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​No doubt about it, food trucks are the big trend -- in these parts, anyway. Seems like you can't avoid 'em, and that makes a lot of people very happy.

Perfecting the food truck festival has become a challenge, though, and this coming Saturday, March 17, the folks at Superstition Farm in Mesa are giving it a go with their own Food Truck Round Up.

Want to win two passes to the event?

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​The Phoenix food scene is a pretty amazing place. Just about every day, it seems, new restaurants, farmers' markets and food trucks are opening for business. Ditto for other creative pursuits around this town -- in the visual arts, music, design, fashion and more.

Lucky us. To show our gratitude, for the third year Phoenix New Times is looking for your suggestions of who should win our Big Brain Awards -- our chance to recognize the ground-floor creatives who make this a special place to live.

We're giving away $500 each to five Valley residents.

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You are poets and you know it.

Between the entries in our comments section and those emailed directly to me, we had dozens of examples of caramel-coated haiku in our first 2012 Caramelpalooza contest.

Caramelpalooza will be held Friday, March 2 at 7 pm at Smeeks candy store in central Phoenix. Admission is free, but the lines will be long, so the prize of a front-of-the-line golden ticket was clearly an allure.

So we're giving out two this time (see the lucky winners after the jump) and we've got the news about our next contest.

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​By now you've likely got your calendar marked for the first big food truck event of 2012. But do you have your tickets yet?

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., this Saturday, January 14, at Salt River Fields near Talking Stick Resort, the Street Eats Food Truck Festival, presented by New Times, will feature over two dozen local mobile kitchens in the Center Field parking lot with celebu-chef Tyler Florence, host of Food Network's, The Great Food Truck Race, hosting the event.

Here's more info about the event, including participating food trucks.

Want two free tickets? Find out how to get them after the jump.

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weheartit.com

​We know you're digging up those recipes for prime baking season: the holidays.

While you're trying to decide between Aunt Bessie's fruitcake and Grandma's Christmas pudding (side note: never go with fruitcake), think about some friendly yuletide competition offered at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix Chocolate Dessert Recipe Contest.

​The winner's recipe will be featured on the Compass Grill's February menu--an accolade that's sure to quiet your mother-in-law's disapproval.

The contest is presented by Copper Square Kitchen, the Hyatt's off-premise catering arm, which serves at venues such as the Phoenix Art Museum, Desert Botanical Gardens and the Heard Museum.

Find out how to enter after the jump.

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Macayo's

​Earlier this month at the annual My Nana's Salsa Challenge, Chandler's El Palacio Mexican Restaurant took the grand prize and $1,000 in cash (which they donated to charity) after wowing the judges with their homemade salsa.

If your version didn't place at the festival, or if you were too kitchen-shy to whip up a batch of your infamous "Scoville Scorcher" triple hot pepper salsa for the crowds, there's another way to prove that your recipe is the best.

Macayo's is currently holding their annual Salsa Recipe Challenge. The winner scores a party for 20 friends, some Fiesta canning goods to literally preserve their victory, and a coveted spot on the restaurant's summer menu. Second and third prizes include Macayo's gift cards.

Get the details, and last year's winning recipe, after the jump...

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salon.com

​One of our favorite online mags, salon.com, is having a Coffee Art contest. Check out the details -- and amazing latte art creation of Stockard Channing (really!) here.

Drink up the beauty of Snoopy atop your morning brew -- yesterday's selection for Daily Shot. If you enter, send us a pic of your final beverage creation and let us know how you did.

​Consumer Reports has an amusing musing about the Oxford English Dictionary's latest online update -- including some pretty sophisticated culinary terms.

Know what chermoula is? How about kleftiko? Had cause to order a babycino lately?

Leave us your definition (real or imagined) for any or all of these terms on the Chow Bella Facebook page (and don't forget to "like" us!) and we'll save you a box of our brand-new Chow Bella mints. Fresh!  

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