Contest: Oregon Giving Away Cuisinternships

I’m a fan of contests because I love winning things but I rarely get off my bum to fill out the contest form, until now. Because I’m a fan of Oregon and good food, I’m excited about Travel Oregon’s contest for foodies.

They’re searching for seven foodies to award an all-expense-paid “Cuisinternship” (pronounced: quiz-een-turn-ship) – a cuisine internship. Each winner will win an all-expense paid one-week trip to shadow an Oregon expert in his or her field of culinary crafts. This is part of a new state-wide promotion called Oregon Bounty which is a celebration of the state’s culinary arts and those who make the tasty treats. These are the Cuisinternships being given away:

• Artisan Food Producer: Become a culinary artisan in Southern Oregon with chocolatier Jeff Shepherd of Lillie Belle Farms and cheese maker David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery;
• Brew Master: Turn hops and grains into craft beer with brew master Jamie Emmerson of Hood River’s Full Sail Brewery;
• Chef: Immerse yourself in Portland’s dynamic food scene working alongside chef Gabe Rucker–one of Portland’s culinary provocateurs–learning how to turn out inventive, gourmet meals that delight diners at the award-winning Le Pigeon restaurant;
• Rancher: Saddle up and herd cattle while learning sustainable ranching on two of Eastern Oregon’s Country Natural Beef ranches with the Pickard and Boyer families, who have been in the business for generations;
• Fisherman: Head out to sea with charter boat skipper Lars Robison of Dockside Charters and learn the fine art of catching the Oregon Coast’s prized wild salmon and rockfish;
• Winemaker: Walk the Willamette Valley vineyards of Penner-Ash Wine Cellars with renowned vintner Lynn Penner-Ash, learning the hands-on techniques involved in vineyard designate winemaking;
• Distiller: Get an advanced degree in mixology and learn about Oregon’s booming craft spirits industry with distiller Jim Bendis of Central Oregon’s Bendistillery;

Here’s how to enter the Oregon Bounty Cuisinternship Contest:

• Submit a short video;
• Statement containing no more than 140 characters, describing why they are the best candidate at www.TravelOregon.com/Bounty (140 characters, does this have anything to do with Twitter?)

Seven winners will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Oregon to shadow their mentor for one week. Entries must be submitted between Aug. 24 and Sept. 18. A panel of judges, including the Cuisinternship mentors, will select winners which will be announced beginning Sept. 28.

My fascination with Oregon? I visited for the first time in 2007 on what I dubbed S2S and blogged about on my original blog. Don’t you worry, even two years later I’ll be sure to share thoughts from that incredible solo road trip.