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Kelowna  

Kelowna woman vying for top spot in Greatest Baker competition

Who's the best baker?

A Kelowna woman with Type 1 diabetes says she needs to rely on other people in order to know if her recipes are any good.

They must be pretty good, because right now Annerien Vermeulen is leading her group in a contest by Food Network celebrity baker Buddy Valastro, or the 'Cake Boss.'

"Baking has just always been my passion. So if I'm not teaching, then I'm baking. And I'm also teaching the students a lot of baking," says Vermeulen, who is also a teacher at Kelowna Christian School.

"Baking has always been my passion, but after a miscarriage, I got diabetes, Type 1. So I bake all this stuff without really knowing how it tastes. I have to ask other people to tell me how my products taste."

Vermeulen says she is in first place in her group at the moment but the first cut is on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.

"The winners from other pools will go ahead and the competition ends in January. The overall winner will get a monetary prize, go to New York and meet Buddy and get an article in a food magazine," says Vermeulen.

People are encouraged to vote and you can vote multiple times for a charitable donation that goes towards
the Andrew McDonough Be Positive Foundation, which supports families dealing with pediatric cancer.

The winner will get $10,000, have a chance to meet Valastro and be featured in Bake From Scratch magazine.

"It all just gives me validation that I'm good enough. If I make something and I see the reactions that I get from that, or if my students bake something, and the pride that they have from that is enough for me, it's my passion."

Vernon's Lana Dyck is also competing and is sitting in fifth place in her division.

For more information on the contest or to vote click here.



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