On Nov. 19, the Iron Chef team, consisting of a group of only senior girls this year, competed at Francis Howell Central in the annual Culinary Throwdown. All four FHSD high schools participated in the competition. The team from FHN placed second with 23 points, while Francis Howell Union placed first with 24 points. 

“Prepping through the months was so much fun,” senior Ella Schindehette said. “Every single practice we would try to tweak the recipes to make them even better and more creative. I personally made the falafel and seeing how we cooked it the first time then night of the competition, it was a complete 180 and it was so much fun.”

The seven members, along with sponsor Rebecca Just, had been preparing for the competition since the first week of August, when they had found out the members of their team. Each member of the group had a different responsibility during the competition, whether it be cooking the food, washing the dishes or preparing the table. 

“Some of [the girls] personalities’ can clash, but they were able to put aside their differences because they had a common goal,” Just said. “They cooked these foods better than they had at any of the practices. They were on their game; they couldn’t of done better if we had more time or anything like that, they just rocked it.”

The team had placed first place the previous four years, and despite coming in second this year, they are still proud of the work they accomplished and enjoyed themselves throughout the season. 

“I liked the experience because I enjoyed learning the new cooking methods and using them to make things I never would’ve been able to make out of class.” senior and member of the team, Cami Gonzalez said. “I am proud of the teamwork because we spent a lot of time prepping and I know that we did our best.”