Well, it’s all come down to this. And by this I mean this lovely logo:
Isn’t it pretty? Can you believe it’s been 9 weeks since we began Gourmet Survivor? We began it when I first moved to New York and now it’s almost November. Who knows where the time goes?
So. Here we are. Andrea vs. Michelle. Here’s what needs to happen: all you former Survivor contestants (particularly those still reading this) please e-mail me your vote by Wednesday. Andrea and Michelle should probably post a comment in the comments section pleading their case for Gourmet Survivor champ. Regular site readers should chime in too (as they are wont to do; though I wish they’d be a little less cruel).
What will the winner win? I’m still working on that. More on that later. But for now, cue the boxing ring bell. Ding ding ding. Final round. Here we go…
Well, well, well. We’ve made it here. I’m really quite surprised by all of this, especially since we told Nick point-blank he was better off sticking with Harry, because we totally planned to kick him to the curb all along! He knew it from the first day! But I guess loyalty won out. Or possibly fear, since we know where he lives.
I’m hard-pressed to say why me and not Michelle. But I can give you a glimpse of what I tried to do during this adventure.
* I never made a recipe I’d made before, and usually used ingredients I’d never used before (I mean, c’mon, people… meat flour and suet?)
* I toiled through numerous personal distractions, such as the High Holy Days, houseguests twice!, a small child with pneumonia, a brief stint with single motherhood, and your everyday challenges of the full-time IT job and a family.
* I tried very hard to make everything I did entertaining for you, noble audience. If I didn’t always hit my mark… it wasn’t for lack of effort!
* In general, we DID try to vote based on the week’s merit (you all have to admit that last week was very weak by Harry’s standard). I feel like the only time we went against that policy was with Fae. I very much regret voting off Fae.
And so I leave it in your hands. I will accept your judgement, be it capricious, judgemental, or wise.
Ag – Are we allowed to ask questions like on the real Survivor?
Harry, if it’s up to us, I’m all for it. Anything to make it more exciting! :)
I’ve had a fun couple of weeks cooking and photographing and cooking some more for these challenges. Perhaps my entries have not been as entertaining as some, but I hope most found them enjoyable. I certainly put forth the effort!
But what makes me more deserving of your final vote than Andrea?
I, too, had my share of obligations, houseguests and travels to contend with. Though it may have been easier to throw in the towel than continue with the game, I pushed ahead and gave all the challenges my best effort. I even had to cook in someone else’s kitchen!
I tried to balance cooking weird things with cooking yummy things. What good is the effort if no one wants to eat it? My coworkers feasted upon tomato cake, my parents got to sample homemade bread and poor poor Julia was subjected to many a green pepper terror only to be won over by a recipe she actually asked for a copy of later.
And I’ve learned a few things from this competition, too. I’ve gotten recipe suggestions from people around me, ideas of foods to try from my fellow competitors, and found a couple new blogs to read. I also learned that freehanding scientificish drawings in photoshop isn’t as easy as it seems like it would be.
Oh, also, when I met Nick, I punched him in the arm.
Thanks, all, for the challenge,
-Michelle.
My vote is for Andrea since she had the most food I would want to eat as well as being very entertaining! Good job to everyone, though I wish I could have had a final Harry to vote for!!
PS: I think several folks need to lighten up. And thank you to Nick for participating and being a good guy. :)
In total agreement with CateATL. Andrea’s entries were very sweet and I enjoyed them a lot. The photo of her daughter eating the first entry was pricless. This was so much fun! I hope that you do it again.
Sandy Denny’s version of “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?” is better.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00007J36V/qid=1098810525/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl15/102-7999464-2244106?v=glance&s=music&n=507846
I too want to join in on the send-off to Nick. He was a great competitor and I always enjoyed his entries and his witty personality (especially loved the George Bush Sr. broccoli bit!). Great fun, Nick — thanks for being so entertaining.
As far as the remaining two stalwart competitors, I give Andrea the slight edge. All of this has been great to follow and I hope TAG will do it again.
Go Andrea!
Hooray for both ladies, but I’m going to root for Michelle!
Though I think that all of the competitors did an excellent job, in the end I can only cast my vote for one of you. I’m going with Andrea.
Everyone did such a great job, and this has been a lot of fun. Andrea gets my vote!
Michelle gets my vote. I am still amazed that she cooked THREE dishes for her friend who hated green peppers. That kind of tenaciousness deserves reward!
Great contest. I enjoyed all of the contestants’ entries and it’s too bad some readers took the competition a little *too* seriously, taking some of the goodnatured fun out of it. My vote goes for Michelle. The green peppers three times over warrants kudos.
Anyone willing to touch suet is tops in my book. My vote is for Andrea.