Something’s cooking in the kitchen

Crisp, white uniforms rested on wire hangers as three students cleaned a model kitchen.

"I love this song," Nicole Bazar, a senior at Arbor View High School, said as the gentle sounds of "Tiny Dancer" by Tim McGraw played in the background.

Fellow senior Ashley Funk, who was sweeping, nodded her head as junior Travis Botsford put away kitchen supplies.

"We're amazing," Funk said with a laugh as Bazar jumped and twirled around her.

The three are members of Arbor View's Family, Career and Community Leaders of America and Prostart Club. The organizations are separate food-service industry training groups that hold student culinary competitions throughout the year.

Bazar, Funk and Botsford have attended many of these contests with various successes. At a state competition earlier this year in Reno, they placed third overall, despite a few setbacks.

"Ashley burned the chocolate sauce for the dessert -- twice," Botsford said in a whisper as Funk wiped off the kitchen counters.

Funk described the competition as a learning experience.

"I was so disappointed in myself," she later told her two cohorts. "Then you guys reassured me, and I felt better."

Teasing, learning and competing come naturally to these three, as does cooking.

"I cook a lot at home, and I watch the Food Network at home 24/7," Bazar said.

Bazar's grandmother, Dottie Scott, said her granddaughter has spent so much time in the kitchen preparing meals for her grandfather, Bill, and for others that Scott rarely finds herself in the kitchen anymore.

"I've almost given up," she said.

She said Bazar's infatuation with food began at a young age.

"When she was little, she was a very good eater," Scott said.

Botsford said he always has cooked at home.

Brandi Williams, a friend of Botsford's, said his passion for baking comes through even during the school day.

"Every time he has a class project to do, he talks about how he'll do the frosting and how he'll make the flowers," she said. "It's awesome."

Funk developed her interest in baking as a child.

"My grandma, she was the one who inspired me with baking," she said. "I relate baking to being happy."

Funk's grandmother, Galene Robinson, said her granddaughter "has a goal in her head" and has been working toward it for some time.

"She's always, always, always wanted to be a pastry chef," Robinson said. "She really hasn't deviated from that."

All three of the young chefs have family support encouraging them to pursue their culinary dreams.

"They cooked for one of the people that I worked for," Scott said. "Those kids did a very good job. They're all just very good kids."

The group has been exposed to workshops on culinary techniques, as well as lectures from professional chefs. However, each continues to grow, adviser Nancy Ball said.

"They're there to help each other out," she said.

Ball called Bazar the group's "comic relief." She referred to Funk as the "responsible one" and Botsford as "the guy."

Funk said the group acts more like family than classmates.

"I'm like the mother of the group," she said. "I take care of everyone."

Bazar said the three work as a team.

"If somebody has a bad day, we make sure that they're happy," she said. "We are a family. Ms. Ball's like the crazy aunt."

Ball likes to see herself more as a restaurant manager than a crazy aunt, but she does agree that the three function like a family.

"They all pull each other together," she said. "They laugh together and enjoy spending time together."

Ball said each group member has an area of expertise, and each individual's contribution during competitions is guided by what he or she does best.

"Ashley loves baking, Travis is getting into baking more this year, and Nicole loves to cook," the adviser said.

Botsford and Funk both hope to go to college and earn degrees in the culinary arts. Bazar also dreams of going to cooking school and pursuing teaching, but she said she has little interest in baking.

"I can't bake for anything," she said. "The last time I tried to make cookies, I burned them."

While they joke about their skills, the three have become a staple at school events. The list of school functions they have catered is extensive.

The Principal's Breakfast, the school career fair, wrestling and football banquets, Arbor View's Madrigals dinner, and lunch for a committee of the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools are just a few of the meetings and events for which they have prepared meals.

Bazar said the most difficult aspect of cooking is the cleanup process.

"That's why I can't wait till I'm a famous chef, so I can hire someone to clean up for me," she said with a chuckle as she slid across the kitchen floor.

The three spend many afternoons together in Ball's classroom or in the attached kitchen to perfect their techniques.

"Sometimes I think I see them more than their parents do," Ball said.

Funk said their time together has helped them form a close bond, which has enhanced their professional relationship.

"I don't know what it is," she said. "We just work so well together. We always just know who's good at what. We just fit together."