Emmaus Resident and her Grammy win Trip to the Grammys

Being the only granddaughter among four grandchildren apparently means you can get away with quite a lot.

Because Erin Emily Stuart’s status as Betty Hontz’ only female grandchild definitely had something to do with Hontz’ decision to let Stuart, age 24, enter them into the Grammies to Grammys Cookoff, sponsored by the Rachel Ray Show.

The pair entered a long-standing family favorite into the competition – country style barbeque spareribs. The sparerib recipe, given to Hontz by a friend, is more than 80 years old and Hontz, 77, has been making the dish for 50 years.

“I didn’t ever serve it to anybody that didn’t love it,” she said.

Even as Hontz, of Whitehall, and Stuart, of Emmaus, set out for New York on Thursday morning to tape the final cookoff of the competition against two other grandmother/granddaughter pairs, Hontz says she still was in a state of shock about the whole thing.

“I am not one to talk in front of a group of people,” Hontz said in a telephone interview yesterday. “I lack confidence. I never thought I could do it. I did it for Erin. I did it for her. I didn’t want to disappoint Erin.”

Disappoint she did not. The big secret revealed by this morning’s 10 a.m. broadcast of the Rachel Ray Show on CBS is that Hontz and Stuart’s sparerib dish beat out the competition, netting the duo a three-day trip to Los Angeles and tickets to Sunday’s Grammys show.

Hontz would only speak to Emmaus Patch yesterday if Patch promised not to let the cat out of the bag about the contest winner until after the show aired this morning.

Now that's she's an award-winning cook, Hontz is willing to share her view on the secret to good cooking...

“Cooking with love,” says Hontz. “Put your love into it. I can’t say that I love to cook, but I love to see people enjoying eating it.”