Posted by Wapakoneta Daily News, OH on August 09, 2008 at 19:28:34:
By ANDREA POTEET
Staff Writer
With a dash of creativity, a sprinkle of hard work, and a teaspoon of culinary magic, more than 10 4-H members took top prizes in a variety of categories during the 4-H Foods Show, held during the Auglaize County Fair.
Abbey Gray, 15, of the Waynesfield Farmers and Farmerettes, won for best beef dish with her beef manicotti.
She created the Italian dish for her project, “Global Gourmet,” which featured dishes from all over the world.
She said she tweaked the recipe from one a friend had made for her project last year.
“When I found it in the 4-H book, I thought that it was really good when she made it, and I changed it and found another recipe on the Internet,” Gray said.
The dish took her 90 minutes to prepare, she said.
She said she did not plan for her dish to be considered in the “Best Beef Dish,” category, she just made what sounded good to her.
She said making the dish was harder than she had expected, and the beef mixture she and her mother,
Kim, stuffed into the shells kept running out the side.
“We had to figure out a process,” Gray said. “We’d put a spoon in one end of the manicotti shell and with a butter knife stuff the beef in the top.”
She said she thinks her dish won the category because she used beef in a unique way.
Gray has been involved in the Foods and Nutrition program for the last three years. She said over the years, she has learned secrets to impressing the judges.
“Always just be happy,” Gray said. “Be kind and know your nutrition.”
For her category, “Fast Break for Breakfast,” Laura Koenig, 14, of New Bremen, served up a fruit pizza with a cookie as the crust and creme cheese to hold it all together.
Koenig came in second place in the category.
“I liked the creativity of making the fruit pizza,” said Koenig, a member of County Crossroads.
She said the dish took 20 minutes to make, and she baked the cookies herself.
“The point was to eat a nutritious breakfast,” Koenig said. “So you had to think of something that went into a nutritious breakfast.”
Koenig said she knows cookies are not normally a part of a nutritious breakfast, but the fruit topping balanced it out.
“The cookies were just a little part,” Koenig said. “Just a little something sweet to add to it.”
She said she has been interested in cooking for a while but entered the competition for the first time this year after her sister, Sarah, 11, competed last year.
The hardest part of the contest was memorizing food nutrition information and the food pyramid, not to mention facing the judges.
“The hardest part was the judges,” Koenig said. “They asked you all these questions and you had to keep your information straight.”
Sarah Wilker, 13, of Buckeye Beavers, won for Best Pork Dish with her bratwurst and vegetable dish grilled in a foil packet.
“The project I took was Outdoor Chef,” Wilker said. “It was cooking things on the grill. That’s one of the things my family likes to make when we go camping, so that’s what I decided to do.”
She said she wanted to make a beef, lamb, or pork dish to be considered for one of those categories for which special awards are given.
Wilker said she was surprised how easy her meal was to prepare. It took 15 minutes to prepare and an hour to grill.
“It’s really simple,” Wilker, of St. Marys, said. “You just wait and take it off at the end.”
She said the judging was her favorite part of the contest.
“I liked being interviewed and I think that really helps you in the future, knowing the interview process,” Wilker said.
During her four years in the Foodand Nutrition Program, Wilker said she has learned how to impress the judges.
“You definitely want to keep talking and make sure the judge doesn’t have any time to ask you questions,” Wilker said. “That way, they can’t ask you what you don’t know.”
Last Updated ( Friday, 08 August 2008 )
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