I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Toast Ambassador Competition

Last week I let you all know that I had been down to New York City to compete in the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Toast Ambassador contest. It was a fantastic experience full of fun stories, but today I wanted to concentrate on the competition itself!

It all started about a month ago when I received an email from the wonderful PR folks for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter when they asked if I'd like to compete in their Toast Ambassador program, meaning create an original recipe. I'm always up for a little recipe creation, so I immediatly said yes. In the mood for a little travel, my brain started running to different trips Ive taken, and I remembered my trip to Italy when I was little. Building on my memories, I found myself drawn towards apricots, crostini, bright colors and blue cheese. My Warmed Blue Cheese and Apricot Crostini with an Arugula Drizzle was born.

I was selected as a Finalist about two weeks ago, and last Thursday I traveled to New York to compete! Friday morning dawned bright and early with an amazing breakfast (to be discussed later), and the unveiling of a surprise competition! At breakfast we were asked to pick out our favorite bread, and it would be incorporated into a later competition. Then we were whisked to the Unilever test kitchen to start our day.

We saw some amazing demos, had a great lunch, and then started our first challenge-a Top Chef Quick Fire tribute- we were given our selected breads and asked to make a toast using the ingredients provided in 20 minutes.

I had a momentary brain lapse (those always happen at the wrong times right?), and ended up playing my entry a little safe. I created a healthy breakfast toast by melting I Can't Believe It's Not Butter in a sauté pan with cinnamon and lemon zest, and then toasted my chosen cranberry walnut bread in it. Then I topped the toast with banana slices, and a mix of fresh sweet berries, low fat vanilla yogurt and more lemon zest. The result had bright lovely flavors, and was packed full of good nutrients, though presentation wise it was a little sloppy.

Top honors for that round went to the fabulous Bren (link to follow), ladies this amazing chef does it all in stilettos....color me impressed!!!

Next up...the main event....