Tag: Big Tex

New Blue Ribbon Group Contests @ State Fair of Texas

Enter Our New Blue Ribbon Group Contests at the 2022 State Fair of Texas

Cash Prizes of $200, $100, $50 Offered in New Cooking & Baking Contests 

Dallas-Fort Worth, September  13, 2022 – Calling all Texas home cooks and hobby bakers! You’re invited to compete in our new Blue Ribbon Group Contests @ State Fair of Texas. Up for grabs is $350 in prizes in each of four contests/categories, plus bonus prizes and additional ways to win. Do you make great game day foods that are total crowd pleasers? How about some homemade low-sugar sweet-treats? If you do, then these new contests are for you!

Tom Thumb “Blue Ribbon Recipe Round Up” (Game Day Themed Recipes/3 Categories) 10/2/2022

The first Texas Blue Ribbon Group contest is the Tom Thumb  “Blue Ribbon Recipe Round-Up” on Sunday, October 2. With a “Game Day Delights” theme, the Blue Ribbon Recipe Round-Up calls for crowd-pleasing appetizers, main dishes, and desserts. The event is essentially three contests in one. We want to see your best-tasting recipes that are perfect for parties! Each category/type has $350 in gift card prizes, including $200 for 1st Place, $100 for 2nd Place, and $50 for 3rd Place. Plus, bonus prizes will celebrate overall baking category winners (among the fair’s total contest line-up) and offer additional ways to win, even if you don’t compete at the fair.

Splenda Magic Baker™ “Low-To-No Sugar Showdown” (Creative Cookies) 10/5/2022

The second Texas Blue Ribbon Group contest is Wednesday, October 5, for the Splenda Magic Baker “Low-To-No Sugar Showdown.” This contest includes a free product giveaway – while supplies last – and calls for CREATIVE COOKIES that are low in sugar or sugar- free! Use any Splenda product, such as Splenda Magic Baker, a new zero-calorie, zero-sugar, plant-based sweetener that tastes and measures just like sugar. The product  is now available from Amazon, Walmart and other grocery stores.

Winner Selections

State Fair of Texas official judges (a varied panel of food professionals, local celebrities, and foodies) will decide each contest’s winners based on evaluating entries with this judging criteria:

  • Unique, innovative, creative recipe (35%)
  • Taste, flavor, aroma (30%)
  • Appearance, color, presentation (25%)
  • Texture, internal appearance (10%)

Extra Ways to Win

Be sure to follow Blue Ribbon Foodies on Instagram and/or Facebook or join our mailing list here for a chance to win one of our $25 gift card giveaways. Whether or not you are competing at the State Fair of Texas, we invite you to take part. We will offer random prizes and perks to our community members and followers throughout the 2022 state fair season, which for us, ends October 22, 2022.

Participation Tips/Guidelines – Blue Ribbon Group Contests @ State Fair of Texas

 All state fair recipe/cooking contest registration and judging goes through the State Fair of Texas Creative Arts Department.

  • Get all the competition details here (Jump to pages 19 & 26, for the Tom Thumb and Splenda Magic Baker contests)
  • Only Texas residents can win at the State Fair of Texas. Advance registration is recommended but not required.
  • When you are ready to register, follow this link (TX Registration Shortcut)

 

Special thanks to our 2022 Texas Contest Partners

 

Blue Ribbon Biscuits

These Blue Ribbon Biscuits – made with buttermilk, butter, coconut oil, and baking powder – are based on a State Fair of Texas winning recipe. (Hey there Big Tex). Bake these and you’ll see how easy great biscuits are to make.

Blue Ribbon Biscuits - Best Buttermilk Biscuits

Back in 2015, Krysabelle Gilbert of Lindale, Texas made these blue ribbon biscuits and won “best of show.” She called them “Butter ’em up Biscuits” and they won out of 27 entries in her division. Nice work!

Most Popular Baking Categories at Fairs

Baked goods that year, as always, were a popular competition category. (You may recall the Texas winning Lemon Chess Pie from 2015 on our sister site; also yum). It was a big year. Check out what was entered at the State Fair of Texas that year overall. These were all made at home by amateur bakers, aka hobby bakers, people who don’t earn a living baking.

  • 231 cookies
  • 189 cakes
  • 169 pies
  • 158 breads

Whew! That is a lot of baking! It is also so inspiring.

Home-Baked is Best

Whenever I make home-made biscuits, from scratch, I ask myself, “why don’t I make these more often?!” So, when I had leftover buttermilk from another recipe, I dug out this blue ribbon biscuit recipe, a classic. With just 7 ingredients, all staples in my pantry, and 40 minutes to spare, it was game on.

I greased the pan with butter and measured out my portion for the dough. Then I realized I didn’t have any shortening on hand. (So much for a stacked pantry…) No worries though. I love baking with coconut oil and had plenty of that. I simply replaced the shortening with the same amount of coconut oil.

Overall, I ended up increasing the butter and coconut oil “shortening” amounts from  Krysabelle’s version. After combining those two ingredients into the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar), I added the buttermilk and egg.  I mixed it just until it was combined. That was something Krysabelle emphasized. Don’t overmix. If you want a tender fluffy biscuit, just follow that rule. Other than that, biscuit dough is hard to mess it up. I like that in a recipe.

Anyway, within 15 minutes, my biscuits were ready for the oven.

Blue Ribbon Biscuits - Dough in pan

When they came out, 13 minutes later, they smelled and looked amazing. I let them sit a couple minutes. Then, with oversize spatulas, I moved the entire batch out of the pan and onto a wire rack. I waited a long 5 or so minutes, then smothered one with jam to eat. Delicious!

Blue Ribbon Biscuits with Jelly

Great for Brunch Buffets

I hope you try your hand at these soon too. They work great on a buffet table or for a biscuit bar where people can build their own savory (gravy or sandwiches) or go the sweet route with various jams and jellies.

If you want to round out a Texas State Fair winning recipe theme with your brunch. Search the blog for “Texas” and you’ll find a few options, both sweet and savory.

-Cyndi