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Food

Millionaire in the baking

The biggest, most mouth-watering prize in competitive cooking will be awarded two weeks from today, and a Tampa Bay area cook might just walk away as the world's newest millionaire.

By Janet K. Keeler
Published March 8, 2006

	[Times photos: Bob Croslin]
	Robin Spires and her Tomato-Crab Bisque.
	Ginny Solomon and her Mojo Black Bean-Chicken Pizza.
	Robin Ross and her Granola Sweet Rolls on a Stick.

Robin Spires

Tampa, age 34

Job: Internet sales for scrapbooking supplies.

Family: Engaged; one daughter, 11.

Dish: Tomato-Crab Bisque in the Cooking for Two category.

How many recipes did you enter? Three, entered online at the last minute.

How many times have you entered? First time entered.

What did you do when you found out you were a finalist? I was just so excited; I couldn?t believe it. I asked them, ?Are you sure you called the right number??

Did Pillsbury change the name of your entry? It was Spicy Tomato-Crab Bisque.

How many times have you made your dish? Two or three times. It has been the same since the first time I made it.

Cooking contest experience: I had 14 entries in the (Florida) State Fair this year and I?ve entered the Strawberry Festival, too. I?ve also competed in the National Pie Championship and Florida Citrus Festival in Winter Haven. Last year, I won best in show with my Tangerine Salsa.

What will you do with the million? Pay off my mortgage and travel. I?d like to go to different fairs, be on the circuit and compete. I?d like to see the whole country.

Cooking style: I keep notebooks of recipes I?ve developed. I cut out the Pillsbury Bake-Off logo and put it in the notebook and wrote ?It can happen!?

Advice to Bake-Off wanna-bes: I would say that the recipes you think aren?t going to do that great do great. They are looking for quick and easy. If you think it?s too easy, it probably isn?t.

* * *

Ginny Solomon

Brooksville, age 44

Job: Works in finance department for Hernando County School Board.

Family: Married with teenage son and daughter in college.

Dish: Mojo Black Bean-Chicken Pizza in the Brand New You category.

How many recipes did you enter? Just the one.

How many times have you entered? This is my first time.

What did you do when you found out you were a finalist? I think I broke out in hives; I was so shocked. I felt like I won the lottery.

Did Pillsbury change the name of your entry? They took out the ?and? between black bean and chicken.

Other cooking contests? This is the first one.

What will you do with the million? You always dream about something like that. I?d take cooking classes and do a little traveling and pay for my daughter to go to a good grad school.

How many times have you made your dish? I came up with the recipe within a week or two before I found out about the contest. I like to use up my leftovers and I had a piece of chicken in the fridge. I opened up my pantry and started pouring it on. My daughter loves it.

Advice to Bake-Off wanna-bes: Don?t include a whole lot of ingredients, and make something that?s not really complicated. The mojo marinade really makes it but I don?t know if you can get mojo in Maine.

Biggest rush so far: People have had me autograph the little Bake-Off cookbook with the recipes in it. Hellooo, I am just an accounts payable clerk.

* * *

Robin Ross

St. Petersburg, age 44

Family: Stay-at-home mom, married with three children, one teenager at home, son in Coast Guard and daughter at University of South Florida.

Dish: Granola Sweet Rolls on a Stick in the Wake Up to Breakfast category.

How many recipes did you enter? Just one this year.

How many times have you entered? I can?t count. I?ve entered every year since I was a teenager.

Ever been a finalist before? No.

Did Pillsbury change the name of your entry? Yes, but I am not supposed to say what it was originally.

Have you ever won any other cooking contests? Once in Virginia, 15 years ago, I came in third in a meatloaf cookoff.

How many times have you made your dish? I made it once and sent in the recipe. In the summertime I teach a kids cooking class at city rec centers so I was trying to make up something for kids. If you put anything on a stick, kids like it. It?s so easy that older kids can do it themselves.

What will you do with the million? We want to remodel the kitchen, which we?ve partly started. One of the prizes is a new kitchen. I hope to win that.

Favorite foods to make: I really like a chicken curry dish that my mother made for my birthday every year. I make it for my family.

Advice to Bake-Off wanna-bes: They aren?t really looking for elaborate things, but food that everyday people make.

Tell us about the hat: I wear it when I go to Scrabble tournaments. I have a huge pile of buttons and I change them all the time. I just like to be a little different than the average person.

[Last modified March 8, 2006, 06:16:34]