Delanco woman has eyes on the Pillsbury prize

ORLANDO, Fla. - Sue Compton, a mortgage-loan processor from Delanco, has a date Wednesday in Chicago with Oprah Winfrey and a chance to win $1 million in the Pillsbury Bake-Off.

Compton, 56, was named Monday as winner of the "Sweet Treats" category, and the announcement left her speechless. She had accidentally shut off her oven after popping in her Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups during the contest.

"You did it, Mom!" bellowed her son, Jonathan, 29, a third-year medical student at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford.

Asked what she'd do with $1 million, she said she'd pay off her son's tuition and "build up my meager retirement fund."

Compton is being flown to Chicago with fellow winners Niki Plourde of Gardner, Mass. (Tomato-Basil Eggs Alfredo in Bread Baskets in "Breakfast & Brunches"), Kellie White of St. Louis (Zesty Lime-Fish Tacos, "Dinner Made Easy"), and Evelyn Henderson of Roseville, Calif. (Salmon Pecan-Crusted Tartlets, "Entertaining Appetizers"). Winfrey will announce the winner Wednesday on her show.

All Monday morning, the aromas of 100 home-baked filled a hotel ballroom as the 100 amateur cooks sliced, diced, sizzled and drizzled for the judges. In a sweet and savory twist of fate, the Philadelphia region fielded more finalists than any other - all told, 12 people from Reading to the Shore.

Just getting to the biennial contest was a challenge - "and the real prize," said Christine Wilson, 54, of Sellersville, manager of a cosmetics counter and creator of Golden Breakfast Bruschetta.

Pillsbury said it received more than 10,000 entries.

"This is just too cool," said Amanda Soto of Manayunk, one of three 27-year-olds at the bottom of the age range. (A 75-year-old woman from Hawaii was the oldest.) With a batch of her Game-Day Spinach Pull-Aparts in the oven, Soto, an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, scanned the room to soak in the scene of jostling video crews and eager food runners.

Bridget Uhrich, 31, an information-technology manager, drove from Doylestown with her husband, Marcel, to prepare her recipe, Jumbo Burger Cups. She is due with their first child on April 27. Asked if she had trouble sleeping the night before, she replied: "I'm used to not sleeping." She is also used to wisecracks about a "bun in the oven."

Finalists came from 36 states and the District of Columbia. Among the eight men were Brett Youmans, 46, a flight attendant from Reading, a perfectionist and one of the last finalists, presenting his Asian-Spiced Cashew-Chicken Piadinis; and David DeMatteo, 37, of Blue Bell, a Drexel University professor who fluted a Pillsbury crust for a Caribbean Panna Cotta Pie.

DeMatteo, who said his family was tired of the pie, is well-seasoned, having been a Bake-Off guest when his brother Nick made the finals in 2004. His mother, Julie, was a finalist in 1994 and 1996, and his grandmother, Margaret Pache, was a finalist in 1994.

All professed a love for baking. "Cooking is fine, but I'm more passionate about the ingredients when I bake," said Debbie Huber, 47, an occupational therapist and pastor's wife from Petersburg in Cape May County, N.J., who made Creamy Orange-Chocolate Truffle Bars.

The high-tech GE ovens, lined up in rows, leveled the playing field. "Everything cooks faster," said Nadine Clark, 36, of Quakertown, a product manager for Olympus Imaging America, as she assembled Fig and Blue Cheese Appetizer Tarts.

"My [home] oven has a mind of its own," said Kristen Abbott, 29, program manager for Pals for Life, an animal-assisted therapy organization, whose recipe was for White Chocolate Creme Brulé Tarts. Her first two batches were picture-perfect, while the third scorched.

Christina Verrelli, 41, of Devon, averted disaster when she realized at the last moment that her oven had been switched to "convection." She could have scorched her Savory and Sweet Breakfast Biscuit Sliders.

"The go or no-go factor is how the bread comes out," said Devon Delaney, 51, a teacher and third-time finalist from Princeton, who fretted over the oven as she made a spicy version of sloppy Joes called Snappy Joes on Texas Toast.

To practice at home, some finalists taped off 36-by-24-inch work areas to replicate the Bake-Off countertops. "My kitchen's not huge, but it's bigger than this," said Margaret Parsons, 31, a graduate student from Royersford, who baked Apricot-Sour Cream Tea Cookies because she enjoys tea.

Recipes are at www.bakeoff.com.