This year, I opted to sponsor a new category for the baking contest rather than enter my own submissions. The FrankLynn Competition (named for my parents) required 12 "hand held" pies (savory or sweet) that were 4"to 6" in size. The extension center staff had picked this bakery item; I was just the prize money.
The rest of the baking categories were 3 sponsored by King Arthur (traditional pound cake; biscuits; and that $$$ chocolate raspberry cake I made last year--which the hurricane canceled) and a final category (double crust apple pie) sponsored by the local apple orchard.
So many things went wrong: there was no advertising; usually an entire magazine goes out the month before. Fair attendance was very low due to people losing their homes after the hurricane as well as months of constant rain. And the extension center had lost 3 of their 4 senior food staff members due to budget cuts. There was no one to manage the food to sell afterward and the contest monitor had never been to this fair. The staff person forgot to bring the microphone, so the fair attendees were not informed when the contest took place or that the food was available for sale.
Also...the amount of prize money is...pitiful and barely covers the effort. In the case of that chocolate cake, it doesn't even come close to covering the cost of ingredients. A total of FIVE people entered submissions. Other years, they were lined up out the door to enter the contest.
That said, I still made the cake (again) and 32 hand pies to sell afterward. I had planned on 48 pies, but the insipid muscles in my upper arms gave out at 32 (peach, blueberry, apple, raspberry).
Here are 3 of the four layers so you can see the mousse filling and raspberries:
After the contest, no one knew what to do about selling the items, so I asked what would MY CAKE cost. The poor woman was flummoxed and said $20? Last year I spent $18 just on the raspberries. I handed them $20 for my cake and $30 for my pies and just gave slices to anyone who wanted some.
I probably won't be doing this next year.
The rest of the baking categories were 3 sponsored by King Arthur (traditional pound cake; biscuits; and that $$$ chocolate raspberry cake I made last year--which the hurricane canceled) and a final category (double crust apple pie) sponsored by the local apple orchard.
So many things went wrong: there was no advertising; usually an entire magazine goes out the month before. Fair attendance was very low due to people losing their homes after the hurricane as well as months of constant rain. And the extension center had lost 3 of their 4 senior food staff members due to budget cuts. There was no one to manage the food to sell afterward and the contest monitor had never been to this fair. The staff person forgot to bring the microphone, so the fair attendees were not informed when the contest took place or that the food was available for sale.
Also...the amount of prize money is...pitiful and barely covers the effort. In the case of that chocolate cake, it doesn't even come close to covering the cost of ingredients. A total of FIVE people entered submissions. Other years, they were lined up out the door to enter the contest.
That said, I still made the cake (again) and 32 hand pies to sell afterward. I had planned on 48 pies, but the insipid muscles in my upper arms gave out at 32 (peach, blueberry, apple, raspberry).
Here are 3 of the four layers so you can see the mousse filling and raspberries:
After the contest, no one knew what to do about selling the items, so I asked what would MY CAKE cost. The poor woman was flummoxed and said $20? Last year I spent $18 just on the raspberries. I handed them $20 for my cake and $30 for my pies and just gave slices to anyone who wanted some.
I probably won't be doing this next year.
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