FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 7, 2003 1:00 p.m.

Casserole Competition Heated to 425 Degrees for One Hour

BARNES PLACE (ATLANTA, GEORGIA) - In a heated and baked competition, casseroles rose and casseroles fell last night at Barnes Place's Pledge Potluck. In the end, $635 was raised for Centennial Place Elementary's summer reading program and one casserole, "Bread Pudding" swept away the competition, winning the Sweepstakes Award with 72 out of 75 possible points.

"I think those judges had a definite sweet tooth," said one bitter guest (who didn't even place) critiquing the panel of judges.

"I can't cook, but I can sure judge," said Judge Judy. As an accountant, she took each chef to task, holding him or her accountable for Texture, Color, Presentation, Taste and Congeal Factor. Flyboy Christopher, an international flight attendant also added a certain-well, something-to the panel. Serving airplane food and meals in a bag provided terrific casserole-judging experience. Rounding out the panel was Tyler. Holding a Ph.D. in something like Pop Culture and sitting on the teaching faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill, he has enough social critiquing experience to make him well-suited for the job.

"We had a wonderful panel of talented and capable judges," said Director of Ambiance and Entertainment Timothy State. "It was nice to see all the disciplines ­ the Humanities, Businesses Sciences and Flight Attendants ­ come together. I think it was well-rounded. And just a great group of people to work with."

While "Bread Pudding" by Todd and Damion took the Sweepstakes Prize, "Vegetable Upside Down Cake" by Janet easily stole Best Use of Food Triangle, with 61 of a possible 75 points. Omaha-inspired "Mary" by John took the prize for Best Variation of Mac & Cheese, leading that category with 45 points.

And the people spoke as well, selecting "Reuben Casserole" by Dan and Sean for The People's Choice Award.

"Most people think of the casserole as generating from the Midwest. But as you can clearly see, with German-inspired 'Reuben Casserole', the Casserole is a global phenomenon," said Director of Catering and Guest Relations Anthony Dornacher. "We were lucky to have such a diverse spread, with dishes from the Jello Food Group, the Mac and Cheese Food Group. We even had KFC represented with a bucket of fried chicken! I think the only thing maybe missing was a bowl of Cap'n Cruch Party Mix."

The casserole spread was impressive. "There's enough starch in here to keep a Vietnamese man and a laundry going for months!" exclaimed one guest reviewing the spread in the Viking Dining Room.

"Frankly, I found the categories a little limiting," complained one chef who's casserole dish of love fell into no defined category, requiring it to compete in its own against all entries for either the People's Choice or Sweepstakes. "If you had Best Use of Leftovers or Best Re-Microwavable categories, I know I could be more competitive."

"Categorically speaking, clearly an independent Casserole can rise above the rest," said State. "Just look at 'Bread Pudding', which was not entered in any of the pure-bred casserole categories, and it rose to the top. It had a score of 96% perfection, and the second best, a Food Triangle Casserole, had a score of 81%. I'd say 15 percentage points is clear that an independent can really shine."

Two of the top three casseroles were independents ("Bread Pudding" and "Green Jello Salad"), which has some wondering if there should either be more categories or if chefs in the kitchen should simply stick to independent work. Judge Tyler pointed out, "There is great discrepancy out there as to what a true casserole is. Take 'Key West Casserole.' Now that's a casserole that tastes like a casserole, bakes like a casserole and behaves like a casserole. But it doesn't look like a casserole, so is it a casserole? This is an area for great debate among casserole connoisseurs."

Not all casseroles were to everyone's liking, though. When Emma couldn't find her shoes, someone suggested she should look in Casserole 4-A, which had "the consistency of shoe leather." "It's possible," said Dornacher, "some were over-baked."

Casserole clatter aside, the real winners of the evening are the children at Centennial Place Elementary, who now have a budget to provide prize incentives for children who met reading goals to complete the Federal paperwork for the Federally-mandated, Federally un-funded summer reading program.

In other news, a record number of six dishes were left behind. Photos have been posted in the Gallery of Lost Dishes. Visit the Gallery of Lost Dishes to claim your dish.

Nothing says love quite like a casserole. Photos of Pledge Potluck, the Casseroles and the winners are now posted on Barnes Place.com at http://www.barnesplace.com/events/pledge/. You can also see the final scores for each casserole.

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