Winner will appear in Taste of Home magazine, cook with Carla Hall, and take home $25,000
I season boldly, plate beautifully, and believe butter is a lifestyle choice, not a suggestion. Also, I never make boring food.
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My signature dish is PIE. Not pi (I don’t do math, I do butter). My fillings change with the seasons, but the real star is the crust: buttery, flaky, lovingly laminated, and just sinful enough to make people fight over the last slice. Sweet or savory, every pie comes with a little comfort, a little chaos, and the firm belief that life is always better wrapped in pastry.
Who is your culinary inspiration?I know I’m probably supposed to say Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, or Paul Bocuse, and don’t get me wrong; they’re all legends. But my real culinary inspiration is my mom. She made dinner feel like an adventure and gave me the freedom to experiment in the kitchen long before I knew what I was doing. She taught me food should be joyful, creative, and shared with people you love.
What would you do with the $25,000?I’d use the $25,000 to build my dream kitchen (one safely out of reach of my two enormous, opportunistic dogs) so I can finally launch my own bakery. The long-term goal? Trade endless corporate meetings for butter, pastry dough, and the smell of something incredible coming out of the oven. Preferably sooner rather than later.
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