Page 78 of Tumbleweed Temptation
Austin grinned at her over the microphone and she tossed her ponytail and finished passing out the trays.
The audience started getting restless as some of the cooks slid their creations into the ovens, and waited for their chicken to grill and their quinoa to cook. Not a lot exciting to see. Austin and Ginny had anticipated the lull. On the cooking shows they’d been watching every night to prepare, it seemed the hosts always threw a challenge at the cooks the last minute. They had decided they didn't want to do that. Austin had suggested they go over the health benefits of the foods they’d selected, but Ginny had vetoed that ideas as almost as boring as watching chicken cook.
So they’d come up with a trivia game.
They hadn’t gotten very fancy with the plan, just a white board and index cards.
“Okay, we’re going to choose three people to come up here and play a trivia game about cooking while we’re waiting,” Austin announced.
Sofia stepped forward with a bowl with the door prize tickets. She made a great show of tossing them around before selecting three and passing them to Austin to read aloud.
There was a lot of shuffling in the crowd, and Ginny saw Mrs. Dunfry, Matt’s mom, pass her ticket over to Maria Talamantez, shaking her head as she did so.
Finally they were able to get their three contestants situated in front of the counter: Maria Talamantez, Teresa Maney, and Ginny’s grandfather, which caused giggles from the crowd. Sofia stood by with the white board, each contestant’s name written at the top.
“Okay, we have about twenty questions,” Austin said. “Whoever gets the most answers right will get a dinner for four right here in the diner, donated by Janine Tippler. Thanks, Janine. Okay, first question, to what temperature should chicken be cooked?”
The questions were progressively harder, and the score was pretty low. Ginny could see the frustration in Austin’s face, so she crossed the room and handed him the backup cards she’d made as a mood lightener.
“Just shuffle those in,” she said, and stepped away.
He took the card from the top of the deck and frowned at it before he read, “Who owned the grocery store before the Lopez family?
Other questions included were, “What was The Wheel House known for before Hailey bought it?” “Who was the principal of the elementary before the current principal?” and “What was Millie Drexler’s maiden name?”
The scores jumped with her questions, and he smiled over at her. She just grinned.
For some reason those weird questions spurred the contestants on, so they did better on the food questions, and finally Austin was able to declare Maria the winner just as Hailey called time for the cooks in the kitchen.
Each contestant handed her plate over the pass-through bar. One thing they hadn’t been able to figure out how to do was to keep the entries anonymous. They were just going to have to depend on the integrity of the judges. So far there had been no complaints from the contestants about the set -up.
Sofia and Hailey took the offerings and parceled them out for the judges, then worked on dividing them up as small as they could, in little paper condiment holders, so that everyone could get a taste of something. They worked on passing each out as the judges tasted, made notes, tasted again. The five contestants came out from the kitchen to stand behind the counter, awaiting the verdict.
“First our judges are tasting Vivian’s take on Caprese chicken, spinach, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar. Any comments?”
“The spinach was cooked too long,” her mother said. “It’s come out pretty wilted. The chicken doesn’t have much of a flavor once you cut through it.”
“Anyone else?” Austin asked when he saw Vivian’s expression fall.
“I think it could use more cheese,” Mrs. Drexler said. “But I think it has plenty of flavor.”
“Needs salt,” Nancy said.
“We’re trying to stay away from salt,” Austin reminded her. “Okay, let’s make our notes and move on to the quinoa. I’m really excited for you to try this dish. Have any of you had quinoa before?”
None of the judges had, and only a few in the audience. Even Ginny hadn’t had it, and she could tell by the faces Mrs. Drexler and Nancy made that this wasn't going to be a popular dish. All of the judges made quick notes as Sofia and Ginny spooned out servings for the audience, a lot of whom shook their heads and raised a hand to indicate they’d pass.
“Aw, come on, now,” Austin said into the microphone. “Where else are you going to try it? It’s just a grain.” He referred to his phone. “It’s a superfood, a protein, and gluten free. Really a beneficial food. Give it a little taste. You would want your kids to try something new, wouldn't you?”
He angled his head and gave Melissa a look, so she sheepishly took one of the little paper cups. He turned back to Yasmine.
“Sorry, you were really brave to try it, but I think that chance didn't pay off for you. Let’s try the pizza next. Poppy made a crust out of cauliflower, so it will be crispy, but absolutely no carbs here.”
The judges bit into the pizza gingerly, tasted, noted.
“I like how she didn't use a sauce, so no sugar, either. Just cauliflower, olive oil, tomatoes, basil and cheese.”
This dish was harder to parcel out, because of the crunchiness of the cauliflower. Ginny set aside a small amount for herself to try, to be supportive.
