Cook of the Week: Food scientists experiements at home
When Laura Hill heard about the Daily Herald's Home Baking Challenge, she thought, ‘why not?' The semiretired product designer for Kraft realized she finally had the extra time to do some creative baking just for the fun of it.
“I've always had a lot of recipes. I thought my pear coffee cake was pretty good, but it was the lemon shortbread squares that won,” the Prospect Heights woman said.
Her win at the Daily Herald's contest qualified Laura for the America's Baking and Sweets Show, held recently in Schaumburg, where her coconutty lemon shortbread squares took the “cake” again and earned her more than $1,000 in prizes.
“All my life I've been surrounded by great cooks — my mom, my aunt, my grandmother — I've always loved cooking for people.”
Laura grew up on a farm in Ohio, where “farm-to-table” was a given. After graduating from high school, Laura went to Ohio State University where she majored in food technology. She then earned her master's degree in food science at the University of Illinois, and has spent her career developing products for Kraft foods. Having recently reduced her schedule to part-time, Laura enjoys having more time to spend in her own kitchen.
“I love the freedom of cooking now. It's less constrained. I've gotten away from following recipes to the letter. I experiment more. And my family is sort of happy about it, too,” she says. “I used to only cook elaborate meals on weekends. Now there might be a pretty nice meal waiting for them in the middle of the week.”
Laura's two teenage daughters are both athletes and so providing them with healthy, well-balanced meals is important to her.
In the summer, Laura enjoys using vegetables and fresh herbs from her garden. During the school year, she enjoys providing pasta for her daughters' teams meals; her mac and cheese is often requested.
It is the holidays, however, where Laura is truly in her element. She admits that she has a sweet tooth.
“I love the Christmas cookie season. We have a separate freezer and I have to empty it so that I can fill it up with batches of cookies. We have our favorites, but I always want to make new recipes.” Laura's favorite kitchen tools are her Kitchen Aid stand mixer and her Cuisinart, particularly when baking for the holidays.
“They sit side-by-side right by my sink. They never get put away because they're always in use!”
Traditionally the Hills head to Ohio for the holidays and Laura likes to bring as much as she can to ease the preparations for her parents.
“I do a little prep ahead of time and bring the special ingredients I need.”
We can benefit from Laura's prep work for our own holiday planning. Try her pear coffeecake for breakfast, snack on the spinach balls and cap off your holiday with her winning Lemon Shortbread Squares with Coconut.
Based on her recent success, it's a good guess Laura will be cooking competitively again.
“Food is a part of who I am,” she says.