Homegrown Gourmet NINE

Last month, Katie at KBK Bakery was our fabulous host for Homegrown Gourmet, volume 8: Peanut Butter.

Let me first back up. Many moons ago, Erika at Bean's Bistro started this challenge with the mighty sandwich. Her idea was to highlight local cuisine, local products, local whatever! Each month(ish) we are treated to a culinary themed tour!

So far, we have been challenged by sandwiches, soups, pies/tarts, stews, quick breads and breakfast, potatos, and peanut butter. Lucky me, I am hosting my second time! I wanted to try to come up with something that would allow everyone some creativity, let us really flex our collective homegrown muscles! I have been wrestling with my choice for the past 48 hours... drinks? Burgers? cookies? Salad? Pizza? What to do, what to do... Finally I decided, I kept coming back to it. A dish that can be really customized in a million ways... something that exists in so many cultures around the world...

HOMEGROWN GOURMET NINE IS....

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Ready for it?

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You sure???

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Drumroll please...

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BBBLLLLRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR (thats a drumroll FYI)

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*********!PASTA!**********

Noodley goodness! It can be spaghetti or penne or raviolis or any other pasta that strikes your fancy. It can be homemade if you are so inclined, or from the store but just make sure that your dish, somehow, is HomeGrown Gourmet!

THE RULES:

1. Anyone can play!

2. A theme will be picked by the host. Participants will make a dish that follows the theme and that somehow represents their home region - town, state, area. Representation can feature a local ingredient, be a traditional dish from your area, or be a creative twist.

3. Participants will have 3-4 weeks (host discretion) to complete their recipes and post them to their blog (or email the pics and text), and notify the host. The host will then post the results and then let everyone know via email or message board the results are up!

4. An explanation of your dish is required; it can be a story about the local custom or ingredient, how you came about eating/making the recipe, or an explanation about how your creative dish fits the theme.

5. Fresh and local foods are encouraged!

6. When the round is done, the host will announce their favorite dish by updating their blog. Favorite is completely subjective to the host- no one expects the host to make and taste test all the dishes, it is just something that strikes the host’s fancy! The creator of the fave gets the honor of hosting the next round, if they so choose!

To participate in Homegrown Gourmet #9, create a pasta dish that somehow relates to your home. Post about it in your blog and tell the world what makes your recipe Homegrown… be sure to link back to this post. Then send me an email at megpug at gmail dot com with “Homegrown Gourmet 9″ in the subject line. I will reply to all emails to confirm receipt (so if you dont get a reply, comment and let me know!)

Please include the following in your e-mail: your name, your location, your blog name and URL, and a permalink to your entry. Don’t forget to attach a picture (preferably 250 x 250) of your dish to the email if you dont blog! (Not a blogger and still want to enter? Why aren’t you blogging already? Come on, you know you want to do it. All the cool kids are doing it these days… what? still no? Ok, email me all the details and I’ll post for you.)

Deadline for the event is MONDAY JUNE 30 2008!!

*NOTE: Extended Deadline!!*