Most offices across campus this time of year are overflowing with tempting treats. So this is probably the last thing you want to see: MORE TREATS! But, trust us, you want to see these (and, sorry to say, all we have are pictures).
These are the winning treats from this week’s first Staff Assembly Cookie Bake-Off.
“It was a great community event that brought staff together during the holiday season,” said Lina Layiktez, former Staff Assembly chair who organized the bake-off in connection with her new role as Staff Assembly events chair.
“There was great energy and spirit in the room, and we are looking forward to doing it again next year," said Layiktez, director of Conference and Event Services
The contest drew 27 contestants, all women, each of did her baking beforehand and offered up the finished product to judges and other tasters on Dec. 16, in the multipurpose room at the Student Community Center.
Three judges — Nadia K Byrnes, a postdoc in the Department of Viticulture and Enology; and Pauline France Lestringant and Lillian May Franklin, graduate students in the Department Food Science and Technology — picked the first-, second- and third-place winners. And nearly 50 tasters picked the People’s Choice winner.
Here are the results (you can see the winning cookies and the bakers in the slideshow):
- First place — Cardamom Walnut Crescents, made by Tamar Rein, dispatcher, Police Department. Prize: $50 Target gift card.
- Second place — Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, made by Irene Engilis, museum scientist, Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology. Prize: $25 ٺƵ Stores gift card.
- Third place — Almond Poinsettias, made by Guyla Yoak, administrative assistant, departments of Plant Pathology, and Entomology and Nematology. Prize: ٺƵ Staff T-shirt and Davis Food Co-Op gift card.
- People’s Choice — Pecan Cheesecake Squares, made by Natalia Ocampo, staff research associate, Veterinary Genetics Lab. Prize: $50 Nordstrom gift card.
Media Resources
Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu