Karen's Cooking Contest is the 93rd book in the Baby-Sitters Little Sister series.
Back Cover Summary[]
Karen's class is making a cookbook. Karen and her friends asked celebrities to send in recipes. But nobody has sent Karen any recipes. Boo!
Karen knows a very special recipe. But it belongs to Nannie and it is supposed to be secret. What will Karen do?
Summary[]
Karen's class is creating a cookbook! Each student wrote to five celebrities asking for recipes to include in the cookbook. As the replies pour in, it seems as though everyone is hearing from their celebrities... except Karen.
Meanwhile, Nannie has decided to enter a local cooking contest. She and Karen work together to create a recipe for dipping chocolate. They call it Chocolate Magic. Nannie and Karen go to the first round of judging in Stoneybrook and win! The following weekend, they travel to the state contest in Hartford, and Nannie's Chocolate Magic wins again. The judges absolutely love it. This win qualifies Nannie to enter into the final round of competition, which includes entries from all over New England.
Back at school, it is almost time to publish the cookbook (which has since been named Tasty Treats, a name suggested by Nancy and voted on by the whole class). Karen is the only student who still has not received a celebrity recipe in the mail. As a last resort, Karen submits Nannie's Chocolate Magic recipe. The only problem is that the recipe was supposed to be a secret.
The next day, Nannie happens to stop by the school to drop off Karen's forgotten lunch. Ms. Colman thanks a very shocked Nannie for her contribution to Tasty Treats. Nannie is so disappointed that she tells Karen that she may not go to the final cooking contest.
Karen explains the situation to her teacher. Although the books have already been sent to the printer, Ms. Colman comes up with a solution. And one by one, Karen rips Nannie's recipe out of all 200 copies of the book. Nannie accepts Karen's apology and is proud of Karen for handling the situation maturely and all by herself. Daddy and Elizabeth are proud, too. Nannie re-invites Karen to the final cooking contest. In fact, the entire Big House family goes! Nannie is sad when she does not win the "Sauces and Dips" category. But as she is packing her things for the long ride home, the judge declares her the grand prize winner of the entire contest! Everyone celebrates!
Back at the Big House, Nannie decides to use her prize money to fund a new business... selling Chocolate Magic to customers all over the Stoneybrook area. And of course, Karen will be her special assistant.
Characters in this book[]
Karen's Family
- Karen Brewer
- Andrew Brewer
- Big House - Watson Brewer, Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer, Charlie Thomas, Sam Thomas, Kristy Thomas, David Michael Thomas, Emily Michelle Brewer, Nannie
Kids
- Ms. Colman's Class: Nancy Dawes, Pamela Harding, Chris Lamar, Jannie Gilbert, Hank Reubens, Addie Sidney, Sara Ford, Leslie Morris, Omar Harris, Ricky Torres, Hannie Papadakis, Bobby Gianelli,Terri Barkan, Tammy Barkan, Ian Johnson, Audrey Green, Natalie Springer
Adults
- Ms. Colman
- Mark Fitzpatrick - weatherman for channel 7 (mentioned)
- Judges for the Cocoa Best company
- Various judges
- Ms. Jewel (mentioned)
- Mrs. Dawes (mentioned)
- Beth Cooper - co-worker of Elizabeth's
Places in this book[]
- Big House
- Stoneybrook Academy
- Hotel in Downtown Stoneybrook
- Hotels in Hartford
- Chez Maurice
Trivia[]
- Inconsistencies: Karen says Rocky is Seth's dog and Midge is his cat. In every other book, Rocky is the cat and Midge is the dog.
- Karen mentions that she's been to Hartford before on page 36, which happened in Karen's Prize.
- This book reveals that Nannie's real name is Janet Taylor.
- Mark Fitzpatrick is the weatherman for channel 7, Nancy writes to him to get a recipe. He sends her a pot roast recipe.
- Karen wrote to her favorite singer, movie star, author, gymnast and the owner of Funland.
- Karen secretly agreed that Pamela was right.
- David Michael has a worm cake recipe.
- Students who heard back from a celebrity includes: Terri, Tammy, Ian, Hank, Sara, Omar all had one celebrity write back. Bobby had two write back. Ricky, Natalie, and Leslie heard back from four of their celebrities. Nancy, Pamela, Hannie, Jannie, Chris, and Addie heard back from all five of theirs. Karen and Audrey else didn't hear back.
- Chris wrote to Tough Tommy Blackcat and he sent a bean dip recipe.
- Addie wrote to a singer named Serena Lopez, she sent Mexican wedding cookies.
- Nanny won a fifty dollar gift certificate for winning the first round.
- Some professional chefs participated in the contest.
- Andrew gets new sneakers.
- Kristy mentions at the BSC meeting only one client called.
- Ideas for the butlers pantry include:
- Headquarters for the BSC
- A soundproof room so Sam could listen to his music loud
- A soundproof room so Charlie can study
- Elizabeth suggested storage
- Watson agreed and would store his fishing stuff
- Andrew suggested a second playroom so the kids could be near the kitchen.
- A clubhouse for Karen and her friends.
- The money for the cookbooks went to new books for the library.
- Karen can't use the toaster oven herself.
- Karen narrates that she and David Michael do not hug often.
- For winning the contest Nannie got a check for three thousand dollars, a trophy, a gift certificate for two hundred dollars worth of Coca-Best chocolate, and a gift certificate for her entire family at he restaurant of your choice.
- The class prints more cook books.