COMPETITOR

WalMart On Line Recipe Food Champ Contest

HEAD COOK: Lisa Benoit

COMPETITION: World Chicken Championship

Food is an amazing thing, a celebration. It brings people together who may never have anything in common but yet for a moment they can share a story or a memory. It's a special thing. I'm noticing more the connection between people, food and their identities. I cannot think of a better way to put it. Obviously, I love food. From the simple dinner for one to meals that are overly extravagant with many courses. It is my most stable long-term relationship although at times...well you know how relationships go. (My bookcase will attest to that. Some of my favorite reading materials are cookbooks, even without pictures. My treasured gifts have been cookbooks that have been gifted to me). My mother cooked, canned and baked - a lot. I learned to experiment by watching but was never satisfied with the traditional. I always had to change recipes, swap ingredients and put my stamp on what I cooked or baked. It unleashes the creative processes. That much has not changed.The kitchen was always a wreck when I finished and my sisters always complained about cleaning up after me. I can't blame them. I hate cleaning up after myself and that too has not changed. Its a personal thing. I love the tedious and time-consuming recipes and get lost in them. Cultural recipes are so inviting to try. They offer another world to enter, something new to try. I am not formally educated in the culinary arts but have spent years with hands-on learning and experimenting. Lots of trial and error with a full arsenal of willing taste-testers. I have cooked for small events to weddings and have provided meals for people with health issues and learned to follow specific ingredient guidelines. WFC 2020 is my third major food competition. I did well in WFC2018 placing fifteenth in the Chicken Category and third in the Super Qualifier. I placed well in 2019 but didn't make the top ten. I'm ready to go again. I'm still up for something new, adventurous and challenging. WFC 2020 answers that call of this wild and willing participant.