By Matt Wiley
Imagine a giant banquet room filled with 100 people baking their own recipes that, if chosen, could be worth $1 million dollars. This is reality for two New Tampa residents, as they take their cooking skills to Las Vegas to compete in the 46th annual Pillsbury Bake-Off Competition November 10-12.
JoAnne Tucker, 61, and her mother Anna Zovko, 80, both were chosen as finalists for their recipe entries into the 2013 Pillsbury Bake-Off Competition and will be competing against 98 others in three categories for the top prize: “Amazing Doable Dinners,” “Simple Sweets & Starters” and “Quick Rise & Shine Breakfasts,” each of which can be entered during a different time of year. Recipes are voted for online and the ones with the most votes make the finals. During the finals, the finalists in each category compete against one another in an effort to win the $1 million top prize.
Recipes can only consist of seven ingredients, must contain at least two Pillsbury products and require less than 30 minutes of preparation time. In addition to $1 million, the Grand Prize winner also receives $10,000 in General Electric (GE) appliances. Each of the 100 finalists already has won a free trip to Vegas, with airfare and accommodations, at the Aria Resort & Casino paid in full, daily meals, a GE appliance and $125 in cash.
Tucker and Zovko each are finalists in the “Quick Rise & Shine Breakfasts” category, with Tucker’s “Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars” and Zovko’s “Chicken Alredo Brunch Pizza,” respectively. “My mother and I have been entering the Pillsbury contests for the past 11 years,” says Tucker. “Being finalists together is a dream come true!”
Zovko actually made the finals once before in 2002 and won “Honorable Mention” for her bacon spinach pizza recipe. She believes that her previous experience in the finals will help her have a leg up on the competition.
“I think (the Chicken Alredo Brunch Pizza) will be a big hit,” Zovko says. “Everyone loves pizza.”
Tucker says that the contest provides a lot of incentive to come up with some creative recipes. The two entered the “Simple Sweets & Starters” section in April, but didn’t make it to the finals, which, Tucker explains, is partly due to not being plugged in to social media to help generate votes. Tucker decided to enter again with her “Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars,” an idea that came from her love of Pillsbury’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough.
“My husband and I are always buying breakfast bars,” Tucker says. “So, I thought, ‘why not make one?’ I’ve always loved messing around in the kitchen.”
She convinced Zovko to enter again with her “Chicken Alfredo Brunch Pizza,” plugged them both into social media to help spread the word and both ended up becoming finalists.
“The fact that my mother and I are both in this together, that for me is reward enough,” Tucker says. “If I win any other prizes, that’s just icing on the cake.”
For more information about the Pillsbury Bake-Off, please visit Bakeoff.com. Good luck, ladies!
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