Did I ever tell you that I was a finalist in the 2008 Pillsbury Bake-off? Well I was...I didn't exactly get in because of my extraordinary cooking skills though. I was picked because of a fluke! Don't get me wrong, I worked hard on several recipes that were excellent, but one night my husband wanted brownies. So I pulled out a Pillsbury Brownie mix and at the last minute decided to add some mashed bananas. It was a salvage job, they were turning brown and I didn't want to throw them out. Regardless of why I put them in...he LOVED them! Told me I should enter them in that contest I was working on, so I did.
As I was typing the recipe, it sounded a little boring so I threw in some Macadamia nuts and Toffee Bits and I told them to drizzle caramel syrup on the finished brownies. Sounded great on paper! They must have thought so too, cause that recipe got me into the biggest cooking competition in the country. I did not win the BIG prize, but I made a good showing and came away with $5,000 for having created America's Favorite Recipe, Toffee Banana Brownies.
Going to the Pillsbury Bake-off was an incredible experience from start to finish. I wish I could share it with all of you, but it was two years ago and that's old news now. So why don't we fast forward to the 2010 Pillsbury Bake-off being held next month in Orlando, Florida where another 100 finalists are about to battle it out for the Million Dollar prize. Among those finalists will be Brett Youmans whose recipe for Asian-Spiced Cashew-Chicken Piadinis earned him a spot in the 44th Pillsbury Bake-off!
If you're like me and didn't receive your invitation to this year's Bakeoff, you are in luck! Brett will be keeping all of us at SweepsU.com informed of the happenings at this year's Pillsbury Bakeoff. He will be blogging about his experiences before, during and after the big event. So if you want to know what's going on behind the scenes at the nation's largest cooking competition check out Brett's blog on SweepsU.com! If you have been in a sweepstakes rut or just want to try something new, this may be the motivation you need to start working on some recipes for the 2012 Pillsbury Bakeoff!
Take care and win BIG!
Gwen Beauchamp
