Lansing woman’s corn casserole wins Cheddar’s contest

LANSING — After more than 50 recipe submissions, a taste testing and a vote, “Carmela’s Corn Casserole” is the winner of the Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen local recipe competition.

“I was very, very surprised and very pleased to win,” said 92-year-old Carmela Hill of Lansing. “I certainly didn’t expect it.”

The Texas-based restaurant chain asked Lansing-area residents to submit their best homemade side dish recipes for a chance to wind up on the menu at its Delta Township restaurant.

Hill, a native of Michigan, moved to North Carolina with her husband in 1980. They returned to Michigan in 1991, and he died a few years ago.

When Hill lived in North Carolina, she was involved with a group of women and they collected cookbooks. She found the recipe in one of those cookbooks.

She’s made the dish many times through the years, but doesn’t do much cooking anymore, she said. She celebrated her most recent birthday on Aug. 20.

The chain renamed itself Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen as part of the restaurant's campaign to highlight what it calls its timeless, scratch cooking practices and handmade dishes.

The recipe will debut on the menu Sept. 23 at a party at Cheddar’s to celebrate the recipe and its appearance on their menu. It will be on the menu for six weeks.

Hill will also receive a $250 gift card. Her daughter and son-in-law will accompany her to the celebration.

According to the Cheddar's culinary team, most of the submissions were casseroles, and many of the repeat recipes were corn, hash brown and sweet potato recipes.

Contact Vickki Dozier at (517) 267-1342 orvdozier@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@vickkiD.