By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— They say if you can’t stand the heat to get out of the kitchen, but three Riverchase Middle School students had no problem serving up some competition.

LaMyah Williams, D’Asia Shoemaker and Alexis Marbury, family and consumer science students at RMS, participated in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America’s Shelby County Cook-Off held at the University of Montevallo Nov. 20.

Each student created dishes for categories, such as beef, poultry and dairy dessert.

“It was an exciting day,” said Pam Simpson, family and consumer science teacher at RMS. “They enjoyed being on site of (the University of Montevallo).”

The morning of the competition, the students prepared their dishes. Once they arrived, they were able to put the finishing touches on the dish and warm up the food.

“(They) haven’t thought about how the food looks,” Simpson said, noting she spent time discussing presentation with the competitors. “How to make it look pretty on the plate or make it showy (is important).”

Marbury prepared Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers, Williams created a Raging Red Raspberry Cheesecake and Shoemaker crafted Chicken Tenders with Pumpkin Waffles.

The Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers won the standout recipe in the beef category, earning Marbury first place in the middle school competition. She will go on to represent Shelby County state cook-off in April.

This is the second year in a row a Riverchase Middle School student has won the beef category at the county level.

During the judging, Simpson said the students got to explore the college campus. She said they were excited to speak to some of the undergraduate students about what its like to take classes.

They were most surprised, Simpson said, to learn how much walking is involved in getting from class to class on campus.

After the winners were announced, all the competitors sampled each other’s dishes.

“They loved tasting everybody’s dishes,” Simpson said. “That was a favorite part of the competition.”