Habits formed and nurtured in childhood are strong determinants of future health and getting youth back in the kitchen and teaching them preparation skills and healthy eating behaviors can make a difference.  The 3^rd Annual Tri-County 4-H Cooking Challenge was the culminating event of the year-long 4-H Cooking Club programs for members from Meade, Hardin and Breckinridge counties.  Meade County Extension hosted the event for 12 members who came together to not only compete for the honor of becoming the Tri-County 4-H Cooking Challenge Champions, but to show off their culinary skills and kitchen safety knowledge gained through their individual county 4-H cooking club program.  Participants completed a skill-a-thon covering: knife skills, safety and sanitation, measuring and culinary terms.  Two guest judges used rubrics to score teams on safety, sanitation, process of following recipe, teamwork and the taste of team recipes; each team prepared an entrée and dessert recipe using a surprise list of ingredients.  Following the cooking challenge, all competitors reported that they could use a knife safely while preparing foods, preferred to use healthy ingredients in recipes, could prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen and were confident that they could prepare a meal for their family.  The Meade County 4-H Cooking team took home the honor of being the 2017-2018 winners; all of these team members have participated in the 4-H Cooking School program for an average of 2 years.