So you think you can burn?

Here’s your chance to prove it.

The Southern Cooking Contest, sponsored by Charlotte Center City Partners, is looking for the region’s best recipes and amateur chefs – kids and adults.

Winners will be announced at the Eighth Annual Blues, Brews & BBQ festival.

James Bazzelle, owner of Mert's Heart and Soul, will serve as celebrity chef and adviser. He also will help a panel of judges select the best recipes and stories.

Good cooking, Brazzelle said, is as individual as the people who do it, but some things are universal.

“If somebody is going to make macaroni an cheese,” he said, “it’s got to have cheese.”

He added: “You need to be open minded. You need to be a person who enjoys food, and you must be someone who wants to please others.”

He compared the adulation from cooking to the feeling a performer might get during a standing ovation: “ A good cook just wants to hears somebody say, ‘Man, I just love your….’ ”

Adult Contest:
Adults may submit one entry for each of the following categories.

• BBQ Fixin’s: Mac N’ Cheese (Contestant’s original Macaroni and Cheese recipe best paired with BBQ.)
• Seasonal Ingredient: Sweet Potatoes (Recipe may be a side or an appetizer in which the main ingredient is sweet potatoes.)
• Dessert: Apple Cobbler (Contestant’s original Apple Cobbler recipe.)

Rules & Guidelines:
--Recipes may be contestant’s original creation or an old family recipe.
--Contestants must enter a story about what makes their recipe special. The story must include a short background about themselves and how their recipe came to life in one page or less.
--This contest is for amateur entrants only. Professional chefs or cooks may not enter.
--Attach original recipe and story (one page or less) with application
--Recipes will be judged August 3 to determine semi-finalist and finalist.
--Finalists will be notified no later than August 6.
--The semi-finalist round will take place on Thursday, August 12 at Johnson and Wales University.
--Winners will be announced on Saturday September 11 at the Eighth Annual Blues, Brews & BBQ festival.
--Only the best recipes and stories will make it to the final round.

Contestants can win a prize package for up to $250 in kitchen smallwares, with the grand prize winner receiving a $500 US Airways Gift Card.

Mail all applications by August 1 to:
Charlotte ArtsFest, Inc
c/o Ally Oelerich
200 South Tryon St. Suite 1600
Charlotte NC, 28202

Kids Contest:
Children ages 9-13 may submit one entry under the following category:

• Mac N’ Cheese

Rules and Guidelines:
--Recipes may be contestant’s original creation or an old family recipe.
--Contestants must enter a story about what makes their recipe special.
--The story must include a short background about themselves and how their recipe came to life in less than one page.
--Attach original recipe and story (one page or less) with application.
--Recipes will be judged on August 3 to determine final contestants.
--Finalists will be notified no later than August 6th, 2010.
--The final round with a Johnson & Wales chef will be held at the Find Your Center 8th --Annual BBQ Festival, Saturday, Sept. 11.

Contestants can win a prize package for up to $250 in kitchen smallwares.

Mail all applications for the contest by August 1st, 2010 to:
Charlotte ArtsFest, Inc
c/o Ally Oelerich
200 South Tryon St. Suite 1600
Charlotte NC, 28202

For event and general information, visit the following websites: www.FindYourCenter.com, www.historicsouthend.com, and www.charlottecentercity.org.
 

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