Introducing Big Feast!

We want you to throw big parties, tell us about it, and win big (big!) prizesfrom Le Creuset. Here's how.

"Nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should."

-Julia Child, My Life in France

Oh, that we could always live by Julia's standards. But day to day, we dedicated home cooks have to rely on simple, trusted staples to help us get something that resembles supper on the table.

And that's great. But Big Feast is not about that.

It is a break from routine. It is an invitation to the unique euphoria that comes with cooking up a storm and presenting a grand and stunning spread to all your nearest and dearest. Indulging yourself in days of scheming, leafing through cookbooks, sending invitations, and hunting down that last, lingering ingredient. Long days in the kitchen with pots simmering and stand mixers whirring, building up to that glorious and convivial moment of ravenous demolition -- with as many of your favorite people squeezed together around your table as you can possibly fit.

We want you to run wild and share your Big Feast (and everything leading up to it), with us and the whole FOOD52 community.

We'll publish a winning Big Feast on FOOD52 every month, and the winner will get $500 smackers worth of Le Creuset prizes like these (more details below)!

Here's how it will work:

1) Dream big. Dig a pit and roast a pig (or whatever) in it. Plot a historically-inspired banquet worthy of Downton Abbey. Plan the most extravagant, time-consuming birthday party your kid will ever have. Then, pitch us your Big Feast plan at editors@food52.com.

2) Show us that you -- or a friend -- can take GORGEOUS food photos. Big Feast will be very photo-driven. Send us links to your (or your co-conspirator's) work!

3) We'll select the most enticing pitches -- and we'll give you the green light (and a deadline).

4) Throw your party.

5) After all the dishes are done and your friends have gone, send us your story and pictures of the whole shebang (from plan to prep to fête) and we'll celebrate your feast on FOOD52 so everyone can bask in your party's glow.)

6) To top it all off, thanks to a very generous people at Le Creuset, all winning hosts will be basking too -- in $500 worth of fabulous Le Creuset booty, tailored to your Big Feast.

For example, the first to feast will win all of the above, in the color of their choice (flame, cherry, fennel, or cassis): a 4 1/2-quart round French oven, a 10 1/4-inch iron handle skillet, and a 2 3/4-quart precision pour pan. Deadline for this round of pitches: Thursday, February 16th at noon.

So, let's repeat: you throw a party, we publish your party. And then we send you $500 worth of Le Creuset cookware.

This is your time to break out the big guns and dazzle us! And most of all, have a marvelous time doing it. Bring on the Feast.