NY State Fair, 2006

[Gaelen]

Well, it's been an uneven NY State Fair. :rolleyes:
Most of my entries (the ones I managed to actually *get* to the fair, that is!) scored okay--just not well enough to bring home ribbons in their categories. Several of my entries never made it to judging...my KC Masterpiece Meatloaf (which fell apart on slicing last year) turned out wonderfully this year--but when I arrived to turn it in, they'd judged the class early and didn't take the entry! I was late for work at that point, and a little too frayed to argue that early judging while they were still accepting entries seemed a little...wrong.

I was too exhausted from moving my parents to their new apartment last weekend to even make, much less turn in, four of my entries: Hershey's chocolate cookies (Coco-Almond Fans), scones, Tailgate Treats (Chile Verde), or the Ghirardelli chocolate entry (Black Forest pudding). And the biggest money contest, a totally non-PP compliant bar cookie invented for the Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensded Milk $500 prize, never made it because my dulce de leche blew up all over my microwave when I fell asleep (I've been doing a LOT of that lately!) :eek:

Anyway, the three entries I did manage to turn in last week got okay marks, but nothing stellar. Then today, not really expecting much, I turned in my last entry of the fair (a special contest sponsored by Hidden Valley called "Family Friendly Foods") -- and I took 3rd. Not my best showing, but I can always use another apron and the $50 means I'm not *completely* in the hole for the money I spent on entries and ingredients.

I won't post the Molasses-Cranberry Upside-Down Cake...it's not yet PP compliant, although I'm working on it. I did manage to get the added sweetener down to the 3/4 cup of blackstrap molasses and 2 T. of orange juice. But I will upload my "Favorite Low Carb" entry, Chicken Thighs in Mojito Sauce; and I added my "Favorite Vegetarian" recipe, Edamame Salad and the Hidden Valley entry, Ranch Beans Florentine, to the Vegetable Based Main Dishes (http://www.proteinpower.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145) thread.

As for that poor KC Masterpiece Meat Loaf...it was a variation on the same recipe that I made last year (which is already here (http://www.proteinpower.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44)). I just baked it in the oven this year instead of the crock pot, and added some shredded cheddar to the center of the loaf. Since I couldn't find the KC Masterpiece Low Carb BBQ sauce, I used Hickory Brown Sugar flavor--but if I was making it for anything other than a KC Masterpiece contest, I'd use a savory/smoky low or no carb sauce like Dinosaur BBQ or Stubb's Moppin' Sauce.

At least my tastebuds seem to be coming back... ;) Enjoy!

[LisaS]

wow -- what plans you made for all those entries ! Congrats for the thought & effort - and apron :D

out here, KC Masterpiece LowCarb can be found as KC Masterpiece LowCalorie Classic Blend - "only 10 calories" brags the label - guess how they lowered them? 2TBSP = 0g fat, 0g pro, 2g sugars - sweetened with sucralose & ace K

[Gaelen]

Yeah...I think they tried relabeling it here, too, but it doesn't seem to have much local market share. We have Dinosaur BBQ right here in town, and they're a big favorite.

Unfortunately, most varieties of KC use high fructose corn syrup. However, first prize was $150 and entry into the national contest, so...

I've found over the years that in competitive cooking, you can't make much of a nutritional point if you don't enter because you don't like the main ingredient. ;) For instance, one of the most popular contests--one that actually responded by adding low sugar categories--was Sure-Jell, which sponsored Taste of "Fill in the State" and jam competitions at every state fair. At first, we thought they just weren't coming to the NY fair any longer, but it turns out that they've given up sponsoring state fair competitions altogether--even though they got lots of entries. I've always made lower sugar and exotic fruit jams, so I really appreciated Sure-Jell's approach and supported them by entering every year. Unfortunately, it didn't do much good--a year ago, Sure-Jell just decided contests weren't worth it anymore. There are brand marketing organizations that plan the array of contests for different companies and then 'sell' them to state fairs and other community fairs, and what the entrants want to cook or support with entries has very little to do with it. Most of them offer at least $150 for first prize, several offer as much as $500, and all of them offer publication or entry into the national contest for first place.

So even when I don't really like/use the main ingredient, I'll enter if first prize winners get to go to the national contest or get national publication--and I just enter the lowest carb entry I can manage. ;) The exception is Spam...I have never done well with that ingredient, so I finally just gave it up!

[LisaS]

after seeing your post I went and looked up the local county fairs - one has completed back in July (Orange Cty) but L.A. county starts on Sep 8th - anyway, I was reading the various categories - very interesting. Something to think about for next year. the OC contest info comes out in March - so I guess we get about 4 months notice to develop recipes - as you say, unless some are perenial.

[LisaS]

so Gaelen - I didn't want to start a new thread so I woke this one up - did you have anything at the fair this year?

[Gaelen]

Yep, Lisa...I again only made about four of the eight things I entered.
I was actually really into it this year, and entered some of the days just to get the tickets (because I knew I'd be in NYC.)

However, Fair week was the week that my physical therapists tried to increase and make my back exercises more difficult--and after an hour of PT, I was flat on my back for two days. I couldn't even walk through the grocery store to pick up the stuff I needed to cook, much less stand up to cook.

Anyway, they liked some part of every entry...I got a perfect score in at least two categories of every entry. But then there would be something they didn't like, and I'd lose enough points in that category to be a point or two out of the ribbons. But the stuff I made was fun, and I was really IN to cooking this year and making the recipes perfect. And as much as I like the ribbons and like winning, just feeling like an improvisational cook again was worth it. I'll have to look up what I entered; most of them were low carb recipes.

Edited in on Sunday, November 4:

This year, I entered:
1) coconut cream cheesecake (not really low carb, but tasty)
2) tilapia and fennel gratin (low carb, and very easy--I was experimenting with grilled fennel and dutch oven cooking and the dish sort of invented itself. However, I didn't like the texture of the tilapia...it's MUCH better with tuna!)
3) Hidden Valley Ranch Beans (spinach, cheese, garbanzo beans and Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix--not really off plan, and a good vegetarian option. More or less the same recipe I used last year with some tweaks...someday, they'll like it, I just know they will....)
4) Acquacotta soup (in the recipe forum)