Well, a fine case of jars this turned out to be!* <grin>* Today was
opening day at the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

There¹ll be no Olympic-style medallion around my neck this year.* One
thing I thought of interest: as I was doing a quick scan of the ribbon
winners, there didn¹t seem to be any one or two folks who were cleaning
up in the lots.* Seems like there is wide distribution of the ribbons;
I¹ll have to study the data further to see if my first thoughts about it
are correct.*

In the picture above, I¹m sort of indicating that that¹s my jar of Bread
& Butter Pickles with the blue ribbon under it.* That¹s the seventh blue
ribbon my bread & butters have won.* Pretty cool, yeah?

Here are the results for my 20 canning entries:*

First Place
Bread & Butter Pickles
Watermelon Pickles

Second Place
Raspberry Jelly
Spiced Tomato Jam (Second place out of 56 entries is nothing to sneeze
at.)
Corn Relish

Third Place
Nectarine Jam
Apricot Butter (Boo!* Hiss-s-s!* This rocks!)

Fourth Place
Dill Pickle with Balsamic and White Vinegar (A Gedney-sponsored lot)

Fifth Place (no ribbon awarded)
Wild Blueberry Jam

Bupkes!
Blackberry Jelly
Mint Jelly (boo!* hiss-s-s-s!)
Cherry Jelly
Apricot Jam* (bummer!)
Black Raspberry Jam
Blackberry Jam
Cherry Jam
Raspberry Jam
Strawberry Jam (boo!!!* hiss-s-s-s!!)
Pickled Boiled Dirt Chunks
Hot Dill Cucumber Pickle with Southwest Flavor

Okay, that¹s 9 ribbons or placings out of 20 possibilities.* Forty-five
percent.* I think as a bona fide ribbon slut I can still hold my head up.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller - Yes, I Can! blog - check it out
And check this, too:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8279841&page=1

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> Okay, that¹s 9 ribbons or placings out of 20 possibilities. Forty-five
> percent. I think as a bona fide ribbon slut I can still hold my head up.

Way up. Congrats!

Senator Frankin will be presenting you with
the Official Grand Dame of Jam award shortly.

In article >,
RegForte > wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
> > Okay, that¹s 9 ribbons or placings out of 20 possibilities. Forty-five
> > percent. I think as a bona fide ribbon slut I can still hold my head up.
>
> Way up. Congrats!
>
> Senator Frankin will be presenting you with
> the Official Grand Dame of Jam award shortly.

:-) I brought him some brownies once when he was doing a book signing.
Nice man.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller - Yes, I Can! blog - check it out
And check this, too:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8279841&page=1

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> In article >,
> RegForte > wrote:
>
>
>>Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Okay, that¹s 9 ribbons or placings out of 20 possibilities. Forty-five
>>>percent. I think as a bona fide ribbon slut I can still hold my head up.
>>
>>Way up. Congrats!
>>
>>Senator Frankin will be presenting you with
>>the Official Grand Dame of Jam award shortly.
>
>
> :-) I brought him some brownies once when he was doing a book signing.
> Nice man.

I rememeber the pic.

Looked like he was kinda sweet on ya

In article >,
RegForte > wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> > :-) I brought him some brownies once when he was doing a book signing.
> > Nice man.
>
> I rememeber the pic.
>
> Looked like he was kinda sweet on ya

I kind of think Frannie would deck him if she thought so. :-0)
What I most remember about our meeting was a couple of college kids in
line. One asked him to inscribe the book to a friend - a birthday gift.
Al asked if she wanted to call the friend and he'd wish her a happy
birthday. OmiAlex, the shrieks of joy! LOL!
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller - Yes, I Can! blog - check it out
And check this, too:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8279841&page=1

On Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:05:01 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>Okay, that¹s 9 ribbons or placings out of 20 possibilities.* Forty-five
>percent.* I think as a bona fide ribbon slut I can still hold my head up.


Great!

I'm curious Barb - are they judging solely on looks, or do they
actually sample the goods?

Around here, from what I've heard, it's strictly a beauty contest.

- Mark

In article >,
Mark A.Meggs > wrote:

> On Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:05:01 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
> >Okay, that¹s 9 ribbons or placings out of 20 possibilities.* Forty-five
> >percent.* I think as a bona fide ribbon slut I can still hold my head up.
>
>
> Great!
>
> I'm curious Barb - are they judging solely on looks, or do they
> actually sample the goods?
>
> Around here, from what I've heard, it's strictly a beauty contest.
>
> - Mark

Jars are open and tasted. I believe at some of our county fairs, jars
are judged on appearance only.

Until about 5-7 years ago, they used to **re-process** the fruits and
vegetables and would put wax on the spreads!! Then they lost the two
women who were familiar with pressure canning and were wringing their
hands about what to do. The superintendent of the building asked me
what I thought about each entrant bringing two jars. I told him that
as a competitor, it was fine with me as long as I could get my jars
back.

I max out on my entries (20 per person; one year I had 36 or 40
entries before they changed things) ‹ insanity rules! I'm not willing
to give up that many jars. If I had only, say, one or two entries, I
might not be willing to go back to the fairgrounds for just two jars ‹
it's a 50-mile round trip for me.

We enter two jars, one identified for display and without any label on
it; the second jar is labeled with product, lot #, entry #, and
processing information. The latter is a relatively new requirement.

The labeled jar is opened and judged; the unlabeled jar has a label
affixed to it by the staff with the product name (as it is presented
in the entry booklet), the lot number, entry number, and the
competitor's name. These labels are uniform in style and size and
contribute to the neat-looking displays of hundreds of jars. This
year, the Ball Elite line jars were banned ‹ they take up too much
room in the cases and don't stack well.

The textile and craft displays are designed by design students at a
couple of local colleges and are executed by them and by the intake
staff, I believe. The labeling of the jars is relatively new ‹ we
used to have to check "The List" to see if anything was awarded, then
would have to look at the jars to figure which was ours. Now I can
find out online at 8:00 a.m. on opening day ‹ in my jammies and robe
with a cuppa joe in my hand.

Registration can be done online and the labels are computer generated.
We can register for all lots but can only actually enter 20.

Several years ago the guy who used to run the research on food
preserving at the U of MN when they were still doing it here for the
USDA sent a letter to the Fair folks strongly recommending that, for
safety's sake, the low-acid vegetables shouldn't be opened for tasting
because there are no solid assurances that they were canned properly.
As far as I know, those jars are still opened and tasted. Chancy, I
think, especially after watching a couple entrants making their labels
(for pickles and spreads) on the spot and asking the people around
them what they should put down for processing time!

A woman asked me what she should put down and I told her she should
put how long she processed them and how. She said, "Do you mean I
should say if I used pectin?"

So, here's the schedule: The Fair opens on the Thursday that is 12
days before Labor Day (August 27 this year, as late as it can ever
open). From Sunday-Wednesday of *the week before that opening day
week* (this year, August 16-19) the canned goods, needlecraft,
woodworking‹everything except baking‹are delivered to the fairgrounds
and entered into exhibition/competition. Judging happens after
entries close, any time between Wednesday afternoon and Saturday, I
suppose. That judging is complete by the time the baking entries are
brought in.

The baking entries are delivered on the Sunday before opening day
(August 23 this year) between 8:00-11:00 a.m. Judging begins that
afternoon, starting with the breads, then, I think, the cakes, bars
and cookies.

Beginning at 12:00 noon on that day, the canners may return to the
fairgrounds and claim the jars that were opened and judged. I go for
mine and enter some baking, too, so I have at least an hour to kill
until they open to return our jars.

When the Fair opens, the displays are set and the ribbons have been
placed with their products. Some of the baking cases are
refrigerated; I've never seen a moldy anything at the State Fair,
unlike more than one moldy product I've seen at the county fair.

The Creative Activities staff takes pride in their displays, I think.
And they should. They are beautiful. They had more canning and
baking entries this year than any in recent memory, if not ever.

I've made a couple television appearances at the Fair thus far this
year, and at the one yesterday had time to stress the importance of
steam pressure processing for low-acid vegetables. For both
appearances I've carried the BBB with me to show and have provided
other resources for safe processing as well as the URLs for the NCHFP
and the U of MN Extension Services Division.

On camera or on mike, I am generally promoted as being the winningest
canner at the Fair and I am always quick to dispel that notion ‹ I am
not at all sure that it is true!! I am the Fair PR Department's go-to
person, however, when media types (especially television and radio)
call her office and want to talk with a canner ‹ "give us somebody
who's won some ribbons."

My sister-in-law asked me why they send the media folks to me and I
said to her that it's because I am enthusiastic about the Fair in
general and, like the AKC Champion Poodle at the Dog Show, because I
clean up nice and I show well ‹ and I don't embarrass the Fair. And
it's true ‹ I don't freeze in front of a crowd or a microphone and I
can think fast on my feet, and talk as I'm doing something else, as I
did yesterday when asked what the most difficult thing to can is. I
said low acid vegetables and emphasized the need for steam pressure
processing. I wasn't expecting that question but didn't hesitate or
flinch. I apologize for sounding boastful but it's why they call me.

Yesterday's thing on KARE-11 was especially fun! The KARE-11 folks
love the Fair and it shows in their backstage enthusiasm. As I was
leaving jars with the producer, host, and a couple others, I was
complimented on my 'presentation' for being on time, prepared, and
knowledgeable. Time is of the essence ‹ most segments are all of
1-1/2 to 3 minutes long so there isn't much time to stumble and
recover.

Here's the link, if you want to see it:
<http://www.kare11.com/news/newsatfou....aspx?storyid=
823232&catid=323> I was scrambling out the door at my house and
forgot my two medallions for being the grand poohbah for canning, and
my pearls! Dayam!

I was chatting up Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota's governor, before my
segment and noticed that he came out from backstage to watch me from
the sidelines. He followed me on the schedule and as we passed each
other he congratulated me on my presentation and said he would like to
have me on his radio program soon. His aide and I exchanged contact
information and we'll see if anything comes of it. It would be a
kick! Governor Pawlenty is a very personable chap (and his wife is
one hot dish ‹ she was a sitting judge until about a year ago) and
easy to talk to. I think we could have fun talking about preserving
the harvest. I might bring him a jar of my Goobernatorial Jelly (wild
grape jelly). "-)

More than you bargained for, Mark.

Barb, off to make another batch of B&Bs. Oy!
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller - Yes, I Can! blog - check it out
And check this, too:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8279841&page=1