Nutty sandwich could lead girl to cooking fame
January 19, 2010
By Christopher Huber
Ten-year-old Sammamish resident Hannah Hall gets her cooking inspiration from watching the Food Network — particularly, Iron Chef America.
Her knack for food led Hannah, with help from her twin sister, Sarah Hall, to concoct a sweet, peanut-buttery, tangy panini-type sandwich that caught the attention of judges at Jif and was placed in the top-10 of new peanut butter sandwich creations. And it just might be named the best in America, if enough people vote for it in the Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest.
“I like cooking a lot,” Hannah said. “I like peanut butter a lot.”
The sandwich — Nutty Texas Panini with a Hula — features bold flavors from pineapple rings, peanut butter mixed with barbecue sauce, bacon and oven-roasted chicken, topped with chopped cilantro.
“I think she put together really big flavors,” said Charlotte Starck, Hannah’s mother, as she helped Hannah prepare the sandwich. “Everything’s very big.”
It may sound weird, but the layers of flavors and textures hit the taste buds evenly. It makes for a good after-school snack or light dinner.
“I don’t think anyone would think to put pineapple and bacon all together, because it sounds weird, but it actually tastes really good,” Hannah said.
Hannah said when she found out she made top-10 (there were 369 entries), she couldn’t contain herself. Contestants were sworn to secrecy for weeks until voting began Jan. 14, she and Starck said.
“We were like jumping and screaming and dancing,” Hannah said.
The idea behind the contest is to encourage children age 12 and under to join their parents in the kitchen and get creative, according to Jif. It’s also meant to be easy to make. Sarah made her entry, the Peary Nutty Eiffel Tower Fingerlings, in her Easy Bake Oven, Starck said.
“The whole point was that they do it,” Starck said.
The only requirement was that it includes at least two tablespoons of Jif peanut butter, Starck said. “Then it’s no holds barred,” she said.
Hannah has a chance to win up to $25,000 for college, if she wins. If she gets enough votes for second- through fourth-place, she will receive a $2,500 scholarship.
Starck said she and the girls entered the contest in November in response to an ad in Seattle Woman Magazine.
Visit the contest page to vote: www.jif.com/promos/pbsandwich10/vote.asp. When voting, consider creativity, nutritional balance, taste, appearance and ease of preparation.
Online voting is open to the public (ages 13 and older) through Feb. 12, 2010. Each person can submit one vote per e-mail address per day, according to the contest rules.
The voting will narrow the contest down to five finalists who will have their sandwiches judged during a live event in March in New York.
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.SammamishReview.com.
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