Deadline for Cook of the Week Challenge extended

Entries are flowing in for the fifth annual Cook of the Week Challenge, but we are still looking for more. Have you been thinking about joining in and just haven't gotten around to signing up? There's still time to enter as the deadline has been extended to July 29.

I encourage you to apply for a spot in this bracket-style, friendly competition. Remember, it is friendly, it's all about food and it's a lot of fun. I'll be introducing this year's contestants on Sept. 2.

Cooks will get to work their magic on secret ingredients supplied by the challenge sponsors. Week by week the contestants will be winnowed down, and the four remaining finalists will compete in a live cook-off Nov. 2 at the Westin in Itasca. The winner will take home a prize package worth more than $1,500.

Read a little more about the contest, fill out an application for the Cook of the Week Challenge and see helpful contest hints at http://events.dailyherald.com/cook-of-the-week/. Applications are due July 29. Register at events.dailyherald.com/cook-of-the-week/.

Penny's pickles: In her column, Penny Kazmier shares an easy refrigerator pickle recipe. I'm going to pick up fresh dill and cucumbers on the way home. With fresh dill fronds and crushed mustard seeds, the recipe brings to mind the lovingly crafted and expertly canned bread-and-butter pickles a childhood neighbor made each year. Vinegary steam would billow out of the windows on a hot summer day when she was putting up pickles. They were delicious and made tasty Christmas gifts. As I'm not a canner — I think I'm too chicken, really — I'll give Penny's overnight recipe a try.

Brazil's own: Celebrity chef and cookbook author Leticia Moreinos Schwartz will be making an appearance and conducting diabetes-friendly cooking demonstrations at Fiesta del Sol on Friday, July 31, at 1400 W. Cermak Ave., in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

Chef Leticia has collaborated with Merck and the American Diabetes Association on the program Desafiando La Diabetes. She knows firsthand how serious Type 2 diabetes can be for Hispanics; her grandfather died from complications of the disease. She also understands that one of the more difficult aspects of diabetes management can be adjusting your diet, especially when food is an important aspect of one's culture, as it is in the Hispanic community. As part of the program, she's sharing some of her favorite traditional Hispanic/Latino diabetes-friendly recipes.

Hands-on grilling and tasting: Women, gather your friends for a ladies-only grilling class Saturday, Aug. 8, at Weber Grill, 1010 N. Meacham Road, Schaumburg.

Morning instruction by the chef on marinating, dishes and grilling techniques is followed by tasting the menu of citrus-marinated skirt steak, planked sea scallops with mango beurre blanc, teriyaki chicken and a dessert of vanilla bean ice cream with fire-roasted strawberries.

The restaurant's chef will guide you through preparing each item from start to finish. Each guest will receive a recipe booklet of the dishes prepared that day, as well as a Weber Grill favor to take home.

The class is from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Cost is $85, plus tax, per person. Register at webergrillrestaurant.com or call (847) 413-0800.

• Contact Susan Stark at sstark@dailyherald.com, on Facebook, @SusanNBR1 at Twitter or call (847) 427-4586.