Posted by The Gazette, MD on April 23, 2008 at 11:26:58:
Gaithersburg woman wins Pillsbury Bakeoff
by Patricia M. Murret | Staff Writer
Using a revamped peanut butter cookie recipe that won a ribbon at the Montgomery County fair, Carolyn Gurtz of Gaithersburg won $1 million as the grand prize at the 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest.
These weren't just any peanut butter cookies, they were Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies.
‘‘I'm speechless, even though I've been talking nonstop for two days,” she said Wednesday. ‘‘When I went to sleep last night, I kept trying to envision the whole day and everything that happened. I don't think it's hit me yet, how much is going on, what I've won. I'm really in a shock state.”
Gurtz headed to Dallas on Saturday for the well-known contest. At Sunday's orientation, she practiced her autograph signing recipes for the other 99 finalists from around the country. On Monday, the competitors showed off their mettle and mastery practicing their recipes in makeshift mini-kitchens lined in a row in a hotel ballroom.
Gurtz, who four years ago won $50,000 and a trip to New York in a Kraft cream cheese contest, had been entering the Pillsbury contest with recipes for more than 10 years, she said. Her recipes have included hamburger specials and desserts, but she has always loved baking.
‘‘I just kept doing it for the fun of it,” Gurtz said. ‘‘And this time was my lucky time.”
The Gaithersburg woman said she owns ‘‘about 400 cookbooks”, many of which have spilled from the kitchen to fill the walls of a guest bedroom. Among her 20 favorites, she found a scrumptious recipe last summer that won her a ribbon at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair.
She made a cookie that involved wrapping homemade chocolate cookie dough around a peanut butter ball. This year, she modified the recipe to use products from the contest sponsors.
Her Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies use six ingredients, including: a roll of Pillsbury Create-n-Bake refrigerated peanut butter cookies, Jif Creamy Peanut Butter, Fisher Dry Roasted Peanuts, Domino or C&H granulated and powdered sugar, as well as some cinnamon.
The recipe put Gurtz among 15 finalists for Tuesday's countdown. Then she won two awards in the category contests. A Jif Peanut Butter award yielded $5,000 and the ‘‘Sweet Treats” category brought a GE double oven and another $7,000 worth of kitchen appliances, she said. She was so happy she was ready to go home.
‘‘They called my name and I was completely stunned,” she said. ‘‘You're standing up there and you're feeling like the queen of England or something...The confetti comes down and people are cheering and I'm thinking, 'They did call my name didn't they?'”
Winning $1 million feels like, well, complete shock. ‘‘I'm thinking 'They called somebody else's name and I'm screaming my head off,'” she laughed.
Everything since has been a blur, Gurtz said. She and her husband hopped on a plane to New York City to appear on ‘‘Inside Edition” and ‘‘The Today Show.” The prize money will pay for a cruise in November and her financial planner husband will help her figure out the rest, she said.
One thing is certain: she will enter another recipe at this summer's county fair.