We might not be into participating ourselves, but we to hear about eating competitions, whether they're professional or not. In fact, while the pros are great, it's even more interesting to get an outside perspective from a non-pro who decides to take on a supersized eating task just for the challenge of it. In this case, Bear Silber and some of his friends decided to face off in a local eating competition: the Belly Buster Challenge. The event was held at a restaurant called Pizza and Pipes in Santa Clara, California and involves a single person eating a 20″ cheese pizza with 2 toppings in under one hour. The pizzeria has a few established rules that contestants are expected to abide by and the winner gets the glory, along with some free pizza, a picture on the wall of fame and a free t-shirt.

Bear's friends went with classically topped Pepperoni and Mushroom pizzas, while he strategically opted to have different toppings on each quarter of the pizza (one quarter pepperoni and olive, one quarter Canadian bacon and pineapple, one quarter pesto and tomato and one quarter sausage and mushroom). His friends ended up joining the Wall of Shame, but Bear managed to polish off the pie at only 37 minutes, becoming the first person ever to conquer the Belly Buster Challenge.

Do we have a future competitive eater on our hands here?

The average family seems to get carry-out food far more often than any time in the past, and the number one reason cited is convenience. It seems easier than cooking at home, since there is no planning and no shopping required. One Chicago family realized that they got take out meals just about every single day and Mary Ann Schultz suggested to her husband and son that they try going for 30 days without carry-out. They didn't have a problem affording all their meals, as both Schultz and her husband are well-employed, but she wanted her son to actually experience "family meals" as she did growing up.

The family took on the challenge and, after a rocky start, they learned to plan meals and write out shopping lists. They learned to stock the freezer and pantry so that they would have options at home. Quick-fix cookbooks were helpful for providing inspiration and do-able recipes for an inexperienced cook. You can take a look at her ongoing journal to see how the challenge went from day to day.

Overall, the family learned that cooking at home was just as tasty as restaurant food and they enjoyed it more. They saved over $200 and Mary Ann lost 7 pounds during the switch. They're probably not going to cut it out completely, but perhaps their challenge could lend a bit of inspiration to anyone else who uses the "carryout menu folder...as a crutch for meals."

Top Chef is really heating up. The closer we get to the end of the season, the more the viewers can get involved with the contestants. No doubt everyone has their favorite to win at this point, but it is still anyone's game. This week the contestants faced the celebrity chef judge Ted Allen, the food guru of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and a panel of professional food writers and critics at a party he hosted to celebrate the release of a new book. Talk about pressure! This was the first challenge that all the chefs had to work together, though the were judged separately, and things really got hot in the kitchen.

The quickfire challenge was about budgeting money and time. The contestants were presented with an array of ingredients, priced by the ounce, and had 20 minutes and $3 to spend on an appetizer. Ted Allen's favorites were Tiffani's dish of oyster 3-ways ($2.67), Harold's radicchio stuffed with Gorgonzola and wrapped in bacon ($2.93), Stephen's poached clams over grilled sea beans ($2.84) and Lee Anne's deep fried oysters ($2.98). Allen was won over by Stephen's El Bulli-like ultra-modern presentation, as well as the taste of his dish, and awarded him with immunity. This drew criticism from the other chefs, but clearly is a hugely successful trend in the restaurant business.

Introducing Foodography - a new photography challenge.

After much debate and the odd stamping of foot, the delightful Sam of Becks and Posh and Andrew of Spittoon/ SpittoonExtra/ Slashfood have hammered out details of Foodography a new and terribly exciting photography challenge for 2006; a regular event based solely around food and drink. The aim is to stretch our creativity and, through practice and comments, hopefully improve all our photography over the year.  

A theme will be set at the beginning of each month and continue for six weeks. Andrew and Sam will select a theme on alternate rounds with an overlap on each to alleviate any 'pressure' to meet a monthly deadline. The first round is to run from January 1st to around the 12th February, the second from the 1st February to around the 12th March. We have plenty of ideas for themes which will hopefully encourage lateral thought and creativity but welcome suggestions too.