Heat was on in the kitchen recently when the Jensen family from Forest Grove starred in a segment of the Food Network's new TV series, Family Cook Off.
Marnie Jensen and her daughters, Laura, Emma and Tahsis Jensen, pulled out all the stops with their culinary talents and ended up the winning contestants in the show that was taped Aug. 31 in Vancouver.
"It was pretty exciting, but it's all kind of a blur," says Marnie.
They squared off with a family from Edmonton for the golden frying pan contest trophy and a $1,000 gift card for the Real Canadian Superstore.
The Jensen winning recipe included an entrée of macaroni and cheese, schnitzel with fried apples, and a spinach and strawberry salad, along with a dessert of phyllo purses with mascarpone cheese and raspberries.
It beat out the other family's pan fried battered cod, rice, spinach and blackberry salad, and oatmeal cookies with ice cream.
Marnie says the judges were tough.
"We overheard them talking to the contestants before us and it kind of scared us. They had high standards, but were impressed with how we put everything together."
The Jensens were given an 8/10 from both judges on their entrée and an 8/10 and 7/10 on their dessert. They won the challenge by six points.
Marnie says it was interesting to see how shows were made and she was amazed at how long it took to shoot a 30-minute show.
She expects it to air sometime in the spring or early summer of 2012.