ROME — Years spent creating cheesecakes, cookies and pasta dishes with his mother, Rose, in their family kitchen continue to motivate and inspire local baker James Daino.

Daino, the principal of John E. Joy Elementary School, is currently turning up the heat in the ongoing competition to be named Bake from Scratch magazine’s Greatest Baker of 2022. He just made the Top 10 in his group via online voting Thursday evening.

Now, he hopes to continue his success by entering the Top 5. The cutoff for voting for the Top 5 is at 10 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 24.

Rather than an actual baking competition with critiques from a professional judge, this contest is solely virtual so all voting is made online by Daino’s supporters.

“Everyone who has been voting for me has made me speechless,” he said. “I’ve been so overwhelmed.”

Public voting began Oct. 24. Once entered into the contest, the competitors were divided into groups and advanced thanks to popular vote. Daino made it into the Top 20 on Nov. 3 and the Top 15 on Nov. 10.

After the Top 5 is announced, the group finals then run through Dec. 1. The preliminary winner in each group will then advance to the overall quarterfinals, running from Dec. 5-15. The semifinals are from Dec. 6-22 and the finals run from Dec. 23-29.

The grand prize winner of the 2022 Greatest Baker Competition will be announced Dec. 29.

Along with the prestige of that title, the winner also takes a $10,000 prize and will be the subject of a feature article in Bake From Scratch magazine. Daino said if he wins he will use that money to finance a cookbook in memory of his mother.

He said he knows his late mom would appreciate all of the support he has received in the competition. “If my mother were here, she would be overwhelmed by the reception of so many people supporting my vision to write a cookbook in her name,” Daino said.

At press time, Daino still maintains his long-running first place standing in his group. To cast a vote, visit www.bit.ly/3tgVG3x.