Stir Crazy

Last night Susan and I joined three other couples at the home of one of those couple for a game called Stir Crazy. Beforehand the host couple brought their kids to our house, where my cousin Rachelle (well, first cousin once removed) babysat them and the Moberg children. Thus the hosts were sans children as were all their guests for the game.

Stir Crazy is a cooking game (this one's theme: Chinese food) in which participants are divided into two teams who compete against one another. We had a little trepidation ahead of time, not only because we didn't know how the game would work or if it could be done in one home kitchen but also because we feared how the teams would be assigned. If it had been "boys against the girls," EVERYBODY would have lost out--the men for having no clue what to make, and the women for having to eat our food! Mercifully, the random draw resulted in two women and two men on each team.

We were allowed first to eye the dining table full of ingredients and then convene a private meeting (in the hosts' daughter's bedroom) to plan our menu options, which would depend on the ingredients we might end up with. Then we all returned to the dining room and spun the game's spinner to find out which team would get which ingredient. Rule: you MUST use every ingredient that your team ends up getting. Sometimes the spinner told us to select our own ingredient; sometimes it told the other team to swap one of theirs for one of ours. In the end, we ended up with shrimp and chicken for meats, eggs, a lot of vegetables, some rice, canned chicken broth, and pineapple.

Once the ingredients were divvied up, we reconvened a private meeting to finalize the menu. We were required to make an appetizer, a side dish, and an entree. We considered what we had and decided to make egg drop soup, shrimp fried rice, and sweet and sour chicken. There was a side table with staples available to both teams (to share): Oriental seasonings and sauces, brown sugar, honey, etc. We took that into consideration, too, when planning the menu.

Then we all gathered in the kitchen and started the timer: 90 minutes were allowed to prepare the entire meal and present it. A cassette of Chinese music (that came with the game) played in the background while we worked. On our team the men ended up being the worker bees while the women ran the cooking/seasoning/preparing operation. I chopped the raw vegetables and wrote the menu card; Curt chopped mushrooms and shrimp and helped the women after I retired to the living room to write. Both teams shared the stove, microwave, deep fat frier, and utensils. Our team (Team Salt) used the dining room table as our headquarters while our opponents (Team Pepper) used the kitchen island as theirs.

Things went surprisingly smoothly, and once everything was plated and set on the dining room table, we discovered that we had a feast of delicious-looking food. Team Pepper made cream cheese and banana-stuffed wontons that they deep-fried and served with a fruit salsa; pork fried rice; and beef lo mein. We all took a little of everything and pigged out. It was great, and we were all very impressed with ourselves: how well it worked to prepare all these foods while sharing the kitchen, beating the clock, and working with the limitations of the ingredients provided us.

We voted by secret ballot afterward and found that Team Pepper's wonton appetizer won that category while our team's sweet and sour chicken won for best entree. (The side dish may have been a tie; I don't remember.) We were all winners, as far as we were concerned. It was an unusual game that turned out to be a blast. The hosts, Jesse and Nicole, did a LOT of preparing to be ready for us, and they served delicious beverages all night and chocolate-dipped strawberries and fortune cookies for dessert. They even had prizes for the teams that won in each category. It was a great experience. The game comes in other versions, too; we hope someday to try the Mexican and Italian food versions.


Here is Team Pepper's menu card from last night:

"Kiss of the Geisha" -- Sweeter than your lover's lips, these pillowy banana cream cheese wontons perfectly embrace the fresh fruit salsa flavored with a hint of cilantro and jalapeno.

"Feast of the Emperor" -- You will feel like royalty when you taste this robust beef lo mein. Get down on your knees before chef Jesse . . . that's hot! [in-joke]

"Pig in a Paddy" -- The perfect dish to serve in "The Year of the Pig." This traditional dish is said to provide fortitude, stamina, and sexual power to those who consume it, as is the character of those born in the year of the boar.


Here is Team Salt's menu card (complete with haiku for each item):

"Tsu San's Egg Drop Soup" -- A savory chicken broth is accented by a hint of red onions and completed with mushrooms, frozen peas, and farm-fresh eggs.

Sun through the white clouds;
Green tree tops float in the sky;
Gentle stream snakes by.

"East Grand Chopsticks Shrimp Fried Rice" -- Fluffy fried rice supports a medley of crispy vegetables, sea-harvested shrimp, and Oriental seasonings.

Festival of color--
Treasures lie 'neath the surface--
Dive in; celebrate!

"General Hanson [my teammate Curt's last name] Sweet and Sour Chicken" -- The classic interplay of sweet and sour is celebrated by crisp vegetables, tender fruits, and fried chicken in this famous dish.

Nation's favorite food--
Tradition turns to legend . . .
Immortal Gen'ral!