Two Mondays ago, I found myself sitting in a sound-proof
room watching five huge video images of my daughter Addison. She was in the
room next to me making salad in front of a film crew. Sort of sounds like I
was dreaming, doesn't it?
On a lark, my 11-year-old girl entered a cooking context
sponsored by Sodexo, the company that provides food service to her school. The
theme this year was salad, which is comical, because until recently, salad was
the least served dish in our house. We consulted my best friend Kendra, who
knows her way around a kitchen and cares about things like good nutrition. She
e-mailed us some ingredients, we threw them together and modified a bit, and
voila! The Tropical Power-Packed Salad was born. Out of a field of 112, she was
one of ten students in our district selected for the local contest. With poise
I didn’t know she had, Addison boiled quinoa, chopped strawberries, and
presented her dish with flair in front of a live audience and five judges who
were intimidating even to me. She won first prize, $300 worth of cooking utensils—I
call it a “bridal shower in a box”—that are packed away and waiting for her
first home.
Then a couple weeks ago we found out she had won two more
contests, which apparently happened without us, and was a finalist for the
national contest—just one of five kids in the whole country to make it this
far! You know where my mind went. Did this mean an all-inclusive trip for six
to DisneyWorld, where Addison would make her salad in front of a panel of distinguished
judges? (Goofy, maybe?) Or what about Hawaii, since hers is, after all, a tropical
salad?
Well, not exactly. Instead, we got to drive ourselves over
to the school district building, where she made the salad in front of a video
camera and some tech guys. As this was not the top priority of the district
tech guys that day, it was thrown together pretty hastily and without much
prep, but it was still a hoot to see my little girl up there doing her best
Rachael Ray imitation and cracking jokes about fiber.
The result is posted on YouTube. The contest is no longer
about taste or appearance or healthfulness. At this point, it’s strictly about
how many votes she can get from people like you. Will you check it out and give
her your vote? And will you tell your friends?! (We're not on Facebook, but I bet you are!) You’ll get a great salad recipe
in the process.
If you want to see her video and get the recipe (she's the first one), click here.
If you prefer to cut to the chase and just vote, click here.
Voting lasts through April 30, and you can vote as many times as you’d like. Thank you!
