Cook-offs

I wasn't one to enter cooking contests, but when the newspaper in my South Florida community ran a cooking contest back in the 1980's,

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal live. John 3:16 (NIV)

"Kathi Dameron took home two prizes in the first contest she's ever entered" the story began.

The beautifully framed article, that I invested a small fortune to have professionally framed twenty years ago, has traveled with me through several different moves in the years since that wonderful moment in time when my culinary skills and passion were recognized beyond my circle of friends.

Back then I had big dreams. Winning that contest represented something profound to me in a indescribable sort of way. Perhaps I imagined that by winning the cooking contest, I had achieved a new level of credibility as a gourmet cook and entertainer. My dream was to be a cookbook author. When Martha Stewart's first Entertaining book came out, I was shocked and just a tad bit disturbed.

Martha had written and published the book that was in my imagination! I couldn't believe it. I didn't know if I should be happy or sad.

For me winning that cooking contest was like a launching pad into an eventual career in food and entertaining.

In the 1990's I opened a catering business that often catered to the who's who of Florida. For over ten years, I lived and breathed the delicious aromas of a busy, but often stressful catering kitchen.

Eventually, I realized it was time to shift gears and get back to the original dream.

I'm still trying to birth a cookbook. God-willing with each new day I am closer to achieving this aspiration.

One of the best things that happened during this last year was the wonderful opportunity to write a regular food column in the newspaper. The column comes out every two weeks, so far I've had a stream of food story ideas running through my consciousness that could go well into the next century! There is no shortage of story ideas in my imagination, but rather perhaps a measure of frustration that I'm not capturing all these ideas and getting them into print.

I get the idea that once I break through the barriers of doing my first cookbook, the others will be a piece of cake to roll out.

Well, that's the story on how my life has evolved since I won the Grand Prize in a Florida cooking contest.

Kathi Dameron is a free-lance writer and food columnist. She writes a regular newspaper column called "Entertaining with Kathi" She owns Kathi Dameron and Associates, a Writing and Blogging Boutique that writes creative content-rich articles and blogs that link to client websites. http://www.campaignblitz.us She is in the process of writing her first book. http://www.kathidameron.com

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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