TASTE THE BEST: Food is really interesting at the fair

By Heather Mullinix / hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com

I have so many fond memories of my county fair growing up. One of the best is cashing in on the exhibit contest. For a child of 12, the fair meant a chance to win big money.

My sister and I would both work all summer on entries, from sewing projects and cross stitch to fine art and photography. We would pour over the county fair book listing each of the categories and then either go hunting for projects that met the criteria or would get to work making something specifically for the fair.

The food categories were an especially difficult category, though. You can't use a mix for your pie, brownies, cakes, biscuits or cornbread. I must admit, I wasn't aware at that point you could make brownies and cakes without a mix.

Mom would get out her cookbooks and my sister and I would look over what we needed and then get to work. Mom, in the name of fair competition, would only serve as an advisor and would not actively participate in each of our separate cooking projects.

One year, I desperately wanted to make peanut butter fudge. I gathered my ingredients, measuring everything out, and mixed it all up, according to the directions, until it looked like fudge should look. I spread it in the pan and put it in the fridge to chill over night.

The next morning, to my horror, my wonderful peanut butter fudge was still just a gooey mess. I was too ashamed to enter it in the fair. Besides, the rules called for three pieces. How do you cut goo into three pieces?

Then, the brownies. I love brownies. That ooey-gooey chocolatey goodness is the perfect pick-me-up. But, when I wasn't using the trusted mix, my results were far below my expectations. The cocoa powder apparently didn't mix in well, so I had just spots of chocolate with what basically looked like a fallen white cake. But they didn't taste as good as cake. They were awful! I entered them anyway, and, if any judges from the 1989 Fentress County Fair are reading this, I am so very sorry you had to taste those.

But, I learned from these mistakes, and the next year, I had better luck.

This week, the Cumberland County Fair is continuing and you can stop by the exhibit buildings to see what your friends, neighbors and classmates have been up to the past year. The exhibits remain on display through Saturday night.

If you want to try some blue ribbon recipes, these local cooks tempted the tastebuds of the judges and walked away with top prize in their category. Thanks to the winners and the Cumberland County Fair Association for providing recipes.



Blueberry Pie

Filling

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

4 Tbs. cornstarch

3/4 cup juice from blueberries

3 cups canned, drained blueberries

1 tsp. butter

1/4 tsp. blue food coloring

Crust

2 cups sifted self-rising flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tbs. shortening

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

Combine 3/4 cups sugar with cornstarch and stir in juice. Cook over medium heat until thickens and then one minute longer. Add remaining ingredients and let stand while preparing crust. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut shortening into flour. Mix egg yolk, milk and sugar and add to flour mixture. With a rolling pin, roll out to 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut strips to top pie. Pour filling into bottom pie crust, top with strips and bake at 400 degrees for 55 minutes.

From the kitchen of Rebecca Abner



Peanut Butter Fudge

2 cups sugar

1 5 oz. can evaporated milk

1/4 cup margerine

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup marshmallow cream

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Combine sugar, evaporated milk and margarine in 2 qt. saucepan and mix well. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Boil over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and marshmallow cream, stirring until smooth. Stir in pecans. Pour into platter and chill until firm. Yields 16 servings.

From the kitchen of Rebecca Davis



Never Fail Pie Crust

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 cup lard

Measure in cup

1 egg

1 tsp. vinegar

1/3 cup ice water

Pour egg mixture into flour mixture. Knead well. Makes three 8-inch crusts. Donna Davis says that shortening may be substituted for the lard, but it doesn't yield as flaky a crust.

From the kitchen of Donna Davis



Cinnamon Rolls

3 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup sugar

1 pkt. yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup peanut butter

2-3 tbs. cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar

Icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tbs. milk

Mix together yeast and water. Mix with Bisquick, sugar and milk and roll out flat. Sprinkle with peanut butter and cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar. Roll up and slice. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Drizzle with icing.

From the kitchen of Debby Wilson



Banana Bread

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups mashed banana

2 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup chopped nuts

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and bananas. Stir together flour, soda and salt and add to wet mixture. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour into greased loaf pans. Bake at 380 degrees for one hour.

From the kitchen of Ellen Winters



Rich Pecan Pie

4 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup dark corn syrup

1 tbs. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tbs. melted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup pecans

Beat together eggs, sugar, corn syrup, flour, salt, butter and vanilla. Add pecans and stir together. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve cold.

From the kitchen of Janie Evans



Pink Bon Bons

Barbara Braden said this recipe is a new twist on s'mores.

1 piece chocolate graham cracker

dollop of melted chocolate

pink, strawberry-flavored marshmallow

Use the melted chocolate to secure the marshmallow to the cracker. Then dip the marshmallow halfway into melted dark chocolate. Drizzle with milk chocolate and white chocolate. You may top with stawberry glaze. Fresh stawberries or nuts can also be used to top the bon bon and are applied while the chocolate is still moist. Regular or chocolate marshmallows may also be used.



White Bon Bons

Form raspberry fudge into a ball. Dip into white chocolate and sprinkle with assorted crushed nuts.



Dark Chocolate Bon Bons

Use a coconut ball and dip in dark chocolate.

From the kitchen of Barbara Braden

Text Only