February 2005 “Cooking Tips” Winner —
Bernadette Cole

Whenever I make deviled eggs, I always hard-boil a few extra. It always seems like one of the shells does not come off cleanly and there are a few nicks in the egg white. This way I have some backups if this happens. I put the extra yolks into the stuffing mixture and don’t have to skimp. It’s always best to use older eggs when making hard-boiled eggs since the shells come off much easier. When I notice that the dating on the carton is getting close, I make egg salad or deviled eggs to use them up.

Bernadette Cole

Prize:

• Cooking tips:
  Panko (Japanese Bread Flakes)
  Baycliff/ Sushi Chef

February 2005 “Cooking Disasters” Winner —
Jo Smith


1988 gave birth to a cooking disaster that is now the stuff of legend in our family. My older sister Karen was being courted by a new beau, Paul, who ultimately became her husband. In 1988, however, his greatest priority was to impress our large Italian family with his nice, accommodating personality.
I was a senior in high school who had taken up a new hobby in cooking, armed with a magnitude of ambition but precious little skill. My much older brothers, sister, parents and Paul were humoring me in my endeavors one night, when I had decided to make "Divinity", after seeing a picture in a magazine. "Divinity", as you may know, is an exceptionally difficult dessert to prepare: a purely whipped-sugar meringue-like confection, heavily dependent on technique - technique which was noticeably absent in our family. I had looked at the recipe in the Joy of Cooking and thought: easy ingredients, whipped - what could go wrong?
Well, quite a lot.
In my naiveté, I had selected a metal whisk over an electric beater. After a few minutes of "whipping", without any progress, I decided it was time to exploit Paul’s vulnerabilities during this - one of his first visits to our house. Condemning him to an exercise in futility, I handed Paul the whisk and told him we had to "whip it about 10 minutes until it’s done". At that time Paul was a baseball pitcher with arms of steel but even less kitchen experience than I. Paul accommodated the request, of course.
As you probably figured out, the sugar syrup could not possibly set without mechanical assistance. Yet, in my defense, I was 18 and did not understand this.
The "divinity situation" continued for over 30 minutes until Paul’s arm turned to rubber and his frustration led to a sudden epiphany regarding the amount of time and energy he’d invested. Only after all that time did he suddenly seem to realize that the "divinity" looked much the same as when he began.
Finally setting the bowl down, he said "there HAS to be a better way!" As we all focused our attention upon him, with the first cabinet door he passionately swung open, an electric beater - literally, as if a "divine" omen - fell from the shelf and into his pitcher’s grasp. Suddenly, his voice resonated: "You’ve got to be kidding me!!!! You had an electric blender this ENTIRE time? I beat this goo for 30 minutes and there’s a beater right here? "
In the end, the beater was put to work and something entirely disgusting, albeit slightly more reminiscent of the picture, was made. Paul good-naturedly ate it until he became sick and had to leave early.
That Christmas, I gave Paul the best hand mixer on the market, with a card suggesting it "might help with the next batch of divinity".
Now, 17 years later Paul and Karen are happily married. So, in the annals of both cooking and dating, the "divine" sacrifice is deservedly immortalized.

Jo Smith

Prize:

• Cooking Disasters:
  Stir-Fry Seasonings
  Dean Jacobs Gourmet Selections

Previous Winners

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