Two wonderful articles just crossed our desk, thanks to Foodie friends.

K. Sonora sent us this one, which immediately called for a scan: "100 Ways to Make Your Living as a Professional Eater." It's an article posted on JobProfiles.org.

Of course, it addresses the strange world of competitive eating. Ribs seem to be a favorite in this category, and the notorious hot dog competitions, as well. At Nathan's Famous 4th of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, which airs on ESPN, the winner rolls away with $20,000, plus a mustard yellow belt.

But wait, there's so much more. 17 ways to become a judge at food competitions. 10 ways to become a taste tester. 10 more ways to taste your way through the beverage world. Even 5 ways to combine an entertainment career and getting paid to eat, e.g. "Snag a part in a food commercial."

Naturally, it's not all fun and games. Other jobs out there include "baby food taste tester" and being a judge in the "Search for America's Worst Cook." And on a practical note, this article has many links to put you in touch with employment opportunities and info. (It is a job site, after all.) One connected us with a company that proclaimed it was "excited by our interest" in becoming a taste tester for them.
Ways to score food through your occupation range from sublime ("Become a champagne buyer.") to ridiculous ("Become a flight attendant, hit the peanuts and soda.") But there's one strategy we actually witnessed working -- No. 73. Start your own business: Bake brownies or make one-of-a-kind pizzas to sell to your friends and neighbors. The best part is getting to munch on ingredients and samples. Check out our story on Doug's bread.

And finally, we can take the list to 101. The job: Barbecue Judge. I've watched these people in action and just can't get over their good fortune. While they may not make money, those who teach, do, and there's always winning a competition as a bbq champ. Not as easy as it sounds, but what is...

More thoroughly enjoyable news:

There's a new Wallace and Gromit movie in production. Its working title, "A Matter of Loaf and Death," a t.v. baking show murder mystery. Stills and info here. Delicious!

Sweet! We ventured to Cambridge, MD on a Thursday afternoon for the "Chef of the Shore" competition, held at the downtown Cambridge Farmer's Market. It was an "Iron Chef" style competition where our two teams had to be ready for anything, knowing that the ingredient would be chosen from the market. The two teams: Ian Campbell and Emily Salisbury from Bistro Poplar, and Tim Petraitis, Nick Vriend and Ray Moore of the Water's Edge Grill at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Resort in Cambridge.

The ingredient: Watermelon! And here's what they did with it.

Bistro Poplar: A watermelon mojito. Watermelon and tomato puree with crab and watermelon salad. Scallops on toast with a watermelon relish. And watermelon berry fruit salad with a vanilla pannacotta.

Team Hyatt: Chilled watermelon soup, served with tuna in wonton wrappers. A watermelon-blue cheese napoleon. Poached halibut with watermelon salad. And a watermelon sorbet.

The result, a nail-biting two point advantage to Bistro Poplar, but it all looked fab. We'll try to bring you some recipes and will have the photo gallery up on ChesapeakeFoodie.com up soon. Congrats to all. And special thanks to Jill Jasuta for bringing us in on it!

A quick update about stuff that's passed across the Foodie desk:

Cambridge on the Eastern Shore: A fun one happening this week, we hope to attend. A "Chef of the Shore" competition at the Cambridge Main Street Farmers' Market on August 14, 3:30-5:30 p.m. It'll be an Iron Chef-like competition pitting two talented local chefs: Ian Campbell of Bistro Poplar and Tim Petraitis of Water's Edge Grill at the Hyatt here in Cambridge. They'll be challenged to make an appetizer, main dish, side dish, and dessert -- all incorporating the same "secret ingredient" fresh from

Our friends to the north have had a big weekend. Yesterday, in Bel Air, the MD state BBQ championship hit the judging placemats. We're anxiously awaiting the posting of results, and will post asap. Today, Sunday, is the second day of the Havre de Grace Seafood Festival, from 11 to 6. Go git yourself some good seafood. Especially since -- gasp! -- the Maryland Seafood Festival is cancelled for this year!

In fact, might be time for your own crab picnic. We received the requested recipes from the Governor's local food picnic for the much-admired potato salad and deviled eggs, from Medford Canby, the Executive Chef. Simple! Click here.

And if you're looking to herb up your salad, check out Todd’s Dirt and Todd’s Spicy Dirt, herb blends now on the shelves at many local stores. A fourteen-spice mix, you can do just about anything with it, from Bloody Marys to meatloaf. We tested it mixed with sour cream for a dip. Pretty nice, and pretty easy for anyone who just wants to grab one spice bottle. $5 online for a 2.75 oz bottle or get a list of stores here.

This is fun: The local newspaper has a notice requesting “wildlife” recipes for an upcoming cookbook. Please respond to: mburton@chespub.com. Somebody tell Skeeter!

 

In the height of summer, what's really heating up are the competitions.

Last weekend, we attended two cookoffs: The Chesapeake Bay BBQ Bash, and the Chef's Crab Cookoff in St. Michaels. For foodies, this is just the kind of competitive sports we like to see.

Friday night, the Chesapeake Bay BBQ Bash kicked off the weekend competition with an "Anything Seafood" contest. Downright awesome entries. The next day, the standard Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned event with ribs, pork, brisket and chicken. Pictured: Gunner Roe prepares his stuffed shrimp and portobello entry.

Sunday, Talbot County held its annual Chef's Crab Cookoff, with some of our favorite restaurants from the area. Michael Quattrucci and his team from Restaurant Local went all out with a "Crab, Four Ways" entry: Jumbo lump mini-crabcakes on creamed local corn, a Bibb lettuce crab wrap, crispy crab ravioli with pea tendrils, and crab gazpacho. Plus samples for the crowd. Let's just say all the effort paid off.

Mason's and Town Dock got the nod, as well. We were happy to see two women chefs competing, Barbara Helish from Bella Luna and Jen Bridges from Market House Gourmet. More winners, participants and ridiculously gorgeous entries will be in the picture gallery, see above.

What we really love is that now we have umpteen more reasons to visit these restaurants when we need our crab fix.

As if we needed more reasons to salivate in summer.