Recently I have heard from a few of our members with questions regarding the contest listings and icons used here on Cooking Contest Central.  I decided to put together a handy key to help you decipher it all!

When you browse our contest listings, sometimes you might see a small icon next to the contest name.  This is a visual shortcut to give you more information about the contest.

  Red Checkmark – This indicates that there is an online voting component in selecting a winner in this contest.  Sometimes there are contests with with “Judge’s Choice” selected by a qualified panel of judges and a “Public Vote” selected through online voting.  Be sure to read the official rules carefully to see if you are interested in entering any contest.

  Black Camera – This indicates that a photo is required with your entry.

  Green Video Camera – This indicates a video is required with your entry.

  Blue “F” – This indicates that this contest is somehow affiliated with Facebook and you will need a Facebook account to enter or to view information about the contest.

  Red “P” – This indicates the contest is conducted through Pinterest.  You will need a Pinterest account to enter these contests.

  Pencil and Paper – This indicates there is some sort of written component (besides the recipe) when entering this contest.

Sometimes I also hear from our members asking which contests they are qualified to enter.

Some of our members are passionate home cooks with jobs outside the food world.  Others are bloggers who might make a portion of their income from their blog.  Other members are chefs or other professionals in the food world whose entire income is through food.

The contest listings help our members decide what types of contests they want to enter as well as which ones they are qualified to enter.  However, these listings are only guidelines.  The ONLY way to know if you qualify to enter a contest is to read the official rules carefully!

Deadline Contests – Most of our contests fall into this category.  These contests are usually geared toward the home cook and have a deadline.

If you are a food blogger or food professional, check out these contests but read the rules carefully.  You will likely qualify for many of them!

Ongoing Contests – These are contests that are continuously hosted by a sponsor.  They might be ongoing monthly, quarterly, etc…

Contests for Professionals – These contests list in the rules that they are only open to food professionals.  Again, read the rules carefully to see if you qualify.

Contests for Bloggers – Nowadays, more and more contests are designed specifically for those with a blog platform.  Definitely check these out if you have a blog!

Contests for Kids – These contests are just for kids.  If you have a child who shares your passion for food, I highly recommend keeping your eyes peeled for opportunities here.

Other Contests – This is our “miscellaneous” category.  Some of these contests are not necessarily traditional recipe contests, but are somehow affiliated with the food world.  Many of these contests are a lot of fun to enter and have outstanding prizes.  Definitely not a category to be missed!

International Contests – These contests are open to people outside the United States.  Many are for Canadian residents.

Little Contests – Here we list contests with smaller prizes.  If you are just getting your feet wet in the contesting world, give these a try!  Winning smaller contests can give you the confidence and encouragement you need to go for some of the big ones!

Regional Contests – These contests are only open to a particular region of the United States or might not offer travel to their finalists.  Stop by here to see if there is anything going on in your area!

Casting Call – If you want to take your contesting career to the next level and see yourself on TV, this is the place to find out which shows are currently casting.  Many of these don’t offer specific “deadlines” like traditional recipe contests, so I suggest reaching out the casting directors to find out more.

Contest Alerts – This is an archive of all our Contest Alert Newsletters sent out to membership.  Check back here if you want to reference a previous newsletter.

Contest Archives – Once a contest deadline has passed, it moves into our archives.  If you want to refer back to a past contest you can find it here.

Finally, why is the Cooking Contest Central logo a pair of “crossed spatulas?”

The answer is two fold.  First, it represents the thrill of the head-to-head competition we have all come to love in the world of recipe contesting.  But second, and more importantly, it represents a phrase coined by CCC member Lisa Keys.  Before a big contest you will often hear her encourage fellow contesters “I’ll be crossing my spatulas for you.”  A fun twist on crossing your fingers for a win!