Way to Go! Paige Glennerster, Mastic Beach

Paige Glennerster recently cooked up a victory in a local culinary arts competition. The senior at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach beat 11 Long Island seniors to win first place earlier this month in a contest hosted by Suffolk County Community College's Culinary Arts and Hospital Center in Riverhead. She earned a $1,500 scholarship for the center's culinary arts and hospitality degree program.

Her winning dish was airline chicken breast infused with rosemary and thyme, along with sides of potatoes, carrot risotto and sauteed green beans.

"I like to be able to take a few ingredients and turn it into something that people enjoy," said Glennerster, who studies culinary arts at Eastern Suffolk BOCES' Edward J. Milliken Technical Center in Oakdale.

Participants were each given a "mystery basket" that contained various ingredients, Glennerster said, and they were allowed an hour and a half to prepare a dish of their choice. Meals were judged on taste, appearance, creativity, technique, use of ingredients, and cleanliness of work station.

Jonathan Salgado of Valley Stream Central High School and Jessica Melendez of Sachem High School East in Farmingville were the runners-up.