THE RULES.
Everybody gets one target. Everybody gets one dish. The system keeps the menu balanced while your neighbors decide who cooks what.
Most importantly, have fun
This is a cooking competition meant to stretch your imagination and sharpen your culinary skills. Pick food that you want to eat while putting your neighbor in a spot to prepare something that will challenge them, and then put your own stamp on the dish you are assigned.
Registration and voting eligibility
Only verified entrants are included. Registration stays open until the published closing time. Only registered entrants can vote. This year will not include guest voting because there is no guest-voting section. If you want to vote, you have to participate, and that will make it way more fun anyway. SO JOIN!
Registration closes and the order is created
Registration close and draft-order publication are one milestone. At the closing time, registration locks, the system randomizes the full draft order, and each entrant receives one text/email notification with their draft position. Before registration closes, an entrant may be removed by the administrator if necessary. After the order is created, entrant changes require the administrator to reset or reconfigure the draft.
The draft begins later
The draft has its own scheduled start time. When it begins, everybody is notified that the draft is live and pick #1 is on the clock. After that, each entrant receives an individual notification when their own turn starts.
When you are on the clock
Choose one remaining entrant and one of the up to 18 dishes presented by the smart pool. Once locked, that entrant has been assigned and that dish leaves the remaining pool. If your clock expires, the system automatically selects both an eligible target and a dish from that turn's valid smart pool. Automatic selections are final.
Overnight clock pause
The draft clock does not run between 10:00 PM and 8:00 AM Central Time. Unused time carries forward. If two hours remain when the clock pauses at 10:00 PM, those same two hours resume at 8:00 AM. The clock pauses, not the draft, so the person on the clock may still submit a pick during the overnight pause.
Who you can sabotage
Every entrant must receive exactly one dish assignment. You may choose any entrant who has not already been assigned, except yourself. The system may also remove an otherwise available target if choosing that person would make it mathematically impossible for the remaining picks to finish with exactly one assignment per entrant.
If you are the final picker and you are the only unassigned entrant remaining, the self-sabotage restriction is lifted automatically so the draft cannot deadlock. This is a deadlock exception, not a strategic self-pick option.
The smart dish pool
The dishes shown on a turn are not a fixed shortlist. The smart pool is recalculated after every completed pick from the entire remaining active master list, with a normal maximum of 18 choices per turn.
The finished menu is steered toward 35% Appetizer, 35% Main Course and 30% Dessert. Because people and dishes come in whole numbers, the system converts those percentages into the closest whole-dish target for the actual number of entrants. Appetizers are Finger Food, Dips and Side Salads. Main Courses are Casseroles, Pastas and Sliders. Desserts are Cakes, Bars and Pies. Within those groups the system favors variety, but there is no separate quota for each subcategory.
Earlier picks have more flexibility. If early picks use too much of one course group, later pools increasingly favor the groups still needed to reach the calculated final balance. Late in the draft, a picker may see most or all choices from one course group, and the pool may contain fewer than 18 choices if fewer valid balanced dishes remain.
Dish list and assignment interpretation
The published master dish list is seafood-free. The complete active list is available on the Dish List page for everyone to review before and during the event.
The assigned dish name and description define the assignment, but the recipe, preparation method, presentation, and reasonable creative interpretation belong to the cook unless the description specifically requires something. Once assigned, dishes are not traded, swapped, or replaced unless the administrator approves an exception before the event.
The completed menu
After the last pick, the dashboard converts the draft board into the completed cook-off menu grouped as Appetizers, Main Courses and Desserts. It shows each assigned dish and who is preparing it.
Event start and voting are separate
The cook-off has an Event Start time and a separate Voting Opens time. Either can remain TBD until the schedule is known. The event may begin before voting is opened.
Voting
Once voting opens, every registered entrant ranks three different dishes: 5 points for first, 3 points for second and 1 point for third. Vote for your three favorite completed dishes overall, using taste, execution, creativity, and presentation as your guide. Voting for your own dish is allowed. Guest voting is not available this year.
No standings are displayed until every registered entrant submits a ballot. There is no incomplete-ballot fallback: voting remains open until the final registered entrant has voted.
Winning and tiebreakers
The highest total wins. A tie is broken first by most 5-point votes, then most 3-point votes. If the tie survives both, a runoff is required only between the dishes that remain tied. The administrator will control when and how that runoff is completed.