Cooking For Engineers

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The HP Freshman 15 Contest - Win a Notebook Computer


by Michael Chu
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Update Oct. 4, 2008: Cooking For Engineers' laptop giveaway contest begins today and ends October 11, 2008. Read this article for all the details.

Starting today, September 23, 2008, HP is giving away 15 laptops through 15 websites and Cooking For Engineers is one of them! You can actually participate in all fifteen giveaways to maximize your chances of getting a laptop. Cooking For Engineers will be giving away an HP Pavilion dv5t notebook computer on October 11, 2008.



We'll be announcing the specifics to our contest on October 4, 2008, so bookmark this article and check back when the contest begins. (Hint: It'll involve taking pictures, so go get a digital camera if you don't have one already.)

Starting on September 26, the first site will have one week to determine the winner of their giveaway computer. Every two days, another contest will begin on the next site in the giveaway. This gives you a decent amount of time to get the word out to your friends and to participate in as many giveaways as you can. Each site will be running a different contest (details will be announced on the day the contest begins for that site).

Here's the schedule of the other participants in "The HP Freshman 15" giveaway (go to their sites to find out how to participate in their giveaways):

Here is the system we'll be giving away:
HP Pavilion dv5t (click for details)

Update Oct. 4, 2008:
Let the HP Freshman 15 begin for Cooking For Engineers!
I want to keep the contest pretty simple, so here are the rules:
  • Any one can enter even if you aren't in the United States. You have to be prepared to give me your mailing address (so I can have the laptop shipped to you if you win) and social security number (so Hewlett Packard can handle the taxes for this prize) if you live in the U.S.
  • Post a comment to this article with a picture of food showing the phrase "cookingforengineers.com" in the picture. Note: the phrase has to be present at the time the picture is taken - no image editing or Photoshop allowed!

Some examples are:
- bake a cake and frost it with CookingForEngineers.com (then take a picture)
- take a picture of your entree at a restaurant along with a paper that says CookingForEngineers.com
- take a picture of an elaborate construction of French fries that spells out CookingForEngineers.com

You can post pictures by uploading first onto the internet somewhere. An example is to upload it to Flickr. Then come to this article and reply to it and post a comment with the picture embedded in it. To do this, you'll need to copy the location of the image that you uploaded. If you uploaded it to flickr, just go to the page where the photo is and right-click on the photo and select "view image" on your browser. Then copy the url from the location bar of your browser (it should look like: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/227507648_d9211a6c78.jpg?v=0) and put it into the comment that you're posting like this:
[IMG]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/227507648_d9211a6c78.jpg?v=0[/IMG]

I hope that all made sense...

On October 11, 2008 the contest ends. I'll be traveling, so the exact time that it ends will be when I get a chance to log on and post a reply to this article announcing the end of the contest. Any entries after that won't count. Then in the next couple days, I and a panel of five (Tina and a few friends) will decide which of the entries we like the most. Then I'll contact the winner via email to get their address.

To ensure that I'll be able to contact the winner, please be sure to register for an account first OR leave you contact info in your comment. You can make an account by going to this page. Once you've made your account, click on the post a comment link here or below and post your entry.

Update Oct. 6, 2008:
I forgot to mention that by entering the contest, you're also giving Cooking For Engineers the right to use the photographs submitted in the future. If you don't want Cooking For Engineers to be able to use your photo in the future, you can remove your entry (or email me at cooking@cookingforengineers.com to have it removed.

Also, I didn't realize it earlier but I'll be giving away a couple HP messenger bags (~$40 value) to runner ups.

Written by Michael Chu
Published on September 23, 2008 at 12:00 AM
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98 comments on The HP Freshman 15 Contest - Win a Notebook Computer:(Post a comment)

On September 25, 2008 at 04:47 AM, fergusg said...
Subject: HP Giveaway
US only I presume? (I'm in UK)


On September 25, 2008 at 12:56 PM, Michael Chu said...
This is NOT a U.S. only giveaway - anyone is eligible!


On September 27, 2008 at 03:22 PM, an anonymous reader said...
Based on the giveaway title, is this limited college freshmen? I couldn't find any rules indicating one way or the other.

Sue


On September 27, 2008 at 03:28 PM, Michael Chu said...
Anonymous wrote:
Based on the giveaway title, is this limited college freshmen? I couldn't find any rules indicating one way or the other.

Sue


I'm not allowed to post rules until the day of my giveaway, but it's not limited to college freshmen - HP just intends the laptop promotion to be oriented towards recent college grads and there are 15 units to be given away, so Freshman 15 seemed like a fun name.

So, to be clear, anyone regardless of age or country of residence will be able to participate in my giveaway. Full rules will be published on October 4th.


On September 27, 2008 at 04:16 PM, dsuursoo (guest) said...
down for it, i'm going back to school for my materials science bachelors. it'll help if i win it.


On October 04, 2008 at 12:26 AM, Michael Chu said...
Subject: Let the contest begin!
All entries for the HP Freshman 15 laptop giveaway should be BELOW this comment and ABOVE the comment I leave ending the contest on October 11.

Remember, anyone can enter - just post a picture involving food and the have the phrase "cookingforengineers.com" showing in the photo. The phrase has to be there when the picture is taken - no image editing or photoshop!


On October 05, 2008 at 06:23 PM, Abdur Rafay Zafar (guest) said...
One more thing.
Can a person have more than one entry? I have a couple of great ideas and was having difficulty deciding which one to go for.


On October 05, 2008 at 08:20 PM, Michael Chu said...
Abdur Rafay Zafar wrote:
One more thing.
Can a person have more than one entry? I have a couple of great ideas and was having difficulty deciding which one to go for.

Feel free to enter more than once.


On October 05, 2008 at 10:53 PM, adcurtin said...
Subject: My Entry
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-0253.jpg

I just removed the floor from my moms kitchen, so I decided to cut some of it out, then decided that would take way too long, so I just burned the rest, with sparklers and a blowtorch.


On October 06, 2008 at 12:11 AM, Michael Chu said...
Subject: Re: My Entry
adcurtin wrote:
http://adcurtin.googlepages.com/cookforengin.JPG

I just removed the floor from my moms kitchen, so I decided to cut some of it out, then decided that would take way too long, so I just burned the rest, with sparklers and a blowtorch.

Nice, I was a bit surprised at first (looked at the picture before reading the whole comment) then I realized it was a kitchen floor and it had been removed (thank goodness)!


On October 06, 2008 at 05:05 AM, SakuraBlossoms64 (guest) said...
Subject: Teehee
I have 2 different versions of the same type of food xD so can that count as 2 entry's?
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-0905a.jpg
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-0905b.jpg


On October 06, 2008 at 06:35 AM, rtrieu said...
Subject: Smorgasbord - Cooking for Engineers style
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-1035.jpg

Here is my entry into the competition. Click here for a larger view. I have a posting on my friend's blog where I go into detail about each dish, and with more pictures. Visit here for the juicy details.

I got to say, out of all the HP contests so far, this has been the most enjoyable one.

Richard.


On October 06, 2008 at 09:13 AM, DeejayKnight said...
Subject: Here's my submission!
It's not as elaborate as everyone elses, but with the minimal funds I have available, I did the best I could!

My entry (if it's allowed - I hope it's allowed!) is of a dinner I made for my wife and I. We're stationed in South Korea living off of the installation. Because of that, we don't have an oven or anything so I made do with what we have and made a pretty tasty dish.

It's Toasted Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches served with a side dish of Cream Soup with Mandarin juice.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-1313.jpg

I'd love to have made a more elaborate dish, but it was kind of impossible at the moment. It was something I made myself though. :D I hope this qualifies!


On October 06, 2008 at 12:07 PM, gonz said...
Subject: photoshop?
you clearly stated that we cannot fake pictures in photoshop, but can we use it to correct the color or stuff like that?


On October 06, 2008 at 12:44 PM, Michael Chu said...
These are all perfectly fine submissions!

Photoshop: yes, you can adjust levels, white balance, hue, clarity, etc. You just can't go in and paint the words "cookingforengineers.com" into it. You have to put the words have to exist in real life while you are taking the picture.


On October 06, 2008 at 01:35 PM, Abdur Rafay Zafar (guest) said...
Subject: Freshman 15 Competition Entry
Here is a quick sweet dish "Banana Delight".

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-1735.jpg

I have used Custard, Jelly, Bananas and lost of Cream.


On October 06, 2008 at 01:44 PM, Dani - guest (guest) said...
Subject: A Cooking-for-Engineers Salad
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-1744.jpg

Only WELL AFTER the salad was tossed and eaten did the realization strike us down, that to the technical eye...there is no "dot-com" in this salad. And shoot, what is this, if not a forum for technical eyes!

But we pitch... should one well up inside with tenderness for each and every pomegranate seed, as can happen from time to time, then surely it won't be long before, as happened to us, those pearly rosate pixels form into little digits, spelling out clearly what we left off...


On October 06, 2008 at 02:34 PM, Balloonmage said...
Subject: Contest Entry
spelled in Reese's Pieces
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-1834.jpg


On October 06, 2008 at 04:02 PM, Michael Chu said...
Abdur Rafay Zafar and Dani, since you guys didn't register, please e-mail me at cooking@cookingforengineers.com so I know how to contact you later. The same goes for anyone posting in the future without making an account - I need to make sure I can contact you in case you are chosen as the winner.


On October 06, 2008 at 04:41 PM, gapinto said...
For those of us who like sushi :D


http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-2041.jpg

- Gustavo A. Pinto


On October 06, 2008 at 06:15 PM, Brenda (guest) said...
Subject: deviled eggs
heres my submission
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-2215.jpg

my email is fritcb@gmail.com


On October 06, 2008 at 08:41 PM, rachk07 said...
Subject: laptop contest
here's my submission!
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-0041.jpg
I used vegetables that were 'leftover' from our garden. The words are made from peppers and a tomato, the word "engineers" is carved into a zuchinni. The leafy stuff around the edges is basil.


On October 06, 2008 at 10:59 PM, barbarabaker74 said...
Subject: Freshman 15 Competition Entry
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-0259.jpg

This sign was made with some of my husbands favorite snacks-Cheezits (tobasco flavor) and Corn-nuts (Ranch style)...I had so much fun with this and only hope that it is good enough for this competition!!! (this was the only food available in our house...trust me!!! Thank goodness their was a sale at our local store for buy one bag-get one free...
:D


On October 07, 2008 at 12:40 AM, danielleeu said...
Subject: Two Entries For the HP Contest
Here are two entries for your contest...

Entry #1: The cookie defense:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-0440a.jpg

Entry #2: (And I must point out, you didn't say it had to be people food)
Rupert (our cat) just can't get enough of Cookingforengineers.com:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-0440b.jpg

Hope you enjoy my entries... :)


On October 07, 2008 at 03:10 AM, Lisette said...
http://lh5.ggpht.com/lisetteonline/SOsNJERBWxI/AAAAAAAAACE/NgEQN3e1txQ/cfe_pic.jpg


On October 07, 2008 at 03:59 AM, twinjackienurse said...
Subject: toaster strudel
Heres my submission...it was very hard to write!
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-0759.jpg

twinjackienurse@gmail.com


On October 07, 2008 at 06:24 AM, dani said...
Subject: a dessert worth eating off the counter
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-1024.jpg

Mandarin oranges and Ghiradelli chips.


On October 07, 2008 at 03:11 PM, Visitor (guest) said...
You said, "by entering the contest, you're also giving Cooking For Engineers the right to use the photographs submitted in the future".

Care to elaborate on future uses of our photos? Plan on making a gallery of our pictures? Or something else? I've just curious to know.


On October 07, 2008 at 05:09 PM, Michael Chu said...
Visitor wrote:
Care to elaborate on future uses of our photos? Plan on making a gallery of our pictures? Or something else? I've just curious to know.

I'm probably going to copy all the images, resize, and repost them on this thread so the images will stay up as long as Cooking For Engineers does. That way we can all look back on this fondly :)

Depending on if they work out, it's possible that I could do T-Shirts or something in the future. Any other ideas?


On October 07, 2008 at 06:51 PM, felipe (guest) said...
Subject: cookingforengineers.com cake!
Here is my submission. I hope you like it because it was made with love!

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-2251a.jpg
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-2251b.jpg

Contact: feliperm at gmail dot com


On October 07, 2008 at 07:04 PM, an anonymous reader said...
Subject: my entry
Entry from Patti Anastasia @ http://www.anastasiastable.com

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-2304.jpg


On October 07, 2008 at 07:49 PM, foxteck said...
Subject: Cooking4Engineers
Cooking for an Engineer! Me! :-D

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-2349a.jpg

In the picture chicken with spices and cognac, rice and grape water.
Also a N95 showing cookingforengineers.com web page ;)

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/07-2349b.jpg

Just in case :-)


On October 08, 2008 at 12:07 AM, BillWeiss said...
(Edit note: this doesn't look very good on the site because of the forum formatting. Go look at it there if you want all of the pretty stuff).

I'll do one better. Not only do I have a picture (two, actually) of something I've cooked, but I'll include a recipe! It's not a very "engineering" approach, nor is it formatted appropriately for the site, but what the heck?

Pictures:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-0407.jpg

More at My flickr, cookingforengineers set

Recipe:
Ingredients:

  • 1 Onion. I prefer red, but white or yellow work as well
  • Half a head of garlic
  • 10 white mushrooms
  • 1 lb ground beef (90/10 or 95/5 beef/fat)
  • 28 oz. canned diced tomatoes
  • 28 oz. canned tomato sauce
  • 12 oz. canned tomato paste
  • Spices (pepper, salt, Italian seasoning, basil)
  • Balsamic vinegar (optional, but tasty)
  • 1 lb. pasta, your choice (Farfalle is my choice tonight)
  • Parmesan cheese. Do us all a favor and don't use the stuff in the green can tonight. I buy grated three-cheese blend from the store

Steps:
Prep
Dice the onion into small pieces. Mince the garlic into the smallest bits you can within reason. Rinse and slice the mushrooms.

Brown the meat
Heat a large pot (5-6 qt.) over medium-high heat. Once it's hot, toss in the ground beef. Add:

  • Half of the garlic
  • Some salt and pepper (to taste)
  • Italian seasoning to taste. I would guess I put in ~2 tablespoons.

Once it's started to brown, pour in ~2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (if you're using it), the rest of the garlic and the onion. Continue cooking until the beef is cooked through.

Add the sauce
Reduce heat to medium. Add canned tomato stuff (diced, sauce, paste). Once it comes to a simmer, add in the mushrooms and some more spices. I'd suggest some more pepper, salt, and Italian seasoning. Go easy for now, you can always add more.

Once the sauce starts to bubble, reduce the heat to low. You want it to lightly simmer. On my stove, this is just a touch above the lowest flame it will give me.

At this point, the sauce is "ready". The more it simmers, the better it is. I would suggest half an hour as a good starting point. When you're getting hungry, make the pasta. I estimate 15-20 minutes for the pasta to happen (from starting the water to pouring into a colander).

Assemble
Toss a serving of pasta into a bowl, spoon some sauce on top, and sprinkle generously with cheese. Nom. Adding a slice of bread or two is nice, though it's adding more carbs to an already heavy meal.

Store
Unless you've got a big group to feed, this will leave you with a lot of sauce leftover. Spoon it into containers and freeze it in 1-2 serving portions. It thaws easily and reheats well in the microwave, or on the stovetop. There, quick dinner for several nights!


On October 08, 2008 at 07:17 AM, simo2409 said...
Subject: Pizza!
This is my entry ... a good italian Pizza :)

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-1117.jpg


On October 08, 2008 at 11:21 AM, Brenda (guest) said...
Subject: dessert
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-1521.jpg



Who doesn't love a sunday with fresh strawberries, real whip cream, sprinkled with bits of walnuts and cinnamon and sugar ?

Thanks for the chance to win

fritcb@gmail.com


On October 08, 2008 at 01:40 PM, SakuraBlossoms64 (guest) said...
Subject: Hm
It would seem my pictures didn't show up when I checked later with deleted cookies
So here they are again!
This time 3 different versions of the same food and the last one is what I had for breakfast this morning! :'D
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-1740a.jpg
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-1740b.jpg
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-1740c.jpg
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-1740d.jpg


On October 08, 2008 at 03:26 PM, mari_fb14 said...
Here's my entry!!
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-1926.jpg


On October 08, 2008 at 04:09 PM, mari_fb14 said...
Hope you like this one!!
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-2009.jpg


On October 08, 2008 at 04:55 PM, rachk07 said...
Subject: entry
here's another one!
almond biscotti
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-2055.jpg


On October 08, 2008 at 05:29 PM, dani said...
Subject: Cooking for engineers
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/08-2129.jpg
Cooking for engineers with awesomely hot little peppers.


On October 08, 2008 at 08:30 PM, mskwik said...
Subject: Cookies
Lots of fun :)
Always liked slice and bake cookies and it's much more fun when you make your own designs. A bit harder to do that many letters out of one recipe, but at least letters are fairly simple.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-0030.jpg

While I was at it took other pictures too, here's the in-progress when I started slicing: http://img.movoda.net/ghktbpd5.jpg and all the extra letters I ended up with at the end: http://img.movoda.net/x6itfxy3.jpg


On October 08, 2008 at 10:42 PM, Elkaye said...
Feeding the mind and your tummy:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-0242.jpg



I really shouldn't put a bowl of oats and cranberries on a bed and expect it to stay there:
http://home.earthlink.net/~copper017/Random/cereal-accident.jpg



I have a few more ideas that I'll try to add later. :)


On October 08, 2008 at 11:10 PM, jyfeliz said...
Subject: my submission
some spanish food for us =D

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-0310.jpg


On October 09, 2008 at 01:06 AM, hardertobreathe said...
Subject: Contest entry
Hello!

Here is my first entry into the contest. Since Halloween is approaching, I decided to make a spooky dinner:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-0506.jpg

Cheeseball bats served as an appetizer to the main course of meatloaf rats, served with mashed potato snakes.

Thank you, Cooking For Engineers and HP, for hosting such a fun contest!

-Beeb
bakahentai AT gmail.com


On October 09, 2008 at 04:24 AM, EclecticBrew said...
Subject: The HP Freshman 15 Contest Entry
Here's my entry...

Home-made Indian Puries toped with Biscuits.
CookingForEngineers.Com is writen with Choco-Vanilla Icing.

Lots of Hard work put in this.
Its like a grand project for me.

My friends enjoyed eating it after I was done taking pictures.
Everything was gone in 10 mins. :)

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-0824a.jpg

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-0824b.jpg

*crosses fingers*


On October 09, 2008 at 05:41 AM, dani said...
Subject: lomo-fied
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-0941.jpg

CSA and CFE,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G...
Community-supported agriculture and Cooking for Engineers have both changed the way I eat -- thank you! (And now it's even becoming normal to play with food....)

Here you can see it all spelled out.


On October 09, 2008 at 10:27 AM, elizardkwik (guest) said...
Subject: Freshman 15 entry
1500 mini M&M's later...
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1427.jpg


On October 09, 2008 at 10:28 AM, Prashant said...
Hi!,

My entry for the contest is a home made cake; what we call a marble cake.

Please check the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31217512@N05/?saved=1

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1428.jpg

The hardest part was to write 'cookingforengineers.com' on the cake itself. By the way, the cake is as tasty as it looks.

Prashant


On October 09, 2008 at 10:28 AM, elizardkwik (guest) said...
Subject: Freshman 15 entry
1500 mini M&M's later...
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1428.jpg

elizardkwik@yahoo.com


On October 09, 2008 at 11:17 AM, MommaBlogger - guest (guest) said...
Subject: Laptop Entry
Here is my entry. These are the marshmallows I made using your instructions, and they turned out great. My little friend liked them too :)

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1517.jpg


On October 09, 2008 at 11:22 AM, MommaBlogger (guest) said...
Subject: Re: Laptop Entry
I had a little trouble registering, so here is my email address:
shanawoodman (at) hotmail (dot) com


On October 09, 2008 at 11:49 AM, Geges said...
Subject: The HP Freshman 15 Contest entry
here is my entry for the contest
i hope you like it

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1549a.jpg

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1549b.jpg

thanks for the competition...


On October 09, 2008 at 01:13 PM, Elkaye said...
Subject: A few more:
In the mood for some soul food?
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1713a.jpg

Cooking beans & salsa for nachos:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1713b.jpg

Finished product:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1713c.jpg

Slightly different angle:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1713d.jpg


On October 09, 2008 at 01:17 PM, Kara said...
Subject: Freshman 15 Contest
My engineer husband made these pancakes for me this morning...it's his favorite breakfast to make me. Our dog looked pretty interested too.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1717.jpg


On October 09, 2008 at 03:09 PM, Kitt (guest) said...
Subject: Gardening for engineers
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1909a.jpg
I took this first photo when the light was right, then realized I'd forgotten to put .com in and took another. Alas, the sun had moved, so it's not as good.

This is all produce from my garden, in my garden. Lots of good vegetables and herbs for cooking, even by a non-engineer.
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-1909b.jpg

I posted about it on my blog, too:
http://kittbo.blogspot.com/2008/10/cooking-for-engineers.html

Thanks for hosting the contest! This was fun to do. Love everyone else's pics. Some serious competition here!

Kitt
kittbo AT gmail DOT com


On October 09, 2008 at 06:26 PM, elizardkwik (guest) said...
Subject: Freshman 15 entry
Ok, I had some trouble with my picture, too. 1500 M&Ms and two attempts later...

[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0HkDmCHh5O8/SO6HKL7-uRI/AAAAAAAAAD
A/wgqOoGlqLwU/s1600-h/100_1185.JPG[/img]

Or, if that doesn't work, go here: http://lizardpa.blogspot.com/.

Thanks!
elizardkwik@yahoo.com


On October 09, 2008 at 07:29 PM, ForstRose said...
Subject: Freshman 15
Here's my entry for the laptop contest.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/09-2329.jpg


On October 09, 2008 at 08:09 PM, dani said...
Subject: cfe goes sushi
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0009a.jpg
at ten o'clock we hadn't had dinner, but then we found avocado AND cucumber AND crab meat were all on hand....

with this mochi to split afterwards:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0009b.jpg
& weeping in our soy sauce that cfe week is coming to its end.


On October 09, 2008 at 08:14 PM, danielleeu said...
Subject: Here are a few more entries for the HP Laptop Contest
Here is one:
(In honor of Halloween)
Cookingforengineers.com is a sweet treat-
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0014a.jpg

And here is two:
Don't be a DumDum, check out Cookingforengineers.com-
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0014b.jpg

Hope you like these...they took some time to construct but it was fun. :D


On October 09, 2008 at 08:24 PM, danielleeu said...
Subject: And Just a Few More Entries...
What can I say, I really would love to finally own a laptop. And since we can enter many times...why not keep trying?

Here are two more entries by me:
Cookingforengineers.com is saucy-
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0024a.jpg

(And anyone that goes to college knows-whether first hand or through friends-that the college experience includes alcohol, so...)
Cookingforengineers.com, knocking back the other website competition-
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0024b.jpg


On October 09, 2008 at 08:41 PM, cc13 said...
Subject: HP contest
Here are two entries (I had to use my daughter's photobucket because I am not that tech savy. I did these so my daughter will stop bugging me to buy her a computer-- especially since I can't afford it with paying for my own college loans ...and yes, they are my loans; my daughter is paying her own.)

I couldn't come up with the dough to pay for a computer...but I did come up with some dough for this entry (ok, ok-- it's actually pie crust):
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0041a.jpg

I thought I would try to spice things up a bit with this second entry:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0041b.jpg


On October 09, 2008 at 10:15 PM, brown88 said...
this is my entry baked chisken mmmmmm. it was good

C:\Users\james\Desktop\0.jpg


On October 09, 2008 at 11:09 PM, shay_tx (guest) said...
Subject: Entry for the laptop giveaway
This was taken as we were putting together our salads for dinner.
Not sure if my other half appreciated me digging through his salad to find the right size and shape items.
:P

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0309.jpg

I tried to register but had problems, here's my info.
shay_tx@hotmail.com


On October 10, 2008 at 02:20 AM, djwain said...
Subject: I think I have this figured out now...
For my first entry, we dressed in black and managed to elude the crafty produce managers with our ninja-like stealth:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0620a.jpg

A close up (I now need to search this site to find out what to do with the spaghetti squash:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0620b.jpg

For my second entry, as a fellow engineer, I thought some pumpkin pi would be appropriate:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0620c.jpg

Danielle
djwain@gmail.com


On October 10, 2008 at 02:36 AM, Nate Lau (guest) said...
Subject: 3 CFE entries
CFE written in olive oil
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0636a.jpg

CFE written in angel hair pasta
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0636b.jpg

Cute kid with CFE written in pasta
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0636c.jpg

Chicken Piccata from House of Annie
http://chezannies.blogspot.com


On October 10, 2008 at 07:51 AM, an anonymous reader said...
Subject: Stirfry is always a favorite!
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-1151a.jpg

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-1151a.jpg

contact: lj_jensen88@yahoo.com


On October 10, 2008 at 02:10 PM, Kara said...
Subject: Binary Entry
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-1810.jpg

Since my husband is a computer engineer, we had to include this. Took a while at the grocery store to find snack items that would work as 1's and 0's. The end result: pretzel sticks and the pretzel circles from a few bags of chex mix.


On October 10, 2008 at 07:33 PM, cmd277 (guest) said...
Subject: Cooking for Engineers
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-2333.jpg

-Christina
cmd277 at gmail dot com


On October 10, 2008 at 07:53 PM, gonz said...
HEre is my entry,

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-2353.jpg

Now I can play with my food mom!


On October 10, 2008 at 08:03 PM, gonz said...
Well, I am the one who posted the picture of sushi and legos, I did not include any other text because i was kinda scared of posting on october 11th! (I posted 7 minutes before midnight!), anyway, I want to explain my picture: Whenever I think of engineers I imagine guys wearing those white hard hats and operating big machinery!, so we thought that itīd be cool to include those guys in the photo. I think the one on the excavator is stealing some sushi!
It was taken on my favorite sushi place on Wednesday night.
My email address is gonzalo_garcia@hotmail.co.uk
thanks. :D


On October 10, 2008 at 08:15 PM, an anonymous reader said...
Here is my submission for the Freshman 15 contest :) Incase it isn't clear, it's a pizza topped with pepperoni.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0015.jpg


My e-mail is bridget_hoffman at yahoo dot com


On October 10, 2008 at 08:40 PM, Jace (guest) said...
Subject: CFE laptop contest
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0040a.jpg

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0040b.jpg

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0040c.jpg

OK, I hope I'm not too late. It isn't really fair if I am, because here in Texas, it is still early evening on Friday! So, I figured why not make my entry an engineering marvel. I ran out of toothpicks, so I just used gravity to turn food into a bridge!

Jace
JaceRoscoe@gmail.com


On October 10, 2008 at 09:08 PM, dani said...
Subject: a final CFE cake!
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0108a.jpg

by way of:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0108b.jpg

props to 'rtrieu' for really opening this up with those links to really nice close-up photos! here's a link to the photos of making this cake, aspiring to be a CFE-style recipe, but for the moment more like 'photo-essay':

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31174744@N04/sets/72157607915334544/


On October 10, 2008 at 09:23 PM, psyci said...
Here's Cookies for Engineers:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0123.jpg

Had to take the opportunity to make our favorite recipe from the site. They were devoured quickly after the photo was taken. See the full size version here


On October 10, 2008 at 10:04 PM, danielleeu said...
Subject: One Last Entry
I just thought you might like this one...
I tried to combine both elements of the website's name:
Cookingforengineers.com, a blueprint for success-
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0204.jpg

Enjoy! Oh, and it is still October 10th here is Ohio (it's 10:20pm) so I hope this still counts...I had to hurry and construct this as soon as I was off work.


On October 10, 2008 at 10:08 PM, hardertobreathe said...
Subject: Contest Entry #2
Hello again!

Here is my second entry for the contest:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0208.jpg

I was in the mood for some fall flavors, so these are Apple Spice cupcakes. I found the recipe here, if anyone else is in the mood for some Apple yumminess:

http://sassandveracity.typepad.com/sass_veracity/2008/09/apple-walnut-cu.html

When I baked these, I made some substitutions - I didn't have any Walnuts on hand, so I omitted those, and I also added more spices. I then used cream cheese frosting and a variety of sprinkles to pretty them up.

I have two more entries on the way, which I will post as soon as I pull them out of the oven. :)


On October 10, 2008 at 10:26 PM, sspagnol said...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2930779246_3613ab93f6.jpg

Spencer
sspagnol@calpoly.edu


On October 10, 2008 at 11:20 PM, quitejaded said...
Subject: My Entry
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0320.jpg


On October 11, 2008 at 12:01 AM, hardertobreathe said...
Subject: Contest Entry #3
Here's my third entry, fresh from the oven!

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0401.jpg

Sugar cookies, sprinkled with tinted sugar. I made this using my favorite sugar cookie recipe, from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book, circa 1963:

Ethel's Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup shortening (part butter or margarine)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. lemon flavoring or 1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups Gold Medal Flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt (which I always omit)

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavoring thoroughly. Measure flour by dipping method, or by sifting. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together; blend in. Chill at least 1 hr.

Heat oven to 400 degress (mod. hot). Roll dough 1/8" thick on lightly floured board. Cut with 3" cookie cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6 to 8 min., or until cookies are a delicate golden color. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Yum!


On October 11, 2008 at 12:31 AM, hardertobreathe said...
Subject: Contest Entry #4
Here is my fourth and final entry!

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0431a.jpg

But the impending invasion was thwarted...

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0431b.jpg


The spaceship is a cake that I made from a recipe found in another Betty Crocker cookbook. This one is a little more modern - it's from 1972.

Dinette Cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour or 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (again, I always omit this, because I think it's gross!)
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour square pan (or spaceship), 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches. Measure all ingredients into large mixer bowl. Blend 1/2 minute on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes high speed, scraping bow2l occasionally. Pour into pan.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.

I also added lemon flavoring, because I thought it would be nice. I frosted it with plain old Vanilla frosting, and added the alien, who flew down from outer space (OK, he actually came from the batch of Ethel's Sugar Cookies). There's a somewhat clearer picture of the cake here, but you can't read the writing because of the flash. My camera isn't very well suited to taking food pictures, alas!

Thank you again for offering this fantastic contest. What fun! I spent half of the day in the kitchen playing around with these recipes - I love to bake, so this was a fun creative project! Thanks again for the chance to enter! :)

-Beeb
bakahentai AT gmail.com


On October 11, 2008 at 12:36 AM, rtrieu said...
Subject: How to know when spaghetti is done
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0436.jpg
How do you when spaghetti is done? When is sticks to the refrigerator door and you can spell stuff with it.


On October 11, 2008 at 12:42 AM, Michael Chu said...
Wow, the response to this challenge has been overwhelming! The contest ends in a few more hours (I'm traveling - currently in Texas - and it's almost Oct. 11 here) - I'll wait until around noon here (12:00 noon Central Time) to end the contest. If I forget, then it'll end a little later.

So, get your last minute entries in!

I'll have to make the final decision when I get back to California so I'll contact the winners around noon on Monday and when I get responses from everyone, I'll post the winners.

Great response guys!


On October 11, 2008 at 01:08 AM, hutch said...
Subject: Laptop contest
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0508.jpg


Dont know if you guys are familiar with TF2 at all, I made a spray of the website name, and just took a screen capture of the heavy eating a sandvitch underneath it. Thought I might try to be a bit different from the other entries ;)


mikehutch06@gmail.com


On October 11, 2008 at 01:21 AM, hutch said...
Subject: Laptop contest
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0521.jpg



Here is my second entry, a bit less electronic. I make my own dill pickles every year, and it always looks like a small army on top of my cupboards. I would definitely be willing to give out the recipe if I win :)


mikehutch06@gmail.com


On October 11, 2008 at 02:19 AM, katherinego said...
Subject: pumpkin, lights on
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0619.jpg

now i get to eat it!

my pumpkin swirl cheesecake that is!!


On October 11, 2008 at 02:20 AM, katherinego said...
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0620a.jpg
lights on!

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0620a.jpg
lights off!!


On October 11, 2008 at 03:18 AM, Nate (guest) said...
Subject: CFE on a banana
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0718.jpg

Aloha, Nate
House of Annie food blog
http://chezannies.blogspot.com


On October 11, 2008 at 07:38 AM, Lahiru said...
Subject: Contest Entry
Peanuts, fried and salted :)
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-1138.jpg


On October 11, 2008 at 07:44 AM, Lahiru said...
Subject: Contest Entry
Peanuts, fried and salted :)

saw this contest at the very last moment. Didn't have time to bake a cake or anything! Damn those 'e's were hard to get lol!

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-1144.jpg


On October 11, 2008 at 11:01 AM, Layne Marie said...
Subject: Cake!
Whew! I just finished making a cake covered in fondant instead of icing for the FIRST TIME EVER. It was very interesting. I'll try to post some details after, but I want to get this up right quick before the deadline is posted.

Oh and the letters are made of gum paste--another brand new ingredient for me! I colored it with gel food colors then used molds to create the letters. I also dusted it (and the cake) with pearly dust (edible of course!) because I do love sparkle.

I've always wanted to experiment with fondant and gum paste and cake decorating in general, but never have, so I used this as an opportunity to give it a whirl. And it was so much fun! Thanks for the opportunity. :)

So here it is:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-1501a.jpg

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-1501b.jpg


On October 11, 2008 at 11:46 AM, cmduke (guest) said...
Subject: Contest
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-1546.jpg


Registration wouldn't process correctly. I can be contacted via http://www.tiwtter.com/cmduke


On October 11, 2008 at 02:00 PM, Michael Chu said...
Subject: CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!!!
Thanks everyone for participating in this fun contest! Any submissions that are received/posted AFTER this post are not qualified to win prizes (but if you've gone through the effort, feel free to post so others can enjoy your handiwork).

I'll be going through the entries when I get back to California and have my panel of judges pick out their favorites.

Thanks for playing - stay tuned for the winners!

Michael

**** CONTEST IS CLOSED ****


On October 11, 2008 at 08:39 PM, qk (guest) said...
Subject: problem seeing pictures...
hello, did anyone noticed that some pictures are not displayed when browsing on IExplorer?
I advice you to use Mozilla FireFox, so that you can see the pics that IExplorer doenst show.
Thanks


On October 12, 2008 at 09:55 AM, an anonymous reader said...
Subject: Roof on the table and food over my head
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/12-1355.jpg
Roof on the table and food over my head

Shane Joe Lazar
drsjlazar(a)gmail.com


On October 14, 2008 at 02:35 AM, adcurtin said...
Subject: Winner
Any word on who won yet?


On October 14, 2008 at 03:22 AM, Michael Chu said...
Subject: WINNERS! Here are the WINNERS!
The winner of the laptop is rtrieu for his multifood construction and detailed description of how he made each letter group.
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-1035.jpg

The winners of the messenger bags are:
Dani - for the salad and cake contributions
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/06-1744.jpg
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0108b.jpg

djwain - for the gutsiness of spelling out cooking for engineers in a grocery store
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-0620a.jpg

Kara - for the geekiness of the ASCII binary entry
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/10-1810.jpg

katherinego - for the carved pumpkin and it's timeliness to the season
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics/hp15/11-0620a.jpg


On October 14, 2008 at 03:22 PM, Moggy (guest) said...
Subject: Fun!
I hate I missed the contest, looks like a lot of fun. There are some real creative minds around this place! Congrats to the winners.


On October 15, 2008 at 08:00 AM, Veron (guest) said...
I missed this one. The submissions were pretty creative, but I think alot of them were off from what you wanted. :P

: