Watch out, Food Network! We have some award-winning bakers in our district! Our high school food services team, led by Cook Manager Brenda Rossi, recently learned that they won first place in the Dole® Food Services Fruit Recipe Contest. They won the Northeast category with their winning recipe for the “fruitti-licious stuffed muffin.” The muffin is made with strawberries, pineapple, strawberry yogurt, honey, lime juice, corn bread bowls and whipped topping. The team dubbed it “Shaker High School’s answer to what happens when fruit and yogurt parfaits become old news.”
Each team who entered the contest had to create a recipe using Dole® packaged or frozen fruit in a creative and original way. Entries also needed to include an original recipe title, recipe image, full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions.
Recipes were judged on the following criteria: creativity, visual appeal, use of Dole® products and originality.
This was the first year the team entered the contest, which they learned about through an e-mail Food Services Director Lisa Ostrowski received. The Shaker High School team was one of 45 submissions.
“We entered the contest because we thought it would be fun to come up with something new, something the students haven’t had, and something nutritional for them to enjoy,” Rossi said. “We were elated to find out we had won!”
The team won 10 cases (360 total) 4 oz. Dole® Fruit Bowls for the school, a $500 food service equipment gift card, a K-12 recipe booklet and a custom chef’s jacket. Congratulations to all!
As always, we are so proud of all of our food service workers and all they do for our school community. They have gone above and beyond throughout the pandemic and we are very grateful for their hard work and dedication.