blue ribbon day

My family just returned home from our annual visit to the Tennessee State Fair. This was the sixth consecutive year that Chaney and I have entered food and/or photographs in the competitions sponsored by the Fair's Creative Arts Department. 

This year we each had multiple entries in the amateur photography division (Seascape, Animals, Nature, Architecture, and Cityscape for me; Still Life, Action & Sports, Nature and Architecture for him). As usual, we enjoyed browsing through the displays of photographs, and we were pleased to discover an honorable mention ribbon affixed to Chaney's entry in the Action & Sports category.

This was the last year that Chaney was eligible to enter the Bakery Youth Division (17 and under), so he was hoping to go out with a bang. In 2003, the first year that he entered his peanut butter pie at the Fair, he not only won a blue ribbon but also the purple Sweepstakes Ribbon, awarded to the best overall youth entry. He has won some sort of ribbon each year that he has entered this pie (an entry can win only two consecutive years). Today when we approached the refrigerator where portions of the prize-winning pies were displayed, we were thrilled to discover that Chaney had not only won a blue ribbon again but also an orange Overall Division ribbon, a fitting way to end his youthful run at the Fair.

I was pleased to see that my souped up version of his peanut butter pie (sprinkle crushed Reese's Cups and drizzle melted Ghiradelli's chocolate on top) was also on display, since I had been awarded a blue ribbon in the Refrigerated Pie category. Next, we walked over to the display cases where the cakes, cookies, bread, and biscuits were arranged. At first I couldn't find the leaf-shaped, iced sugar cookies that I had entered in the Rolled and Cut-Out category, but then Chaney spotted them on a plate that sported not only a blue ribbon but also a purple Best of Show Cookies ribbon, a division that included 18 categories. 

I will have to write a thank you note to Mrs. K this week. She was Chaney's children's choir teacher for three years (4th-6th grades), and she hosted a party each December for the choir during which the students baked and decorated Christmas cookies. I have been using her sugar cookie recipe ever since it was printed in our church's Advent Guide several years ago, and she will be pleased to know that it has netted me two ribbons!