WINNERS NAMED IN IGA’S NATIONAL HOMETOWN HOLIDAYS RECIPE CONTEST

CHICAGO, IL - IGA today announced winners of IGA’s 2004 National Hometown Holidays Recipe Contest. A panel of culinary chefs from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC) selected the winning recipes from 10 finalists. More than 300 original recipes were submitted to IGA stores across the country during IGA’s annual Hometown Holidays marketing event held each November.

Grand Prize winner of $2,000
• Mary Anne Lee’s Pumpkin Pound Cake with Rum & Vanilla Coke Sauce; Village Farms IGA

1st Place Winner of $500
• Bruce R. Floyd’s Arizona Black Mesa Chili Con Queso; Sun Foods IGA

2nd Place Winner of $250
• Rebecca Hull’s Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms; Star City IGA

Finalists Included:
• Renata Stanko’s Winter Star Bright Salad; Aumsville IGA,
• Lillian Julow’s English Style Cheddar Fondue; Buy-N-Save IGA
• Janice Elder’s Five Spiced Thai Holiday Chicken; Tyron IGA
• Julie DeMatteo’s Rasp-Brie Peppered Chicken; Blackwood Super Valu IGA
• Lois Dowling’s Zorba’s Zesty Holiday Roasted Glazed Pork; Rose’s IGA
• Mary Hawkes’ Dark Chocolate & Cranberry Tart with Cinnamon Toasted Pecans; Weber’s IGA
• Gilda Lester’s Lemon Filled Cheesecake with Chocolate Cookie Crust; Surf City IGA

Each of the 10 original finalists and a guest traveled to Chicago on April 17th for a three day and two night prize package stay at the Chicago Marriott Downtown. On the April 18th, each of the 10 finalists’ recipes were prepared and evaluated by a panel of culinary masters from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. The recipes were judged on three criteria: taste, creativity and ability to reproduce the desired dish based on recipe directions. Recipe entries were also required to include at least two products from Hometown Holidays promotional sponsors. Sponsors included Anheuser-Busch, INC., The Coca-Cola Company, Campbell Soup Company, Hershey Foods Corporation, Kraft Foods, The J.M. Smucker Company, Nestlé USA and Timex Corporation.

“IGA was once again happy to host the Hometown Holidays cook off in Chicago,” said Ricky St. John, IGA area director. “There were great recipes to sample, and I know, everyone enjoyed the learning experience at CHIC. All of us at IGA congratulate the winners. We would also like to thank the Red Oval partners for their outstanding support of this event.”

IGA, the only global supermarketer based in the United States, is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $21 billion per year. The Alliance includes more than 4,000 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, supported by 36 distribution companies and more the 55 major manufacturers, vendors and suppliers encompassing everything from grocery to equipment items. IGA ranks in the top 10 in world food supermarketing. IGA has operations in 48 of the United States and more than 40 countries, commonwealths and territories on all six inhabited continents.