After last summer's second place showing in the dill pickle category, The Reenactor canned not one, but two jars of his pickles with the express intent of winning. Great attention was given to beauty of cucumbers, placement in jar, and cleanliness of lid (NO RUST, remember?) These jars, after canning, had a ribbon tied around them and were stored in the back of the pantry all year so as to not be confused with pickles we could actually eat, or give away. This morning was the day T1, T2 and I got to take the pickles to enter them. Surely this year the most beautiful (he picked his favorite) of the two jars would win. Anticipation ran high as even the little extension homemaker ladies who take the entries exclaimed at the perfection of the pickles in the jar. We all were convinced...especially after looking over the competition...that this year TR would definitely take home the blue.
Meanwhile, I had again made the same biscuit recipe from last year, and I threw in an entry of "perfect cornbread" (that's the name, folks) also from the same worn-out Oklahoma 4H cookbook I got the biscuit recipe from. And again, I had to stand in line behind a woman who had brought in a HUGE box of baked goods to enter...she had an entry in each category possible I think. And I pity the judges who had to actually sample some of that stuff...I swear even the kids were afraid of some of the cookies she was entering. Shall we say her "no-bake" cookies resembled dog poo even more than normal no-bake cookies do? Seriously, it was frightening.
Anyway...we returned tonight to see what won what. The Reeanctor is out of town on business so me and the kids were giddy with excitement over getting to call him with the news of his blue (or better) ribbon. We got there, and DAMN....those extension homemakers screwed him again! Another red ribbon! What gives? The winning jar (the "grand champion" of the pickles) was full of big stems of dill...that is what we have decided was the element that sends those women to the moon in the canning division.
So our attention was now turned to the baked goods. My "perfect" cornbread won a blue ribbon (as it should...it really was tasty!); and my biscuits? PURPLE GRAND CHAMPION!!! Whahooooooo!
HA!
I'm still laughing about this. I never considered myself a champion biscuit maker. Usually I crack open a can of Grands and call it a day.
One more thing...I entered something else for The Reenactor without his knowledge. He took a photo of T2 at the beach last summer that he thought was good from the moment he shot it. I think he had it as a screen saver for a while, and it IS a good photograph. I had it printed as an 8x10 and entered it, along with a photo I took of T1 in a wheat field just two weeks ago in the "fine arts" (HA!) division. Most of you know that both The Reenactor and I have been professional, or semi-professional photographers in our lives....well he can officially say he's a better photographer than I am now...his photo won a blue ribbon...mine a red.
Congrats, TR...it's a great shot. Now figure out how to can a decent jar of pickles!!!
3 comments:
Congratulations to both you and the renactor on a job well done. Have you thought about joining the extension club to get the inside track to the pickle blue ribbon?
Well anonymous, I discovered while entering the stuff this morning that I actually already have a connection in the extension group....a woman who attends our church was one of the women taking entries. She was working in sewing/needle arts...but she might still be helpful with advice.
Perhaps The Reenactor will be the Susan Lucci of the canning division...always the red ribbon, never the Emmy.
So what exactly are the rules on entering canned pickles?
Post a Comment