Anonymous wrote:Thank you! Baby food, flaming hot Cheetos, miniature apples, and other items on hand to complete the competition. May add a few other items suggested. I'll keep you posted, OP.

OMG, this sounds like so much fun! Like a home version of Chopped!!!

I love the primary items: baby food (do something like sweet potato or strained peas), the flaming Hot Cheetos and miniature apples. Probably for the fourth item, make it some type of protein like cooked sausage or hot dogs or something (you don't want people getting sick from uncooked meat).

Then decide what you will have as pantry items like flour, sugar, salt, pepper, mayo, mustard, ketchup, vinegar, onions, oil.

Thank you! Baby food, flaming hot Cheetos, miniature apples, and other items on hand to complete the competition. May add a few other items suggested. I'll keep you posted, OP.

I agree teams should have same ingredients.

Maybe you could use some of these:

tofu (I think it’s supposed to be pretty versatile, but I wouldn’t know where to begin)
marshmallows, eggnog, or canned cranberry sauce
leftover turkey
a jar of babyfood
a tiny pumpkin
some weird type of produce
quinoa or farro (like the tofu, I think they’re supposed to be versatile but I’ve never used them)

My friend threw me an Iron Chef party for my 30th. Anyone who was interested in participating joined me in 3 rounds - appetizer, entree, dessert. We raided her pantry/fridge to use things to pair with a secret ingredient (which my friend chose) for each round. We had the group of people cooking and then the rest were judges. I think we had 30 minutes per challenge. It was really fun!

Anonymous wrote:Sounds good^ Any ideas for ingredients that don't necessarily go naturally or usually together in a recipe?

Maybe something sweet like candy or canned fruit or something to make them think and figure out how to use it. Something salty like chips is another idea if you think the sweet item would not work out.

Sounds good^ Any ideas for ingredients that don't necessarily go naturally or usually together in a recipe?

I'd make them all the same. Something that has lots off possibilities like eggs, cheese, veggies, avocado and tortillas could be interesting. They could do a burrito, omelet, quesadilla, muffin cups, a version of eggs benedict, etc.

Another possibility would be potatoes, sausage (or soy sausage), onions and kale.

Planning games over Thanksgiving, and figuring out which items to include for a cooking challenge. 3 teams, with 2-3 people each, young adults with some cooking experience. Make all 3 mystery bags the same or use different ingredients in each bag? I've been searching online, but haven't found what I'm looking for yet. Thank you for your help. Looking for helpful ideas and suggestions only. If you have a different cooking themed game, I'd like to hear about it. Thanks!