Local woman's oatmeal recipe up for national prize

BOSTON — A Boston woman's oatmeal recipe for her boyfriend may just win her $250,000.

When 28-year-old Karen DeVincent's mother called her last January to tell her about a Quaker Oats contest, it was perfect timing.

"My boyfriend, now fiance, had just had surgery and couldn’t really chew crispy things. I had been making an arsenal of soups and also had made some oatmeal flavors," she said.

DeVincent said she makes dinner at home every night, and one of her go-tos is an apple cheddar rosemary flatbread. Her boyfriend, Nick, said he was really missing those flavors, so she decided to incorporate them into something he could eat - oatmeal.

"I entered some of the flavors (into the contest)...I never expected one of them to be chosen,” said DeVincent.

The Norton native is now a finalist in Quaker's first-ever Bring Your Best Bowl Contest, which invited fans to submit their own oatmeal creations. They received more than half a million submissions, and DeVincent's made the cut.

"I’ve never won anything ever – I was completely in disbelief, and then it was complete joy!” she said.

To those who know her, it may not come as a surprise she is a finalist in a food contest.

"It runs in my veins," she said.

DeVincent's parents owned Spaghetti Eddies in Foxboro when she was a little girl and her sister currently owns Sorellas in Plainville. Growing up in an Italian restaurant family, DeVincent has always been surrounded by food and cooking.

"It's a hobby and something I really enjoy," she said.

She also recently took a new job with Toast, a Boston tech start-up that makes software for the food industry.

Her recipe is up against two others for the big winner in the Quaker contest - the grand prize being $250,000.

DeVincent has imagined a few things which that chunk of change could help with.

"We are planning a wedding...and there are a couple charities we'd like to donate to," she said.

Along with the K-9 rescue she and her fiance volunteer at, DiVincent wants to donate some of the money to Dana Farber. She says doctors there saved her dad's life five years ago when he had prostate cancer and one of the groomsmen in their wedding had brain surgery there two years ago.

Voting for the contest closes Nov. 19, but the winners won't be announced until February so it will be a few months until she knows if she wins.

No matter the outcome, it's certain DeVincent's enthusiasm and creativity with food won't be dampened.

You can vote for your favorite submission here. 

Cox Media Group