MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2011 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Hudson, Ward, Albritton, Baria, Burton, Butler (38th), Fillingane, Hewes, Jackson (11th), King, McDaniel
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND CONGRATULATING MISS WHITNEY MILLER OF POPLARVILLE, MISSISSIPPI FOR EARNING THE TITLE "MASTER CHEF" IN THE FOX TELEVISION NETWORK'S REALITY COOKING COMPETITION SERIES.
WHEREAS, Whitney Miller of Poplarville, Mississippi, can now add Master Chef to her résumé. The 22-year-old Poplarville resident earned the title on the September 15, 2010, Season 1 finale of Fox Television's "MasterChef" reality cooking competition series, hosted by celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the title, Whitney won $250,000.00 and will have a cookbook published. Whitney, a senior at the University of Southern Mississippi majoring in nutrition and biology, said it was her dream to win the title and it will help in her other dream of having her own catering business. "I'm so excited," Miller said after she won. "Tell everybody if you have a dream, go after it. You can do anything you set your mind to"; and
WHEREAS, Whitney Miller, who auditioned for the show in New Orleans, was one of the top 50 chefs selected throughout the nation to compete on the latest reality cooking show; and
WHEREAS, a student of nutrition and biology, the home cook impressed the judges with her final three-course meal - an appetizer of Sweet Shrimp on a Crispy Corncake with Turnip Green Pesto, a main course of Buttered Chicken with Creamed Collard Greens and a dessert of Bread Pudding with Raspberry Coulis with White Chocolate Sauce. It was enough to win the money and a cookbook-publishing deal. "Whitney is a brilliant Ambassador for the 'MasterChef' brand around the world," celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay, an Executive Producer of the show, said in a news release. "She is one of the most instinctive, naturally gifted home cooks I've ever come across. Her innate ability to create stunning desserts and cakes, in particular, is mind-blowing. Judges Graham (Elliot), Joe (Bastianich) and I are all thrilled for her, and we are really excited to see what happens next for the Pastry Princess"; and
WHEREAS, Miller lives at home in Poplarville with her parents, Coach John and Mary Miller, and commutes to USM for classes. She owns Glaze, a Poplarville restaurant and catering company. Her new cookbook will feature the Southern food she was raised on, but elevated and with some twists. She's calling it "Southern Hospitality with Whitney," she said, as a homage to her great-grandmother, Mary Strahan. Strahan, 95 and still cooking, taught Miller the importance of being hospitable, she said; and
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we commend this talented young Mississippian who has brought honor to her university, her community and to her state:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize and congratulate Miss Whitney Miller of Poplarville, Mississippi, the Master Chef Grand Winner 2010 and the very first ever FOX Television Network series of "MasterChef," and extend our best wishes to Whitney and her family on this auspicious occasion and in her future culinary endeavors.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Whitney and her family, forwarded to the President of the University of Southern Mississippi, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.