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His love for cooking is ... ALL in the FAMILY
By JoAnn Jones
HOWLAND
Anthony “Tony” Dolby of Howland grew up around food.
“My family was always into cooking,” Dolby said. “My grandmother was a cook at the Italian Club in Farrell, [Pa.] and I was always around washing dishes or helping out.”
“My mother had her own catering business for 15 years and just retired,” he added. “My whole family cooks. It’s just fun to do.”
Dolby’s love for cooking paid off when he entered a cooking contest sponsored by Taste of Home magazine and won $2000. He beat more than 1400 contestants in the Every Day, Every Way mushroom recipe contest by pairing mushrooms with flank steak and sherry.
“I was unemployed and between jobs, just surfing the Net one day,” Dolby said. “I had just made the flank steak dish so I thought I’d just stick that recipe out there.”
“And then I kind of forgot about it,” he said.
Dolby was on vacation when he got an e-mail about the contest.
“I didn’t believe it,” he said. “I thought they just wanted my credit card or something, because I’d forgotten I’d put it in.”
When he returned to Howland, he checked out the e-mail and found out it was legitimate.
“My mom was excited, and my grandma was really excited,” Dolby said. “Grandma had won a Betty Crocker contest years ago and received $50.”
Dolby and his wife, Christine, have been fortunate enough to travel to places such as New York City to sample dishes in many restaurants, he said. But they also like to cook and eat at home.
“Cooking is my relaxation,” he said. “On Friday and Saturday we get in the kitchen and come up with different dishes. My wife loves our Sunday pasta dinners, too.”
The Dolbys also spend time with family members trying out different foods.
“Sometimes we go to my mother’s, sometimes my grandmother’s, and my uncle’s, too,” Dolby said. “There’s always pasta, but just a variety of sausages or chicken, and, of course, lots of sides.”
Although this is the first cooking contest Dolby has entered, he said it won’t be his last.
“I think I’ll continue and bring some more recipes from my family,” he said. “I just love to cook so much.”