GROVE CITY — At 9 years old, Scott Hatfield baked his first batch of cinnamon buns at his mother's side and discovered a hobby that would last a lifetime.

Twenty-six years later, Hatfield is one of 100 finalists in the Pillsbury Bake-Off, an annual cooking contest that will award a $1 million prize in April. According to the contest Web site, tens of thousands of recipes were submitted.

Although the contest originally featured recipes containing Pillsbury flour, it has since evolved to include cooking as well as baking entries.

Hatfield's recipe is samosa taquitos, a healthy twist on one of his favorite Indian dishes.

"It's not deep fried and it's wrapped in tortillas and baked — so it's healthier for you," Hatfield said.

"We dabble with Indian recipes and samosas aren't that hard to make. It's one of my favorite appetizers, and we thought it would be a good thing in terms of the Pillsbury Bake-Off."

Hatfield's wife, Sarah, urged him to compete in the bake-off when she saw an ad in the newspaper. After adjusting the recipe to the contest rules, Hatfield entered the recipe online last April and received a call in October notifying him of his status as a finalist.

Hatfield won a microwave oven, $100 and a free trip to Dallas for the final competition. At the 43rd event, set for April 13 to 15, finalists will be assigned a kitchen work station with enough ingredients to prepare their recipe three times: once for a photographer, another for judges and an extra time if needed.

The panel of judges will then select the winning recipes.

Employed in the informational technology systems department at Grove City College, Hatfield said he likes to escape by spending an afternoon baking bread and grilling or smoking meat.

"I like the challenge of trying to do something to have it come out the way it's supposed to," he said. "It's kind of meditative in a way.

"I do a lot of cooking, but when I was a kid my mom taught me to cook and I've always liked to cook," said Hatfield, the father of three.

"You want to make something you like to eat and I've always wanted to understand sort of why you do what you do — understanding the reasons for certain things in recipes."

Scott Hatfield's mother, Kathy Hatfield, said she didn't consciously teach her son how to cook, but let him discover his own hobbies.

"He cooked because he wanted to," she said. "I always let my kids be in the kitchen — if they were hungry, they could help themselves."

She said her son would come home with new recipe ideas on a regular basis. He came home one day and told her he wanted to make doughnuts. When she was apprehensive about the deep-frying that occurs when making the treat, Scott Hatfield reassured her that they could do it.

"He said, 'No Mom, all we have to do is fry it in the pan and roll it in sugar.' So he started making doughnuts," she said.

Despite this longtime hobby, Sarah Hatfield said she is the weekday cook for their family, while he spends time in the kitchen making specialty dishes on the weekends.

She said she couldn't be more proud of her husband's Pillsbury masterpiece.

"I'm really excited about it. I think it's really great just to be able to say you are one of the 100 finalists and you get to go have this great experience in Dallas, because those recipes will be published for years."

She also said it is interesting to see the recipes all of the contestants came up with.

"They are all very simple ingredients, but it's neat to see what everyone does with them," she said.

Hatfield said he is looking forward to his trip to Dallas for the final competition.

"I have seen it on TV before so I am looking forward to seeing what it's like in real life," he said. "The experience of it will be interesting."

3 Tbs. canola oil1/3 cup finely chopped onion½ bag (30-oz size) frozen country-style shredded hash browns (4½ cups)1 box (9 ounces) frozen spinach4½ ounce can chopped green chiles1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon coriander1 teaspoon garam masala½ teaspoon ground ginger1 Tbs. lemon juice12 flour tortillas<b>Sauce</b>12 ounce jar apricot preservesRemaining chopped green chiles1 Tbs. cider vinegar¼ to ½ teaspoon ground ginger¾ teaspoon garam masala1/8 teaspoon ground red pepperHeat oven to 400 degrees. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and potatoes; cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are thoroughly cooked and slightly browned.Meanwhile, cook spinach in microwave as directed on box. Drain spinach; cool 5 minutes. Carefully squeeze with paper towels to drain. Pull spinach apart into smaller pieces. Measure 4 teaspoons of the chiles; reserve remaining chiles for sauce.Stir spinach, 4 teaspoons chiles, the salt, coriander, 1 teaspoon garam masala and ½ teaspoon ginger into potato mixture. Cook over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently until mixed and thoroughly heated. Remove from heat; gently stir in lemon juice.Place about ¼ cup potato filling on each tortilla, ½ inch from one side. Starting at side with filling, tightly roll up each tortilla around filling; place seam side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush taquitos with remaining 1 tablespoon oil.Bake 8 to 11 minutes or until crispy and golden brown.Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir sauce ingredients until well mixed. Serve warm taquitos with sauce for dipping.