Our Spring Sponsor Event: CMEpalooza Gets Chopped

For someone who really likes to cook and eat well, I watch very few Food Network shows. I guess I never really saw the appeal of watching someone cook on television without getting to eat the food.

HOST: “Oh my God, you have to taste this. This is the best thing I have ever eaten!”

ME (talking to the TV like the old cantankerous man that I am): I can’t taste this, you moron! I’m not there! Now go get a haircut, Guy!

The one Food Network show I can stomach, however, is Chopped. I can do a lot in the kitchen, but I am not the kind of person who likes to look in the fridge, see what sort of ingredients I have on hand, and then come up with something on the fly (note from Derek: this is how my wife cooks. She’s like a mad scientist in the kitchen. Don’t tell her I said that.) It’s not that I can’t do it, but I am very much a cookbook/recipe person. I don’t really know why, but there is something very personally satisfying about being able to flawlessly follow instructions step-by-step that appeals to me (advance note to Derek: this only relates to cooking. Don’t even try to give me some sort of cockamamie list of tasks that you are too lazy to do yourself.) (note from Derek: too late. I’m already up to Task #4 on my list).

The creativity of the chefs on Chopped, however, goes way beyond my abilities. I would probably get flummoxed by a basket containing, bread, turkey, and mustard, while these geniuses are able to pull together swiss chard, sweetbreads, and Snickers bars without a problem. So while I will never, ever be a Chopped contestant, I figured I’d bring a little bit of the show’s creativity to our Spring sponsor event. And so, behold CMEpalooza Gets Chopped, this week’s special promotion.

Here is how CMEpalooza Gets Chopped works.

1. Click here to download the forms you will need. CMEpalooza Gets Chopped is pretty simple. We have divided our sponsors into four Chopped rounds – the appetizer round, the entree round, the side dish round, and the dessert round. Within each round of clues, you have to answer questions about one or more of our sponsors. Each question has a food-related theme. Some clues were trickier to come up with than others.
2. So, where do you find the answers? Well, by visiting the websites of our CMEpalooza Spring sponsors (we have links for you on our Sponsor tab). I promise that you won’t have to hunt too much to find anything. Most clues are either on the company’s homepage or one click away. There are a few where you’ll have to visit their social media feed, but those links are always on the company’s home page.
3. You can use the answer sheet located in the downloaded forms to complete your responses. You may submit up to three entries, but for each entry you must answer clues about different sponsors.
4. Within each entry, you must get every answer correct to qualify for our prize drawing. If I’m in a less curmudgeonly mood than usual, maybe I’ll let you get one wrong. We’ll see.
5. Completed answer forms can be sent to me at scott@excaliburmeded.com. Make sure to include your name and professional affiliation in your email so that when we announce that you’ve won, everyone can be sufficiently jealous.

We’ll have five prize winners who will each receive a $100 Amazon gift card. As a special CMEpalooza 10th anniversary bonus, for the first time, we’ll also have a $250 prize for the organization that has the most successful entries. So not only is this a personal challenge, but it can be a company-wide event as well! Maybe you can throw a staff pizza party or something on the day of CMEpalooza Spring (Wednesday, April 24) with your winnings.

Entries will be accepted anytime until the clock strikes 5 pm ET on Friday, April 12, so get cracking!