Mac and Cheese Off Contestants

We had a fairly large turnout for the first ever Gourmet Gastronomer Mac and Cheese Off.  The contestants are from all walks of life, but they all love food.  Our contestants were:

Elle

Born and raised in New England Stay at home mom, four kids and a lot of pets. Have always loved cooking and baking, and absolutely love blogging. Was always happy to just read them, until last Feb. Decided I wanted to give it a try, too. Adore where I live and don't ever want to leave New England. Not for warmer climates, not for more glamorous locations--nothing.

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Michael Stashwick

Mike was born in New Orleans and has been eating his entire life. Now living in Chicago, he avidly cooks and explores with an open palette. His site, A Dash of Stash, was started in 2008 to express his love for food, and to create the same intimate experience online that diners get across the table from each other. In this forum, cuisine has no boundaries, and everyone can laugh and cry, over the successes and failures in the kitchen.

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Sarah Doheny

Publicist in the hospitality, retail and entertainment sectors, also own a wedding and events planning business, Sarah's Events and Bridal and am a partner in two other business as well. One being and embroidery company, Windsor Forge and the other a product placement firm for both Film and Television, UcanCit! My down time you can find me training every morning at the gym as that is my sanity time~

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Elaine Giammetta and Lou Luzzo

Elaine Giammetta and Lou Luzzo are co-founders of gourmetgirlmagazine.com, an online lifestyle magazine with it's focus on their journey to learn, experience and share with their readers, all that is "Good Food, Good Wine & Good Living. They were both born and raised in northeastern New Jersey, and shared their love of all things 'gourmet' in one of the greatest food cities of the world, New York. Elaine is an accomplished chef who attributes her love of good food to her Aruban mother. "My mother was a fantastic cook," states Elaine, "While other kids were coming home to pot pies and frozen pizza, my mom was whipping up Pastiches and Carribean Patties, taking me to places like Trader Vics and The Rainbow Room." Louis, now a gourmet chef in his own right, attributes his love and knowledge of 'the art of fine dining' to Elaine. He say's, "She truly is 'The Gourmet Girl,' and I'm quite content to be the Gourmet Girl's guy! She has taken me on a culinary whirlwind tour that continues to be amazing." Partners in life as well, they reside and publish their online magazine from the tropical paradise that is Southwest Florida.

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Vanessa

I am a mother of two and wife of one (just feels like more some days!) I love food ,and my friends, and particularly them together with a intermingling of cocktails or wine! I believe that most people take cooking too seriously, afraid to change a recipe, or just throw something together with what’s on hand. Cooking should be fun and if you use good ingredients typically the dish will come out good…and if it doesn’t… so what!

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Sam Sotiropoulos

As a Greek-Canadian, I was born, raised and educated in Toronto, Canada, where I continue to reside with my wife, Sophia, and newborn son, Ilias. I matriculated in 1993 from York University in Toronto with an Honours B.A. Major in Philosophy. In 1997, I founded an IT (Information Technology) Consulting company and have been working in the field ever since. Prior to my involvement with IT, I hosted a Greek-Canadian FM radio talk & variety show on 100.7 CHIN FM. While I was a student at York University, I was Chief Editor of the Hellenic Student Association's newspaper "Hermes". While in University, I worked as a waiter and short order cook in the evenings and summers to pay my way through school. After graduating, I spent the better part of the next three years traveling and working throughout Greece, familiarizing myself with the people, culture, and most importantly, the food (!) of my ancestral homeland. As my father was a baker, and my very first job had been in a kitchen, I had always been exposed to Greek cookery and it has remained as my primary hobby interest over the years. In August of 2007, I started the Facebook "Greek Food" group to share Greek recipes and my love for Greek history and culture with my friends; the group has since grown to over 1500 members from all around the world and it is still growing; indeed, I think it is one of the largest ethnic food groups on Facebook. Spurred on by the popularity of the group, last February I started a blog entitled "Greek Food Recipes and Reflections" to share my passion for the Greek diet with the rest of the world. My blog postings are not limited to simple recipes; they include numerous references to interesting and little known facts and anecdotes which relate both to the history of Greek gastronomy, and to Modern Greek cuisine as a whole. Within a matter of months, my blog had developed a sizable following which has grown steadily ever since. Following up on the popularity of my blog and Facebook group this past summer, I began to give live Greek cooking demonstrations, for Canada's largest national supermarket chain, Loblaws. I have since gone on to provide catering services for parties and functions and am seriously considering a complete career change to follow my passion for Greek food to wherever it will lead.

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Heather Pennington

Heather Pennington is currently traveling through America in search of the perfect sunset. She grew up in San Francisco before moving to Los Angeles to receive her undergraduate degree at USC in English Literature and Theatre. When she is not traveling, she works in the film industry and dabbles in many other fields. She loves to cook and you can probably find her in a kitchen somewhere right now!

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Liz Boyarsky

Liz Boyarsky loves to cook in her free time or when she is stressed out and can't think clearly. She just returned from Bahia, Brasil where she lived in a small rural town and taught English for four months. She loved the Bahian cuisine and learned how to cook on a small budget for a big group using a very basic outdoor kitchen.

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Mark at Art/E/picure

My parents owned and operated a restaurant that featured traditional New England cooking where I got my first taste of kitchen life. After high school, I spent 5 years traveling throughout the United States working at ski resorts, dude ranches and a host of urban and countryside cafes and restaurants before ending up at the Petroleum Club in Evansville Indiana. For the next 4 years I worked as a cook and then Sous Chef at the Petroleum Club and several of it’s affiliated clubs throughout the South and Midwest preparing classic Continental cuisine under European trained master chefs. In 1983 I took my first Executive Chef position. Since then I have worked throughout the United States and spent over 10 years working abroad in the Virgin Islands, Belize, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece and Tunisia. In addition to my chef experience I have also worked as a waiter, bartender, restaurant manager, sommelier, taught culinary history at Tufts University and serve as an occupational specialist on the National Accreditation Board for Culinary and Vocational Schools. I am an active member of Les Amis d’Escoffier, Chef’s Collaborative, Slow Food and the Culinary Historians of Boston.

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Sweetrosie

It’s nice to meet you all. I live in Adelaide, South Australia. I work as the catering coordinator at an adult college for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. My job involves coordinating internal and external catering with an emphasis on the promotion of “bush tucker” by incorporating indigenous ingredients into the menus, and providing information about their cultural, ethical and sustainable use. I am also studying for my MA in gastronomy and I can tell you - work and study make for a busy life! Still, life is good and I wouldn’t have it any other way :) Cheers from Oz