Bringing National Recipe Contests to Grassroots America...
These colorful and creative cookies are like mini fruit pies. They are crowd-pleasing and easy to make! You start with a delicious cookie shell made with butter, granulated and powdered sugars, baking soda, salt, and flour. Fresh out of the oven (while still in the tins) you re-press the cups (to be deep enough to hold the fillings) and let them cool. Beth Krauss won at the 2015…
This Peanut Dipping Sauce goes perfect with my chicken satay. It has coconut milk, peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, red curry paste, chili oil, and dried chili flakes.If you have leftovers or simply love the flavor and want to use it…
I can say without a doubt, this Chicken Satay recipe makes the best satay I have ever tasted. I make it almost every week and have started making quadruple batches of the marinade to keep on hand. This has been going…
The Mounds candy bar merges with the Almond Joy in this “Mounds of Joy Cake.” It’s inspired by a 1999 1st Place Michigan State Fair winning recipe. Eugenia Adams of Taylor, Michigan made a vanilla version of it and won a Championship…
I’m back on a nostalgia kick: here’s another recipe from 1999. Lemon Raspberry Chiffon Cake. This one originates at the New York State Fair, a first place winner from Luana Impellizzeri of Jamesville, New York.The cake is easier than it…
This goes in the “don’t knock it till you’ve tried it” category. SPAM Ice Cream. The SPAM recipe contest is an annual tradition at dozens of fairs across the country, including the Kentucky State Fair, which produced this winning recipe. It’s from…
Well, here it is, the carrot cake that won me over. It literally taught me to LOVE carrot cake.Can you believe I never liked it? The truth is, my main experience with it was trying a dry hunk from a stale or over-baked sheet…
Here’s another great recipe from the archives: Spicy Homemade Cheeze-Its! It was originally titled “Savory Cheese Crackers” and was a runner-up cookie contest winner at the Minnesota State Fair. Meg Desmond placed third with it, way back in 1999. She…
You will think you won the lottery with these “Coconut Peanut Butter Power Balls.”They are “no-bake” and come together in minutes. You don’t even use a stovetop, but a bowl instead. Their main ingredients are oatmeal, chocolate chips, peanut butter, coconut and…
Meet my new go-to weeknight meal: Turkey Sausage Sweet Potato Hash Bowls. Its inspiration came in waves. First, I’m obsessed with the Korean beef and pulled pork hash bowls at Dayblock Brewing Company in Minneapolis. They serve them on select…
Peanut butter, chocolate and caramel collide in this winning cookie from the 2014 Great Allentown Fair. By the way, if you’ve never seen or competed in a state or regional fair competition, here’s a quintessential “behind the scenes” shot from…