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www.shelbyinfo.com Our 40th Year • Issue No. 52 • December 28, 2023
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Seven-year-old Lawndale youngster is a Dutch Oven cooking champion! National Dutch Oven Gathering 2023 Youth cook-off Champion wins first place second year in a row by MICHAEL E. POWELL CF Media michael@cfmedia.info There really isn’t a certain age when a child learns to (or even wants to, for that matter) cook, but as Courtney and Seth Dedmond of Lawndale know, all it takes is the desire. Oh, yeah, a little bit of talent and innate skill doesn’t hurt either. Take for example their seven-year-old genius chef, Gabriel, a.k.a., Gabe. This is one talented little gourmand who isn’t afraid to tackle the hard things in the culinary arts and has proven his skill as one mean Dutch Oven empresario. He has further proven his mettle, she recently noted, by winning a number of contests and cook-offs and is looking forward to entering in, and winning, even more in 2024! Gabriel’s mom, Courtney, wrote to the Shopper, “My husband, Seth, and I have always camped. When Gabe was three, we got in touch with Southeast Campers, a local Dutch Oven cooking group.” She said Gabe would always “…try to help us cook as we were outside,” and it just took off from there. Courtney said her husband was born and raised in Lawndale, NC, adding she is from Florida and moved to North Carolina in 2016. “Gabriel has two older sisters, Olivia and Sophie,” said Mrs. Dedmond, who added, “Neither of them cook but they do come and support when they can.”
The way all this with Gabe and his love for Dutch Oven cooking came about, noted Courtney, is, “In 2022 we went to the National Dutch Oven gathering in Hanover, Pennsylvania, for us to just enjoy. (At the) last minute, Gabe informed us that he wanted to cook in the youth competition. “At the age of six, he won the youth division making a Shepherd Pie and a Pineapple Upside-down Cake.” She continued, “We practiced more with Gabe to get ready for the 2023 competition in Rayne, LA, where he won at the age of seven, cooking a Flank Steak Pinwheel and a Pineapple Upside-down Cake with a rum glaze. “This astounded us,” said mom, Courtney, as the event is a five-hour event. Both parents have noted, “Now, we are next off to Mitchell, Indiana, (in) 2024 (where he will compete at the age of 8).” See CHAMPION, Page 4
Young Dutch Oven chef Gabriel Dedmond, is shown here at the Hanover, PA, competition, held in September of 2022.
Gabe Dedmond hard at work preparing his Seven-year-old Lawndale cook Gabriel award-winning Flank Steak Pinwheels and Junior chef Gabriel Dedmond working Dedmond in competition at Rayne, Pineapple Upside Down cake with a Rum on his Pineapple Upside Down Cake at LA, in 2023. Next up, say his parents: Glaze at an earlier Dutch Oven cooking competition. a competition earlier this year. Indiana in 2024!
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Young chef Gabriel Dedmond, of Lawndale, covering his flank steak with his own special rub and concoction at a Dutch Oven competition, which he won. (photos provided)
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