WHAT GETS YOU COOKING? 

Macy’s 12 episode podcast series starring Tyler Florence will inspire you with delicious recipes and you have a chance to win a trip for two to San Francisco for a $2500 kitchen shopping spree with Tyler Florence in the Macy’s Keeps America Cooking Video Contest!

This contest sponsored by Macy’s to win a trip to San Francisco to shop with Tyler Florence on a $2,500 shopping spree and a hosted podcast linked to his series.  Nicole from M80 productions contacted me to let me know and asked me to share this with you all too. All you have to do is make a video cooking one of your favourite recipes and share it on the site to be entered to win. The deadline is  April 3, 2009.

Details here at the M80 newsroom or here at  www.macys.com/keepitcooking

Contest overview:
The “Macy’s Keeps America Cooking” contest will be based completely off of user-generated video submissions and viewer-rating of their favorite video or recipe. Entrants are asked to create a video based on an original recipe that demonstrates “What gets you cooking? Is it the magical people in your life? Or the fresh ingredients at your local market?” Each video should be 2 minutes or less, and, similar to how Tyler ends his podcasts with “From my Mill Valley kitchen to yours, Macy’s keeps it cooking,” submitted videos should also end with the line “From my (location) kitchen to yours, Macy’s keeps it cooking!”

Prizes
- The Grand Prize Winner of the contest will receive:
o a trip for two to San Francisco to cook with Tyler
o shopping spree with Tyler for new kitchen products using Macy’s gift of a $2,500 gift card
o a feature spot on their own Macy’s Keeps It Cooking podcast that will show them cooking with their new Macy’s kitchen products
- Nine runner-up winners will also be selected and will each be awarded with a $1,000 gift card from Macy’s
- If winners include mention of what they like about their local Macy’s or macys.com in their videos, they will also receive an additional $500. Winners will be selected on or around April 30, 2009.

Now for this week’s Tyler Florence Fridays:

This is a busy week for me- my son, Ryan, is coming home on leave tomorrow and things are a bit stressful and hectic at work so I went the easy route with Tyler this week.  If you look through his book “Dinner at My Place” you’ll find lots of little helpful recipes for sauces, seasonings and dressings- bits and bobs, odds and sods. This Creamy Pesto Dressing is what I made using his Creamy Dressing Base on page #244. 

For most salads our standard dressing in house is very similar to the French Vinaigrette he gives on the same page -except I add more shallots and usually use Sherry vinegar. I rarely buy bottled salad dressings- they are just so easy to make at home and so much better than a stale sauce in a bottle. Tyler’s base is a great jumping off point for any number of variations when you are craving that type of dressing.  add roasted garlic, salsa, fresh or dried herbs, pesto, roasted peppers, pureed roasted veg, fresh veg, or any other flavour your little heart desires.

The base is basically equal parts mayonnaise and sour cream with a little fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to brighten and round out the flavour. If you have time make your mayo (I think there is a good recipe in “Stirring the Pot”) homemade- if not Best foods/Hellman’s would be my choice.  When you’re in a time crunch adding 3 Tablespoons (or to taste) from a bottle of prepared Basil pesto makes a quick dressing. It’s not a bad dipping sauce for artichoke leaves or roasted asparagus either.

Let’s check out the other TFF offerings here!

xo