Posted by TMJ4, WI on February 06, 2010 at 13:39:26:
The Perfect Recipe
By Courtny Gerrish
What you gave your family for dinner could win you big money.
Want to turn your family favorites into cash? We visited a test kitchen in Wisconsin where they get literally thousands of recipes every year, but only select a few as winner.
Rebecca Radewahn is a young cook, but already an accomplished one. She's been cooking since she was 13 years old, and has already had recipes published in "Taste of Home" magazine. She's also won contests.
"I was shocked when I saw my name in the magazine," she told us. The Wauwatosa woman won for a stollen recipe that's a family holiday favorite.
But she's not just relying on family recipes; she also spends plenty of time in the kitchen concocting tasty new recipes.
So what's her secret of success?
"To be really creative and take a good recipe and make it more exciting, add different flavors and things to it to make it taste better," she advised.
That's exactly the right answer, say the experts at the Taste of Home test kitchens in Greendale.
We asked Peggy Woodward, the food editor of "Healthy Cooking," what makes some recipes stand out.
"We're really looking for recipes that have a little bit of a twist on a family favorite, something that has mass appeal but it has to be a little bit different so that peole will be interested in trying it," Woodward explained. "It might be a recipe they got from their great aun that they have seen many times, they have to put their special twist on it to make it their own."
Sending a recipe in is easy. You can mail it or simply submit it online at the "Taste of Home" website.
We spent a morning at "Taste of Home" to see exactly how recipes go from their inbox... to the cover of a magazine.
Jenni Warren, a dietitian at Taste of Home, is a test cook. Every day, she prepares four or five recipes from those selected recipes.
"I've got two cakes and I'm doing something for the healthy cooking contest also," she showed us on the day we visited.
Outside, test cook Katie Bartnicki grilled vegetables for a pizza.
At 11 a.m., the staff took a break to judge entries submitted for a contest published in "Healthy Cooking." With scoresheets in hand and big appetites, they taste everything and rate it for appearance, taste and originality.
There are clear winners and losers. Looks like the grilled veggie pizza may be on its way to an award.
Catherine Cassidy, the editor in chief of "Taste of Home," calls her job the best one on earth.
"We're helping nourish families, we're helping people figure out meal solutions and make their lives easier and that's just a great thing to be part of," she told us.
Rebecca isn't resting on her winnings. She intends to pursue cooking as a career at either MATC or WCTC. And keep entering contests along the way.
The bottom line: traditional recipes with unique twists are the key to winning.
And the top prize we could find: the winner of the bi-annual Pillsbury Bakeoff goes home with a cool million dollars.
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