Daniel Knight has made the cross-country journey, participated in stiff competition and been subjected to more than two days' worth of filming and interviews.

Now, all he can do is wait.

The owner of Blue Collar Joe's in Daleville traveled to Denver in November to compete in an episode of the popular television show "Food Network Challenge."

During each episode, chefs compete against one another, preparing their specialties on deadline for a chance to win $10,000 and a gold medal.

Anybody who frequents Blue Collar Joe's, which is located in a former gas station on U.S. 220, knows that Knight's specialty is doughnuts (spelled "donuts" on his menu). But these aren't just any kind of doughnuts -- his shop prepares and sells highly unusual doughnuts in signature flavors such as caramel apple pie, Reese's Pieces, s'mores and the enormously popular blueberry pancake breakfast, a blueberry donut iced with maple frosting and dusted with bacon bits.

Knight's circular works of culinary art eventually drew attention from Fox News, which included them in a July 2010 story about "extreme doughnuts." In early fall, he was invited to be a contestant on the Food Network Challenge.

Knight took this opportunity seriously, deciding to drive to Denver a week early in order to test his recipes in a high altitude setting.

"It wasn't bad at all. I had to make a couple of little tweaks but I was able to figure it out within a couple of days," he said. "But I'm very happy I went out. It let me acclimate and spend some time getting my head together for the competition."

Did he win? Well, anyone who has watched reality television can probably guess he is not allowed to say before the show airs, no matter how excited he is to talk about a secret guest judge who showed up.

"I'm not allowed to reveal anything whatsoever about the show itself," he said. "I can tell you that it was so much more fun than I expected it to be ... I would do it every day if I could."

Knight said he expected the experience to be "flat-out nerves, stress and confusion." But although he endured a grueling schedule of shoots and interviews, he said the Food Network Challenge crew and his competitors made the experience enjoyable.

"Even though it was a competition, it was a very good-spirited, healthy competition."

The Food Network Challenge folks can only tell Knight that the doughnut episode will air in late spring. He said the crew films all their episodes in October and November, then hands them over to the Food Network television channel, where programmers work out the schedule.

The Food Network Challenge will do its best to give competitors two weeks notice before their episode airs, he added. He said he would be incredibly surprised if his episode does not show.

"It was nothing but good television."

Keep up with Knight's adventure here or on Blue Collar Joe's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bluecollarjoes.