Five Winning Finalists in Chefs.com Treasured Recipe Contest to Cook-off in San Francisco for Cash Prize

Chefs.com, a passionate online culinary community that shares recipes, culinary insights and discussions about food and its social connections, today announced the top five finalists and their recipes for the inaugural Treasured Recipe Contest cook-off. The contest spanned three months and received over 1,600 submissions which were initially narrowed down to the top 100 semi-finalists. The final cook-off is scheduled to take place in San Francisco on Feb. 17 at the California Culinary Academy. Over 400,000 votes were cast to select the top five finalists (in alphabetical order): Brian’s Cheesecake/ Anne Kornow/ Dexter, Mich. Crispy- Golden Pork Loin Chops with Caramelized Pan Gravy and Braised Green Onions/ Nancy Mauer/ Minneapolis, Minn. Grandma’s Shoebox Cookies/ Julie Dickens/ Westerville, Ohio Italian Rice Balls/ Gregg Miliacca/ Milwaukie, Wis. Mouthwatering Cheddar Popovers/ Deborah Schachtel/ Nutley, N.J. "We’ve been very pleased with the participation and caliber of recipes we’ve seen from the onset of the competition. To be honest, both the recipe submissions and the voting phase of the contest exceeded our expectations,” explained Executive Chef, Ken Rubin. "Having the top five semi-finalists selected brings this program to a new phase. The winning recipes are truly representative of what Chefs.com set out to achieve – celebrating family traditions, cultures and history. Meeting the contestants in San Francisco and experiencing their recipes will be an honor.” By logging on the Chefs.com website (http://treasuredrecipes.chefs.com/#top100) an individual can listen to a live podcast of the cook-off. The celebrity judging panel includes: Martin Yan, Devin Alexander, Ken Rubin, Survir Suran and Stan Bunger. The five finalists will receive Hamilton Beach Electrics™ All-Metal Appliances, a trip for two to the final cook-off in San Francisco at the California Culinary Academy and lodging at the San Francisco Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel. Each Finalist will be required to prepare and cook their recipe in front of a celebrity panel. The final winning recipe will be selected based on overall flavor (40%), creativity (30%) and appearance/presentation (30%). The judges will evaluate each recipe on a 10-point scale, one being the worst and 10 being the best, through a secret ballot. The finalist with the highest overall score will be declared the Grand Prize Winner and will receive a prize of $10,000. A total of 27 voters won the weekly drawing which featured a variety of prizes including: Hamilton Beach® Eclectics™ Blender, Vollrath Tribute Fry Pan, Chef’s Planet Oven Liner and Spice Mill, or a Mercer 7” Forged Santoku knife and book. About Chefs.com Chefs.com, founded in 2005, and part of JDV Online, the New Initiatives Group of Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ:CECO), is a new consumer-focused culinary website focusing on food and its social connections. The site is a culinary super-site providing consumers with a wealth of interactive features, multimedia content, a courseware library, and a diverse recipe collection. Chefs.com has over 120,000 active members and dynamic partnerships with leading celebrity chefs including Martin Yan, Rick Bayless and Steven Raichlen. The site strives to engage its visitors with helpful and entertaining recipes and information about food as it relates to cultural heritage, history, celebrations and gatherings. For more information about Chefs.com see www.chefs.com. About Career Education Corporation: The colleges, schools and universities that are part of the Career Education Corporation (CEC) family offer high quality education to approximately 100,000 students across the world in a variety of career-oriented disciplines. Career Education is an industry leader whose gold-standard brands are recognized globally. Those brands include, among others, Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America; Harrington College of Design; Brooks Institute of Photography; Katharine Gibbs Schools; American InterContinental University; Colorado Technical University and Sanford-Brown Institutes and Colleges. The mission of CEC, through its schools, its educators, and its employees is education – their primary goal, to enable students to graduate successfully and pursue rewarding careers. For more information see www.careered.com.