4-H Baking at the Fair
On Tuesday, July 30, I judged the 4-H Baking at the Clark County Fair. Kids from 6 to 19 years old submitted their work for us to look at, smell and taste, pick apart and scrutinize, for (drum roll please) a chance at winning a rosette for Champion, Reserve Champion or Judge’s Choice. It was a long day, but a great day and there are some very talented young bakers out there!
I do not know the names of the kids that took the top ribbons, but some of the highlights were wafer cookies (overall champion for the day — congratulations!), a raspberry cream cheese cupcake, banana cream pie, key lime pie, lemon poppy seed cake, lemon bars and ginger snap cookies.
I strongly recommend swinging by the 4-H Baking display and requesting the recipes for these creations. They were fantastic! Way to go kids!
Janine Blackwell
Food has always been a main focus of my family life! At 12 years old I picked berries during the summer and at 15 I started work in the local cannery. This was my summer job all through college (my father was the production manager for Norpac Foods for 30 years, so I had an in!) Each summer my mom would can and preserve fruit and vegetables so we could have "good stuff" all year long. I attended a cooking school while I lived in England for about a year, but my life took a different turn and I did not go into food professionally. My sister owns a restaurant in Colorado and my brother works for a blueberry processing plant in Silverton, OR. Like I said- a family affair! I teach video and film at Columbia River HS (love it) but I also love to cook, can and preserve. I work to use as much home grown, locally produced and organic product as I possibly can.