Welcome to Cook with Us #16!

Please watch for the next newsletter that's coming out in a few days which will include an updated calendar with additional themes.

The theme for Cook with Us #16:

Pizza

No Mystery Theme this Week

Pizza is without a doubt the world’s most favorite food. While people have been eating flatbread with toppings since ancient times, it was not until the tomato made its way from the Americas to Italy that something resembling what we consider pizza today was invented. Although it did take a few hundred years for the tomato to be accepted in Italy as a food. When it first arrived, people thought it was poisonous. The people of Naples, Italy are credited with creating the modern pizza with bread, tomatoes and cheese. Probably the most famous pizza of all time is the Margherita pizza created for Queen Margherita’s visit to Naples in 1889. The Margherita pizza is topped with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil. These ingredients are the same colors as the Italian flag. source

This week the Cook with Us team, @chefsteve, @pandamama and @offoodandart, would like to see your favorite pizza. Let us know any unique facts about how pizza is made in your part of the world. Also share with us how pizza is evolving where you live. Since there are so many variations of pizza there will not be a mystery theme this week.

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The Cook with Us Calendar

You can plan ahead! Below is the Cook with Us Calendar. More themes to follow in the next few days.

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Cook with Us is on Discord

To join, please follow the steps below.

- Create a Discord account if first time on Discord. It's best to use your Steemit username.

- Download the Discord app which can be found here.

- Click on this link to join the Cook with Us channel.

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The Cook with Us Contest

The Cook with Us team is very excited to welcome you and look forward to getting to know you as we cook or create dishes together. It is our intention to build a community of people that enjoy cooking and sharing with each other.

The contest is divided into two groups. The first group is the General Pool and the second is the Winners' Circle. Each group will have three winners ranking from 1st place to 3rd place. Every contestant starts in the General Pool. The 1st place winner in the General Pool advances to the Winners' Circle in the next round.

We are pleased to announce the following prizes for each group:

• First place - 5 SBD

• Second place - 3 SBD

• Third place - 1 SBD

Winners' Circle

The following, if participating in Cook with Us #16, will be competing in the Winners' Circle.

• @ground2feet

• @loveself

• @foodforsoul

• @whattheduck

• @deimus

• @blackberryskunk

• @cooknbake

• @dianadee

• @alansthoughs

• @lizelle

• @gladysstillwagon

• @carolynstahl

• @plantstoplanks

• @pusteblume

• 1st place winner from the CwU #15 general pool

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Cook with Us Official Contest Rules

Please take some time to review the contest rules below. We understand that a lot of work is put into every post and we do not want to disqualify anyone for not following the rules. If you are unsure about any of them, just ask us for some clarification. We will be happy to help you.

Contest Entry Rules

• The title of your post should look like this: Cook with Us #16 – Pizza. For example, Cook with Us #16 - Margherita Pizza.

• The first tag on your entry must be: cookwithus.

• Upvote and resteem this @cookwithus post that you are submitting an entry for.

• The first time you enter this competition, submit a proof photo. This can be in the form of a handwritten note with your Steemit name, the name of the dish, and the date with your entry - or it can be a photograph of yourself with your dish. Thereafter, you will not need a proof photograph going forward as we will know who you are. Please do not use Photoshop for the proof photo.

• Include a description of the dish. Some examples are the taste of the dish, its origin, or the story behind it.

• Describe why your dish works. Give a brief description about why you put these ingredients together.

• Post a link to your entry in the comments section of the weekly challenge. This is the post that announces the start of the week's contest

• You can only enter one dish per entry (a dish means a single version. Not one dish two or three ways). You may only enter one entry per week.

General Contest Rules

• Contest ends every Monday 12:00 UTC.

• Results will be published no later than Thursday 12:00 UTC, three days after the contest is closed.

• Entries do not have to be original. However, if not original, please provide the source.

• While the calendar may be showing future themes, entries can only be submitted for the current week's contest and only after the official post for the contest is made. Entries submitted before the official start date or after the deadline will not be considered valid entries.

• The Cook with Us contest will cover many topics and disciplines. Make sure you check for weekly contest rules that may change due to the nature of the challenge.

• By entering @cookwithus, the contestant agrees to their material being used by the organizers for any purposes and will not be compensated should the material be published. But you, the author/photographer, will be given written credit.

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Acknowledgements

There were many people that helped us to get this competition up and running. We would like to say a BIG thank you to them all and express our sincere gratitude for their contributions.

Please show your support for @aggroed by voting for him as a witness.

We are delighted with the caricatures made for us by @bazbiscuit. Thank you Barry!

@jacklimberis made our banner and gif for us. Thank you Jack - we really appreciate all the hard and beautiful work!

Thank you @edenmichelle for making the youtube video for us. A huge thanks as well to @leelektrik for creating our logo.

Thank you VIEWLY for the View Token prizes that we will give to our contestants who make a little video of their recipes.

Please follow @jedau, @zord189, @jznsamuel, @sneakyninja, @jacklimberis, @bazbiscuit, @edenmichelle, @theywillkillyou, @world5list, @world-travel-pro, and @heyitshaas. We hope to add to this list of supporters of our competition. If you would like to be a supporter of @cookwithus, please contact us. We would love to hear from you.