In Challenge 7, home cooks Martha Garmon and Alexandra Zades of Schaumburg were faced with tilapia, scallions, cauliflower, courtesy of Amita Health and turmeric.

In Challenge 8, cooks Christina Anderson-Heller of Wood Dale and Sylvia Schafer of Cary faced with Porte Brown’s challenge to create a brunch menu for less than $25 using a gift card from Valli Foods. See what they can up with on Page 5.

Today, we hear from these cooks about their inspirations, trials and errors, thoughts, feelings on the ingredients and more.

Next week, we’ll hear what the judges thought about recipes submitted by cooks in Challenges 7 and 8 and their final decisions.

We’ll also offer a rundown of the challenges coming in Round 2, some of the secret ingredients and more information about the live cook-off on Nov. 1 in Itasca.

Enjoy!