By Lynette Norris
Greene Publishing, Inc.
Madison County Extension Agent Becky Bennett was pleased with the high level of participation in the first ever 4-H Holiday Bakeoff – nine out of eleven categories had entries – and even more pleased with the high quality of those entries.
The Bakeoff wasn’t a “traditional” contest, in the sense that the children were allowed to have an adult help/supervise their baking efforts, and all entries were judged according to whether the level of quality was blue ribbon, red ribbon, or white ribbon; each was awarded a ribbon accordingly.
“We had mostly blues,” said Bennett, indicating a table full of blue-ribbon entries. “And about five or six reds, and no white.”
However, the judges (all out-of-county) did choose one top entry from each category for a Golden Whisk Award, as well as one overall top winner and one runner-up for the Master Chef Award.
The Golden Whisk winners were: Ellie Cherry (Cakes); Gage Washington (Cookies) Journey Aust (Pies); Conner Waller (three wins – Candies, Breads and Appetizers); Noah Blanton (Brownies/Bar Cookies); Emily Minor (Decorated Cakes); and Alexandria Barker (Specialty Items).
The top honor of the evening, the Master Chef Award, went to Journey Aust, 10, for her apple pie with the golden brown crust sprinkled with red and green decorations. Ten-year-old Gage Washington’s colorful peppermint pinwheel cookies were chosen as the overall runner-up.
The awards were handed out Monday evening at the Madison County Extension Office. Even though some of the children were unable to attend, it was a fun, festive occasion for those present and Bennett, pleased with this year’s efforts, was already looking ahead to next year, with many more 4-H’ers involved in an even bigger 4-H Holiday Bakeoff for 2012.
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