OP_120816

opprairie.com Life & Arts
the orland park prairie | December 8, 2016 | 25
Soundtrack to the season
Meadow Ridge fifth-graders perform during
‘Vacation for Santa’ program
Santa makes a Pit stop
The jolly one stops by Orland Park’s Sportsplex for meet and greet
The Meadow Ridge School’s fifth-grade choir sings
Thursday, Dec. 1, for its program, called “Vacation for
Santa.” Photos by Mary Compton/22nd Century Media
Ronan (left), 5 months, and his brother Finn O’Connor, of Homer Glen, visit with Santa Claus Saturday, Dec. 3, during the
Santa’s Pit Stop event at the Village of Orland Park Sportsplex. Mary Compton/22nd Century Media
Meadow Ridge students (left to right) Neveen Hassan,
Jordyn Abercrombie, Melodee Harrison and Caleb Arrigoni
sing “Santa Needs a Vacation” during the fifth-grade choir
program.
Klaudia Sieczka joins other fifth-grade choir members as
they sing, “Surfin’ U.S.A. Medley” during a holiday program
at Meadow Ridge School.
Pena
From Page 21
so the being on TV doesn’t
throw me, but the competition
part [did],” he said. “I
was hoping I didn’t embarrass
myself. But it was great,
because everyone else was
awesome and nice. We got
along really well, and we all
rooted for each other.”
He said the competition
aspect is more with the individual
and not with other
chefs.
“You don’t really know
what they are doing or see
what they are cooking,” he
said. “There is no defense in
competitive cooking. It’s not
like they can actually affect
what you’re doing.”
In the three-round competition,
Dela Pena won the
first stage — which called
for making “nostalgic cookies”
in a Christmas past and
Christmas future theme. He
made a s’mores cookie for
the Christmas past entry.
“When I was a kid, my
parents caught me roasting
marshmallows inside
and making a huge mess,”
he said, recalling the childhood
memory. “I probably
could have set the house on
fire, and I got in a little bit of
trouble for that. But I always
remembered that.”
The cookie had a graham
cracker base, stuffed with
marshmallow fluff and dark
chocolate, with a roasted
marshmallow on top.
For the Christmas future
entry, he created raw cookie
dough.
“You’re not supposed to
eat raw cookie dough, because
it is unsafe because
of the eggs,” he said. “But
in the future, I hope that’s
not an issue. So, I made raw
cookie dough, but I replaced
the eggs with yogurt and
sour cream. It was totally
safe to eat raw.”
Dela Pena said the judges
loved it.
In the second round,
however, he was tasked
with making a “snow globe
cookie” — a round that was
geared more toward presentation
than taste.
“My strength is making
things that taste good; my
weakness is that I am by no
means an artist,” he said. “I’ve
got bear paws for hands. They
are not meant for art.”
Dela Pena said his fatal
flaw was infusing liquor into
the icing for his cookie, as it
never fully hardened — affecting
the design of the entry.
“One judge said there was
too much booze, but I don’t
think that’s possible,” he
said. “If you like the taste of
whiskey, you’d have loved
this cookie.”
He said the judges enjoyed
the taste but the design just
was not there. He compared
it to an old “Saturday Night
Live” sketch with Chris Farley
and Patrick Swayze, in
which they played Chippendales
dancers.
“I feel like my cookie was
Chris Farley — he had all the
moves, he just didn’t have the
body,” Dela Pena said. “So,
that [cookie] sent me home.”
Dela Pena said he was
content with his showing
during the competition.
“It was a blast,” he said. “I
made some lifelong friends,
too, from the show. It was
definitely worthwhile.”
As for the future, Dela
Pena said he does not know
what is to come, as he is surprised
by the amount of success
he has had thus far.
“All of these things have
happened to me and to the
business before our first anniversary,
and I couldn’t
have told you when we first
opened in February that all
of these things would have
happened in one calendar
year,” Dela Pena said. “I’m
excited about what the future
holds, but I’m not sure what
it may be.”
For more information about
Warm Belly Bakery, visit
www.warmbellybakery.com.