The Slap Ya Mama Challenge

Dear Lauren,

Ideas just pop in my head. I guess that's how ideas work. But I really like the last one I had. It involved a gift Dad and I were given by Fred Rowland of two gallons of Slap Ya Mama - one Original and one Hot! and the cooking group we're in on Facebook called the Serious Eats Watercooler. Donna Currie started the group and I will be forever grateful to her!



You know the Butterball Turkey Hotline? The toll-free number you can call at Thanksgiving and get your turkey questions answered? Well the SEWC is just like that only it's all year and it's not just turkey. If you have a cooking question, you can bet someone in the cooler will have an answer! It's fantastic!

So I decided to ask the Watercooler folks if they thought it might be fun to have a challenge. In exchange for accepting 1/4 each of the Original and Hot!, each challenger would come up with a dish that included the spice. Well, they all went crazy for the idea so then I proposed that each challenger submit a recipe and a photo of their creation and we would make a cookbook. Not one for sale, just one for all of us to look back on and remember what fun we had! Again, they went wild! So then I proposed that we put all of the recipes and photos on a blog so we could have a place to look at what we'd all done in a much quicker way than waiting for a cookbook. Well, they all passed out they were so excited! And The Slap Ya Mama Challenge was born!

And then the names and addresses came pouring in and Dad bought padded envelopes and I scooped out tons of spice.

I had to wear a tea towel around my mouth and face, tucked under my glasses and tied behind my head because the spice is....sneezy! Take a whiff of it and you'll have a sneezing fit! It's potent! I had to wear gloves too!

I just got a note from Susan Whempner who I think will be our final challenger which brings us up to 37 people cooking with our Slap Ya Mama! The blog has over 35 recipes already and it's only been maybe ten days since the first challengers received their spice in the mail! I love it!

So far, Dad and I have each submitted a recipe.

Here is Dad's Jambalaya Pie! If you want to see what's on the inside, go look at the recipe on the Slap Ya Mama Challenge blog!

While I was watching dad make that Jambalaya Pie, it made me think about apple pie.

Here are my Dutch Apple Pop Tarts with Slap Ya Mama Cheddar Crust! Another picture of them is on the  Slap Ya Mama Challenge blog! 

Love, Mom

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