Back Into the Baking Game

It's been a long time since Sharon Decker has won a ribbon for her homemade bread at the Minnesota State Fair. Thirty-two years, to be exact.

But this year, the St. Louis Park resident is back at it. Decker entered four types of bread for judging, all of which use only honey as a sweetener. Naturally, she's in the Honey and Bee Culture competition being held at the Ag-Hort Building.

Decker graciously submitted a few photos of herself baking the bread late last night and this morning. She also had this to say about the process:

Long ago I'd won some ribbons for bread at the State Fair but I haven't entered anything since 1978. I thought about doing it every year, but somehow never got around to it.  

I almost didn't get around to it again this year. I had meant to start weeks ago testing recipes and selecting the best.  Instead, I started last night at 10:00 p.m.—I ran to the grocery store for flour and dug out my recipes. I discovered that the recipes I planned to use needed some modifications, so all the loaves I entered today were actually experiments—I've never made these recipes this way before and even experimented with some different flavorings. Certainly taking some chances that these might be disasters but somehow, in the middle of the night, it seemed like fun. I had to keep detailed notes on my modifications since all bread must be accompanied with an accurate recipe.  

At 5:00 this morning, I finally took the last loaf out of the oven. After about an hour of sleep and a large cup of coffee, I wrapped the cooled bread, finished the labels and drove them to the State Fair grounds.

Breads I entered are:  Whole wheat (75 percent or more whole wheat flour); Wheat (less than 75 percent whole wheat flour); Rye; and White.  All breads are made with honey as the only sweetener.

Are you a St. Louis Park resident going for a blue ribbon? Or selling a homemade item? Or marching in a parade? Or performing on stage? Whatever your connection to the Fair, we want to hear from you! Email story ideas to michael.rose@patch.com.