To suggest I would ever receive any kind of inspiration from the Fox TV Network program called Hell's Kitchen for me would be ludicrous. It would be the last place in the vast waste land of prime time television I would expect, to watch foul mouthed master chef Gordon Ramsey belittle and humiliate restaurant owners and their kitchen employees as if he were a Marine boot camp drill instructor; or so I thought. That was a few months ago and now my opinion of the show has made a one-eighty. At first, the show was a little too much for me, but like millions who have become fans of the show, people are realizing why he commands respect, even to make restaurant owners cry or make them fighting mad. Even though I thought it entertaining because a lot of Ramsey's cutting remarks were funny, at the expense of those where the comments were directed. Just like the Marine DI who turn boys into fighting men who burn with pride, shouting Semper Fi (Always Faithful), Ramsey's often cruel criticisms have resulted in a dying restaurant to rebound amidst our bad economy.
During the last few months, a summer replacement show called Master Chef joined the other reality TV shows such as America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, and of course American Idol. Again, like the others, the show was a competition, for amateur cooks, that had thousands of applicants; for those whose dream is to be a the head chef in a fancy restaurant. Gordon Ramsey was the host. There were fifteen thousand applicants that auditioned. Out of that number, only the top fifty would be selected to compete in the television series. The winner of the competition, America's first Master Chef, would receive $250,000 with a cook book deal, perhaps worth millions, and guest appearances on television shows throughout the land.
You don't have to watch the entire series, only the final two hour episode to get the point of this article. You can go to http://fox.com/ and watch a replay of the final episode via streaming video. Believe me, you and your children should watch this because there are lessons in life on display here.
Whitney Miller, is a twenty-two year old student at Southern Mississippi from Poplarville,Ms. She was a long shot at best in the over all competition; the reasoning was that she was inconsistent. However her strong point was in desserts and early on in the contest, she was dubbed the Pastry Princess. She came very close to being eliminated and had to face another competitor by preparing a three course meal in ninety minutes. Ramsey and his two two consulting judges picked their dish. Each participant won a point for one of their dishes but Whitney came out on top when she delivered a perfect souffle, a very difficult dessert to make, in the cook off competition which got her into the final four. The following video is the homemade one she submitted to the producers of the Master Chef show.In hour two of the season finale, the drama became very intense. Ironically, both she and her 
competitor David had the same last name; Miller. Again under intense deadline pressure, both had to produce another three course meal; an appetizer, a main entree, and a delicious dessert.
David went for trying to impress the three judges by going the fancy restaurant style route and presenting a very difficult main entree, Beef Wellington, a dish Ramsey admitted that it took him a thoudand tries to perfect. Whitney chose simplicity. Instead, she chose to go with simple items such as pan fried chicken, and collards, Southern cooking, inexpensive ingredients taken to a much higher level. During the time the two chefs were preparing their meals, David was being very flippant, talking and joking to the audience and his family while Whitney remained focused; not once even acknowledging the audience was there. No one knows for sure, perhaps David was fighting off fear of losing which revealled his insecurity.
competitor David had the same last name; Miller. Again under intense deadline pressure, both had to produce another three course meal; an appetizer, a main entree, and a delicious dessert. David went for trying to impress the three judges by going the fancy restaurant style route and presenting a very difficult main entree, Beef Wellington, a dish Ramsey admitted that it took him a thoudand tries to perfect. Whitney chose simplicity. Instead, she chose to go with simple items such as pan fried chicken, and collards, Southern cooking, inexpensive ingredients taken to a much higher level. During the time the two chefs were preparing their meals, David was being very flippant, talking and joking to the audience and his family while Whitney remained focused; not once even acknowledging the audience was there. No one knows for sure, perhaps David was fighting off fear of losing which revealled his insecurity. 
Disaster struck when the worst for the Pastry Princess happened. Whitney dropped her chicken on the floor with only seven minutes remaining. My heart sank while watching this, because it appeared that it was all over for the twenty-two year old hopeful. She closed her eyes, fighting back the tears, looked up, received her strength and the will to continue from you know where, and started over by flowering another chicken breast. Gordon Ramsey told her that it was virtually impossible to cook chicken to where no pink showed in seven minutes. It went down to the final second when the two were ordered to stop. Ramsey looked at Whitney and said to her, "if this chicken is the slightest bit pink, I'm not going to taste it. I'm going to cut it at it thickest place, and if its pink, I'm not going to touch it." Whitney bit down on her lower lip and waited as Ramsey cut the chicken which he said was nicely, evenly brown on both sides. He looked up to her and smiled, "it's perfect." Whitney's hope was still alive, because David's Beef Wellington failed to pass the test. It came down to the dessert, and again, Whitney chose to go with simple ingredients. It was a difficult decision for the judges to make, but Whitney overcame the odds, even seemingly overwhelming and impossible adversity, and became America's first Master Chef. Never once during the competition did the editors have to bleep something that she said, as they did some of the other competitors, which says to me that she was raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. If you go to Whitney's Face Book page, she comments that she has been "truly blessed."
Whitney said in post interviews that it was a dream come true. Never once did she doubt her ability, laying claim all along that the title of Master Chef was her's. Whitney wanted to have her own catering business, but that dream may be replaced by having her own cooking show on TV. She has already been talking to the Food Channel about having her own show. All possibilities are open to her and opportunity will not have difficulty in presenting itself to her in many forms.
Parents: If your child has a dream to become something special, don't be a dream killer and tell them they can't do this or that. Encourage them to keep focused on what it is they want to accomplish. This lesson really came to me too late in life for I allowed others to tell me that I was "dreaming" and not to be taken seriously. Not blaming anyone, because we are the sum total of the choices we have made in life; good or bad, but I'm sure that was one thing that kept me from being all that I could have been. This is why rags to riches stories about ordinary people; Paul Potts and Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent, and now Master Chef Whitney Miller, continue to inspire me, and I'll write about them.
From left to right Graham Elliott, Master Chef, Gordon Ramsey, Whitney Miller, Master Chef Winner, Joe Bastianich, Restauranteur.all photos courtesy of FOX
