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Heart-Warming Home Baking
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State fairs highlight a state’s culture, traditions, and customs. One can find livestock competitions, displayed gardening, and even mini-flea markets. Fun foods, usually “way-out” fried or “on a stick” foods abound as well as amusement park rides, carnival games, arts, crafts, and popular musical concerts.
Also, many states have Fairs or Festivals that encourage home cooks to share their recipes. State, regional, and local fairs are the stages to experience new ideas, tastes, and fun around the United States. Home baking and cooking are celebrated and “the best-of-the-best” receive blue, red, and white ribbons and small prizes.
See More – Home Baking Association – Link
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Peach Upside Down Cake
One of the desserts served at the Virginia Peach Festival.
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About the Recipe: Upside down peach dessert is covered with brown-sugar topping, fresh peaches, and crunchy pecans/.The dessert, a light textured cake, is baked upside down. It looks so attractive when you add a circle of pecans around the cake. There is no better way to celebrate the arrival of fresh, juicy peaches than serving them as a warm-from-the-oven dessert.
See More – Peach Upside Down Cake
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Crispy Herb Roasted Tomatoes
Juicy farm-fresh tomatoes seasoned with garden herbs.
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About the Recipe: Tomatoes are celebrated and featured in many local and state fairs. This simple recipe is a classic recipe for roasted tomatoes on a bed of crispy herb- flavored crumbs. It’s delicious to serve as a side dish to accompany a summer entrée.
See More – Crispy Herb Roasted Tomatoes
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Tomato Jam
Get inspired and turn those fresh tomatoes into tomato jam.
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About the Recipe: Here is a great idea for all those garden-fresh tomatoes – make some tomato jam. It’s smoky, spicy, and made in a skillet.
Use it on burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches; farm-fresh fancy toast, or even breakfast sandwiches. Get creative and add your own flavors.
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Linda Skeens – Blue Ribbon Champion
Linda Skeens, a 74-year-old grandmother from Appalachia won 30 ribbons at the Virginia/Kentucky District Fair and swept all the awards for best cookies, candy, and savory bread. She added blue ribbons for cake, pie brownie, sweet bread, and overall baked goods. She didn’t stop there and added ribbons for canned tomatoes, canned corn, pickled peppers, sauerkraut, relish, spaghetti sauce, jelly, and jam.
Photo Courtesy Linda Skeens
She has been celebrated across the country and went viral on the Internet.
She now is the author of Blue-Ribbon Kitchen: Recipes and Tips from America’s Favorite County Fair Champion. Her book shares more than 30 of her prize-winning recipes and 70 family favorite dishes.
Photo Courtesy of Linda Skeens
Wanting to know her winning secret, we chatted with Linda, who has been cooking for her loved ones and entering county fairs for decades.
She is truly a Heart-Warming Home Baker.
The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other fine bookstores across America.
Linda Skeens Interview
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Mexican Cornbread
Award winning Linda Skeen’s favorite recipe
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About the Recipe: The cornbread, studded with green chilies and bits of corn, is easy to make since you mix all ingredients in a bowl. It could be served with spicy soup, chili beans, or your favorite barbecue entrée.
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Peach Hand Pies
An award-winning recipe from Linda Skeens.
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About the Recipe: Do you think that you could make an award-winning pie using just five ingredients? Well, Linda Skeens did. Her mini hand pies used canned peach pie filling, making it a fast and flavorful recipe. She likes the flaky crust because it complements the soft filling.
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Mother’s Sticky Buns
Photo Courtesy of Leigh Turben
Martha Potter (McKee) Schaefer’s delicious sticky buns.
Her daughter, Leigh Turben, shared this treasured recipe.
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About the Recipe: Sticky buns are popular breakfast treats that are filled with cinnamon/sugar flavor and covered with a caramel glaze that sometimes include chopped pecans. The buns bake on top of the “sticky” sweet liquid that creates a caramelized topping after they are baked. The sticky buns can be made ahead to serve for special occasion brunches, breakfasts, or desserts. This recipe is special since the sauce drizzles right into the sweet buns creating a moist topping layer. So yummy!
See More – Mother’s Sticky Buns
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Dilly Quick Pickles
Need some pickles quickly – try this recipe with cucumbers or even zucchini.
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About the Recipe: Can you make pickles express style? Yes, you can with this recipe. It’s as easy as one, two, three. Slice the cucumber; pour “easy-to-mix-up” brine over slices, topping with fresh dill over; close up the jar and refrigerate. Yes, it’s that easy. The pickles are ready to serve in just minutes.
See More – Dilly Quick Pickles
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Coco-Almond Crunch Cookies
Lisa Brady’s Best Cookie Overall 1998 cookie from Arkansas State Fair
About the Recipe: Lisa said that this recipe started as a chocolate chip cookie recipe from her grandmother. Lisa loves to enter recipes into the fair and is a frequent competitor. Her recipe does have that wonderful texture of chocolate chip cookies, which also is enhanced by adding almonds and almond extract. Cookies are always everyone’s favorite.
See More – Coco-Almond Crunch Cookies
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All-American Wagyu Smashburgers
Raise the bar and prepare the best, juicy burger.
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About the Recipe: One of the most delightful burgers stacks two patties with blankets of melting cheese and just a few colorful condiments. To create this outstanding burger, add some Wagyu beef known for its juicy beef flavor. This will increase the flavor of the crispy edged burger and have those juices dripping down your chin. Oh, so yummy!
See More – All-American Wagyu Smashburgers
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Potato Chip Dippers
Have lots of fun dipping them in different melting chocolates.
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About the Recipe: The yummy treat is a winner. The sweet chocolate adds that soul satisfying flavor to the crisp, salty potato chips. Perfect to serve at your backyard party or at-home game-day get-together. Caution- watch out because the chocolate will melt in warm weather. Keep chilled until serving with some extra napkins. The bonus is that they will stay crisp if covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.
See More – Potato Chip Dippers
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Fun Fair Popcorn
Create a light, healthy snack using your favorite freeze-dried fruit.
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About the Recipe: Popcorn is a whole grain, which is high in fiber. It also has protein, vitamins, and minerals. A bonus is that it is low in fat, sugar, and has no cholesterol. However, ready-to-eat popcorn adds large amounts of fat and sugars.This popcorn is light, fluffy, and coated with 100% real fruit flavor. It can be prepared with any freeze-dried crushed fruit for a fantastic flavor addition. We especially liked the strawberry flavor, and it looked so attractive served in a summer bowl.
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Snackerjax
If you loved Cracker Jack®, you would love this caramel coated popcorn snack, even though there won’t be any hidden toy.
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About the Recipe: The caramel coated popcorn snack combines a sweet flavor taste with the savory spices of cumin and paprika. It’s delicious to serve this nibble food for all those fun picnics and yard parties. Beer nuts add an extra salty/sweet flavor to the popcorn. Have fun with this recipe!
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