Grove City woman experiments to add flair to her recipes
GROVE CITY — For Mary Dunkerley, cooking and baking for coworkers, friends and family is all just play.
"I dabble at everything," said the self-employed caterer and baker for Eat'n Park.
Though many of her recipes are developed through trial and error, her successes have been numerous.
She also attributes her confidence in the kitchen to good teachers.
"My Mom was an excellent cook, she was just a great cook and a good teacher. Also the ladies at the church and through the grange, I kind of grew up with them and learned a lot from them."
In recent years, Dunkerley has won prizes for her recipes at the Stoneboro Fair, garnering her an invitation to enter the Pennsylvania Simply Delicious, Simply Nutritious vegetable recipe competition, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
This past August, two of her recipes, Swiss Green Beans with Water Chesnuts and a Swiss Cheese Corn Bake were chosen as finalists at the cookoff held in Harrisburg.
Cooking and presenting the food in front of judges was little stress for Dunkerley, who has often dealt with the stress of catering for large groups.
For her Swiss green beans with water chestnuts, Dunkerley created a festive casserole to take the place of green bean casserole, since she doesn't like mushrooms.
The ease of preparation was a key attraction to both recipes for both Dunkerley and the judges panel.
Before facing the competition judges, she tested each recipe on family, coworkers and a the Ladies Missionary Society at Center Presbyterian Church, for whom she caters a monthly lunch.
"They're like guinea pigs,"said Dunkerley of the women's group, "and they're good critics too."
Though she does not consider herself competitive, Dunkerley is already thinking about eggplant recipes for next year's contest.
"I'll just play," she said.
For information about the Simply Delicious, Simply Nutritious competition, visit www.paveggies.org.
