TWO local boys, TWO award-winning recipes, ONE Super Bowl

Duluth boys among finalists in state cooking contest

BY ANDREA BUSCHE

Have you ever hosted a Super Bowl viewing party? If so, how creative were you in the kitchen when it came to feeding your hungry crowd?

Most of us have a few go-to dishes in our repertoire, maybe meatballs, wings or taco dip. But these humdrum recipes often get a little stale and repetitive year after year. And if you’ve resolved to partake in a healthier New Year, typical Super Bowl party fare probably isn’t your best bet.

The Super Snack Challenge

Well, consider this: Recently, the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee held the Super Snack Challenge, a cooking contest for Minnesota kids. The rules required that the kids create an original, healthy, Super Bowlappropriate recipe from scratch. The recipes would be judged, and the finalists would present their dish to a panel of celebrities and participate in actual Super Bowl tailgating activities.

On Nov. 16, out of hundreds of submissions received, 52 participants across the state were named as finalists, including two young men from Duluth. Each finalist has been invited to attend the Kids Tailgate Party, which will take place during the 10-day Super Bowl festival in Minneapolis, starting Jan. 26 and culminating with Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4.

On Nov. 28, the Top 10 “All-Pro Chefs” – including Duluth’s DJ Compere — were invited to make their recipes in front of a celebrity panel of judges, including Andrew Zimmerman,

Gavin Kaysen and Lachelle Cunningham. The ultimate winner of the Super Snack Challenge will be announced at the Super Bowl Tailgate party, and will receive $25,000 to donate to the charity of his or her choice.

We are proud to introduce you to Duluth’s two winning chefs: DJ Compere and Elijah Harding!

Two Local Chefs

Daijon (DJ) Compere, 13, is a freshman at Duluth East High School. Elijah Harding, 11, a sixth-grader at Lincoln Park Middle School. Out of the hundreds of recipes that were thoughtfully created and submitted, DJ was a Top 10 finalist, and Elijah was in the top 52.

Both boys are participants in the Neighborhood Youth Services after-school program at Duluth’s Washington Recreation Center. When organizers at NYS heard about the contest, they knew it would be a great learning opportunity for kids in the program.

They learned about the contest when NYS received a phone call from the Super Bowl Host Committee, which wanted to make sure there was representation continued on page 26