9-year-old chef and her winning recipes headed to the White House
Nine-year-old Ava Terosky has been cooking with her dad for as long as she can remember, making food in the shape of animals to try to get her little sister, a picky eater, to dig in.
Nine-year-old Ava Terosky has been cooking with her dad for as long as she can remember, making food in the shape of animals to try to get her little sister, a picky eater, to dig in.
Whole wheat pancakes shaped like elephants. Sandwiches that look like dinosaurs. Apples carved to resemble playful turtles.
So when she decided to enter Michelle Obama's Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, a nationwide recipe contest sponsored by the White House, Ava wasn't exactly sure what she'd make, but she knew what shape it would take.
If fancy shapes worked on her sister, she thought, why not the first lady?
So she and her dad crafted a spinach-and-mushroom omelet and a fruit-and-yogurt parfait in the shape of Portuguese Water Dogs in honor of the Obama family pets, Sunny and Bo.
Ava's clever and healthy dishes took top state honors, and she was chosen Pennsylvania's winner of a contest that drew 1,200 entries from across the country.
Next month, Ava and her dad are headed to the White House for dinner with Obama and an official tour of the White House Kitchen Garden. They will join other winners from the nation's 50 states, five territories, and District of Columbia.
She learned that she won Friday morning when her teacher, Shayna Ash, gave her the news as she sat in a circle with her classmates at Cynwyd Elementary in Bala Cynwyd.
It was hard to tell who was more excited, Ava or her classmates, who have been getting updates on the contest from Ava for the last three months.
"We have a very special share this morning," the teacher began.
"I think she won it," Lev Robins said, clutching her chin in anticipation.
"We are thrilled to announce -," Ash said.
"You won!" shouted Alexa Saler, her arms in the air.
Sitting beside her teacher in a purple tank top and hair band, Ava leaped to her feet and cheered. Her sister, Caitlin, 7, her inspiration, stood near her.
"Ava, we are so proud of you!" Ash said as the class applauded.
Ava's cooking partner and dad, Jeff Terosky, and mom, Aimee LaPointe Terosky, took pictures and video.
Her mother, an assistant professor of educational leadership at St. Joseph's University, said she learned about the contest, now in its fifth year, when she was at the White House and saw a brochure. Contestants ages 8 to 12 were invited to create "a healthy, affordable, original and delicious lunch recipe," using ingredients from their home states. Kennett Square mushrooms featured prominently in Ava's dish.
Starting July 14, the day of the dinner, a free downloadable and printable e-cookbook of the 56 winning recipes will be available on the contest site: http://PBS.org/lunchtimechallenge.
Among the winners are Jamal Bin-Yusif, 11, of Middletown, Del., with a "Caribbean Fiesta!" recipe, and Gianna Malecki, 8, of Cranford, N.J., with "Gianna's Salmon Paradise."
Ava said she started cooking with her dad, an information technology manager at Bloomberg, before she turned 2. One of the first things she remembers making was cupcakes for her mom's birthday. She said she likes to cook "because you can really mix things up and it will taste good."
Her favorite part about being a chef?
"Licking the spoon."
At Cynwyd Elementary, Ava's classmates had a lot of questions:
What do you most look forward to at the kid's day dinner?
"I look forward to meeting other people from different states because I want to see what they came up with."
"If you could go anywhere in the White House, where would you go and why?"
"I'd actually go to the dogs' room because that's where our meal was inspired."
"What is one question you would love to ask Michelle Obama?"
"Where do they keep all the food?"
"Will you meet President Obama?
"I don't think so. I read an article, and I think President Obama is dealing with some war or something."
ssnyder@phillynews.com 215-854-4693 @ssnyderinq