Jun 15, 2009 7:19 pm US/Eastern
Jobless Cancer Patient Finalist In Recipe Contest
PORT MURRAY, N.J. (CBS) ―
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George Schroeder, 60, is out of a job and battling cancer. But his luck may turn around if he can win Taste of Home Magazine's contest for America's Best Loved Recipe.
CBS
A down-on-his-luck New Jersey man may have found a recipe for success. First out of work and then seriously ill, he now has high hopes that a tasty mix of chicken, cheese, and pasta will turn things around.
For the last ten years George Schroeder earned his living as a software consultant. But the New Jersey native says cooking has always been his first love.
"I started cooking when I was 16 years old," he told CBS 2.
These days this self-confessed "foodie" cooks mostly for his wife and their 9-year-old daughter. The 60-year-old has been making his special penne gorgonzola with chicken dish for nearly two decades, but it wasn't until last fall that he decided to enter the recipe into Taste of Home Magazine's contest for America's Best Loved Recipe. Up for grabs is a $25,000 prize.
If his recipe wins, the grand prize money couldn't come at a better time. Schroeder is battling cancer and recently lost his job.
"I was laid off unfortunately in February. I was a business software consultant for 10 years with IBM," he told CBS 2. "I have lymphoma. The latest now they're calling it a mantle cell lymphoma which is quite rare. July 1 I'll be starting on chemotherapy."
Schroeder already won $500 dollars when his pasta dish beat out thousands to be named the best in the "Time-Saving" category. But if his recipe beats out finalists in three other categories he'll get the $25,000. If he wins Schroeder says he'll use the money to pay household and medical bills. He says he may also start a new career in catering.
"Help make my dreams come true, that's really what it is," he said.
Taste of Home, the world's largest cooking magazine, is about to select a winner for its "America's Best Loved Recipe Contest." To vote for New Jersey's own George Schroeder, visit the
America's Best-Loved Recipe Voting Page and select his Gorgonzola Penne with Chicken.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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