«   2010 DC State Fair Winners Announced!   »

We’re proud to be the first to announce the official winners of last Saturday’s DC State Fair. Call it the First Ever or the Inaugural but whatever you do, don’t miss next year’s which was instantly warranted and clamored for by foodies, urban gardeners, bloggers and volunteers attending this year’s. To send the message to have a First Annual next year, write, HAVE IT! in the Comments below!

We had the honor of creating the promotional material people could walk away with. At the end of the day, the handwritten list of contest winners was discovered duct taped to the back of the schedule poster. We confirmed the names of winners and were sanctioned to be the first to happily present… The 2010 Inaugural DC State Fair Contest Winners!

Before we reveal the Jam winners, it should be noted that there’s a little missing information. The first contest was for DC Photographs. We have the winners pictured, but neither picture titles nor photographers came through the wires. If this could be posted in the Comments at bottom, that would be great!

Jam Competition:

1. Mae Cooper – Red Pepper Jelly
2. Leah Nylen – Peach Vanilla Jam
3. Sara Johnis – Blackberry/Blueberry Preserves
3. Whitney Waara – Twin Berry Jam

Pickle Competition:

DC State Fair organizer, Amelia, could be found at the start of festivities brandishing a dangerously long loaf of crusty bread. When asked what that was for, she said hurridly as she continued organizing, “it’s pickle bread.” That didn’t sound very good, but then it all became clear; between tastings, the judges had to reset their palettes and bread was the way to do it.

1. Audrey Chumbris – Pickled Peaches
2. David Hendrickson – White Asparagus
3. Cathy Barrow – Tomolives
3. Ed Bruske – Bread and Butter Zucchini

Cupcake Competition:

Said one organizer to the question of which portion of the DC State Fair was most chaotic, “the Cupcake Competition,” for reasons of the sheer volume of entries. While the DC State Fair was executed smoothly and made busy-bees of every last volunteer, the Cupcake Competition was by far the most talked about and breath taking setup with over 40 wonderful entries!

1. Katie Ashley – Carrot Cupcake
2. Farrar Williams – Chocolate Cupcake with Cookie
3. Daria Wingreen-Mason – Pistachio Cupcake

Pie Competition:

The buzz about the cupcakes lasted right up until the buzz began for the pies. It turns out that there isn’t a single person around who can’t be wooed by the sight of a fresh baked, home made pie. Public judging began again and there were even nearby residents dashing from their kitchens with baking trays in hand to get their pies in by the entry deadline! What a turnout!

1. Julie Moeller – Peach and Sour Cherry
2. Amy Kunz – Dutch Apple
3. Lindsey Wahowiak – Fruits of the Forest

Homebrew Competition:

For obvious reasons, the Homebrew Contest was held the night before and not on the grounds of the elementary school. Winners were picked from over 20 entries and to hear the descriptions, DC Homebrewers are really quite ingenious. The Black Squirrel was kind enough to furnish prizes and though the winner wasn’t present, third place’s Mitchell West’s eager appearance and gracious acceptance quenched the crowd almost enough. Too bad tastes couldn’t go ‘round.

1. Justin Cox – Schwartzbier
2. Christopher Mascaro – It’s A Nice Day For A Wheat Wedding
3. Mitchell West – Belgian Tripel

Funkiest Vegetable Competition:

The Funkiest Vegetable Contest was quite the highlight in itself. Bloggers jumped at the chance to judge what DC gardeners could produce by mistake. The winner was very shocking. A yellow eggplant that was anything but identifiable beat out the crooked cucumber that garnered a few snickers and well-deserved smirks.

1. Mark White – Round Stripy Yellow Eggplant
2. Seth Shames – Crookneck Cucumber
3. Stacy Braverman – “Barrots”—Carrots that think they’re beets

Biggest Vegetable Competition:

DC Gardeners were most avid about the “Biggest” contest. Participants were lively and exclaiming from the crowd when to count in the stem or count it out. The sole judge was tickled at the chance to measure and weigh all manner of gourds and melon things. With the chosen scale acting badly, there was a three-way tie for second place as heft was judged by hand.

Longest:
1. Tony Hursts’s Zucchini
2. Ed Bruske’s Zucchini
3. Nick Sementelli’s Zucchini

Heaviest:
1. Klendy Caron’s Butternut Squash
2. Ed Bruske’s Zucchini
2. Nick Sementelli’s Zucchini
2. Tony Hursts’s Zucchini
3. Pete Chumbris’ Red Heirloom Okra

Tastiest Tomato:

Sadly, we have few good pictures of the Tastiest Tomato Contest. So we’ve bravely substituted some eating pictures from the Pickle Competition at risk to our well-being. This is probably what it looked like when judges were enjoying the tomatoes. (And thanks to the pickle judges for being such great sports during this shoot.)

1. Ryoko Yamamoto – “Golden Boy” Tomato
2. Natonne Kemp – Lemon Bell-Type Tomato
3. Audrey Chumbris – Wassaping Peach White Tomato

Closing

Thanks to everyone who was so patient around the camera and what a big Hello we’ve got to our new friends. We look forward to seeing you at as many Happy Hours as you can muster and remind you that additional images will go up in time on the Food Newsie Facebook Page. The DC State Fair went by so fast after such an electric month leading up to it and the energy of all who volunteered, attended and competed was a total delight. Thanks so much and let’s do it again!