Angela Riley was feeling good when she finished making her scotch deviled eggs with six minutes to spare during the “Egg-citing and Devilishly Good” competition at the Ohio State Fair over the weekend.
It was when she walked around to look at the other competitor’s deviled eggs that she began to worry.
“I was floored,” said Riley, a northern Delaware County resident. “I thought, ‘well, I gave it a shot.’ I thought I might have a chance at fourth place.”
But when fourth and third place were called, Riley assumed that her eggs weren’t going to place.
“Then (the judge) walked closer and closer,” Riley said. “When he stepped by my egg, I was shocked.”
Riley walked away with second place out of 13 competitors, and she also earned the award for a first-time entrant.
“I was so excited,” Riley said. “I grinned like an idiot the entire time. At that point, there was no getting that stupid smile off my face. I was very excited and shocked.”
The decision to enter the competition was motivated both by Riley’s love of cooking and her desire to try new things.
“I’m a big believer in bucket lists,” Riley said. “I get these ideas of things to do and I love cooking, so I decided I was going to enter a state fair competition and hopefully place.”
During the competition, Riley said the cooks were given a limited number of eggs and a specific time limit, and tasked with coming up with an original deviled egg recipe.
“I started to think of creative ideas not realizing that my fellow competitors were insanely creative,” Riley said. “I didn’t think I had a shot, but it turned out well.”
Riley said she made a scotch deviled egg, which included sausage and bread crumbs. Riley joked that she knew she would not win “best looking eggs” because the recipe “is not pretty.”
“It was far more intense than you think a deviled egg competition in Ohio would be,” Riley laughed. “(The judges) go around and try and talk to you and interview you while you are cooking, and I was like ‘no, I’m chopping, I can’t talk!’”
Riley is a court services analyst and trainer coordinator for the Delaware County Juvenile Court and said her coworkers taste-tested the recipe before the competition
“My coworkers have been very supportive,” Riley said. “I came in to decorations. I was surprised at how happy everyone was for me and excited.”
Riley said the reception at work hasn’t been all positive, though.
“There have been a lot of egg puns, and that can stop,” Riley laughed. “Do you know how many egg puns I’ve heard in the past couple days? It’s terrible!”
Riley said she probably won’t do another competition and said she’s happy to have crossed the competition off her bucket list. Riley said the rest of her bucket list, for the moment at least, includes continuing to learn another language and travel.
