Barbara Hyman’s cheesy chicken cordon bleu pizza is one of the three final selections in Papa John’s Specialty Pizza Challenge. If she wins, she intends to donate $10,000 to the National Wildlife Federation, which she and 10-year-old daughter, Ariel, chose after seeing effects of the British Petroleum oil spill off the Gulf Coast.

“We still cry about the devastating loss of marine and aquatic wildlife there,” she said.

Hyman’s choice of recipe was concocted in a grocery store aisle after futilely trying to convince Ariel that the combination of chicken, thinly sliced ham and cheese was actually a tasty treat. Ariel, under the impression the dish called for blue cheese dressing, was of the “yuck” mindset. Hyman said her father would bring home the meal, which her mother would prepare. It was a treasured childhood memory worth passing along to the next generation.

The pizza features grilled chicken in a spinach alfredo sauce with a blend of three cheeses, a layer of ham, fresh sliced tomato and onion under another layer of baked cheese.

The self-employed, homeschooling mother, is facing off against Blair from Springfield, Ill. and Kendra from Ball Ground, Ga., who are respectively serving up the Big Bonanza and the Workin’ Fire.  But Hyman, a fountain of positive energy and optimism, is not deterred. She has even written a jingle, which she is happy to sing in her folk-song manner as she strums her guitar. Had Joan Baez chosen a career in marketing, she would have been Barbara Hyman. 

To celebrate her one-of-a-kind opportunity, Hyman is offering a discount as unique as her pizza at local Papa John’s locations. On Aug. 2, the day her pizza is officially launched, she will buy you her pizza if you’re the first one to call her from the location having ordered the Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu.

For more about Barbara, go to www.BarbaraHyman.com and for more about the pizza challenge, go to www.papajohns.com.