Signs of Spring

The Progressive office where I work in Pasadena, CA is loaded with bright, creative, colorful people. They think of more ways to have fun than anyone I know. A lot of credit for that goes to their branch manager, Kim Davis, who is always so peppy, smiling and full of energy. They also have a lot of really great cooks in the office, so to kick off the start of spring, they organized a Pasadena office Iron Chef Strawberry Recipe Cook-off.

I don't always get notice on this stuff, and it's a shame I didn't because I've got some awesome strawberry recipes, including my mom's signature Pretzel Salad. Although looking at some of these entries, I don't think I would have had a snowballs chance in hell of winning.

In no particular order, here are some of the entries in the contest.

Team Leader Chong Taing (or should I say his fiancee) made these tasty strawberry-lime popsicles. A perfect recipe in time to beat the heat this summer.

Helen Pan made this yummy strawberry tarte, with just enough chocolate for both pretty presentation and sweet taste.

Branch Manager Kim Davis contributed this strawberry cake, complete with shooters of strawberry sauce. I love a presentation involving shot glasses!

Marie Lattouf-Lockwood made this beautiful strawberry cheesecake, with the berries arranged in the shape of a lotus flower. So creative! And the berries were really lightly sugared so they were just the right blend of sweet and tart. Can you tell this was one of my personal favorites?

Team Leader Dan Warnick should really quit his day job and become a professional pastry chef. The first time I looked at this elegant cheesecake, I assumed it was store bought, probably at Cheesecake Factory. Amazing presentation, and taste to match.

But the big winner of the day was this unusually creative Strawberry Surf & Turf by Chris Bordey. It's a sandwich of pulled pork with a BBQ sauce made from strawberries and Newcastle beer, accompanied by onion confit, arugula, Brie cheese and maple bacon. Yowzah! It got gobbled up so fast it was the only entry I didn't get to taste. Congrats on the big win Chris!

And here are the rest of the contestants. Great job by everyone! Now I'll be in sugar shock for the rest of the afternoon....