4-Hers Earn Purple Ribbons At New State Fair Food Event

Two Antelope County 4-Hers competed in a new event at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island on August 23.

Rachel Higgins and Bailey Frey competed in the 4-H Foods Event, a pilot event at the 2014 state fair. They received a purple ribbon for their "Summer Garden Party" entry.

For the event, youth were asked to create a themed-table setting, nutritious menu, and prepare a food item on their menu that includes corn, the 2014 challenge ingredient. Each team was also asked to utilize technology as part of their interview.    

They were required to present their food, nutrition, and food safety knowledge during a live interview with a judge at the contest. 

Higgins and Frey created a "Summer Garden Party" table with a menu that featured a garden salad, grilled shrimp kabobs, fruit cocktail, creamy corn chowder, toasted garlic bread, and fresh-sqeezed lemonade or milk. They prepared the corn chowder and presented a video of themselves picking fresh sweet corn and making the chowder. Frey suggested the corn chowder recipe for the menu.

"I ate it at Disney World and it was delicious," she said. "We got the Disney World cookbook and I knew the recipe was in there. This was the first time I had ever made it."

Twenty-three teams of two participated in the new event. The teams represented 19 Nebraska counties - Antelope, Franklin, Platte, Box Butte, Boyd, Lancaster, Webster, Gosper, Jefferson, Otoe, Fillmore, Sheridan, Hamilton, York, Pierce, Howard, Adams, Nance and Buffalo. 

Higgins said she enjoyed the 4-H event and gathering all of the items to complete it.

"My favorite part was seeing the project all put together," she said.

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