Omaha, NE -As many parents know, sometimes getting kids interested in reading is a challenge. That's why Happy Mango Bakery in La Vista and local author, Hillary Vaillancourt, teamed up to bring to life the baking contest from Vaillancourt's book.
On Saturday, September 20th, the Happy Mango Bakery on Giles Road in LaVista will host the Harvest Festival Baking Contest, inspired by the children’s book Millie and the Kitchen Witch.
The competition is for bakers aged 8-14. Bakers need to fill out a registration form and bring it to Happy Mango starting at 12:30pm the day of the competition in addition to their entry of one dozen cupcakes or a six-inch cake celebrating harvest season.
Entries are judged on the theme of a harvest festival, uniqueness of recipe and overall flavor and use of ingredients. Bakers are strongly encouraged to source ingredients from area farms and businesses to fit the theme of the competition. A guide to local food is provided on the registration page highlighting local growers.
Author Hillary Vaillancourt’s novel “Millie and the Kitchen Witch” is set in fictional Coal Hallow, Virginia. However, the story could take place in any farming community.
Vaillancourt’s book follows the main character of Millie Radford and her efforts to help save her home town after a large, corporate farming company begins to buy up family-owned farms. Millie’s family owns the Kitchen Witch Diner which has been serving up just the right recipes at just the right moment for generations. However, as local farms are being sold, the diner must search for other, more expensive, sources of ingredients for its fare.
In an effort to bring attention to the plight of local farmers, and a friend who has a deadly peanut allergy, Millie competes head-to-head with a winner of a national baking contest and the daughter of a major corporate farming company, The Johnson Peanut Company.
As a part of the contest, local business owners will do the judging. Additionally, the community will have an opportunity to meet Hillary Vaillancourt and talk about the book and why local farming is such a critical need.
The grand prize winning baker will have his/her recipe featured at Happy Mango during the month of October and be included in the second edition of the novel. Other prizes will be available as well, to the runners up.
For more information, readers are encouraged to check out Happy Mango’s Facebook page and Hillary Vaillancourt's website www.hillaryvaillancourt.com.
