Cedar Hills teen to compete on Food Network's 'Christmas Cookie Challenge' Thursday

CEDAR HILLS — In case you didn't know, it is really easy to get on the Food Network's "Christmas Cookie Challenge."

All you have to do is contact a casting agent to represent you, wait a few years to contact her again when she says you are too young the first time, open an online cookie business, reach out to Tristen Ikaika — a Shark Tank contestant from Orem — to get your cookies in his hands, have him enjoy the cookies and tell his other well-known and well-connected friends, see demand for your business grow, get an account with BYU for its suites during football games, bake cookies day and night and, finally, audition for the show and get selected.

Oh, and graduate from high school with a 4.0 grade point average and start your freshman year at BYU.

Easy peasy — at least, if you are Anya Fazulyanov, a 19-year-old from Cedar Hills, in western Utah County.

"This is just how I function," Fazulyanov said. "Ever since I was young, I've been an entrepreneur. I read cookbooks for bedtime stories. And I'm really good at finding an opportunity and going after it."

Airing Thursdays at 8 p.m. on the Food Network, the "Christmas Cookie Challenge" is a weekly competition between four cookie bakers chosen to participate based on their baking and design skills. The show hosts Ree Drummond, also known as the Pioneer Woman, and Eddie Jackson, a former Carolina Panthers cornerback turned chef, guide the process along, offering entertaining comments and pep talks from time to time.

Fazulyanov was not thinking about being on the show until her casting agent suggested she audition. She did, they loved her and off she went to Burbank to film the episode airing this week. To prepare, she baked cookie after cookie after cookie, making sure she knew how to prepare different ones just in case she needed to. While filming, it took a minute to get used to the cameras, but she kept telling herself, "It's just like you're at home," and all went well.

A future graphic design major, Anya Fazulyanov sees designing and styling cookies as a way to combine her two passions for art and baking. Her mother Christine Fazulyanov can regale you with stories of the artistic brilliance of her daughter: She was always able to draw and paint. She was always determined and goal-oriented. She even volunteered for her sisters' magazine designer. Anya Fazulyanov has been an artist since Day 1.

But mostly, after speaking with Christine Fazulyanov , you realize she was more than a supportive mom, but an inspirational one. Yes, she serves as her daughter's dishwasher and gofer when more butter or sugar is needed. But she also shows her three daughters how to be strong and go after what you want.

"I'm all about taking advantage of opportunities," Christine Fazulyanov said. "It wasn't easy ... I'm running around as a single mom, and I didn't want to derail them. I'm proud of all three of my girls. So far, it's hard not to be a proud mama."

Thursday night, close to 200 people will meet up with the teen to see her shine on national TV. She's expecting it to be fun, given all that support — "I'm an adult, and I don't have 200 people supporting me," her mom said with a chuckle — but soon after, she will think about what she wants to do next. She's slowed down her online cookie shop, where she charges $85 for a dozen cookies, and she does not do as many cookie-baking classes as she would like. It seems BYU does expect you to attend class and complete homework from time to time.

She'd like to do a lot of things, truthfully, the case with many freshmen in college. Today, she is ready to continue her studies, bake custom cookies and encourage other young people to chase after what they want to do.

"Throughout this whole thing, I've realized people really want to help you, help young people," Anya Fazulyanov said. "It's scary, and it's intimidating, but people believe in you. So go after it!"

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