Doug Alley is going to have to watch Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge” all over again because when the latest episode aired Monday Dec. 18, he was too busy fielding questions from family and friends about the four other contestants, about his cut finger, and the three judges to take in the show where he won a $10,000 prize as the top baker.
“It was more interesting hearing my wife’s and daughter’s friends reactions than watching it,” Alley said in a phone interview while he drove the two hours back to his home in Rhode Island from his day job as a culinary arts teacher at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School in Bourne.
He caught only glimpses of himself preparing sugar cookies, or a cookie wreath, that was filmed on a New Orleans set back in late August. A barrage of emails, tweets and live Facebook from family and friends kept him occupied.
Some had negative things to say about the other contestants, based on a competitive slant to the show that was more the product of creative editing than reality. The five grew quite close during the filming, Alley said, going out to dinner and socializing before the competition began.
“By the time we got to the studio, we all really liked each other. After the taping we all went out and celebrated me winning,” he said. When he threw a birthday party for his wife, contestant Marisol Morley of Tiny Kitchen Treats in New York City sent custom birthday cookies. Alley and his wife also featured another contestant’s cookies in their Wakefield, Rhode Island, bake shop Patticakes, that had been baked to raise money for Texas hurricane victims.
“We’ve been texting each other all night long,” Alley said of his fellow bakers.
The selection process to determine the five bakers was lengthy, beginning with a casting call in May in which he had to submit a 50-question application with photos of his cookies and cakes, followed by 10 Skype interviews with various producers, more pictures of his work, then a final Skype interview with four of the network’s top producers.
The judges included Ree Drummond, well known for her Pioneer Woman cooking blog; Joy “The Baker” Wilson, a food photographer and cookbook author; and author and chef James Briscione, the director of culinary development at The Institute of Culinary Education. They were impressed with his sugar cookies and a lemon rosemary cookie.
Like a Super Bowl winner, Alley is headed to Disney World with his wife and 17-year-old daughter, using part of the $10,000 prize money. The interaction with judges and the contest has had an impact, and he’ll be announcing a new cookbook shortly. He has been contacted about headlining a cooking show with his daughter.
— Doug Fraser
Twitter: @dougfrasercct