It's not Hockey, but this Ice Cat is a Winner!, Accomplishments (Brantford Girls Hockey Association)

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It's not Hockey, but this Ice Cat is a Winner!
 

Junior Chef champ will use prize money for her education

 
   

Audrey MacKinnon, Brantford’s small cook with big talent, is glad the secret’s out.

For 10 months, the 12-year-old couldn’t tell a soul that she’d cooked and baked her way to becoming the Junior Chef Showdown champion.

She finished taping the show last summer but the final episode didn’t air until Sunday on Food Network Canada.

“It was hard to keep it a secret, especially when my friends are asking if I won or was eliminated,” said MacKinnon on Monday.

 

Skilfully preparing a mouth-watering meal of pan-seared wagyu steak, garlic pesto and grilled vegetable and pear salad was enough to pull MacKinnon past two other finalists to take home the top prize of $25,000 and a family vacation.

“That’s a lot more than is in my piggy bank,” said Audrey, who will save most of the cash for her education.

She said that the announcement that celebrity chefs Lynn Crawford, Anna Olson and Jordan Andino had selected her the Junior Chef winner is “one of the best moments in my life.”

“I was a mess after that. I couldn’t stop crying.”

Also in tears were Audrey’s parents, Kathleen and Paul, and her 15-year-old sister, Claire, who were in the studio audience for the finale.

 
   
   

“That moment was incredible,” said Kathleen. “She worked so hard. There were long days driving from Brantford (to the Toronto-area TV studio) early in the morning and back late at night.

“She’s a very competitive little girl. I think the rep hockey in her (Audrey plays for the Brantford Ice Cats) gave her a bit of an edge.”

Audrey was one of 14 young foodies selected for the competition who each week faced a skills test and a cooking challenge that determined who left the kitchen and who survived to cook another day.

Audrey said her biggest challenges throughout the series were preparing a chocolate lava cake in 40-minute time limit, and the grand prize-winning wagyu steak.

“I prefer cooking over baking,” she said. “I like to experiment in the kitchen. Baking is very precise, you have to measure everything. With cooking, I can mess up and just add a little something else.”

Kathleen said the family was overwhelmed by support for Audrey from the Brantford community. She said they received thousands of messages of encouragement over the eight episodes of the show.

Many even copied Audrey’s signature “space buns” hairdo, taking photos of themselves while they watched the show and sending them to Audrey’s family.

“Brantford has been incredible,” said Kathleen.

For someone so young, Audrey has had a longtime passion for the kitchen. Dad Paul got her started on cooking homemade pho, a popular Vietnamese rice noodle soup, and he and her grandmother encouraged her to expand her skills.

She said she also is inspired by Chef Ryan Devlin from Devlin’s Country Bistro in Mount Pleasant. He’s a family friend, who has invited Audrey into his kitchen to cook with him

It was Kathleen who saw a casting call for kids, aged nine to 13, who were keen on cooking and suggested her daughter try out.

Audrey, who will be starting Grade 8 at Strata Montessori School in Hamilton in September, said the show taught her a lot about cooking and really connected with her competitors.

“We all became really close friends. We talk almost every day.”

 
     
 Take from:  https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/news/local-news/junior-chef-champ-will-use-prize-money-for-her-education    
     

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