Lucy Chelton, a 9-year-old United Methodist Church cook from Sellersville, Pa., won Food Network's "Chopped Junior" children's television cooking show with an appetizer called rattlesnake nuggets with sweet-lime Hollandaise sauce, along with preparing a few other dishes. Chelton's parents are on the ministry staff of Christ UMC in Lansdale, Pa. She shared part of her $10,000 prize with FISH (Fellowship in Serving Humanity), a Pennridge area program that provides food, clothing, school supplies and other needs to low-income families with children.
The hourlong broadcast (Season 3, Episode 2, Title: "Rattled") will be shown Sunday, Aug 14, at 5 p.m. on Food Network.
During the show Chelton even encouraged an anxious fellow contestant by sharing the secret to her own success as a chef: "You have to have confidence in yourself. ...(It's) half the battle." Indeed, Chelton once told her mom she was going to sell 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies and then exceeded that amount.
Four young contestants had to use rattlesnake, broccoli leaves and other supplied ingredients to create savory appetizers in just 30 minutes. Chelton's expertly prepared Hollandaise sauce "was a success," according to one impressed judge. Increasingly challenging entree and dessert courses followed, as two of the young chefs were eventually "chopped" from the friendly but suspenseful competition. Chelton walked away the victor.
Lucy's father, Eric Chelton, is assistant pastor at Christ UMC. Her mother, Miki Chelton, is music director. She also has an older sister, Belle, 11, reports UMC.
"I started cooking when I could get on a stool next to my dad," Chelton told a reporter, explaining she learned early how to handle cooking knives. Her signature dishes are Italian entrees with pasta, stuffed mushrooms and chicken.
In the interview portion of the show, she told the Chopped Junior judges her dream is to open a restaurant someday. "But I don't want it to be too popular," she adds, explaining that she wants it to be "more like a house than a restaurant" so guests will feel at home.
Taped in New York City, the young cook's donation to FISH was made public during the broadcast.
"I think at her age it was really cool she decided to do that," Eric Chelton wrote to UMC Bishop Peggy Johnson. "You are going to be really proud of the way she acted on the show. I'm glad people got to see her in action."
"I had a blast. I would do it again," said Lucy, who will enter fourth-grade this month at West Rockhill Elementary School. "It's harder than it looks."
Chelton since did a live cook demonstration "Good Day Philadelphia."