I may be ruffling some feathers here, but I wanted to make a comment on the past few BSI challenges.
The BSI challenge started way back last fall, until it stopped at Christmas. I kept waiting for it to resurrect, and when it didn’t, I decided to bring it back with BSI – Zucchini!
The rules are quite simple:
- Pick an ingredient, preferably one that is in season and readily available and not too expensive;
- link back to all the other previous weekly hosts;
- review the recipe submissions by Sunday night of each week;
- pick a recipe that is your favorite; and
- Post the winner Monday morning and send the winner a token prize of your choosing.
Here are our previous hosts:
Week 42: My Kitchen Addiction – Lime
Week 41: Nutmeg Nanny – Coffee
Week 40: Chaya’s Comfy Cook – Broccoli
Week 39: Healthy Delicious – Plums
Week 38: Zoe – Feta
Week 37: ChezWhat– Potatoes
Week 36: Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice – Blueberries
Week 35: Girlichef -Greens
Week 34: The Ungourmet – Watermelon
Week 33: Bread + Butter – Bell Pepper
Week 32: Burp and Slurp -Corn
Week 31: Say Yes to Salad – Kabocha
Week 30: Thinspired – Bananas
Week 29: To Be The Whole Package – Almonds
Week 28: Kristas Kravings – Lemon
Week 27: From French Fries To Flax Seeds – Coconut
Week 26: Plentiful Plants – Avocado
Week 25: Training Fuel – Eggs
Week 24: Dinner at Christina’s – Cabbage
Week 23: Hey What’s for Dinner, Mom? – Strawberries
Week 22: One Bite at a Time – Basil
Week 21: Just Sweet Enough – Black Beans
Week 20: What I Ate Yesterday – Kale
Week 19: What’s for Dinner – Orange
Week 18: BranAppetit! –Spinach
Week 17: Tales of Expansion Dates
Week 16: Biggest Diabetic Loser – Zucchini
Week 15: Sweet & Natural –Peppermint
Week 14: bella eats [and runs] – Ginger
Week 13: Coffee Talk – Walnuts
Week 12: For the Love of Oats – Pumpkin
Week 11: Trying to Heal – Sweet Potatoes
Week 10: The Inner Workings of a College Graduate – Eggplant
Week 9: Itzy’s Kitchen – Pears
Week 8: The Fitnessista – Cranberries
Week 7: Tri to Cook – Lentils
Week 6: Rhodey Girl Tests – Polenta
Week 5: Eating Bender – Butternut Squash
Week 4: Care to Eat – Apples
Week 3: On a Lobster Placemat – Mushrooms
Week 2: Hangry Pants – Tomatoes
Week 1: sportsnutritionliving – Quinoa
Sadly, recently people have been using random integer to pick the winner. That being said, I could have put a slice of lime on a plate and entered that, and with random integer, could have possibly “won” with that “recipe.”
The reason I liked BSI so much is that it challenged me to go beyond my comfort zone with a particular ingredient. Don’t believe me? I hate sweet potatoes, but I ended up making sweet potato ravioli’s that were out of this world. I never would have made those had I not been challenged to use sweet potatoes!
So my question going forward is do we agree to keep the above rules going forward, or revert back to random integer. I am hopeful it is not the latter, otherwise what is the point?
I hope not to offend anyone with this post, but I just want everyone to be on the same page – your thoughts?
I agree with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like the way you think!
I didn’t even know the BSI was still in action, though.
I must apologize since I am new to BSI. I hosted last week, and yes, used Random.org to choose the winner, simply because I thought there were a lot of great recipes and had trouble picking a favorite.
When I went back through a lot of the previous posts, I had trouble finding definitive “rules” for the challenge, so I went based on what I could guess from the previous host who had asked me to participate and the blogs that popped up on the top when I searched for BSI on Google.
I did not mean to ruin the challenge for anyone – I apologize if you felt I was unfair!
Jen, don’t sweat it! It’s grown to different “food circles” so I just wanted to clarify going forward.
Since I brought it back, people started emailing me about going out and buying specific ingredients to better their chances of winning, only to have it decided randomly.
No harm done! I made a BSI page on my blog for future hosts!
I agree that the random interger thing really defeats the purpose.
When I hosted, I had a hard time finding an original set of rules. I assumed it was my discretion to pick. I didn’t link to ever previous hosts, but I linked to the person who hosted before I did and they had the entire list. There needs to be an official BSI site or something with all of the rules! Or, we should all each have to post the rules so the next person can have them available. I think some people assumed along the way that everyone knew what BSI was, but some of us were clueless until we had to host!
Also, I have just noticed the above list isn’t accurate, as Leah of Simply Fabulous hosted with cherries the week before me! Argh!
Just to clarify my previous comment – I’m not saying that there NEEDS to be a prize, just that it was lost somewhere along the way – merely another point in how the contest has changed over the months. We’re in a much different economic time now than when BSI was introduced and also a much wider following with international bloggers entering. I think it’s very understandable if a prize isn’t offered, I’ve held off on give-aways on my own blog for that very reason!
Sophia I agree they probably don’t want to hurt feelings, but now it seems people would rather lose fairly than lose to random numbers from the comments! 🙂
That was a perfect response – glad you said it for me! 😀
I agree, I was a bit surprised to see the random integer chooser pop up to determine the winner. I feel like even if I DID win, I wouldn’t feel much like a winner…
But on the person’s defense, I guess the host just didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings? Perhaps this was her/his way to keep everybody happy.
Hi Biz,
I totally see your point in this post. I have not been doing BSI for very long so to be honest I never even saw a set of rules. I just assumed you picked an ingredient that everyone could use and had not been picked before. When I hosted I assumed (going off of other BSI challenges I had been in) that most people just used the random integer to pick a winner, so I followed suit. I think the BSI set of rules should be sent out again. I felt bad when barely anyone participated in my challenge, Coffee but perhaps it wasn’t a horrible choice (or maybe it was?) as much as it was the fact that BSI challengers are upset at how things have been going.
I am so glad you wrote this. I am the perfect person to respond because I did not have a clue about any rules, nor about a prize. When it came to choosing a winner (I knew that had been done), I did not know the criteria so I picked a silly reason for my selection rather than insult someone who would think I made an informed decision.
When I saw a prize was given out, last week, I was stunned. Where did that come from?
I honestly think there is no problem. If the rules go along to the next blogger, from now on, it should be done correctly. Reading the responses, everyone seems to agree.
Thanks for bringing this up. I have mastered one more blogger complexity, thanks to you. Do I owe someone a prize?
Nope – lets just all play by the same rules in the future – thanks! 😀
I agree – no more random integer but I have to confess I didnt know about the prize as I did not provide one for the BSI potato that I hosted…I thought winning was prize enough….
DB – the “prizes” are token – when I won I got a loaf of baked banana bread, and that weeks contest made it sugar free for me. 😀
And I also won some cute hello kitty socks and some Mom and Daughter scrap book sayings.
I’ve never participated in BSI (I really don’t have room to speak) but I have to agree with you. It seems kind of pointless for the contest to be decided on by lucky draw.
I mean cherries, not strawberries.
I agree wholeheartedly Biz, and am glad you spoke up.
As a past contestant and past host the magic of the BSI contest seems to have been lost in the past few weeks. I haven’t participated and have noticed other food bloggers dropping out as well. I, too, think that somewhere along the lines the rules were not passed onto the new host, or a host took too many liberties with the rules and future hosts misunderstood.
I received the rules from Laura as she passed the contest onto me, and was asked to pass them onto the future host and have them do the same. They were what you mentioned: ingredient choice, timing for deadline and winner, post the list of past hosts, and please provide a small prize for the winner.
We are adults and I think it’s silly to be “too hard” to choose a winner. We all had to do it – 42 hosts (I think 43 b/c strawberry was somehow lost in the list) and didn’t use random # integers. Mine was hard, so I ended up choosing a tie – but I still chose a winner. And I provided both winners with prizes. Frankly, I find it a little insulting to use the random integer. As you said – you could put a lime on a toothpick and have just a fair shot. If we’ve gotten excited about an ingredient and given it our time and love in our kitchens to come up with a recipe we’re proud of, the least we deserve is a legitimate contest and winner.
I think new hosts should agree to 1) actually choose a winner and 2) provide the winner with a prize! There have been issues with both of these things that past hosts have found to be unfair. One week a winner wasn’t even chosen, just a re-cap of entries.
Like Mara said, I haven’t been entering in the past few weeks because it just has lost it’s original magic. BSI was created b/c we’re food bloggers and all excited about food. It was a common ingredient to form a fun bond and share with old friends and make new ones. It used to serve that purpose for me, but lately it’s more on the silly side with unattainable, out of season ingredients, no prizes, and random integer “winners.”
Thanks for letting us discuss this, and I’m sorry if I ruffled feathers too, but this stuff needs to be said. The BSI was fun and enjoyed by MANY. We should be able to keep it going and be fun for everybody.
Though I have never participated, I have to agree completely.
Really, what is the point of a random winner with BSI? It’s not a contest that you win just by leaving a comment, like you said, it supposed to push people out of their comfort zone with ingredients. That’s a lot of the reason why I even stopped following. I’m glad you said something about it, I don’t think many others would.
I stopped entering for that very reason… then I happened to make a lime recipe this past week and that was the BSI was lime. I didn’t even see who won. I can’t stand random integer for anything but random giveaways. UGH
I hate random-integer winners for contests!! Did you see the Prize WInner of Defiance, Ohio? She was rewarded for incredible talent in writing and creativity, but when contests went “random” she stopped winning. I am a major fan of MERIT-based contests, not random drawings. Of course the merit based one take a lot more effort on the part of the contest organizers, but… I don’t care.
I totally agree with you Biz! Having entered myself, the fun part is picking a recipe (or making one up) with a new ingredient and with everyone else’s creativity as the one who is choosing, pick one that maybe you would like to eat, or that is really spectacular, or whatever. If you use random integer than there is no point in continuing BSI. We’re all grown ups, no one is going to get bent out of shape if you pick an entry that is truly your favorite, that’s what its all about!
I hope it goes back to the old rules and maybe along the way, the rules weren’t passed on. But the rules my sister just mentioned is what it was from the beginning.
Thanks everyone for your imput!