2023 Indiana State Fair: Results

I remember the first time I entered the Indiana State Fair. 

Back then, the Home and Family Arts building used to have a Preview Night. This was usually held a couple days before the Fair officially opened. Competitors were invited to look around the building and see how they placed. It was also a nice event to meet all your fellow competitors. I remember pulling up to the building and parking my car, the excitement building in my chest as I wondered how I had done. It's an adrenaline rush like no other.

So, this is how it is in 2023...

There is no longer a Preview Night. The Fair opened on Friday July 28th. In years past there was always a special agriculture themed baking contest on opening day so I would be there competing. There hasn't been a contest on opening day for several years now, plus I had a plethora of other things to do that day and the weather was horribly hot, so really, other than finding out how my stuff fared I had no compelling reason to go to the Fair on opening day.

At 11am I got a text from one of my Fair friends. Go online and see how you did at the fair!!

Apparently all of our results got posted online that morning. Usually this doesn't happen until the Fair is over. I quickly hopped online. The page read "Unofficial 2023 Results" but they were posted.

I found the Culinary Arts page and started scrolling down category by category.

The first Category I came across for one of my entries was Brownies, and the first Class listed under Brownies was Not Frosted Brownies, the Class I entered. My name was at the top of the list. First Place. I was thrilled!

Coconut Stuffed Fudge Brownies

So that's how it went. Instead of going to the Fair and walking around the building looking for my entries with my heart beating out of my chest, I sat rooted in a chair in front of my computer scrolling down a list and feeling the same.

Pies were not due in until Sunday, but on Friday I found that eight of my nine Culinary entries had placed, and both my crochet entries also placed. The Fair is closed on Monday and Tuesday. I started looking online again on Monday night to see if the Pie results were posted but as of late Tuesday night there were no online updates. Therefore, on Wednesday G and I decided to go to the Fair.

Walking into the Culinary area the first thing I saw was the refrigerated display case with the cream pies.

I found my pie.

French Silk Pie

Honorable Mention. I can't complain. There were several other chocolate cream pies. The judges comment sheet noted they thought my crust was too thick. Everything else was marked "good." A key lime pie won the Class.

As far as my other items...

No Bake Coconut Lime Balls

VERY happy with how this went as I was afraid of how they would hold up at room temperature.

Caramelized Onion and Parmesan Biscuits

Comment was that is was "a tad dense."

Loaded Potato Rolls

Comment on this was that the bottoms weren't evenly browned. Usually when I pick my 6 rolls to show I always flip them over to check their bottoms but, quite honestly, I think I got complacent with these rolls and never checked the bottoms. Details. Ugh.

Chocolate Espresso Stout Cake

Now this cake, every single box was marked "excellent" and all the comments were positive - like it seriously even had little hearts drawn on the page - but it still only got a Third.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake

Comment here was to try whipping the frosting more to make it fluffier. This makes me wonder if the cake was judged cold. I had requested my cakes be refrigerated overnight since judging occurred the day after turn in. I was worried my buttercream would get too soft if it sat out at room temperature overnight. I think I need to look into more room temperature stable frostings for competition.

Opera Cake

Comment was that my sponge was a bit dry. Fair enough as I have never tasted this cake and I've never made this cake before. All the other comments were very positive.

Oatmeal Date Sandwich Cookies

Comment was that the cookie was a bit crumbly. I knew that. That is why I made the date filling.

Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Cornbread

The comment for this was that it lacked flavor. 

This was the only item that did not place. All told, I placed 9 out of 10 Culinary entries - (2) Firsts, (2) Seconds, (2) Thirds, and (3) Honorable Mentions. 

Moving on to my crochet items...

I can't complain. This is the piece that beat me...

It was made with finer thread, thus giving more detail to the roses and the mouse. It also won Best of Show for all of Household Articles - which includes Bedspreads and Tablecloths, Pillows, Doilies, as well as Miscellaneous Household Articles. Miscellaneous Household Articles was the Class which my wreath as well as the winning wreath competed in. It's a large class because, well, it's the catch all "all other" class. There are several people who always make dolls for this class and there's a woman who has made sets of Harry Potter dolls as well as Disney Princess dolls in the past that have won the Class. This year she finished Third. 

As far as my shawl...

I don't have the judging sheet back from my crochet items but I know that this shawl had a hump in the middle where I started the shawl as the stitch tension there was looser than the rest of the shawl. I had hoped it would block out and had even thought about adding an extra finishing row of stitches across the top to straighten things out, however I thought it looked straight enough after blocking so I left it. Looking at it now, I can see the hump so I'm happy this placed.

The shawl competed in the Crochet Accessories Class. This too is a large class because anything that is an accessory, like shawls, hats, scarves, mittens, purses/bags, etc., is included. I looked around to see what had won and laughed.

The winning item was a shawl that used the shortened version of the pattern of the shawl I made last year. My shawl last year won the Class.

This year's winner

My shawl that won last year

*As an aside for those that are wondering - yes, the shawl pictured above is the same shawl that won at the Johnson County Fair this year. Due to the placement of the turn in and pick up days it is no longer possible to compete the same physical item in both the Johnson County Fair as well as the Indiana State Fair in the same year. Turn in for the State Fair falls on Friday and Saturday and pick up from the Johnson County Fair falls on the consecutive Sunday. Both fairs stipulate that items have to be made within the last year. Therefore, I have been finishing my State Fair entries during County Fair week. That makes them still eligible to turn in for County Fair competition the following year as it hasn't been a year since completion when they are turned in for judging.

The second place item was a Kraken Hat.

It's the same hat pattern I used for a hat my niece requested for Christmas a couple years ago.

Not gonna lie... a couple more Firsts and a Best of Show would have made things better, but overall, I'm pretty happy with how things went this year.

I have brought a larger quantity of entries in the past, however I always want good quality and will trade quality over quantity anytime. Placing 11 out of 12 makes me content.

However, next year...