Lamona Duncan of Dodge City embarrasses easily when she’s in the spotlight. But since she found out that she would have a recipe included in the fifth edition of the Wal-Mart Family Cookbook, she’s been on the receiving end of more attention than she might ordinarily seek.

The cookbook is one of six regional editions annually filled with recipes submitted by Wal-Mart associates. Literally thousands of entries are received, said Sara Sevec is a sales associate with Try-Foods International, the company that published the book with Wal-Mart.

“The recipes are actually reviewed by a group of professional home economists,” Sevec said. “They use everyday kitchens and they try to use everyday products.”

Recipes were selected based on originality, taste and how easy they were to prepare. Sevec said entries were required to use at least one ingredient made by the contest’s sponsors, which include several food companies.

After an associates’ meeting at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in which employees were told of the contest, Lamona Duncan said she “made the mistake” of telling her husband, Brad Duncan, about it. He decided they were going to put a recipe in the book, but she wasn’t as enthusiastic.

“It took quite a bit of persuasion,” Brad Duncan said. “She’s rather shy.”

The Duncans also submitted a hamburger recipe to the contest, but a dish titled “B.D.’s Margarita Lime Grilled Chicken” now fills page 16 of the cookbook. Lamona Duncan said the couple prepared the dish several times before they learned of the contest, and both agreed that they liked it.

“We just wanted something kind of different,” she said.

They agreed on chicken because of its versatality. The chicken can be grilled outdoors or on an indoor grill, such as a George Foreman, Brad Duncan said. He suggested using margarita mix in the dish, and Lamona Duncan added pepper Jack soup to spice it up.

Lamona Duncan learned to cook at an early age, beginning with homemade buttermilk biscuits as a young teenager. But Brad Duncan’s love for cooking came later in life, after he left the Navy in 1990.

“I love to eat,” he explained. “And if you can create it and it tastes good, that’s even better.

“Everyone always says, ‘You don’t know how lucky you are to have a husband who loves to cook,’ ” Lamona Duncan said. “Everybody asks, ‘Has he got a brother?’ and I say, ‘Yeah, but he doesn’t cook like that — and he’s married.’ “

Lamona Duncan said her husband does most of the cooking in their house. “He’s always sitting around thinking of new things to cook.”

“I have a long commute to work, so I think of things that just come to me,” explained Brad Duncan, who is an inside sales person for Southern Controls in Decatur.

“I’m my worst enemy because I don’t write it down.”

Lamona Duncan said her husband sometimes spends hours on a Sunday afternoon preparing lunches for the week.

“I’m more of a junk food cooker — sweets, cakes, pies,” she said.

In fact, her family regularly argues over whether she’ll bake a coconut or carrot cake each Christmas. She expects carrot cake to win out this year.

Brad Duncan, on the other hand, said his favorite dish to make is southwestern chili. It is comprised of 20 ingredients and prepared in a slow cooker.

“They clean it up at church,” he said.

Brad Duncan said that though he hasn’t done anything like this in the past, he would probably enter a contest like this again.

“I have to do it without her knowing it, though.”

Since the announcement of her recipe’s inclusion in the book, Lamona Duncan said she has been the subject of some good-natured teasing at work. Some co-workers have taken to comparing her to Martha Stewart.

“It makes work a little bit more fun, so I can take it,” she said. “I just go along with it and say, ‘Just wait, I’ll be on T.V. next.’ “

And when people ask her for the recipe, she responds, “No, you’re going to have to go to Wal-Mart and buy the book,” she explained with a grin.



The details:

Wal-Mart Family Cookbook

Includes more than 80 recipes, divided into appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, desserts and brand recipes

Available for $4.96 at Wal-Mart stores