Thanks for your thoughts @matt-a, and what a lovely gesture sending your talented wife some well-deserved steem :-) I do hope she continues putting up her recipes for this challenge, as I have no doubt the quality of her cooking & presentation, and her efforts, will win her more trophies in the weeks to come!

The judging is 100% down to the guest judges, and they award prizes not only based on quality and effort, but upon personal tastes too. It's not surprising really, as we all tend to go for the things we like eating, even if another dish would be considered tastier by someone else. It was a very tough decision, as it always is for the judges, because they are honest and kind people who'd love to award 1st place prizes to each participant if it were possible. Most of the participants put in just as much thought, time and effort as your wife. But remember, @kotturinn did win a prize, and others didn't, and it was extrememly generous of @boxcarblue to step in with the 4th place prize for this week since the regular sponsor is nowhere to be found!

Please also remember this isn't a professional competition with 1000s of supporters and cash flowing... its existence is to spark energy, creativity and community on Steemit, started and run by regular people to give Steemians a chance to get their recipes and blogs noticed, and shouldn't be viewed as anything other than fun with the occasional bonus of a few SBD or steem.

I hope you both understand and can feel proud of @kotturinn's well-deserved trophy! I for one was super impressed when I saw her entry, and excited too, as I felt instantly the quality of her cooking equalled the quality provided by other regular participants :-)