Hope you enjoy.........  

 
 

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MEMBER COMMENTS:
This was my first time so I had no idea what to expect, but I can tell you it was truly the experience of a lifetime. Everyone who has posted has done a great job of describing the sequence of events as well as the thrill of meeting CCCr’s face to face! I think we will have many new recruits as well! In addition to what everyone else has already said I will tell you that it was a very emotional, exhilarating and exhausting 4 days. Part of that was the high sense of anticipation and enjoyment the whole time – the rest could probably be attributed to the fact that I was still on Kansas time and so breakfast at 6:15 in Florida is pretty darn early for someone who is not a morning person! Also the constant camera attention played into it – I have never ever put that much thought and energy into getting ready to go somewhere every day – yikes! About Tuesday afternoon when we were getting ready to go to dinner I told my Mom that if I always had to work that hard to get ready I would never ever go anywhere. As it was despite my efforts I don’t think I’ll even be on the Food Network special – although I do remember them filming my feet once.J Even with the hectic pace and emotions the funny thing is I never really felt tired - in fact I could hardly sleep at all. But then after the Bakeoff itself – when my 3rd batch was done – I thought I could have just laid my head down on my range and slept amidst all the hoopla. I noticed a lot of finalists checked out immediately after cooking – before the 1:00 ending time – and I started to do the same because all I wanted to do was get out of there, but I stopped short of the checkout table and decided to stay on the floor and walk around a bit. I was glad I did because I was able to sample many of the delicious recipes – looking especially for CCC friends, of course! I did taste Anna’s stuffing – it was very tasty – but I did not taste the chicken because the sample wasn’t cut and believe it or not I didn’t have the energy to cut it! That’s how simply drained I was! Anyway – it was a great time and we were treated like royalty – I especially liked my handsome little runner who was so attentive during the Bakeoff it was almost comical! And the highlight for me was that the owner of our local grocery store chain came with his wife and was my best cheerleader – they were such a nice couple and were obviously being happily wined and dined as well – he is in his 70’s and has been in the grocery business all his life but this was his first time going to the Bakeoff. That was so special to me that they were there supporting me and the other Kansas finalist, Ann Hobert – it just touched my heart! He could come on the floor so he kept checking on me and reporting back to my mom – so cute! OK – that’s it - I had better leave room for someone else – so there’s my take on it all!!! 

MEMBER COMMENTS:
From beginning to end…this was truly a phenomenal trip. General Mills is wonderful, paying attention to even the smallest details. This was my second trip to the Bake-Off and as such I got to see some familiar faces as well as meet many wonderful new people. I did meet some CCCer’s, though not as many as I had hoped. The entire event is go, go, go with scheduled events happening constantly (and I was dealing with a lack of sleep before I arrived). I swore that this trip was going to be a relaxing fun vacation with my husband Lee and that I would not get too stressed out. HA! No chance!!! I don’t think it’s possible not to get fired up while you’re there.

On the day of the Bake-Off, I got very emotional during the Grand March (just like last time)…there is just sooooo much tradition associated with this event and it’s really exciting to be a part of it. When I got to my oven I had a bit of paralysis and doing simple things seemed to take forever. In my original recipe my instructions say to “heat the iron skillet till smoking” before adding the chorizo…well, I did, and then with the addition of garlic and sherry someone said “it looked like the Atomic Bomb going off”. I had mentioned this “smoking thing” to a Bake-Off member previous to the competition (because I had smoked out my local ABC crew while cooking my recipe at home a couple of months ago). I was assured that the ventilation was good and that I didn’t have to worry about disturbing the people around me. However, immediately after the mushroom cloud left the stove top, a woman from General Mills came over and said “Now, I don’t know how you do this at home, but we’re lucky that the sprinkler system didn’t go off…please try to tone it down”. Until she mentioned this, setting off the sprinkler system was NOT something I was worried about. I am so thankful that I didn’t become infamous for being the woman who single handedly destroyed the 42nd Bake-Off. All in all, I was quite happy with the dish I submitted to the judges. I thought it tasted very good (as far as I could tell, my taste buds seem to not work when I get stressed) and looked pretty as well (my tortilla bowls turned out perfectly). So I am happy to say that I truly did the best I could and was happy with what I turned in. Like all big days that you look forward to for eons, it was all over in a flash making me both happy and sad at the same time. I was so exhausted that I collapsed on the bed in a heap…apron on and all.

It was so nice to meet everyone…and I hope that each and every one of you reading this gets to experience the Bake-Off at least once in your life (and hopefully more). This is a budding hobby for many of us and I am not surprised in the least bit as to why we are all hooked. This is what life should be like…pursuing fun things and enjoying your journey. Congratulations to ALL the Pillsbury winners (I include each of the 100 Bake-Off finalists in this group) and I hope everyone enjoys many years of continued cooking and baking success!!!

MEMBER COMMENTS:
Hi Fellow CCC members!

The 42nd Pillsbury Bake Off has truly been a wonderful experience from beginning to end. The Gaylord Palms Resort was exquisite and decorated like the Everglades, on the INSIDE! From the moment I arrived at the hotel, the Food Network was busy filming me, and asked if they could film me quite often during the Bake Off. They really were very nice, and made me feel comfortable. All of the meals were fabulous, although I experienced my first "brain freeze" while talking with Tamara Jones of the Washington Post. She was very nice, and I loved how she worded her article which ended up on the front page!

I took the trip by myself, which, I think was better for me because I was able to enjoy the company of Carole Resnick, Norita Solt, Patrice Hurd,  Robin Spires and especially Dianna Wara along with several others from the forum. Since Dianna and I were there by ourselves, we "buddied-up" and spent quite a bit of time together, going to Downtown Disney where Pillsbury gave us a $25 gift check for spending money. Dianna and I both enjoyed buying souvenirs, taking pictures, and eating a huge Ghirradelli ice cream cone! We also spent a couple of free-time hours at the pool together and sat together at Bongo's for the party. Needless to say, I've truly made a lifelong friend through this forum!

My entry for the Bake Off turned out really well. I didn't look at my recipe one time during the preparation. My first entry I used for pictures because it cooked faster than my oven at home, and I figured that if I turned down the oven 15 degrees, my next batch would come out perfect. It did, and that batch went to the judges. People kept asking when I would have samples. My last batch was ready to cut for samples at about 12:30 so a lot of people had left the floor. I walked around trying to sample some of the other dishes, and when I got back to my work station, my 48 samples were practically gone!

The Awards Show was perfection! Joy Behar was an excellent host, and I was thrilled when they called my Choco-Peanut Butter Cups as the Simple Snacks Category winner! Wow.....$10,000 and a beautiful new oven! I just can't believe it all went so smoothly and so fast!

Congratulations to our own Anna Ginsburg for winning the big one! Way to go, girl! We are all so happy for you

This Bake Off Contest has definitely been one of the biggest highlights in my life, now, back to reality.

MEMBER COMMENTS:
Hi Folks!

Nice to meet you all! My husband heard of this website from another supportive guest at the Pillsbury Bake Off Contest and I thought "ahhh, my people".

The excitement really begins with the phone call announcing that you are a finalist. I got the call at work and immediately suffered heart palpitations, began sweating and realized that my hands were shaking. The woman on the other end of the line from General Mills was asking me "have you or anyone in your family worked for or been affiliated with..." listing off twenty or so different companies. As my coworkers were gathering around me exclaiming "What? What!", I was answering "No. No" in response to her questioning. Finally I just said "No, but I hope you realize that I am only hearing a fraction of what you're saying because you are giving me a heart attack". She laughed and said "Well, we can't have that".

After that, you have about six months or so to fantasize and more or less stew in your own juices. Packets of materials continually arrive with descriptions of the events to follow and media opportunities to be had. If you're me (and probably everyone else) you practice your recipe and elicit responses from people. You start to wonder how you'll perform at the contest (will you wreck something up?), how you'll responsibly deal with it if you actually win and how you'll cope and move forward if you don't. Those anyway were my thought processes as I'd never been to a cooking contest prior to that, the Pillsbury Bake Off Contest being the first I'd entered.

I really had no idea what to expect even though I was well communicated with by General Mills. I think that's partly because it's really hard to imagine a 4 1/2 acre resort in Orlando with lush plantings of live, thriving tropical plants (my favorite part) and gators lounging around on rocks, all enclosed and indoors. Add to that jet lag, an intense schedule of (alas, it's tough) eating great food and socializing, plus lack of sleep due to intense excitement and you have a recipe for absolute exhaustion. There were several times that I felt I was going to burst into spontaneous tears, one being when we marched onto the contest floor and were overwhelmed by all the cameras, guests and media people. When I had completed my recipes and left the contest floor that day, I was practically limping.

The entire contest was so professionally well run that it was a true education and fascinating to get an inkling of what it takes to coordinate a project of that scope and caliber, the announcement of the winners being the crowning event.. I, like everyone else, was whipped to a froth as the prizes were awarded and congratulate all the winners on their accomplishments. Yet I was so tired, I commented to my husband during breakfast prior to the ceremony, that I didn't know if I cared anymore about winning. He said "that's just crazy talk, Natalie" and of course he was right. I would have liked to have won and to a certain extent have experienced the let down cleverly referred to as "Pillsbury partum". Part of it however is just that I have to wait a whole two more years to try my hand again.

All kidding aside, I will never forget this experience and all the people who were a part of it.