Each team had one hour to create a dessert of their choice using the secret ingredients (Betty Crocker Pound Cake Mix and Nestle Toll House Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Morsels) and any other ingredient or item found in my kitchen.

As soon as the secret ingredient was revealed the men immediately descended upon my kitchen like a pack of vultures. They were throwing whatever they could find into my blender along with the cake mix. “How about bananas? Hot cocoa mix! Rice Crispies?…” It was very interesting to watch.

Us girls, on the other hand, spent at least 5 minutes deliberating what to do. We wanted to mix it up a bit and make something other than a cake. We decided upon some little cookies made from the cake mix, with a cream cheese frosting that included the chocolate and peanut butter chips.

The men were done in a matter of minutes and had their cake in the oven to bake. Then they proceeded to play 45 minutes of tennis on the Wii.

The women took the time to make a test cookie, try different presentation options, pick out some nice china, etc.

The men took an interesting approach to the presentation of their dish. I was surprised at what an active role my dad played in the competition. He did the topping all by himself. It consisted of melted peanut butter and chocolate chips, sliced bananas and an entire jar of raspberry jam. It was served in the pan with an all American Diet Pepsi on the side.

The women took considerable time preparing the presentation of their dish for the judge. Each cookie was topped with a drizzling of melted dark chocolate, followed by a dab of frosting and then sprinkled with pomegranate seeds (Tessa’s great idea!) It was served on our Great Grandma Leavitt’s china with a saucer of ice cold milk.

Mom was a very good judge. I presented the Women’s dish. She thought the presentation was lovely and the tartness of the pomegranate seeds complemented the sweetness of the cookie nicely.

The Men’s dessert was presented by my brother Josh with his usual theatrics and comedy. He wrapped a dish towel around his head and used a non-distinct Asian foreign accent, which made us all roar with laughter throughout the presentation. The judge commented on the fact that she had never been served an entire cake before. She found the cake to be quite delicious and rich.

The judge had a difficult time picking a winner because both desserts were so original and tasty. In the end the Women’s dessert was chosen as the winner because of the use of the pomegranate seeds as garnish and their thoughtful presentation.

This activity was a lot of fun for our family. I hope you’ll try it with yours and have lots of laughs like we did. Merry Christmas!