Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence To Host Southern Living Cook-Off 2005

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Living announces that Food Network Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence will return to host the finals of the fourth annual Southern Living Cook-Off.

Southern Living Cook-Off 2005, featuring a $100,000 Grand Prize, is the largest annual cook-off in America. The finals will be held September 22, 2005, at the Alys Stephens Center in Birmingham, Ala.

Host of Food Network's Food 911 and How to Boil Water, Florence also has hosted other Food Network shows, including Tyler's Ultimate, Planet Food, All American Festivals, and My Country, My Kitchen. He is the author of Tyler Florence's Eat This Book, released by Clarkson Potter this month, and Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen. Florence hosted Southern Living Cook-Off 2004.

Entries for Southern Living Cook-Off 2005 are being accepted through June 15, 2005.

Southern Living Cook-Off has introduced a new category this year: "Your Best Recipe." Susan Dosier, Southern Living executive foods editor, describes it as "your signature recipe ... that favorite recipe someone is always asking you for."

Anyone who loves to cook can enter their favorite recipes in any of the five categories: Your Best Recipe, Easy Entrees, Healthy and Good For You, Kids Love It! and Southern Desserts. Simplicity is key when considering recipe entries.

"This is an incredibly fun way to connect with our readers," says Dosier. "We can zero in on trends, creativity, and ingredients and also learn what people are cooking in their kitchens."

There is no cost to enter the contest and no limit to the number of recipes one may enter. All entries must be original, include at least one Cook-Off sponsor product, and be postmarked by June 15, 2005. Entry forms, sponsor lists, and complete contest rules are available at http://www.southernlivingcookoff.com/ .

Fifteen finalists will be selected to compete for the $100,000 Grand Prize. Each category winner receives $10,000. Southern Living will donate the Grand Prize winner's $10,000 category prize to the winner's favorite charity. Each category runner-up receives $1,000, and $500 Brand Prizes will go to the best use of sponsors' products.

Finalists will prepare their recipes simultaneously for judging in the Southern Living Test Kitchens in Birmingham on September 21. Food experts selected by Southern Living will judge the finalists, selecting winning recipes based on originality, taste, ease of preparation, visual appeal, and use of eligible sponsor products. Winners will be announced at the Grand Finale Event on September 22, where finalists also will demonstrate their recipes.

Winning recipes will appear in the January 2006 issue of Southern Living and on http://www.southernlivingcookoff.com/ .

Southern Living, the leading regional lifestyle and entertaining magazine and 10th largest monthly consumer magazine in the U.S., is published by Birmingham-based Southern Progress Corporation, a Time Inc. subsidiary. For more information on Southern Living Cook-Off or to download images, visit http://www.southernlivingcookoff.com/ .