) You can see her album here and who knows what else we might see before the contest is through!

9. AMANDA

Last, but certainly not least, we have Amanda, who made her way into the Top Nine by two points! But no matter. Once you're in, you're in--and she's in like Flynn. She comes to us from my old haunt, Atlanta, GA, and she cooks--according to her--all right. "Usually," she says, "I just talk on the phone to my mom the whole time and she tells me what to do. I can bake great, though!" Well put your flour where your mouth is girl! And get ready to step up, because Gourmet Survivor is about to begin. Enjoy the rest of her album here.

And that's it, folks. To all of those who participated but didn't make the Top Nine, thanks so much for taking the time--and I hope you had fun in the process. It really was a very close race. And to all our winners--congrats! And get ready. Wednesday night you will receive your first challenge and you will have until Sunday to complete it. More information to come. Until then, extinguish your tiki torches and try to catch some zzzs.

Attention Gourmet Survivor Contestants:

Sincerely,
TAG---Gourmet Survivor Coordinator

And they're off...or in. The posts, that is. All nine contenders for the title "Amateur Gourmet Survivor 2004" have submitted their entries via e-mail and I am about to post them here. The challenge was to cook a historical dish and our challengers met the challenge head-on. Your job, now, dear reader is to select one player for immunity and vote (only once!) in the comments section for whomever it is you think should be immune from being voted off. Please base your voting on merit, not looks---all players are heavily airbrushed. Also, no sneaky name disguising etc. etc. I'm on you like white on rice. [Maybe this is obvious, but those in the competition may not vote. You'll be voting each other off tomorrow night.] And now for the entries, posted in the order I received them... [NOTE: Some entrants sent me links to websites where narrative and pictures were interspirsed, so it was easy to copy and paste that into the text below; others sent me text and then links to a photo album, and it would have taken me forever to interspirse text and photos for you, so I just made a link to the photo album above the text...I urge everyone to follow these links to see these pictures.]

For her time machine ingenuity and her knack for kidnapping, Dallas has been given immunity by the Amateur Gourmet community. Which means that Survivor contestants: you have until tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 11 pm to e-mail me who you want voted off the island. Of course, because she is immune you can't vote Dallas off the island. If you do not vote it counts as a vote against yourself. If you vote for Dallas it counts as a vote against yourself. Dallas, you can still vote.

The Shaming
To make things more interesting, those who received zero immunity votes--Amanda and Nick--must vote their votes publicly. They must do so in the form of an apology letter to the person they are voting off the island. They must do this in the comments section for this post.

Special Note
I should add (lest "The Shaming" paint me as a bad guy) that I thought all the entries were terrific. I spent my Labor Day morning reading through them all and was impressed with everyone's creativity and spunk. Hope this zest for competition continues! And if anyone's discouraged that this is turning into a popularity contest, the next round will be judged by an as-yet-to-be-named outside foodblogger. Onward Gourmet soldier!

The results of the first vote-off are in, and it is my sad duty to report them. Instead of using text, however, here's a Quicktime tribute video to our first player voted off... Enjoy! (Those without Quicktime can cheat by holding their mouse over the file and seeing its name...but that isn't any fun, is it?)

The First Vote-Off Video.

Joining us now as guest challenge-maker and guest immunity-judge is Jeremy from Frost Street (and more recently Gothamist Food). We sure appreciate his helping out and hope you all appreciate his challenge. It sure looks challenging. So, without further ado, here's Jeremy...

Greetings Surviving Gourmet Survivor Contestants:

Adam's rules on deadlines and submission format apply. Have fun.

[POST-SCRIPT: Just FYI, pics are optional just like last round. Upload them to Flickr (or similar set-up) if you decide to use them.]

[PS2: Please e-mail me your entries by Sunday night at 9 pm.]

Get out your lab goggles, Amateur Gourmet readers. Here comes a slew of scientific approaches to food presented to melt the frosty heart of Mr. Frost Street himself, Jeremy. Hopefully Jeremy will be able to choose the immunity victor by tomorrow night. Perhaps he will use regular reader comments to guide his decision? And surely, if for some reason he can't cast an immunity vote, I'll have to refer to your comments to select the immunity winner. Therefore, please comment heavily on the following... (presented in order of receipt)...

Contestants, first of all---before you read Jeremy's comments--I want you to know that I love you all. I appreciate all your hard work. After all, you're keeping my readers entertained while I skip around town like a drunken sailor writing plays and defacing property. Your hard work is much appreciated. If Jeremy's comments across as cruel and unusual, just remember that he's a lawyer. Sure, I'm a lawyer too but I don't practice. And once again, thanks again to Jeremy for playing judge and jury so effectively. I'll paste his judgment below, but contestents don't forget: please e-mail me who you want voted off by tomorrow night at 9 pm. A non-vote is a vote against yourself. And, of course, don't vote for the person Jeremy gives immunity to. They're immune.
- Adam

Jeremy's Judgment

Hello again, surviving Amateur Gourmet Survivor contestants.

- Jeremy

I like the idea of these tribute videos for voted-off contestants. It's the least I can do. [Watch it if you can, and if you can't--hold the mouse over it to see who was voted off...]

Farewell Tribute Video #2.

Those that remain in the game check back tomorrow night for your next challenge!

Hello players, congrats on hanging in there. On to the third challenge.

It occurred to me tonight: "Adam, your players live all around the world. There are people in Israel, in Canada, in Fairbanks Alaska" (Juno the Eskimo is a secret behind-the-scenes player) "why not take advantage of that?" And so we shall.

Your challenge is this: Tell us about a food unique to where you live. You don't have to prepare it (this is a non-cooking exercise), you just have to tell us all about it and then go out and eat it. Take a picture (one picture this time, folks) of you and said foodstuff and then tell us how it tastes. All in all, give us a peephole into your world. Except keep your clothes on, this show is G-rated.

Please e-mail me your entries by Sunday night at 9ish. Looking forward to reading them.

Ah, what a nice set of submissions from our seven remaining contestants. This week's challenge was to showcase something specific to your locale; allowing for a virtual culinary trip around the world, no baggage necessary. Readers, you're the judge this week: vote for who you think should get immunity in the comments below. And now, please fasten your seatbelts, the captain is ready for takeoff... (posted in order of receipt)...

As the title says, Harry gets immunity this round so he may not be voted off. Contestants, please e-mail me who you want to vote off by 11 pm tomorrow. In a little twist (to make things interesting) I am going to publish who you voted for in tomorrow night's post. That way we can all judge your worth as a human being. Sweet dreams and happy voting!

Alas and alack, the time has come again to vote off another contestant on Gourmet Survivor. My apologies, no video this time out. Instead, though, we get to see who voted who off our kitchen island. Which is way more juicy...

Ladies and gentleman, it is my great honor and privilege to present this week's guest judge and jury. She's been featured in Gourmet magazine, the LA Times and Hugh Heffner's effort at a food magazine, Playsoy. (Just kidding about the last one). She even has a book deal in the works. She's truly the summit to which all food bloggers aspire. She is Clotilde and she's the author of Chocolate & Zucchini and we're so lucky to have her!

Here's her challenge to the remaining survivor players:

Prepare a dessert involving one or several kinds of vegetables. It has to be original and surprising (not necessarily your own creation, but no carrot cakes, zucchini breads, corn breads...), and it has to be edible, and even tasty. The guest judge will pay special attention to creativity and presentation, so unleash your inner Martha, we know you keep her hidden in there!

I think this sounds fun, interesting and mighty challenging. Best of luck, players!

Political intrigue and international espionage taint this round of Gourmet Survivor. For the specifics, read the comments to the last post. After much reflection I have decided to have the operation. You will now refer to me as Cindy.

Harry and Dallas have immunity this round. I feel this is fair because Clotilde's logic for choosing Dallas was that the readers wouldn't vote Harry off. But the readers don't vote. That's the rub. And since the consensus was that Harry's was the best (based on comments and Clotilde's post) it would be ridiculous not to grant him immunity. Plus this is all silly nonsense and you should all concentrate on more important matters like your daughter's school play which you missed to read this. Shame on you. Shame!

[Contestants please e-mail me your vote by 11 tomorrow. To keep things fun your votes will be published for all to shake their fist at. Ciao!]

Aww this one makes me sad. I'll miss our friendly neighbor in the north... Farewell, Wendy! You're my favorite Canook. (Next to Martin Short, that is.)

Wendy --> Michelle ("If she goes, she'll be missed...")

Dallas --> Michelle ("Roses are red/ violets are blue/ yams are veggies/ but tomatoes are fruit. You've been a tough competitor.")

Michelle --> Wendy

Andrea --> Wendy ("Sorry, Wendy, but it's got to be somebody.")

Harry --> Wendy

Nick --> Wendy ("My heart is heavy, and bleeding."

Like angry bowling pins that refuse to topple they remain: Dallas, Harry, Andrea, Michelle and Nick. Who will be the next to fall? On to our next challenge...

I like to call this challenge: "Missionary Veal." (Get it? Like missionary zeal?) Anyway, here's what you gotta do. Introduce us to someone you know who hates a certain food. "Marvin hates onions." "Nancy hates cabbage." You get the idea.

Your challenge is to sell them on the food they hate by preparing that ingredient in ways that might convert them. Should you fail, you may still be rewarded for your creativity, humor and effort. The readers will be voting immunity this round, so crank up the charm. The photo policy is the same as last round---as long as you post it to an outside server I'm happy to link to it---and all entries are due Sunday by 9 pm.

Good luck!

With only five contestants left, things are getting fiery here in "Gourmet Survivor 2004." This round I asked players to convert a friend with a food phobia by cooking that food in a new and more appealing way. Were our entrants successful? You be the judge. (Note: Dallas sat this round out, so she's ineligible for immunity. In her defense, it was her birthday.) Now on to the entries...

This was a close one! Michelle and Nick were inches behind Harry in the final tally, but immunized they weren't. Score another point for Israel.

So everyone (including Dallas) send me your votes by tomorrow night at 11.

To make things even MORE exciting let's do this...

There are 5 people voting. If you suspect that YOU are going to be voted off, you can vote against yourself. If 4 of the 5 people vote against you (yourself included) and one doesn't, then the one who doesn't gets bounced and you live. But this is a risky venture because it has to be 4 of the 5. If it's 3, you're gone. If it's 5 you're gone. You're basically betting that everyone hates you except one sucker.

A fun little twist, no? Happy voting! (oh, and your votes will be published again...)

Ya, so I thought my strange voting scheme might make for an interesting twist. But everyone voted for Dallas. So, I'm afraid, Dallas this is farewell. Thanks for your eager participation. We'll miss your quirky efforts...

Nick. Harry. Michelle. Andrea. Separate and alone, foodie icons of the internet age. Together, fierce combatants in the final weeks of what will surely become an international phenomenon--Gourmet Survivor 2004.

This week's challenge was to write a restaurant review. Simple enough. Let's see what our fierce fighting foodies came up with. Vote for your favorite to get immunity.

Well done Nick--you curried up 17 immunity votes in the last round and therefore secured yourself immunity status for this crucial vote-off. With four people voting and Nick immune, who's gonna take the fall?

Will it be HARRY, the Beast from the Middle East?

Or MICHELLE, the BA (bad ass) from WA (Washington)?

Or ANDREA, The Highlander Long Islander?

Players, send your votes via e-mail by 11 pm tomorrow. Naturally, they will be published. Best of luck to you all.

It is with extreme sadness that I report that our beloved Harry has been voted off the Gourmet kitchen island. The votes went something like this:

Andrea: "It's Harry. I love him to pieces, but he's the strongest competition..."

Michelle: "With only two people to pick from, I, sadly, will cast my vote for Harry this round."

Nick: "SAD!  I have to vote for Harry.  HARRY IS, WAS, AND WILL ALWAYS BE A FOOD CHAMPION! But I have to vote for him."

Harry had this to say with his vote: "My vote is for Michelle. Not that it matters, Et-tu Nick? My alliance
has betrayed me. But I know it's because I am feared and respected. In any case, if previous contestants decide who wins among the final two, this fact will NOT be forgotten. You can count on that NICK. Betrayed! Betrayed! Betrayed!"

Indeed, those who've been voted off WILL vote for the final winner. But more on that later.

I wonder if those who've been voted off can illuminate for us some of the backdoor politics that went on with these alliances. Blog-reading minds would love to know.

Farewell Harry! We'll miss thee.

Prepare to be surprised followers of Gourmet Survivor 2004. I know I was!

Let's start at the beginning. A week and a half ago I assigned Michelle, Andrea and Nick their final challenge: prepare some kind of baked good (or anything that won't spoil) and ship it to me. I will eat it and judge it. This will be your final challenge.

Time crept by. The due date was today, October 20th. And when I went to get my mail today there was only one package. ONE PACKAGE. So I said to myself, "Uh oh---two of our contestants have failed miserably. Who are they? What's happened?"

And then I went upstairs and opened the package. I was greeted with this note (which I will transcribe below the picture so don't hurt your eyes):

Dear Amateur Gourmet,

Yours,
Andrea, Michelle & Nick

I flipped the note over and there's a picture of all three competitors together in my hometown, Oceanside, NY:

How did this happen! Who arranged this? Michelle lives in Seattle! Nick lives in Philadelphia! Andrea lives in...New York! Were plane tickets purchased to bake pastries? Were these people faking their whereabouts all along? Am I on Candid Camera?

While these questions have yet to be answered, I turn to the pastry. Presented in three lovely packages were an assortment of treats that I greeted hungrily. Clockwise from the top there's: Michelle's homemade cinnamon rolls; Nick's "Cafeteria" brownies; and Andrea's Cranberry-Orange Drop Cookies.

Each package contained a note and pictures of the cooking process (which didn't come out when I tried to photograph the photograph. Maybe Nick, Michelle and Andrea can link to their photos in the comments section?).

Michelle's note read:

"Hi Adam--
Enclosed are two hopefully yummy homemade cinnamon rolls. For best eating results, microwave rolls for 10-15 sec and drizzle with icing (enclosed separately). The icing was shipped frozen and is cream-cheese based. It should still be cold enough to safely eat. Use your own judgment. Enjoy! Michelle."

Here's the cream cheese frosting which tasted fine:

Nick's note read:

"TAG,
Ya had to be there to understand how much I realize these are "cafeteria brownies." They taste like them, look like them, and for all intents and purposes ARE cafeteria brownies. My shame cannot be expressed in words. Sincerely, NSA (nick)"

And then Andrea's note:

"Cranpberry-Orange Drop Cookies (1 dozen)
The bread end is for freshness purposes only, please do not eat it. Enjoy it! Sincerely, Andrea."

(She had placed a piece of bread in the box to keep the cookies fresh apparently).

So after recovering from the shock of this strange turn of events, and arranging the food on the plate...

I sat down and began to eat judiciously. Meaning, I took bites of each item until I lost interest. I figured this final photograph of the plate post-eating would serve as an appropriate judgment on the quality of the food baked, packaged and shipped. It is no reflection on the gratitude I have for all three contestants for the huge effort they put into this. It simply reflects what I thought tasted good:

With that done, now, it's time for you--the Amateur Gourmet reading audience--to vote off either Nick, Andrea or Michelle. Once that's done, the two remainders will write a mission statement of why they want to be Gourmet Survivor 2004 and then those who've been voted off in the last nine rounds will vote on the winner.

Sound good?

So ready set vote, America. And thanks, once again, to Nick, Michelle and Andrea---you're all survivors in my heart.

First of all, let me say this was INCREDIBLY WILDLY close. In fact, based on six former survivor contestants who voted (Catherine didn't vote) it was an absolute tie. But since there can only be one winner, I used the audience's votes from the comments from the last post to determine the winner. Who is that winner? See the following video then click "continue" below to see how it went down...

AND THE WINNER IS...