Eroglu

FRIED

Kate Carpenter has been talented in the kitchen since she was seven. She can do anything from a simple sandwich to a three course meal with calamari, lamb chops, and a seven layered cake. She was a seventh grader when it really started to show, however.
Kate went to school on an average Friday morning. As usual, she went to all her periods in order: language arts, math, science, social studies, PE, and cooking. It was in cooking, her favorite class of the day, when things really started to piece together. Kate entered class a bit sweaty, like she always did, since she has cooking right after PE. When she walked in, her teacher looked at her with a smile on her face. “Kate,” she said. “I have something for you.” She handed Kate a flier. She read the information as she walked to her seat in the back of the class.

FRIED: COOKING COMPETITION

We are looking for contestants to participate in this week’s episode of “Fried.” If you are interested, fill out the following information as asked. We want you to understand this is not an amateur contest. This will be shown on television. The winner gets a million dollars. Also, this form is due on October thirtieth.

Name________________ Phone_____________ Age_____ Address________________

Years of Experience___________ Signature of Participant______________________

Don’t worry about sending this back to us. Give this to the postal office and we will pick up all sign up forms. REMINDER: IF SIGNED UP GO TO 7659 BLAGORF AVENUE ON NOVEMBER FIRST.
Stapled onto the paper was a note that read:
I think you would do great in this contest.
I really hope you give it some thought.
Good luck!
E> Mrs Hayward E>

She put the papers into her backpack. Mrs. Hayward said, “Today, students, you will make a pizza that the principal will taste. Whoever makes the best pizza gets a fifty dollar check.” Everybody started smiling confidently. “You will have half an hour to make this, and before you ask, no, you do not have to make the dough. Your time starts now.” All the students started scrambling around the room searching for their ingredients. Kate grabbed dough, tomatoes, salt, basil, lemon, oil, pepper, mozzarella, and chicken.
After gathering her ingredients, Kate started to make her pizza. As the dough defrosted, she put her sauce together; Kate cut some tomatoes and put them in a bowl along with basil, salt, oil, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. She mixed them together until they weren’t ingredients anymore, but an amazing tomato sauce. She twirled the dough and covered it in sauce. Then she put the mozzarella underneath chicken, basil, and diced tomatoes. With five minutes to spare, Kate finished her pizza. In that time, she cut the pizza in eight slices, slapped it on a plate, and decorated the plate with basil.
All of a sudden, everyone in the room was nervous. The ground was quivering, the tables shaking. The room went silent as the principal, Ms. Johnson, entered the room. She glanced at all the ten chefs in the class, making them flinch with anxiety. She passed the first chef’s pizza. Everybody took a deep breath when she grabbed a bite. “The sauce is too salty.” Then came “Too sour,” and “Did you make this with cheese or cardboard?” When she got to Kate’s Pizza, she said, “Young lady, this pizza is amazing, truly terrific. Mrs. Hayward, I want the check to go to the young chef, Kate Carpenter, please.”
Mrs. Hayward gave her a fifty dollar check made out to Kate Carpenter. “You’ve got potential, Kate,” Ms. Johnson said. “Have you thought about that cooking competition? I think you’d do great!!” “Actually, I talked to her about that. What do you think, Kate?” Mrs. Hayward asked. “I don’t know. It sounds cool, but I’m sure it’s going to be all adults. I can’t compete with trained, professional adults,” she admitted. “Well, you think about it, and know we completely believe in you,” Ms. Johnson said.
When the bell rang, everyone rushed out of class. Kate had to walk home like she did every day since the fourth grade, since her elementary school and middle school were walking distance from her house. At her house, she was always alone. In fourth grade, she wasn’t, but fifth through seventh, when she got home, she was by herself. When she got there, there was a bowl of oatmeal with a note next to it that read:

Dear Kate,
Your teacher sent me an email saying she gave you a flier for a cooking competition. I think it is completely your choice but I want you to know, no matter what you choose to do I support you and completely believe in you. Please eat all of this oatmeal. I want you to grow up big and strong.
E> Mom

Kate grabbed the bowl of oatmeal and a spoon and sat down at the table to eat. When she finished eating, Kate started her homework. She was the top student in all of her classes and she always finished quickly. Nonetheless, the homework took her an hour and a half to finish her homework since she had about six pages to do.
Kate decided that she should fill out the form. Her teacher, principal, and mother were making it pretty obvious that they believed she could win the million dollars. As she started to fill it out, her mom came into the house.
“Hey, Kate. Get my note?”
“Yeah, and I decided I am going to fill out the form.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Kate said.
“Well, let’s get to it,” her mom said.
The girls sat together on the couch and continued to fill out the application form. Her mom dropped off the form at the postal office, and when she got back, they turned on the television and watched the news.
“Hello, California. This is Samantha Jackson reporting live in studio B of ‘Fried.’ The producers got tons of complaints about how they only use professional chefs, so they decided to make an episode of every day people competing. Let’s talk to one of the producers now. Here’s Bill. Hey Bill! Tell me how you will decide who will be in the episode.” She shoved the microphone into his face.
“Well, we were thinking we would do a raffle. Out of the, I don’t know, 200 applicants, only 25 people will be in the episode. Each round, five people will be eliminated, so if you are going to be in the episode, good luck!
“Thanks Bill! And, how are you feeling about the budget you get for this episode?”
“Well, we are a bit concerned because 200 dollars is not enough to buy all the set items or all the ingredient options for our competitors to choose from. But, luckily, on October 28th, we are hosting a concert at San Jose Park to raise money. Our singers will be The Beatles who will perform their hit song, Yellow Submarine.”
“I love The Beatles! I am sure the concert will be a great hit. Also, we will be recording the concert live, so any of you homeys can watch on your TV. Now, to Rhonda Lee with the weather.”
Mrs. Carpenter turned off the TV. “Well, it looks like you might not even get in, but if you do, honey, you’ll win for sure, and if not, who cares? If you get in, you’ll be against mostly adults, anyway, so it would be hard, but your teachers and I completely believe in you. I want you to know I want you to do this on your own behalf. I am not relying on you for the million dollars or anything. If you want to do this, do it for fun.”
A week later, on October 28th, the concert occurred. Kate went with her mom and dad. They weren’t going to go, but they changed their mind because Mr. Carpenter loved The Beatles. He always joked around with the girls saying he went to college with John Lennon.
The concert was a big success. There were at least a thousand people there, but probably more. There were news reporters videotaping the concert and then interviewing The Beatles, asking them pretty simple questions like “How long are you vacationing here?” or “What’s your favorite song that you wrote?” or even “Do you all have girlfriends?” which you could find all over the internet, so asking that to them live is basically just a waste of time.
There were snacks too. Bagels with cream dripping out from the sides, chopped fruit, sweet-smelling chocolate chip cookies, gooey brownies, a chocolate fountain with bowls of bananas and marshmallows to dip beside of it, vanilla and chocolate ice cream, pies, raspberry swirl cheesecake, at least twenty pancakes with butter and drizzled in maple syrup, popcorn, chips and salsa, and lots of other options as well. There was a drinks stand with lemonade, sodas, fruit punch, fruit juices, coffee, tea, water, and other beverages.
The show was fantastic, as well. The Beatles danced and sang to the “Yellow Submarine” and everyone was so excited, that even over the sound of The Beatles over the hundreds of microphones and cameras, they were very hard to hear.
The Carpenters went home after three hours of concert-time. It was 11:00 when they got there so they went straight to bed. Kate was a very peaceful sleeper. She slept almost immediately after her head hit the pillow and slept deeply until 7:30 when her mom wakes her up.
That morning, there was a letter in the Carpenters’ mail box. Mrs. Carpenter opened it, read it, and passed it around to Mr. Carpenter and then Kate.

Dear Kate and family,
We are happy to tell you that you are one of the 25 people competing and one of only three kids competing. We are disappointed to inform you that that means you don’t have a high chance of winning, but we are excited to see your performance, because we got an email from someone named Olivia Hayward, who said you are the best cook she had ever met. We are so happy to have such a talented child on our show.
The producers of FRIED

“Wow!” Kate said. “This is amazing news! I can’t believe I am actually going to be a cook on TV! I’m so excited!”
“We’re super excited for you, too, Kate,” her dad said.
Three days later, the big day arrived. Kate wanted to wear fancy clothing because she would be on television, but not too fancy, because she would be cooking, so she wore a button-down plaid shirt, blue jeans, and a red and white apron signed by an author that she met in a book signing, because the apron was made from an old shirt. Kate also put her hair up in a bun so that it wouldn’t get in her face when she cooked.
And she was off! Mrs. Carpenter drove Kate down a twisty road for an hour until they arrived at studio A of “Fried,” studio B being where the introduction was shot. Her mom dropped off Kate and told her to call her when she needed to be picked up.
“Okay, Mom. Love you!”
She entered the studio with a look of wonder on her face. The set was huge. Each chef had his or her own little area for cooking, and there were 25 chefs! One of the kitchen areas had a tag that said “Kate Carpenter’s Cubicle.” She entered it to find that there was everything she needed except for ingredients. There were spatulas, bowls, plates, spoons, forks, seven types of different knives, cake spatulas, ice cream makers, mixers, pans, pots, trays, cupcake trays, parchment paper, tin foil, ten stove tops, three ovens, two microwaves, paper towels, regular towels, oven mitts, measuring cups, measuring spoons, a sink, soap, and a lot of items Kate had never even seen before, much less used.
She left the cubicle and noticed the huge market area that was filled with the ingredients and a metal detector-like thing to make sure you have at most ten items, and on top of that, a timer for one minute to gather your items.
“Everyone!” the director spoke. “In case you don’t know how “Fried” works, here’s how you play. I’ll tell you what you are making. Then, I will give you no more than 60 seconds to get items you need, but there’s a catch. You may only get ten items or less, no more, and I will know if you are cheating because of this item detector. If you have more than ten food ingredients with you when you pass through there, it will beep. You are allowed to take ten items, come back, and take more, but remember you have only 60 seconds. After that, times up. You go to your cubicle and make what I asked of you out of your ingredients. You will have a certain amount of time based on what you are making. Then the judge will taste your meals and at the end of each round, twelve of you will leave. After two rounds, one person will be left standing, and that is the person who will win a million dollars. Now, the introduction is finished and we are about to start, so get ready. You will be making cupcakes. Your one minute time to gather ingredients starts… NOW!!”
Everyone rushed to the ingredients and picked up whatever they needed. They all seemed to have a plan already in their minds. Luckily for Kate, so did she. She was going to make chocolate-raspberry cupcakes that were her favorite dessert since she grew teeth. They were the greatest cupcakes ever. She grabbed her ingredients: eggs, milk, flour, sugar, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, raspberries, cinnamon, baking soda, and butter to make her cupcakes the best.
Then the bell rang just as Kate stepped through the item detector. Time was up. She walked to her cubicle and waited for the next announcement from the director. But this time, it was by the host, Donald Grey Waters. “You chefs will have an hour to make these cupcakes for our judge, Jennifer Williams to taste test. She wrote a book about cooking called ‘The Secret to the Kitchen.’ Good luck, guys.”
The chefs started their baking. Kate started out by melting her chocolates and then making her cake batter. She poured it into her cupcake pan and put it in an oven to cook. She was feeling a bit pressured because there was a camera man recording her the entire time. While the cupcakes were baking, Kate made her frosting with her raspberries and her leftover eggs, milk, and sugar. Then, she waited for her cupcakes to finish baking and then took the cupcakes out of the oven. She put the frosting on the cupcakes and topped them with raspberries. Kate placed a few on a plate and prepared for the judge to come.
“Times up!” said Donald, who had been taking a break for the past hour, talking to his friends. “Jennifer is here, and she’s ready to taste.”
Everybody was lined up with their plates in front of the judge. When it was Kate’s turn to share her food, she was surprised with Jennifer Williams’ reaction. “Not bad for a kid,” she said. Everyone went back to their cubicles and listened to the judge’s decision.
“If I call your name, you are leaving,” she said. “William, Mackenzie, Ella, Kristen, Megan, Davis, Luke, Ryan, Ethan, Sammy, Sunny, and…” She studied us carefully. “Emily.” Twelve people, two of them children, one around nine, and the other about twelve.
“Those of you that survived round one,” started Donald. “the next round will start in 5 minutes. While you’re waiting think about your recipe. You’ll have to make pancakes for our new judge, Allison Caitlin.”
Five minutes later, everyone got ready to get the ingredients. “On your marks, get set, go!” he said, and all the chefs rushed over. Kate took some ingredients to make crepes with fruits, ice cream, and chocolate, although it took two trips through the item detector.
“Time’s up!” Donald said. “You have half an hour to make your pancakes so chop chop!”
Kate made her crepe mix and poured it into a pan on the stove. As it was cooking, she chopped up fruits and melted chocolate. Then, she took the crepe off the stove with fifteen minutes on the clock, just enough time to finish when she realized the crepe was burnt! She had fifteen minutes to completely change her recipe and make it.
No. Kate wasn’t going to give up. She had gotten all As in cooking class and a wonderful pancake recipe. She wasn’t going to back down. She would win the competition and earn a million dollars. She didn’t have enough ingredients for another crepe, but she did have enough for some mini pancakes.
She maid tiny pancakes and topped them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fruits, drizzled with melted chocolate, and as soon as the pancakes hit the plate, the timer bell rang. She made it. She did it!
She waited in line by the judge, Ms. Caitlin. When it got to her turn, Ms. Caitlin grinned a bit with the slightest hint of satisfaction.
“The people that are leaving are Sandy, Amy, Timmy, Bob, Billy, Marina, Mary, Alex, Chrysanthemum, Daffodil, Rose, and I guess… Kate.” Kate gulped. But then Donald whispered something in her ear. Something was wrong with the leftover girl’s dish, and it must have been bad because Ms. Caitlin looked shocked and spoke. “Amanda. You are not the winner. You made me eat a cricket? No, no, no, a live cricket. You are out of the game! Kate, you win. You’re getting one million dollars, Kate!”
The next thing she knew, she was in her bed at home with an ice pack on her head. “Mom!” she called. Her mom came with some water. “Yes, honey?” “Did I do the contest? Was that all a dream?”
“No, honey! You passed out over there. You’re money was put in the piggy bank. And I am so proud of you, Kate.”
They smiled and Kate had just realized that she actually had a million dollars. Her parents could be at home every day. Or they could move to a bigger house. There wouldn’t be any financial problems and best of all, she could afford her Christmas present to her parents.