Ok, back to the story...........CB became really interested in baking and making her own creations. Twice I have let her make her own recipe cookies and one time a cake. Surprisingly, they turned out ok each time. We have given her a little guidance about ingredients, but not much. She knows the basic things she needs to add and then, just like the pros she tastes as she goes. Anyway, she started asking if she could enter a contest and the only thing I could come up with was the State Fair. I looked it up and although it was August and regular registration was over, she could still enter any of the baking categories. We decided she would enter brownies. Now, it was time to teach her a recipe and in true CB style she wanted to change it and add stuff to it. I think that since September, she has made about 20 batches with all kinds of modifications, some good and some not so good. My main goal was for her to be able to make the basic recipe on her own if I laid everything out that she needed to use. It was her contest after all and I wanted her to take the responsibility in making them.
A quick note about entering the state fair; If you Google "tips for entering the state fair," you will be overwhelmed so I would not suggest doing that. It is a whole different world and there are some interesting people heavily in that world who fight tooth and nail for those blue ribbons!! Some people enter 50 baked goods, from cakes to cookies, all at $15 an entry and they are all working towards the coveted Judges Best in Show ribbon. I was just hoping CB would get Honorable Mention so that she had something to show for her work ;)
So, the morning of drop off, I got her up at 6:00 am to start baking. Her brownies have icing on them and would need time to cool before we needed to leave by 10:30. As you look though the pictures you can also see we went though a couple of costume changes, because when one is baking, you most definitely need to also dress accordingly to the temperature in the kitchen. There were a couple of extra helpers as well. I think everyone ate brownie batter and icing for breakfast, although I was also throwing cheese at them to hopefully off set the sugar high.
When we got to the fair it was a bit overwhelming for all of us and we had about 20 minutes of standing in line. This part was SO MUCH FUN <<insert loads of sarcasm here>>, with three sugared up kids who were in line with people who were balancing their prized cakes. When it was our turn, I was so relieved. They called her in and then we moved to another line to wait another 5 minutes for someone to call her name to a different table. At this table they helped her choose 6 brownies to put on a special white plate with her name card and that was it! It was kind of anticlimactic for the 5 year old.
She was so excited and we had to take pictures to send to everyone we know. It was a good day for her. Her first contest. It was neat to go through the process with her, and I would highly recommend entering the state fair if you have a budding baker. They also have craft and art categories. We may have learned that Lego creations also have a place at the fair! After learning the results, we spent the next 4 hours at the fair eating fair food and riding rides. The fair is always a bit crazy and after making the decision to just embrace the chaos, it was hart warming to hear CB call it the "Best Day Ever!" The South Carolina State Fair 2015 equals lots of memories that I hope stay with her forever! And maybe, in 20 years, we will be a Mother/Daughter team on Cupcake Wars :)
