Taking the Heat

For a man with the last name Baker, Evan is not very comfortable in the kitchen.

Cassandra Baker, ’13, admires a lot of things about her husband, Evan Baker, ’14. But his kitchen skills are not one of them. “He’s so terrible at cooking,” Cassandra said. “He combines the weirdest things. It’s so bad.”

Cassandra is a fan of the show “Worst Cooks in America,” and always joked that her husband belonged on it. “And then one day, she was just fed up and had enough,” Evan said. “She decided to nominate me because I made this really nasty dish. It was a combination of leftovers with eggs, spaghetti sauce, and guacamole. I shouldn’t have put that combination together.”

“It was mainly a joke,” Cassandra said. “Just to be able to tell people that I nominated him. I never thought he would be chosen.”

Both Evan and Cassandra forgot about the application and figured they’d never hear back. Three months later, Evan got a call that the Food Network wanted to interview him for the show. After about six rounds of interviews, the Bakers started to realize that maybe Evan had a chance. Evan was talking to a producer from the show about what he would make for his first main dish challenge when reality hit. “I thought, ‘oh shoot; maybe I’m on the cast,’” Evan said. “Then I got the official email saying, ‘congratulations, you’re on the show.’”

Baker was sworn to strict confidentiality about being on the show, and could only tell those who needed to know, his wife and his boss. Baker serves as a mission advancement officer for the University of Mary. He was able to take time off to compete on the show in January 2020. He had to wait until June to tell the rest of his family and friends.

“Worst Cooks in America” is an American reality television series on the Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp with a cash prize of $25,000 and a Food Network cooking set for the winner. “It’s really stressful,” said Baker. The challenges are timed and judged by an expert culinary team, including celebrity chef Anne Burrell.

“There’s this big red clock, and you have to make this dish, or whatever you’re doing, before time runs out,” Baker explained. “And nobody really knows how to actually cook. We all have an idea, but it’s super stressful because you’re hoping you can remember basic things. It was fun, don’t get me wrong, but it was also high pressure. I almost threw up a few times because I was so overwhelmed.”

Despite the pressure, Baker feels like he was accurately portrayed on the show. “They did a pretty good job of telling it how it was,” he said. He watched the first episode at the rectory of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit with the priests there and some friends. The Bakers made chicken parmesan for the viewing party to display some of his new cooking skills… although Evan says he was still Cassandra’s sous chef.

Baker was eliminated on episode 4 of the season after a failed attempt to make donuts and sausage. “When we went from replication to improvisation, that’s when the wheels fell off the wagon for me, when we stopped just replicating what the chef was doing and had to put our own twist on it. I was like, ‘oh, I’m hopeless,’” he said. Baker personalized his sausage by adding some sauerkraut to represent North Dakota and Spanish olives to symbolize his home state of California. The combination didn’t quite land with the judges, and he was eliminated.

Baker is grateful for the opportunities he had to learn from experts in the culinary field. Chef Anne Burrell was Baker’s mentor during his time on “Worst Cooks in America.” Although he says his kitchen skills still leave much to be desired, he’s gained a greater appreciation for the culinary process. “I have a greater appreciation for the whole process – preparing the food, the equipment, and the mental preparation. It takes a lot of work,” Baker said.

Since the show has aired, Baker has experienced a taste of what it is like to be a small-town celebrity. He’s appeared on North Dakota Today with chefs from the University of Mary’s campus restaurant, along with some interviews with local radio and TV stations. His favorite “celebrity moment” occurred when he was on a walk with his family. “We were stopped four times by people saying, ‘hey, are you that guy from the cooking show?’ One lady even stopped me and said: ‘I hate to bother you with your family, but can I get a photo? My daughter would love it.’ So, I took a selfie with her. I’m sure Cassandra was rolling her eyes,” Baker said with a humble laugh.

He hasn’t let the fame get to his head. Cassandra helps him with that. “She is very adamant that I’m still terrible in the kitchen, so it helps me keep my humility level to a sustainable reach,” Baker said. “He still has a lot to learn, and he still makes some pretty bad meals,” Cassandra said. “I wouldn’t mind if he took some more culinary lessons. I’m definitely still the family cook.”