It's time for home cooks to step up to the stove

We're kicking off the Daily Herald's Cook of the Week Challenge 2018, and we're looking for applicants.

Essential ingredients needed: people who love to cook, have fun in the kitchen, feel adventurous when facing new or unusual ingredients and can commit to the few weeks of the challenge this fall. Done.

Everyone faces the same basket of secret ingredients each week and creates a dish showcasing the ingredients.

Celebrity chefs, former contestants, and food professionals will pass judgment and eliminate one cook each week. In each of the four weeks of elimination cooking, challengers get about a week, in their own homes, to create recipes.

The prize packages, while different each year, are a traditional draw. In years past the Cook of the Year has gone home with kitchen appliances, gadgets and other prizes valued at more than $1,500.

At the end of September, we'll introduce our eight contestants to readers in the Daily Herald print editions and online.

The first week of October you can read about the competition, hear from the cooks about their experiences in the challenge, and see what our judges have to say about each recipe.

The final four cooks will meet in the traditional live cook-off finale. This popular event is Nov. 12 at the Westin in Itasca.

Interested? Apply online at events.dailyherald.com/cook-of-the-week/.