Welcome to Cook with Us #4!

We've had a very good start these past few weeks. The entries that have come through have been truly amazing! We hope you have learned new things and have enjoyed the creations that our wonderful contestants have brought forward. Thanks to all the contestants, supporters and viewers.

Before we get to our theme, we'd like to share with you an important and recent change in the rules. We have decided that the first time you enter this competition, we require a proof photograph. This can be in the form of a handwritten note with your username and date with your final plating - or it can be a photograph of yourself with your dish. Thereafter, you will not need a proof photograph going forward as we will know who you are. See updated rules below.

Now back to our theme ...

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The theme for Cook with Us #4 :

Italian or Easter/Passover Dish

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We all love Italian food, from the pastas, stews and seafood, to amazing breads, desserts and everything in between. Italy has a rich culinary history that spans thousands of years. Its diverse landscape of mountains, plains and coastline has produced a wide variety of high quality ingredients that have been used to make some of the world's favorite dishes. Now it is your turn to show Cook with Us your favorite Italian dish. As always, share with us something about the dish that you think is interesting or the story behind why you chose this dish. Because you have a special interest in the dish you are making, you probably know more about it than other people. By sharing your knowledge about your dish, we all can grow as cooks.

There are a couple of holidays this week and because of that, Cook with Us is offering you a choice. You can enter your favorite Italian dish OR you can choose to enter a typical dish that you serve for Easter or Passover. It might turn out that your Easter or Passover include an Italian dish.

Get the kids involved! It could be a fun activity for them to help out in planning and preparing for the holiday.

If you have any suggestions for future themes, let us know. And please don't forget to comment and upvote on people's posts in the Cook with Us community.

We wish you good luck and look forward to your creations!

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The Cook with Us Contest

The Cook with Us team - @chefsteve , @pandamama and @offoodandart - is very excited to welcome you and look forward to getting to know you as we cook together. It is our intention to build a community of people that enjoy cooking and sharing with each other. We are pleased to announce the following prizes for this challenge:

• First place - 5 SBD

• Second place - 3 SBD

• Third place - 1 SBD

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Cook with Us Official Contest Rules

Please take some time to review the contest rules below. We have made a few changes. We understand that a lot of work is put into every post and we do not want to disqualify anyone for not following the rules. If you are unsure about any of them, just ask us for some clarification. We will be happy to help you.

Contest Entry Rules

• The title of your post should look like this: Cook with Us #3 – Name of your Dish. For example, Cook with Us #3 - Maple Pecan Ice Cream.

• The first tag on your entry must be: cookwithus.

• Please upvote and resteem this @cookwithus post that you are submitting an entry for.

• The first time you enter this competition, submit a proof photo. This can be in the form of a handwritten note with your Steemit name, the dish name, and the date with your final plating - or it can be a photograph of yourself with your dish. Thereafter, you will not need a proof photograph going forward as we will know who you are. Please do not use Photoshop for the proof photo.

• Include a description of the dish. Some examples are the taste of the dish, its origin, or the story behind it.

• Describe why your dish works. Give a brief description about why you put these ingredients together.

• Post a link to your entry in the comments section of the weekly challenge. This is the post that announces the start of the week's contest

• You can only enter one dish per entry (a dish means a single version. Not one dish two or three ways). You may only enter one entry per week.

General Contest Rules

• Contest ends every Monday 12:00 UTC.

• Results will be published no later than Thursday 12:00 UTC, three days after the contest is closed.

• Entries do not have to be original. However, if not original, please provide the source.

• While there is a calendar showing future themes, entries can only be submitted for the current week's contest and only after the official post for the contest is made. Entries submitted before the official start date or after the deadline will not be considered valid entries.

• The Cook with Us contest will cover many topics and disciplines. Make sure you check for weekly contest rules that may change due to the nature of the challenge.

• By entering @cookwithus, the contestant agrees to their material being used by the organizers for any purposes and will not be compensated should the material be published. But you, the author/photographer, will be given written credit.

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Don't forget to check out the Cook with Us Calendar below

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Acknowledgements

There were many people that helped us to get this competition up and running. We would like to say a BIG thank you to them all and express our sincere gratitude for their contributions.

We are delighted with the caricatures made for us by @bazbiscuit and already people are asking where they can get these delightful little characters. Thank you Barry!

@jacklimberis made our banner and gif for us. Thank you Jack - we really appreciate all the hard and beautiful work!

Thank you @edenmichelle for making the youtube video for us.

Please follow @jacklimberis, @bazbiscuit, @edenmichelle, @theywillkillyou, @world5list, @world-travel-pro and @heyitshaas. We hope to add to this list of supporters of our competition. If you would like to be a supporter of @cookwithus, please contact us. We would love to hear from you.

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