The outdoor campfire has certainly evolved into an elaborate cooking and preparing room, including our popular microwave ovens. Methods of cooking, preserving and enhancing the flavours of our foods have centered in and around our kitchens over the ages. The kitchen is the centre of our homes.
Today we continue to strive to experiment with new and improved methods to satisfy our eating enjoyment. And the older proven recipes still survive and families continue to use them on a daily basis.
Kitchencraft is the Fall Fair section that presents the judged ‘food’ entries. Baking is the mainstream with breads, quick breads, cakes, cookies, loaves, and pies. This is followed by canning either jellies or jams or pickles, all very popular and kept alive in homes either for the families use or as gifts.
As the Sooke Fall Fair celebrates 100 years, Kitchencraft celebrates 100 years of cooking evolution. On Saturday, July 27, Kitchencraft will be featured to give a sneak peak at what to expect this year.
Drop by the dining room in the Sooke Community Hall for a snack and try one by having SNACKS FOR 100 YEARS! This does not mean the snacks are 100 years old, but foods popular in years gone by. We will be highlighting the following: 1913 bread pudding,1953 jams and Nanaimo bars,
2013 microwave muffins.
We will have a display of old cookbooks – some you might not have seen before.
Measurement Display – We will have a display of the old measuring methods. i.e. 10 eggs are equal to one pound, one pound of brown sugar is equal to one quart, and 4 large tablespoons are equal to one-half gill. And “what is a gill?” you ask. Come and find out!
New theme classes for this year are the following:
Canned Meat (chicken, etc.) 1 jar
Beet Juice Jelly, 1 jar
Jelly Roll with Beet Juice Jelly, 1 Jelly Roll
Bread Pudding, 1 small container with original recipe.
We discovered these classes had been included in earlier years and/or were old family favourites. Bread Pudding can be entered in the dish it is cooked in instead of the new tray as stated in the rules.
Challenge yourself to try making Beet Juice Jelly – your family will love it. As I use grape Jell-O, my children always called it grape jelly. It is a wonderful, economical filling for a Jelly Roll. Homemakers in the past would find a way to use the juice from boiled beets instead of pouring it down the drain.
We also have a NEW Division 03-L Gluten Free. Enter your favourite Bread, Quick Bread, Muffin, Cake or Cookies. Instead of using wheat flour. Also check out the additional awards in Youth Baking this year. (exhibitors ages 15-18).
Country Fairs again sponsors the product awards you will see on page 25 in the catalogue.
Egg entries are welcome… brown, white and AOV (any other variety), an important part of Kitchencraft.
Your recipe did not work out! No problem, bring it along and enter to win one of the divisions ‘Biggest Flop’ awards. The Kitchencraft team has been working all year to present their section at the 2013 Sooke Fall Fair. We expect some wonderful entries and the judges will be having fun with the new division. See you at the fair and on Saturday, July 27 at the Community Hall (downstairs).
Irene Elrose, Section Head,
Kitchencraft