Wheaton woman teams up with celebrity chef to win on Oprah's show

Madeline Menna developed an addiction to the Food Network while on bed rest during her pregnancy.

The Wheaton woman especially fell in love with celebrity chef Tyler Florence.

So when Menna, also a fan of Oprah Winfrey, discovered that the media mogul was seeking Food Network lovers, Menna shot off an e-mail to the show.

"After that, I would occasionally get calls from the producers," Menna said. "But they didn't say anything specific, so I thought I was going to be in the audience."

She never knew -- until she was actually on set -- that she would be a guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," cook with Florence and win a new kitchen set.

And when the surprise hit, the excitement overwhelmed her.

"I always see these women act so crazy on TV and I think, 'Why can't you be more composed? What is wrong with you?,'" Menna said. "But I learned that, at that moment, your brain goes to mush, and I acted just like them."

During Oprah's Sandwich Showdown this month, Menna was paired with Florence for a three-day shoot. The duo wooed Oprah's taste buds with their Ron-Trey Entrée (named after Menna's husband, Ron, and son, Trey).

Their sandwich was created from pot roast (made in a pressure cooker because of the time limit), served on a Parker House roll and topped with Taleggio cheese, sage and cranberry-onion jam.

Menna and Florence were pitted against two other women who teamed up with Ingrid Hoffmann of Food Network's "Simply Delicioso" and Curtis Stone from TLC's "Take Home Chef."

All three women won a full kitchen set from the Kenmore Elite line. Menna said the boxes arriving at her home seemed surreal.

"I don't know if it's my Catholic guilt, but when it all started arriving, I thought, 'This is too much.'"

So while she will keep some of her winnings, Menna already is channeling Oprah's spirit of philanthropy and gave her new stove to her 80-year-old aunt, whose own stove broke.

"She can't afford a new one, so I said, 'Here, take my Oprah stove,'" Menna said.

She also will donate her pots and pans to a single mom and bride-to-be with three children, who can't afford a fancy wedding or gift registry.

"People tell me to sell it on eBay," she said. "But this has been such a huge gift and I just have to give it to people who could really use it."