The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

I won an award but wait until next year!

Postal Grunt's picture
Postal Grunt

I won an award but wait until next year!

The Leavenworth County Fair isn't a slick fair. The buildings aren't air conditioned yet (not a good thing in August in Kansas), the midway has lots of greasy, deep fried foods, and the rides have an authentic air of danger surrounding them. When you walk around the livestock sheds, you do have to look where you're walking. There's a certain amount of relief about genetic diversity when you see the different breeds that have been forgotten by industrial farms but are still loved by the farm families that show them every year. It's the real thing with duct tape construction contests, an oldest married couple in the county contest, and a Demolition Derby to close things out on Saturday night.

I wasn't really satisfied when I pulled my sourdough loaf out of the oven on Monday night. I thought it was too big at around 765 grams and my slashing wasn't symmetrical or dramatic enough to be of merit.

My French Country Farmhouse loaf had the same problems.

However, I figured that I had committed myself into entering and thought that I could always make it out as a learning experience. The established guidelines for the judges has been to award the prizes based on merit of taste as well as appearance so I felt I had a chance. I drove down to enter the loaves on time- a $0.25 entry fee per loaf- before 9AM and returned home to wait for the 1PM judging.

The judges weren't finished when I returned so I did the tour of the livestock displays. I admit to having grown up in a Massachusetts factory town but I can appreciate the care that the 4-H kids put into preparing their animals. However, after 45 minutes, I had to go and see the verdicts on my projects.

This first picture is my sourdough and the next is the French Farmhouse loaf.

The judges took out small slices from each loaf. One slice for tasting and another for display. I donated the loaves to the Fair for a sale to benefit the building's AC installation fund. I thought that extremely worthwhile. If you had been there yesterday, you might have chided me for being a cheapskate to not donate a little more to speed up the project.

As nice as it was to win the prizes, admittedly against few competitors, I started planning my entries for next year. Smaller loaves in the bannetons that arrived a day late, some glaze to add individuality to the presentation, and slashing to brag about. The best thing about my experience was the 10 or 11 year old girl that came up to me and told me that she had already bought my sourdough loaf. She said her family is Italian in background and having good bread is expected at her house. That's good enough for me.

 

 

Comments

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Nice breads. I imagine those Kansas judges know their wheat.

Cute kid, too.

David

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

no excuses ; )  The Italians are going to be very happy with their loaves. 

What a cute goat...I think he liked you or maybe he just wanted a bite of your Country French loaf.  Great job!

Sylvia

ehanner's picture
ehanner

What a great experience Postal Grunt. It must have made your day when the girl told you she bought the breads. We have some local county fairs around these parts that are similar to yours. The kids have always enjoyed the experience. Thanks for sharing.

Eric

SydneyGirl's picture
SydneyGirl

Congratulations on your awards - those breads make me hungry. 

jackie9999's picture
jackie9999

What a wonderful story!   That's what I love about this forum..little slices of peoples lives. These stories always remind me that bread baking is so much more than just mixing up a few ingredients :)

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

What fun!! Thanks for sharing. Every year I think about entering a loaf or two, but never do it. Maybe this year...

Betty

catlick's picture
catlick

That is SO cool!  And I, got Best of Show for my sourdough last week at the Ventura CA, county fair!  (I gotta say, mine didn't look as polished as yours did!)  What are you going to do for next year?  I entered 14 items....whew! 

Congratulations!  And I love that little goat!

Wendy 

Postal Grunt's picture
Postal Grunt

I have to admit that I enjoy the challenge of lean breads. There's no place to hide my mistakes. There are some Italian breads that I've been considering that look like they could be kissing cousins to the sourdoughs I've been doing.

I plan on working on multi-grain breads at least once a week for next three or four months. There have been so many fine examples posted here in the last few months I feel that I have to take that on; too many flavors and opportunities for creativity to resist.

I still have more than a pound of ADY that I bought at CostCo last year. I have to go back to work with that for my grandmother's Polish Egg Bread so I can send a better recipe back to my family in Massachusetts. My father may have to reach out to the relatives in Poland via email so we can have a more definitive version of the family's recipe. None of my friends here in Kansas and Missouri have seen or tasted anything like it so that could be my Ethnic Bread entry for next year.

My biggest project will be to teach my cousin and his wife to bake sourdough. It might be some work but on the other hand, they live on the water near Boothbay Harbor , ME. The view should be adequate compensation.