By Danny Federico Riverbend News
Suwannee County 4-H held their 13th Annual Holiday Bake-Off on Monday, Dec. 14, at the Suwannee County Extension Office Coliseum, located at 1302 11th Street SW in Live Oak, Fla. Entries were dropped off between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., while judging took place at 12 p.m.
Although this year's turnout was much smaller than previous years, with there only being 32 entries whereas last year there were 70 entries from 46 individuals, the bake-off continued to entertain and wow with the kids creativity.
"The Holiday Bake-Off has been a tradition in 4-H going back 12 years," said Kimberly Glasscock, 4-H Youth Development Staff Assistant. "4-H members are encouraged to work with family members on a recipe then submit their entries the morning of the event to be judged. The goal is to win the golden spoon for the category that you entered and ultimately the Giant Golden Spoon as the overall winner."
There were nine categories that the 4-H members took part in, including: appetizers, pies, cupcakes, breads, cookies, candies, bar cookies/brownies, cakes and pies. There were also 18 people from local government judging the entries on taste and appearance. Three of these judges were Suwannee Fire Chief Eddie Hand and Live Oak Police Chief Eugene Davis, who were assigned to the cupcakes and breads and Sheriff Sam St. John, who was assigned to the pies and appetizers.
Due to the ever looming risk of COVID-19, efforts were made to make judging more contactless this year. Instead of judges picking up their own samples, each entry was pre-distributed into small plastic cups for judges to take. Since each entry was being judged off of both taste and appearance, a photo of the entry, before it was cut and distributed, was taped to the wall behind the treat containers. Judges for each table took one sample of each treat, went outside and enjoyed their samples while taking note of the taste and appearance of each.
"All entries receive a ribbon based on score," Glasscock said. "This has been an unprecedented year and we needed to think outside the box a little in order to keep the event as close to tradition as possible, while recognizing the safety protocols that we currently have."
Despite the setbacks, the event was a big hit, with each baked good's sweet and savory tastes lingering on the judges tongues. Winners of each category included: Daniel Greeley, whose candy cane cheesecake won the cakes category; Tyler Hamilton, whose snowman cheeseball won the appetizers category; Wyatt Watson, whose white chocolate covered Oreos with sprinkles won the cookies category; Tyler Hamilton, whose pecan pie muffins won the breads category; Lara Croft, whose festive Christmas cupcakes won the cupcakes category and her sugar cookie bars won the brownies/bar cookies category; Olivia Hermanson, whose cherry pie won the pies category; Chloe Siekman, whose peppermint bark won the candies category and Allura Ellis, whose intricately decorated Santa's Tree Farm gingerbread house, made with homemade gingerbread, won the specialty items category, as well as the Golden Spoon grand prize.