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WJ grad competes for cooking show

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Jess Dang is not a professional cook.

But the 1999 Walter Johnson High School graduate could by the next Food Network star.

Dang, who now lives in Menlo Park, Calif., was chosen as one of eight finalists on the Food Network’s reality TV show, ‘‘The Next Food Network Star.”

On the show, which premiers at 9 p.m. Sunday, finalists compete in a series of challenges to win an opportunity to host their own cooking show.

Dang, 24, said she’s passionate about food, but only started cooking within the last few years.

Her father used to own a Chinese restaurant in Bethesda.

‘‘I grew up with food around me,” she said.

But what really got her cooking was the inspiration she drew from the cuisine and markets in Florence, Italy, where she spent her junior year in college.

‘‘I just fell in love with it,” she said.

Since then, she’s experimented in her own kitchen.

She decided to send an audition tape for the reality show after she saw a commercial asking for submissions.

‘‘I was like, hey, I can do that,” she said.

She borrowed a video camera and taped herself preparing wonton noodle soup.

She said she was surprised to find out she had been chosen as a finalist.

‘‘I was incredibly shocked,” she said. ‘‘You know you’re competing against thousands of people.”

Out of the eight finalists, only Dang and one other contestant does not have a professional cooking background. Dang works as a management consultant.

If she wins, she would like to do a cooking show tailored to young professionals, she said.

‘‘I would definitely give a lot of time-saving tips,” she said.

To read more about Dang and her experience on the show, read her blog at www.thepetitepig.com.

Bethesda residents perform this weekend

Several Bethesda residents will perform in The Metro Players’ production of ‘‘Morning’s at Seven,” by Paul Osborn.

The play will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church, 3401 Nebraska Avenue, NW. Tickets cost $10.

Frances Bartley Cleaver directs the story of four sisters and their family. The sisters and their husbands, all in their 60s and early 70s, have begun to question some of their life choices when a 40-year-old bachelor son announces his intention to marry his longtime fiancée and brings her home to meet the family. The suspense over the choice he will make causes everyone to re-examine their lives. The reflection upon life choices, and our resistance to make changes — even when they are critical — is enduring.

For reservations call 202-363-4900, Ext. 27.

We salute

Army Pfc. Katherine J. Osburn returned to the Southern European Task Force (Airborne) at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy, after being deployed to Afghanistan.

Osburn, a missile technician with three years of military service, is a 2000 graduate from Walter Johnson High School.

Montgomery mall registering walking program participants

Montgomery mall and Suburban Hospital are currently registering participants for the daily mall walking program ‘‘Stepping Out.”

Mall walkers receive free heart rate and blood pressure checks, and are also invited to a free quarterly breakfast followed by health seminars and other activities.

Register between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday or Thursday mornings at Westfield Montgomery’s Boulevard Café entrance, 7191 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda. Participants must fill out a short registration and release form and will receive a name badge, log sheets for recording mileage, as well as other incentives and prizes.

Mall walkers can also register for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s MS Walk taking place on April 1.

For more information about the Stepping Out program, contact Suburban On-Call at 301-896-3939, option 1. For more information on registering with Montgomery mall for the MS Walk, contact the local chapter of the National MS Society directly at 202-296-5363 or contact Montgomery mall at 301-469-6025.

Calling all anglers

The National Capital Chapter of Trout Unlimited (NCC-TU) will hold its 31st National Capital Angling Show from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on March 25 at Landon School, 6101 Wilson Lane, Bethesda.

The show’s featured speaker will be Gary Borger, a noted author and one of the country’s leading fly-fishing experts, who will address ‘‘Where the trout are” and ‘‘Presentation.”

Additional panels will cover fly and light tackle fishing on the Chesapeake Bay, shad and striped bass fishing on the Potomac, and trout fishing in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

A featured exhibitor at this year’s show is Project Healing Waters (PHW), sponsored by NCC-TU and the Federation of Fly Fishers. The project offers wounded military personnel opportunities to learn or enhance their fly-fishing and fly-tying skills, and enjoy outings on local streams. PHW works with Walter Reed Army Medical Center to integrate these activities into individual rehabilitation plans.

There will also be fly-casting and fly-tying clinics, fly-tying demonstrations, a rod and reel swap, fishing guides, and representatives of fishing tackle and fly shops. Several raffles and a silent auction offer the chance to win fishing trips and more.

Admission is $10; children 16 and under are free. Net proceeds from the show are donated for local watershed restoration, conservation education, and conservation projects.

For more information call 202-363-8900, or visit www.ncc-tu.org.

This column is for you. Share your good news! Feel free to send press releases and news tips. Contact Stephanie Siegel via e-mail at ssiegel@gazette.net, phone at 301-280-3006, fax at 301-670-7183, or snail mail at 1200 Quince Orchard Blvd., Gaithersburg, MD 20878.