You need something to do over Christmas vacation! Here's how to win a $5,000 scholarship!

If you're a C-CAP student or teacher, dwell no longer on how you will occupy all those hours and hours of holiday vacation time - you can develop a recipe!

For your efforts, you could become eligible to win an all-expenses paid trip to Canyon Ranch (and just think - it could be the Canyon Ranch NOT in Arizona!).

Here's the catch:  the deadline for this recipe is January 11. 

Wait - there's another catch.  (Or maybe a couple more…) The recipe must be for a meatless dish, and the dish must be chili.  Meatless and marvelous.

This recipe is intended for someone like a mom to use when she's slammed for time to make dinner.  It needs to be quick, easy and appealing to diners over the age of 18 as well as those under eight years. 

It needs to be able to serve at least six.

Just one recipe will be sent from C-CAP Arizona, and this contest is open ONLY to C-CAP students and teachers across the country (in other words, Arizona's entry will have a one-in-seven chance of being the winning recipe).

Full details are available from your C-CAP teachers and from Jill Smith, C-CAP Arizona director.  Jill will also lead the team judging Arizona's entries, which will be read and tried in a home kitchen to select the top Arizona recipe.

One more thing - you don't need to be a C-CAP finalist to win this scholarship.  You just need to be a competitor. 

In any event. but especially this - We're thankful for all who contributed to Getting Our Just Desserts 2012

Phew!  Some guests report overdosing on chocolate - but we know that's not any sort of realistic possibility - it is simply NOT POSSIBLE to "overdose" on chocolate.  Some people may, however, be unfamiliar with the incredible euphoria possible with the right amount of chocolate.

As always, our chefs outdid themselves in spectacular ways.  

To them, our fervent admiration and heartfelt thanks for helping to support the Careers through Culinary Arts Program here in Arizona.  

Here are a few of the ways in which they helped (and a special shout of thanks to the culinary students at AI, who prepared and served that most seasonal of favorites: pumpkin pie and whipped cream.  YAY!  We are thankful.)

This year's event began with a special workshop presented by Chef Amy Binkley of Cave Creek's Binkley's and Café Bink.  After the couple's recent trip to Italy, she focused on kitchen (and both chef and home cook)-friendly hand-pulled mozzarella and her version of Tuscan bread soup. 

Those tasty mozzarella balls in miniature, topped with red onion marmalade, were also her table presentation for the event.

Here's what other chefs featured:

JoAnn Ayres, of the Art Institute, had delicately flavored and color-popping Parisian macarons, in mint and chocolate, raspberry and chocolate, caramel, lemon and more.

Sherrye Chapin, Sherrye's Kitchen, her signature caramel brownies and a new caremel/truffle pop.

Tracy Dempsey, Tracy Dempsey Originals, did vanilla panna cotta with red wine braised grapes and blueberries, balsamic reduction, olive oil dust and parmesan black pepper biscotti and red velvet and brownie truffles.

Nicole DeKryter, Cartwright's Sonoran Ranch House, featured ultra-tender braised pork on house-made cheese biscuits and tomato jam.

Julie Fiedler, POSH, presented a modern take on a Sunday chicken dinner with buttermilk panna cotta with biscuit sprinkles, crispy chicken skin and honey caviar.

Kailey Fierro, of Sushi Roku, had chocolate dipped peanut butter balls with assorted toppings, from sweet crisp-tender toffee to rock salt.

Tricia Guerrero, EVIT, and her students presented precisely balanced roasted red pepper soup with crispy, sugary pancetta crumbles and silky vichyssoise with roasted shrimp.

More good stuff

Therese Hill brought lemon, caramel and chocolate truffle bars from her new shop, My Sweet Blessings bakery, and Mary Josephs had an array of her extravagantly designed and tasty chocolates.

So did Classic Cooking Academy's Susan Kolman, whose jewel-like chocolates offer both contemporary and traditional tastes.

Twisting the traditional was Samantha Sharrar, with pick-up parfaits of pumpkin/spice topped with curly, delicate sticks of fried pumpkin.

Samantha Roberts premiered two dishes from the new Whisky Row, set to open in February - a lemongrass chicken meatball with green apple and jicama slaw, along with a super-moist fall harvest cake with cranberry syrup and cream cheese frosting.

Yuzu mousse with blueberries and toasted meringue came from Faith Wipperman-Woodruff of Roka Akor, while Dana Rohr took over the Wolf/SubZero demo kitchen to offer fresh corn cakes with bacon bits topped with house-made salsa and avocado.

And Cassie Weisz of Shea 32 and Never Enough Sugar had mini breakfast (bacon and maple syrup!) and mini pumpkin (like pie) cupcakes, along with shortbread-like lemon dill and orange basil cookies, along with "my mother's" oatmeal cookies.