Best of ZWT8

[Charlotte J]

The favorite of everyone in the family was
Mexican Style Meatloaf #482705 by HokiesMom
My favorite
Open Face Cheddar Broil #303592 by Lainey6605


Memory... besides being on an awesome team, I'd have to say was a flavor memory. This tour was the first time I tried garam masala. I must say it is a wonderful blend of ground spices and can't wait to try more recipes calling for garam masala.

Many takes to my teammates and everyone involved in putting ZWT8 together.

[JackieOhNo!]

Oh my gosh - how can I possibly pick only 2 favorites, when I made over 65 recipes this tour! There was so much to enjoy and so many new discoveries! I'd never even heard of rissoles, much less ate them. I never thought to put kiwi in a quick bread. I didn't know that blue cheese would taste great in a tomato pasta dish. I didn't realize applesauce went well with horseradish to create a great burger topping. I was surprised to find out that combine black beans and pumpkin makes for a delicious soup. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a little bit of lime on top of red lentil soup is pure genius. And that lassi is a wonderful beverage (and not the most common name for a collie dog), and just cheese and onion make one delightful sandwich! Certainly, these were all the fun parts!

I had a wonderful team, and a wonderful captain, Mikekey, especially who really had a thankless task at times. Everybody stepped up to the plate when they needed to. I was especially pleased with how creative and tasteful our Remember the Alamo challenge submission turned out. We had smooth sailing with no conflicts and great camraderie. I look forward to seeing my teammates out and about on the site throughout the year.

Now, back to my 2 "favorites". Since I have to choose from such a wealth or recipes, I will say that Open-Faced Egg Salad and Watercress Sandwich #356986 by KateL and Barbecued Prawns With Chilli, Lime & Cilantro Butter #483871 by Nif #65502 were top of the list. Egg salad can be such a tired humdrum affair and usually doesn't inspire much enthusiasm. However, this recipe changed the rules. It was elegant and easy, and will become a staple in my household. Regarding the prawn recipe, it's really the butter that left us drooling. Again, something entirely simple had us squealing with delight. We couldn't get enough of it. After the shrimp was eaten, we were dipping our steak in it! We even spread some on our corn on the cob, which had my DBF moaning his enjoyment. A recipe like that you have to single out.

Finally, a huge thank you to our wonderful hosts for their inexhaustible patience and their incredible hard work. I can't imagine what it takes to pull something like this off, but I truly appreciate every ounce of their effort. Bravo!

[loof]

I had a hard time choosing my two favorites for ZWT8 but here’s what I finally came up with….

Ratatouille With Poached Eggs and Garlic Croutons #460321 by Sharon123
The flavors in this were outstanding and it was not difficult to make – lots of bang for the buck.



Curried Cauliflower and Potatoes (Aloo Gobi) #482780 by lazyme
This recipe is delicious, comforting, and easy to make. DH and I are really beginning to take a liking to Indian food and we both really loved this.


I have 2 “runners up” that I have to mention….Green Peas Masala #485225 by Pesto lover, mostly because it went so well with Curried Cauliflower and Potatoes (Aloo Gobi), and Chicken Enchiladas With Tomatillo Sauce (Enchiladas Verdes) by ElleFirebrand because we LOVE Mexican food and this was so good, delicious and authentic.

Our team is the best and I feel so blessed to have shared the past several weeks with these folks. It was great to hang out with some old friends – Nif, Annacia, twissis, awalde, Elmotoo – and get to know some new friends – Tea Girl, Melanie D., and alvinakatz. We had so much fun (DH could always tell when I was in our thread ‘cause he could hear me giggling ) and I learned a lot too. I enjoyed the cuisines from all of the regions and the challenges were fun as well. I especially liked the Colors of India challenge, it was lovely to see all the creativity in the interpretations for that challenge.

Now if I could just remember exactly what happened to me in Spain

Thanks to everyone for all their effort in making ZWT8 great!

[alvinakatz]

For my Best Of ZWT entires I decided to give one pick to DH and keep one for myself.
I was quite surprised at DH's pick, which was Sharon123's Creamy Chive Cucumber Cups. Not really surprised, since he loves cucumbers and has been talking about these cups ever since I made them on an usually hot day, when he just gobbled them up. OK, we both gobbled them up. The surprise is because he's usually a spicy kinda guy. But these were so cooling on a hot hot day. Crunchy and creamy.
My choice was hard to make, as there were so many delicious recipes I tried. Finally I settled on JanuaryBride's Watermelon Gin Fizz. Several of us on the team made it. I like gin and this was something different. Again, super refreshing on those hot days.

Favorite memories. Hard to choose. This was my first ZWT and what I hadn't expected was the comradery and the Internationalism of the group. I am so lucky to have been placed among these fabulous folk. For humor, it might have been trying to figure out how I was going to find, let along cook, that 72" corn tortilla that the Zaar software created for MelanieD's Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas . Another plus - I have so many more recipes and reviews now. Hurrah! Of course I have to go fix-up all those small errors in recipes that my kind reviewers pointed out, none so egregious as a 72" tortilla though.

[Buzymomof3]

Wow, my first tour is coming to an end. So sad! But I had so much fun. What were my favorite two recipes? That was really hard.

1) Crock Pot Creme Brulee #372768 by Nif hands down the best find I had, my favorite dessert and the ease of cooking it in a crock-pot!!! My taste buds love it, my diet not so much.

2) not quite as easy, but I finally chose Pan Cooked Pumpkin #474176 by katew. It's not a fancy recipe, but it had great taste and I will make it often.


A very close miss to being number 2 was Laurel's Mango Chutney which we used in Country Captain for the Slow-Cooker (also a contender) and Camembert Roast Chicken. It was VERY hard to choose - I finally went with the one I see me doing more often and it was the vegetable.

I had such a great team! We were all over the map, Canada, Germany, South Africa, Australia and the US. Everyone jumped at the chance to do the challenges (good thing, because if I had to do the art and music challenges we would have failed!), We had a great story writer in Mia who was very nice to me in the saffron challenge - she didn't have me picking since I had just had knee surgery. We had a great team captain who kept us on track and kept the front page updated - a major task as our team loved to cook! Everyone pitched in for the SI challenges, and I think I finally got the hang of it in the third round (better late than never). I lucked out with my team and made some great friends from all over, and I thank the ZWT hosts for the opportunity. My family had a ball, especially when I made a pavlova, something we all fell in love with in Australia. They enjoyed helping me pick recipes and eating them.

Our most authentic was probably the Indian meal. I bought a Tahli plate to eat on and I'm going to go back and get another one to give to my DD for her and her fiance so they can each have their own. I'm still hoping the store might eventually get me the Tiffin, but so far they haven't had any luck.


I can't express how much fun I had on my first tour - a great supportive team and a wonderful bunch of recipes that will bring back fond memories. Thanks all for making it possible!

[Elaniemay]

Xni-Pec Salsa was my husbands favorite and Roasted Curry Powder #2 was mine. I will only use this one from now on!
I enjoyed the time spent in spain/portugal best. Most of my favorite recipes were from that leg of the trip. I really enjoyed my team mates. They were a fun bunch of girls and I'm glad to have met them.

[FLKeysJen]

Oh...thank you for mentioning the Xni-Pec Salsa! Glad your husband liked it!

[FLKeysJen]

My silver medal goes to Baked Shrimp With Tomatillos #483792 by CJAY:



It was amazing the first time and just as good scrambled with eggs in the morning!

The gold goes to Sunset Orzo With Spanish Shrimp #363237 by Boomette:



DEElish!

When I look back on this World Tour, I'll most remember the three days stuck at home because of Tropical Storm Isaac.

I have been through a few hurricanes where the power was shut off and I lost a small fortune of food in the refrigerator and freezer....needless to say, I am gun-shy about spending money when a hurricane might be coming through and having to lose it all.

It was not recommended to leave the house so I was in the house three days straight, tortured by constant reading of my Food.com recipe print-outs. We had to order pizza and other take-out. I couldn't wait to get back to good food from the tour!

[mersaydees]

My two favorite recipes from the tour were both Mikekey's:

Roasted Kumara (Sweet Potato) Salad #484353



and Pearl (Israeli) Couscous With Garam Masala and Pine Nuts #278742



I had other favorites, and it was difficult to narrow down to these two, however, they met my happy-state of requirements in that they are both delicious AND healthy. Great combos in my world! I will be making these often.

Happy moments? Signing up with the expectation of joining my 3rd ZWT with old friends and knowing I would meet new ones AND the expectation of so many recipes to try and of learning about our small planet. Among cooks. I was so happy throughout the tour thanks to the hard work behind-the-scenes from our great hosts. How you all come up with these interesting and objective challenges?! They really did make me think and create and experience the various regions in the tour.

Because of this experience and my past two, this is my favorite event on food.com.

[breezermom]

Wow! How can I pick only 2......I've narrowed it down to 12 though. LOL if my quick counting is correct, I made 97 recipes this tour, so just picking 2 is very difficult. But here you go:

Spinach With Pine Nuts and Almonds (Espinacas Con Pinones Y Almo 483241 by CJAY from Spain/Portugal



Curry Rice Indienne With Raisins & Almonds 463764 by Nancy's Pantry from India



I have to mention one more, just because I really enjoyed it! Mikekey's Portuguese Bean Soup 482890 from Spain/Portugal



This tour seemed to move really fast, and I didn't get to try all the dishes that I wanted to. The best part of the tour was the comraderie among my teammates. Muffin Goddess did a terrific job as captain, Student Chef helped keep all our recipes organized, and Dreamer in Ontario did a great job assisting Muffin Goddess with scoring. Of course, with our team, everyone seemed to jump in everywhere. I think everyone was totaling up scores each round. It was wonderful hearing about Dreamer's motorcycle, Life is Good dropping off her DD at college, and Dreamer and I empathized since we've had to do that too. Florida Native and I dodged a hurricane, and Sharon123 got a great deal on an air conditioner. Iewe kept us in suspense each round, and we would all give a collective sigh when she would post on that last day. Ma Field had to drop out because she got a full-time job, and we hated to see her not "cook the tar" out of the recipes. It was so funny seeing how alike our Mom's are/were. Just a great time all around. It was wonderful exploring the flavors of each region, and even better getting to know a bit about "chef names" that now have a "face".

Thanks to the hosts for putting up with all our questions and our getting side-tracked with silly stories.

[threeovens]

It is really hard to select only two recipes, but I guess the two that stood apart from the rest (partlybecause I could have never thought of them myself, but mostly because I could eat them every day) were:

1. Fish With Macadamia Butter Sauce #380218

2. Cerdo De Barcelona #466025


There are so many terrific memories, like when celticevergreen "agreed" to be Chives (as if he had a choice). Also, wondering if Jennifer (Marcasite Queen) was going to remember she was on our team and had to cook! (she did). I suppose the best memory is just getting to know everyone when we are setting up our team. We "see" members here and there and form some sort of opinion about some people, but it is really great to truly get to know each other better by being on a team and working together. I won't mention the "worst" memory for me. Okay, I will. I really, really, really made that Alamo challenge very hard. I studied the history of the Alamo for something like 3 days (and I mean 8 hour days) before writing the story. It was so interesting, but I was really glad to be done with it!

Thanks to all the host, especially, Susie D, LazyMe, and ~Leslie~ for keeping an eye on us (and out for us) during the tour. Also, to Jubes for helping out with our banner and other banners too!

[IngridH]

This is always the hardest part for me... narrowing it down to two favorites. I had it down to 10 this morning, so I guess I have to make the hard decisions and just pick two.

Summer Berries With Lemon Creme Fraiche #483255 by gailanng is clearly my favorite this time around. This lovely dessert has sweet, savory, and tart flavors; is dirt simple to make; and looks like a million bucks. What more could you ask for? It's healthy, too!

Port and Paprika Chicken Bites #483328 by Lavender Lynn is my second choice. This has all of the lovely flavors you would expect from the region, and was just so darn good that I kept going back to the refrigerator for "just one more bite". Needless to say, the leftovers didn't last long...

My most fun memory of this tour actually is from my office. Most of my co workers know that I love to cook, and that when tour comes around there are usually treats to be found on my desk. This was certainly true of ZWT8, where I supplied lunch to one co worker for nearly a week straight since "I had leftovers, and need to make a different recipe tonight". The best part however, was when I brought in Anzac Biscuits (Cookies) by **Jubes**, and the guys just went wild. I gave them each a cookie, and let them know that there were more (as usual) on my desk. Both of the guys came over 3 times over the course of the workday to see if any were left! I think between them, they ate 3/4 of the batch before the day was over. If that's not evidence for a 5 star rating, I don't know what is!

I have to recognize my team before I end this post- they are just fantastic! We are a very diverse group of people, yet we found common ground in our love for good food and good fun. Jim was such a great sport to put up with the talk about speedos and losing his pants during the team "outing" in Great Brittain. Smellyvegetarian did an amazing amount of cooking despite being ready to deliver at any time. KateL did an outstanding job wrangling the cookbooks, and gailanng was a cooking machine- reviewing an amazing number of dishes in each region- especially Mexico. I loved touring with this group, and would be happy to do so again!

[mersaydees]

threeovens wrote:


I won't mention the "worst" memory for me. Okay, I will. I really, really, really made that Alamo challenge very hard. I studied the history of the Alamo for something like 3 days (and I mean 8 hour days) before writing the story. It was so interesting, but I was really glad to be done with it!

I know what you mean about the Alamo challenge. That's why I volunteered to do the Celebrity challenge -- because I guessed our team needed some help in this area. I, too, researched the places I wrote about. They are real tourist sites that I've never been to! In all the ZWTs I've done, these types of challenges are included and I really like them because someone from each team will step forward and do it and love it because you do learn about the regions by researching.

I'm thinking that like knitting or crochet instructions (like I've had time to knit or crochet in the past 20 years! lol!) perhaps these challenges can come with an experience rating? Like one to three stars for level of difficulty or experience in previous ZWTs? Huh? Huh?

I.e., chefs with more experience in ZWTs might take these on so that team members who are new will see how they are accomplished.

[AlaskaPam]

Just like everyone else, it is really hard to pick only two recipes, but my two choices are:

1. Cinnamon Mocha Coffee from Taste of Home #281139 by HokiesMom
I chose this one because I am a real coffee lover, but usually not a fan of flavored coffees. This recipe totally converted me! It was so delicious, it will become a regular weekend treat for me!
2. Curried Red Lentil Dahl #328537 by Karen Elizabeth
I chose this one for multiple reasons! Not only was it really good, but it is easy to put together, is healthy and a meal I can share with my vegan son. Also it reminded me a pleasant meal I had about 20 years ago. I loved this one!

My best memories of the tour..there are so many! First of all, this is not only my first tour, but my first contest or game of any kind on this site, so one of the best things was getting to know the personalities behind the names and recipes. That was delightful! Also, I was a member of a wonderful team. Everyone was so patient and helpful with a "newbie" really taking the time and trouble to explain how things worked to me, and I really appreciated that! I was also impressed with how everyone pulled together, when one person was busy, the others took up the slack, and even the wonderful hosts pitching in to help us! It was all great fun and I look forward to doing it again! Thanks to everyone that made it happen

[Rita~]

Susie D wrote:
This part of the Tour always brings a big smile to face as I read your stories! Although the end is bittersweet I'm very proud I was able to share the journey with you. {{{{hugs}}}}}

Scorecard is current to here.

You should smile because it`s all because of you! {{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}