The 2022 Cherry County 4-H Special Foods Competition was held July 14 at the Methodist Church in Valentine. Youth participated in a variety of categories. Older youth with at least 3 years of experience were required to be in the “advanced” level where they had to use the annual “challenge ingredient”. The 2022 challenge ingredient was ground beef. Youth in the “basic” level could choose any ingredients. After 90 minutes preparing recipes live in front of the judge, the competitors had to plate their foods and present the finished product on a table setting with a complete menu and MyPlate nutrition analysis print-out. They then interviewed with the judge and were questioned on their nutrition knowledge and the judge sampled each recipe. Youth could also chose the table setting-only option where they did the steps above, minus cooking the food. And the day ended on a sweet note with the “cupcake wars” where youth presented their most delectable recipes with a fun theme. Results are as follows:
Clover Kid Tabletting:
Sophia Harms
Junior Tablesetting:
Blue, Kayleigh Harms
Junior Basic Special Foods:
Champion – Will Cox
Reserve Champion – Elyse Cochran
Senior Basic Special Foods:
Blue, Christen Larson-Malard
Senior Advanced Special Foods:
Champion – Jenalee Garwood
Reserve Champion – Kate Cox
Purple, Jocelyn Jordan
Clover Kids Cupcake Wars
Sophia Harms, Cam Brashears
Junior Cupcake Wars
Champion – Brooke Brashears
Reserve Champion – Elyse Cochran
Purple, Will Cox
Blue, Tyson Cochran, Kayleigh Harms
Senior Cupcake Wars
Champion – Jenalee Garwood
Blue, Christen Larson-Malard