Minnesota State Fair Ribbon Anticipation

Each year hundreds of people line up on State Fair Bake Goods Entry Day to submit their baked goods into the running for a State Fair ribbon.  I look forward to this date because it means I can finally stop baking and and get back to trying to lose 10 pounds!  

My friends and family do not look forward to this day. Entry Day means I will not be using them as guinea pigs to test my baked goods until next summer.  After drooling over the baked goods in the show cases for 20 years, about nine years ago I decided to enter something. The first year I entered I won nothing other than the experience. If you are in the top 25 entries they judge your item so you can see what needs improvement. I was in the top 25.  I was thrilled!  It was fun to enter just for the heck of it.  

However, after you finally win a ribbon be careful-you expect another.  This year I entered six items, but baked seven times :^( My strawberry bread did not come out as good as I thought it should (as usual I did not read the State Fair notes I made from the year before) so I baked it again. Of course after allowing the first batch to cool, it ended up being the better batch.  I said to myself: Oh Well!!  

My favorite things to do at the State Fair are:

Eat a foot long hot dog, visit the creative activities building to size up the competition and drool over the most amazing baked goods I ever see, try a new fair food (last year I tried sweetcorn ice cream-it was good), take in a show at the 4H building (while resting my aching feet!), listen to a free concert at the Leinenkugel stage, visit International Village and take in a free concert there, visit the horse and poultry barns, visit the horticulture building, and get a chocolate malt from Sadie's.   Whew!!!