By Mitzi Brabb
Gazette Correspondent
Last April Karen Fausz of Thompson Draw attended a NASCAR race at the Phoenix International Raceway, as she does every year. At one point she managed to tear herself away from watching her racing icon, Jeff Gordon, long enough to visit some of the booths set up alongside the raceway.
As she stopped by the booth representing Libby’s Vegetables, the well-known American canned food company, she accepted a coupon from one of the attendants. She was soon convinced that she should submit a favorite family recipe for their contest entitled, “Get back to the Table,” designed to encourage families to get back together at the dinner table like they used to.
Fausz wrote down and submitted her recipe for “Scalloped Corn”, and forgot all about the contest.
Then, in July, Fausz and her husband Bill were just getting back home after attending an out of state funeral when they were flooded with phone messages and emails.
“Did you enter a contest?” her daughter asked.
“Not that I can remember,” responded Fausz .
But as she combed through her emails the word “Libby” stood out and jolted her with surprise as she learned that she was a potential finalist for the contest she entered while attending the race. She quickly followed up with FedEx and got the legal paperwork finished for the contest just in the nick of time.
At that point Fausz could not believe that her simple four-ingredient recipe was chosen out of the hundreds, if not thousands, of contestants who had submitted recipes during NASCAR events or via the internet.
Then, as soon as she was used to that idea, she learned that she had made the top five out of 25 semi-finalists, and would be making an all expenses paid trip to New York for the finals.
On Sept. 15, this family woman from somewhere no one else in the contest had heard of was flown to the Big Apple, picked up in a limousine, and driven to Manhattan where the corporate contest was held.
While she was there, she was able to sample all the other contestant’s recipes prepared by professional chefs, including her own Scalloped Corn dish. She was convinced that another contestant would win the grand prize.
Then the moment came when the celebrity judge, country western singer Sarah Evans, announced the winner.
“I thought they said Kathi Kivi , because that was who I thought would win and her name was stuck in my head,” said Fausz.
But when people started congratulating Fausz and shaking her hand, she realized that she had just won the grand prize, a four-day all expenses paid trip to the Daytona 500 NASCAR race next year.
The race, held in Florida will take place just before Valentines Day next year. Fausz says that she and her husband will not only be celebrating Valentines day at Daytona Beach, they will also consider it a part of their 50th wedding anniversary celebration, which will occur just a few months prior to the race.
“Bill got a good snapshot of me with my mouth wide-open at the contest,” Fausz laughed. “I’m so excited,” she continued with a trill of enthusiasm in her voice. “It’s the first time I’ve really ever won anything in my life.”
Below is Karen Fausz’ secret Scalloped Corn recipe. It was created by her grandmother, but was perfected by Fausz.
Scalloped Corn
Ingredients
· 3 can (16 oz.) Libby's corn (do not drain)
· 3 eggs
· 1 whole roll Ritz crackers
· 1 1/2 lb cheddar cheese
· pepper to taste
Instructions
Use both juice and corn; crush crackers by hand; add beaten eggs and half of cheddar cheese. Stir into a pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until egg is set & cheese is gold and crusty. Be sure to put remaining cheese on top before you bake.
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