4-H projects are being judged right now, as I type! It reminded me of a note I wrote on Facebook about 4 years ago. Our family has aged out of 4-H, but I still believe there is truth in these words.
Ribbons and awards are fun, but they should not be the focus for 4H'ers.
It shouldn't matter if all your biscuits are exactly the same size or if your quickbread has a crack in the top. What does matter is that you learned how to do it. I was a 10yr 4H'er and took a variety of projects. Some I won low placing on, like the year my dad told me to mix my biscuit mix like a concrete mixer....you can guess how well that didn't work out. But there was also the year I got a grand champion ribbon on a fruit pie.
However, where I truly learned to cook/bake was at the hem of mother and grandmother's aprons. Anytime my great-grandma made bread, she always let my sister and I have our own little bowl of dough to mix and knead too. My Grandma Clark let us help roll out and cut biscuits. I watched my GrandmaMother and my mom make countless pies and cakes. Blackberry, peach, gooseberry, coconut cream, etc.....
And most of all, my mom had one cardinal kitchen rule for us as we were growing up; we could be in the kitchen and try making whatever we wanted, as long as we cleaned up afterwards.
Folks, that is truly how I learned to cook. I didn't learn to cook for a ribbon, I learned how to cook for a lifetime.
So I wish the best of luck to every 4H'er out there gearing up for the fair next week, but most of all I hope you keep involved with the projects you enjoy and never stop learning. The ribbons, well, they're just the icing on the cake. {and yes, that pun was completely intended!} ;)
