Judges Tonya Williams of Tonya’s Main Street Deli, Amy Forrest of In Good Taste Catering, and caterer Rose Lee pondered each offering in turn, evaluating each sample for presentation, color, texture and taste.
“I always look for appearance and taste,” said Williams. “It can look really bad but still taste really good.”
Although desserts were as always overrepresented, the food items ranged from 8-year-old Gillian Setty’s “team dip” to 11-year-old Ellie Osterholt’s “spinach balls”. Champaign County Fair Queen Mikayla Bodey also stopped by to judge the cook-off entries. After each dish passed the judges’ table, it was set out for participants and fairgoers to try for a small donation.
After deliberation, the winners were announced: Aislen Setty for her Snickers Cake, Hannah Copeland for her Apple Cake with cream cheese icing, and Heide Rembald for her Almost Famous soft pretzels. Each girl won a cookbook as a prize and the recipes from all 21 entrants were recorded in a book, on sale for $1.
“I am excited that it’s my first time ever getting anything for this,” said Hannah, 13.
Wednesday was also the day of the 11th annual pizza eating contest, organized by Sparky’s pizza in Urbana. Contestants were given two minutes to eat as much pizza as possible. Last year, more than 141 people participated and 30 pizzas were expected to be consumed this year.
“Sometimes it’s pretty messy,” said Rhonda Stokes, general manager at Sparky’s. “It’s kid’s day at the fair, and we just enjoy being a part of the community and getting to see all the kids out there.”
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