Pillsbury Bake-Off: No Utah Finalists!
For the first time in at least 16 years, there are no Utah finalists in the Pillsbury Bake-Off.
The Bake-Off is an American tradition, where a home cook has a chance to win $1 million dollars — yes, that’s one million! — for a winning recipe that uses General Mills and other qualifying products.
Every year, cooks around the country send in thousands of recipes in hopes of getting their chosen. In the past, Utah has its fair share of finalists, although none have won the grand prize. I know for sure there has been at least one Utahn in every Bake-Off since 1998, and some years there have been two or three.
But the list of finalists for this year’s contest — held in November in Nashville — doesn’t have anyone from Utah on it.
I’ve attended every Pillsbury Bake-Off since 1998, when Gloria Rendon of Murray was a finalist. I was the food editor at the Standard-Examiner at the time. Thanks to Gloria, my editors gave me the go-ahead to travel to Orlando and cover the competition. I’ve been invited back to every Bake-Off since then, because there was always at least one Utah finalist in the mix. It’s a great experience to walk the floor during the competition, watching the cooks stir, saute and bake their creations for the judges. Gloria made it to two different Bake-Offs, as did Janet Barton of Sandy and Erin Mylroie of Santa Clara. Last year, Vincy Stringham of St. George was a finalist.
Years ago, Bake-Off entries were complicated from-scratch cakes, pies or entrees. But this is no longer the culinary Super Bowl. Since the contest changed to a “Quick & Easy” format in 1998, it’s more about creativity with convenience products.
Critics complain that the recipes are dumbed-down, with the intention of promoting General Mills’ products. Well, duh — why should General Mills invest that much money in an event that didn’t sell products? And I’ve talked to a lot of home cooks over the years who are looking for recipes with simplified preparation, because they can’t spend an hour or two making meals.
I’ll admit, there are times when the grand prize winner is announced and I’m scratching my head, because I never considered that particular recipe as a real contender. Here is last year’s winning recipe, Loaded Potato Pinwheels. It happened that during the competition, I sampled this recipe with a test kitchen chef for a national women’s magazine. Neither one of us pegged it as a winner; we thought it seemed a little bland and starchy. But, the judges were wowed by them.
In looking over the list contestants and their dishes, it sounds like the competition will be great this time around. Lots of ethnic food mash-ups, lots of savory/sweet combos. Lots of creative ideas!
But I’m still disappointed that nobody from Utah made the finals this time. Here are the list of finalists: http://www.pillsbury.com/our-makers/bake-off-contest/finalistlist?cs=8&pn=3&ps=20&cs=8