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Preserving (rec.food.preserving) Devoted to the discussion of recipes, equipment, and techniques of food preservation. Techniques that should be discussed in this forum include canning, freezing, dehydration, pickling, smoking, salting, and distilling. |
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My competition!!!
The original article with picture can be seen (probably today only) at
www.journalnow.com. Here is the text portion. Note how many ribbons she has won. Her first was the year I was born. Thursday, September 27, 2007 Winston Salem, NC Journal One Hot Oven: Germanton woman, 93, has drawers filled with ribbons she's won at fair By Lisa O'Donnell JOURNAL REPORTER Katie Gilbert shows off only a few of the many ribbons that products from her kitchen have won at the Dixie Classic Fair. No one is absolutely sure, but she may be the winningest entrant in the fairs history. Katie Gilbert shows off only a few of the many ribbons that products from her kitchen have won at the Dixie Classic Fair. No one is absolutely sure, but she may be the winningest entrant in the fair's history. (Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll) GERMANTON - Katie Gilbert and her canned goods and pound cakes are as much a part of the Dixie Classic Fair as cotton candy and the Tilt-A-Whirl. When the fair opens Friday, it will include more than 30 entries in food preservation and baking from Gilbert, who, at 93, is probably the oldest exhibitor. Gilbert won her first blue ribbons at the Dixie Classic Fair in 1941 for fudge, sea-foam candy and penuche, a type of fudge made with brown sugar. A few days ago, Gilbert read aloud a list of all the food she had to bake before yesterday’s deadline. “Biscuits, light biscuits, cheese biscuits, corn muffins, cinnamon buns,” she said, then sighed. “I don’t know when I’m going to get time to make all that stuff.” She planned to spend all day Tuesday and much of yesterday baking in her small kitchen, which has just a few patches of clear counter space and no microwave oven. Labeled jars of quartered tomatoes, pumpkin slices and grape juice - her entries in food preservation - sat on a table next to a picture of Jesus, ready to be packed and taken to the fair. Kathy Nelson got to know Gilbert while working as special-events coordinator at the fair. She savored Gilbert’s biscuits, pies and cakes. Gilbert’s biscuits were consistently round and perfectly colored, never too dark or light, Nelson said. “They were always so flaky,” she said. “They would melt in your mouth.” Gilbert baked moist layered cakes topped with creamy icing, and her pie crusts were always tender and flaky, Nelson said. “When I saw Mrs. Gilbert,” she said, “I knew quality was walking up to that table.” Gilbert has entered the Dixie Classic in most years since 1941, and has also exhibited regularly at the N.C. State Fair and the Stokes County Fair. By Gilbert’s calculation, she has won 1,942 ribbons at those fairs. Some entries, such as the Red Band biscuit competition, might earn her a ribbon from Red Band and a ribbon from the Dixie Classic. David Sparks, the director of the fair, said he can’t say for sure whether anyone has won more ribbons than Gilbert, but she is definitely among the most-winning entrants in fair history. “Since I came here in 1988, I heard people talk about her. ‘Katie’s won another one. Katie’s winning more blue ribbons this year,’” Sparks said. Gilbert takes meticulous care of her ribbons, some of which hang like artwork from a wall in her dining room. The drawers in her buffet are filled with boxes of purple, blue and red ribbons - sorted by year. “There are oodles in here, honey,” Gilbert said. She learned to cook from her mother, who was known for her biscuits and corn bread. Her mother, who never cooked from a recipe, encouraged her children to experiment. “Messing around in the kitchen,” Gilbert called it. As a young girl in Mount Airy, she would pour the skim from her mother’s homemade jellies and pretend that she was making candy. She got a job at Hanes Hosiery, where she worked for 36 years. Among her duties was folding hose and stuffing them into packages. “I’d work at Hanes, then go home and bake a cake before supper,” Gilbert said. “And now, it takes me all day.” She entered the Dixie Classic Fair just for fun. Winning those blue ribbons surprised and excited her. Gilbert’s first husband, Asa Ladusau, died in 1969. A few years later, she married Pete Gilbert, who died 11 years ago. He was proud of her accomplishments, she said. Pete Gilbert was retired from Hanes and preached once a month at a church in Stuart, Va. He made toys such as slingshots and popguns, and took roosters to the fair to compete in crowing contests. He also helped his wife by cleaning up the dishes while she baked all day in preparation for the fair. These days, Gilbert does all the work herself except for loading and unloading the entries. She said she will go to the fair sometime in the next few days to see how she did. While there, she will check the other food exhibits and the vegetable exhibits and visit with the fair staff. Della Stephens, who worked at the Dixie Classic Fair for more than 40 years, said that Gilbert is well-known among the fair personnel. “She was one of the jewels,” Stephens said. “She’s one of the most lovely persons I have ever met.” When she is not baking or canning food, Gilbert keeps busy with activities at her church, Bethany Baptist. They include a social club and a twice-weekly exercise program designed for senior citizens. Carla White said she used to wonder when her grandmother would quit competing. “She just keeps on. I don’t foresee her giving it up all together at this point,” she said. “It’s very important to her. She likes to be around the people, and she really likes the competition, too.” Gilbert said that her pastor and White’s pastor have encouraged her to keep entering her goods at fairs. “I’ve been doing it so long,” she said. “I don’t think I can quit.” -- Susan N. "Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral, 48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy." Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974) |
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My competition!!!
On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:57:11 -0500, The Cook >
wrote: >The original article with picture can be seen (probably today only) at >www.journalnow.com. Here is the text portion. Note how many ribbons >she has won. Her first was the year I was born. > (snipped the article) Mrs. Gilbert was at the fair checking out her winnings at the same time I was. I got a chance to meet her and got a picture with her. http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=25k37km&s=2 She's 93. -- Susan N. "Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral, 48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy." Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974) |
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My competition!!!
The Cook wrote:
> On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:57:11 -0500, The Cook > > wrote: > >> The original article with picture can be seen (probably today only) at >> www.journalnow.com. Here is the text portion. Note how many ribbons >> she has won. Her first was the year I was born. >> > (snipped the article) > > Mrs. Gilbert was at the fair checking out her winnings at the same > time I was. I got a chance to meet her and got a picture with her. > http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=25k37km&s=2 > She's 93. Lawdy, she's only six years younger than my MIL. How old does that make me? George |
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My competition!!!
On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 19:17:45 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote: >The Cook wrote: >> On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:57:11 -0500, The Cook > >> wrote: >> >>> The original article with picture can be seen (probably today only) at >>> www.journalnow.com. Here is the text portion. Note how many ribbons >>> she has won. Her first was the year I was born. >>> >> (snipped the article) >> >> Mrs. Gilbert was at the fair checking out her winnings at the same >> time I was. I got a chance to meet her and got a picture with her. >> http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=25k37km&s=2 >> She's 93. >Lawdy, she's only six years younger than my MIL. How old does that make me? > >George It makes us spring chickens. I told her that I was born the year she won her first blue ribbon. -- Susan N. "Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral, 48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy." Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974) |
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My competition!!!
In article >,
George Shirley > wrote: > The Cook wrote: > > She's 93. > Lawdy, she's only six years younger than my MIL. How old does that make me? > > George Dirt's younger. -- -Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ Dinner at Yummy! 9-15-2007 Pictures included. |
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My competition!!!
Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >, > George Shirley > wrote: > >> The Cook wrote: > >>> She's 93. > >> Lawdy, she's only six years younger than my MIL. How old does that make me? >> >> George > > Dirt's younger. Hey, just because you're still spry don't be poking fun at your elders. |
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