Fordson Students Will Compete for Best Pizza in Contest

DEARBORN, Michigan – On March 21st, 2013, 120 students at Fordson High School will don aprons and enter the kitchen to create a pizza masterpiece. Students will work in small groups under staff supervision to create a pizza from scratch.

Rachel Gurk of Rachel Cooks

Pizzas will be voted on during class based on taste, appearance and creativity. The top eight recipes will advance for public voting on Rachel Cooks, a popular food blog written by local home cook Rachel Gurk. After two weeks of voting (March 27th – April 10th) the winning group of students will win a fantastic prize package of cooking and baking essentials from a number of generous sponsors.

Each student prize package, valued at over $225, will include:

• Circulon Contempo skillet
• Microplane artisan grater
• Red Star Yeast Kneaded Loaf book, apron, cutting board, spatula and thermometer
• Tea towel from Miss in the Kitchen
• Chobani apron, t-shirt, water bottle, and magnet
• King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion Cookbook
• Mixing bowl set from Zak Designs
• Autographed copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond
• Bottle of Everyday California Extra Virgin Olive Oil from California Olive Ranch
• Cruet with a bottle of Star Fine Foods extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Products from OXO

In addition, winners will be chosen at random from those who cast votes for prizes including:

• Le Creuset Essential Bakeware Set ($277 retail value)
• Wusthof Classic 4.5-inch Micro-Serrated Utility Knife ($60 retail value)
• KitchenAid® 5-Speed Hand Blender ($129.99 retail value)
• Red Star Yeast Kneaded Loaf book, apron, cutting/kneading board, spatula and thermometer ($35 retail value)
• Keep It Sweet Desserts gourmet gift basket ($50+ retail value)
• A case of 32 ounce Chobani yogurts ($100 retail value)
• Three Flavor Artisan Caramel Combination Pack from Toot Sweet Caramels ($30+ retail value)
• Kerrygold gift basket ($175 retail value)
• California Pizza Kitchen gift card ($50 retail value)

Blendtec has generously donated a blender for use in the classroom for years to come. Students will also be using Red Star Yeast and California Olive Oil when creating their pizzas. The cook-off is being planned and overseen by Rachel Gurk of Rachel Cooks, Wendy Perry (teacher at Fordson High School) and Benjamin Gurk (12th Grade Principal of Fordson High School).

This event is kindly sponsored by Blendtec, California Olive Ranch, California Pizza Kitchen, Chobani, Circulon, Keep It Sweet Desserts, Kerrygold, King Arthur Flour, KitchenAid, Le Creuset, Microplane, Miss in the Kitchen, OXO, Red Star Yeast, Star Fine Foods, The Pioneer Woman: Ree Drummond, Toot Sweet Caramels, Wusthof, and Zak Designs.