Chicago Nun Uses Cooking Skills To Win Food Network Competition Chopped
(CBS) --She's made good cooking a habit. Now a nun from the West Side of Chicago is shining with the Food Network stars.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole spent some time in the kitchen with the latest champion from TV's "Chopped."
You might say the nun running this West Side food pantry has some divine skills in the kitchen.
Sister Alicia Torres proved she had what it takes to finish out on top last night on the Food Network's wildly popular kitchen competition "Chopped."
"It really hasn't sunk in to be honest," she said. "I am kind of like Ok, this is great. This is for Jesus, we're Doing good."
Though she charmed the judges with her last minute menus and sparkled on camera, life in the spotlight is worlds away from her mission at Our Lady of the Angels in a struggling corner of Chicago,
"A lot of what we receive can be random so we have to learn to use what we receive and be the best stewards of those donations to give people healthy meals," she said. "God doesn't want us to keep our gifts in a bushel basket so he obviously gave me a gift for cooking and he's letting me now use it in a national forum."
Sister Katie O'Leary and others in the order helped Sister Alicia practice by challenging her with surprise ingredients and cheering her on during the broadcast.
"One of our sisters was doing Tweeting or something I am not familiar with," Sister Katie said.
Sister Alicia says her moment in the spotlight is part of her modern recipe for helping others.
"There's no reason why we can't use Twitter or email or even being on national TV to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to the world," she said.
Sister Alicia won ten thousand dollars in the competition and she's using it to help finance the food pantry ministry at the mission.
