You be the judge....

...if you dare!

There's a verse in the Bible that says, "Judge not, lest ye be judged."

I think it was referring to 4-H judges at county fairs.

(And I'm pretty sure the judge gets judged, just so you know. I felt like I was walking around the fairgrounds all weekend with a bullseye on my back...)

This year, I had the dubious privilege of being the 4-H Foods and Photography judge at our little county fair.  Since I love both food AND photography, I jumped at the opportunity when asked! I really should've talked to the last judge before committing, but now I know he's probably undergoing diabetes testing as a result of judging the foods last year.  Either that, or in the 4-H Witness Protection Program, hiding from disgruntled parents.

Doesn't it sound like the perfect gig? Tasting the best foods the kids can prepare and talking with them; looking at photos and discussing aperature value and composition.  And you all know how I like to visit.  Perfect.

When I showed up, there really weren't a lot of entries in, yet.  I looked at the list of exhibitors and counted about 14 kids, looked at the modest row of foods and thought, "YES! This is going to be FUN."

There was only one photography project in, at that point. Looking good; looking real good.

Now, I want to tell you a little something about 4-H foods.  Every third plate will have banana bread or brownies on it. I'm not joking.  About every fifth plate will have chocolate chip cookies. And the reason for these entries is that they are almost bulletproof.  Just about anyone can turn out a pan of brownies that are worthy of fair entry...even if you burn the edges, you can cut some out of the center and have a decent showing. 

The other thing is that I'm a firm believer that you can't judge a food without tasting it and feeling the texture in your mouth.  Perhaps some people can, but I fail to see how you can gauge quality by appearance and smell, and the density when you cut into it.  You could have a really great looking pie, but if you forgot the sugar, the only way to know that is by tasting it. Right?

I was a thorough judge.

I was a sick judge.

It turns out that most kids don't bring in their food entries until the very last minute, so it can be uber-fresh. In fact, some of the entries were still warm. The longer I judged, the longer the row of brownies and banana bread got! I wasn't making a dent. Quite to the contrary; I was creating a void on the counter for them to fill with twice the entries! By noon, the counter was groaning with food and so was I.  I was relieved to wander to the cookshack for my complimentary sandwich and chips....I was dying for protein!

I thought the afternoon was going to be a bit easier, having only about 5 kids to judge.

No. It was not.

They save the best for last.

Three little over-achievers each entered something like 12 food items, EACH!

I tried to recruit Mike G. as a taster for me, but apparently he's been suckered into that gig before and declined, not so politely.  (Later that afternoon, I caught him visiting with the judge for industrial arts and smirking in my direction...)(That's just mean.)

I want to tell you all something, though: there are a lot of good cooks in the younger generation, and I'm happy about that.  These kids can really knock out the baked goods and when questioned, most of them know a great deal about the process.  I had a superlative taste of apple pie, a bite of coffee cake that made me roll my eyes with joy and (this is my personal purple ribbon choice) homemade chocolate covered cherries that were the perfection of confection. 

The photography was really my favorite part.

There were only three projects entered, each with about 10-12 photos.  I worry that I was too hard on them, asking technical questions and what they would change to get different effects or exposures. These three girls really had some great photos, but the one that blew me away was the girl who played with special effects and had a little old point and shoot camera that she couldn't adjust any of the values with.  She had to work with her eyes and the time of day, the shadows and the angles, without the ability to adjust settings on her camera.  We talked a long while, and I walked away hoping she'd continue with the hobby. Her mom caught me in the grocery store yesterday afternoon and said the girl was all excited about her photography, again, and is thinking she may need a better camera! That's cool.

My clerk, Debbie was invaluable and when we got done with the whole blessed event, she told the extension secretary that we'd do it again next year. Bless her efficient little heart.  (I will take any tasting volunteers who offer.....Mike.) (No, not YOU, Mike G.....the other Mike...Mike W.  The one who won't stand in the corner and snicker at me in my time of need.)(Well, he might, but not during a 4-H foods crisis.)