Deborah Schachtel from New Jersey Wins $10K Prize in Chefs.com Treasured Recipe Contest for Mouthwatering Cheddar Popovers

Chefs.com, a passionate online culinary community that shares recipes, culinary insights and discussions about food and its social connections, today announced that Deborah Schachtel from Nutley, N.J. was voted the grand prize winner for her Mouthwatering Cheddar Popovers recipe at the inaugural Treasured Recipe Contest cook-off at the San Francisco California Culinary Academy. The contest spanned three months and received over 1,600 submissions which were initially narrowed down to the top 100 semi-finalists and eventually to five finalists. A panel of five well regarded celebrity judges comprised of Devin Alexander, Stan Bunger, Survir Saran, Stanislav Dulman and Martin Yan had lunch with the five finalists and went on to watch them prepare and cook their winning dishes. "It was an honor to spend time with these inspiring chefs from across the United States and to learn more about their family roots and cooking traditions. As a chef, this is one of the main joys of cooking – reflecting on your favorite family recipes,” explained Devin Alexander, NY Times Best Selling Author of ‘The Biggest Loser Cookbook’ and ‘Fast Food Fix’. "I am a chef that focuses on healthy yet decadent eating and from that perspective I am also eager to study the winning recipe in more detail to potentially adapt it toward the nutritious guidelines that our country is moving towards.” Alexander’s cooking show, "Healthy Decadence with Devin Alexander” premieres on Discovery Health Channel, March 29, 2007 at 10:30 p.m. Eastern. "Chefs.com, in particular Executive Chef Ken Rubin, did a wonderful job on this contest and on behalf of all of the judges; I would like to salute their effort.” Over 400,000 votes were cast to select the top five finalists (in alphabetical order): Anne Kornow (Dexter, Mich.), Nancy Mauer (Minneapolis, Minn.), Julie Dickens (Westerville, Ohio), Gregg Miliacca (Milwaukie, Wis.), and eventual winner Deborah Schachtel (Nutley, N.J.). Each finalist received a 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. The Finalists were required to prepare and cook their recipe in front of the celebrity panel of judges. The final winning recipe was selected based on overall flavor (40%), creativity (30%) and appearance/presentation (30%). The judges evaluated each recipe on a 10-point scale, one being the worst and 10 being the best, through a secret ballot. Deborah Schachtel achieved the highest overall score and was declared the Grand Prize Winner at 4:45 p.m. Pacific, Saturday, Feb. 17 and received a cash prize of $10,000. "I am thrilled to have received this prestigious honor and am thankful for the entire experience,” said, Deborah Schachtel. "This cherished family recipe has been in my family for generations. With every holiday and special occasion the Mouthwatering Cheddar Popovers bring the family together to celebrate the joy and love that we have for one another. I want to thank Chefs.com, all the contestants involved, and the judges for a truly memorable experience.” 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.