And the Winner Is...

One thing I have learned since I began entering contests at the fair is that one can never know what a judge is looking for and what it will take to win a ribbon. It's mostly a gamble. You just enter and if you win, great; if not, try again next year. The reason I keep entering is for the sheer pleasure in making the entries and trying something new. I am no chef by any stretch of the imagination, but I do love to cook.

Last year, I decided to "force" Kellie and the twins to enter items in the culinary division. I know Mikayla has an interest in cooking and I want to encourage her in every way possible. This year, I let each child choose their items and how many they wanted to enter. I chose Kellie's for her because, well, because she's Kellie. As I mentioned in my last blog entry, Mikayla chose 3 items and Wesley chose 2. Unfortunately, Wesley's entries failed to place. Mikayla, however, won first place for her truffles!!! I was so proud!!! Just look at the picture to see her face!

Her layer cake placed third! She did a wonderful job for her first try at making a cake from scratch. I will ingrain in her head early on that, for the most part, scratch is the way to go...no box mix for me or her! Now she just has to continue to improve in the skills she is learning.

My entries did pretty well. I knew that some of them wouldn't have a chance at winning. For instance, my Orange Marmalade looked more like thickened orange juice with orange peel than actual marmalade. But I turned it in anyway. Also, I didn't think my Strawberry Jam and Cherry Jam would place because they separated after processing. I have no idea what happened there. Oh well! I will keep trying and learning. I was pleased with what I won, but the best one was the blue ribbon for my Banana Nut Bread. I have entered it for several years now. I won third place 2 years ago, second place last year, and now first for 2008! It will now be retired and I will move on to something else.

Concord Grape Jelly won a blue ribbon.
Chow-chow received a blue ribbon.
Zucchini Bread and biscuits won a red ribbon.
Blackberry Jam placed third.
The Fish Peppers placed 6th.
Besides all the ribbons, we also had a lot of fun and good food at the fair. One of my absolute favorites is a fried PB&J. Here I am enjoying it! I wasn't able to find the ostrich stand. I hope they returned this year! I will look again next Saturday! I have to have my ostrich fix!

We also had a lot of fun riding. This picture is of Wesley and me riding the Traffic Jam. He was dizzy!!
These last pictures are of us having fun on the bumper cars. Dad and I seem to be very competitive while enjoying this attraction! HAHAHAHA!OK. Now I feel like I have turned into Kellie! I have never had so many pictures in one blog entry! We had a wonderful time at the fair and will go again next weekend. The fair is one of the highlights of every year because we all go together as a family and have a wonderful time with each other, ribbons or no ribbons.

Have a blessed day!