Cheesecake Competition
Ah, cheese. Thank goodness I was born in Wisconsin, otherwise some people may think I have an unhealthy relationship with cheese. Living in this state, being obsessed with cheese is as readily acceptable as being obsessed with beer or complaining about the weather. My love of cheese found me searching for cheesy, festival goodness online and my efforts delivered. I found four major festivals in the state for 2010 and I am sure there are very many more. Fest number one was in Little Chute, WI……
GREAT, may be a bit of a misnomer. Very little in the way of cheesiness, yet there was a cheese tasting and some fried cheese curds. My friend Laura and I had fun all the same. Laura is the perfect mate for all things cheesy. She is my dear friend, number ONE Karen Cooks It fan and loves cheese!
Now before you think the cheese fest was a bust, I of course had to throw a little more excitement into the day….by entering the Cheesecake Competition!
Truthfully, I am not a huge fan of cheesecake. Especially plain cheesecake. I wanted to do something different, or at least different enough for the 11,000 citizens of Little Chute. My cheesecake was going to be savory. Yep! I created Savory Blue Cheesecake w/ Port Poached Pears and Candied Walnuts. Even from this non-cheesecake fan, the vote was delish! Isn’t it pretty.
There were three judges, from local bakeries. They were very serious and even stone-faced while tasting. Until the lady in black got to mine.
She took a bite and totally grimaced! After viewing my judging sheets, I guessed that she did not even get it. Her comment was that it was too salty and very different and almost a savory flavor. Hmmmm, too bad you didn’t read the title of my cheesecake! She even commented that she didn’t like my dark tablecloth. I scored much better by the other two judges who liked my cake. Unfortunately, it was not enough to put me in the top three winner spots. Sigh.
I did agree on two of the winners. I especially liked this lemon, blueberry cheesecake.
After the contest, they sell slices of the cheesecakes to the public.
Laura and I waited patiently, as we were passed over many times and slowly we watched each cake sell off before we could order the slice we wanted. So, we bought a piece of my cake. Yes, we paid $2.00 for the cake that I made. He, he! Laura really enjoyed it. Thanks friend.
After listening to some bluegrass music and watching kids play at the petting zoo, we filled up our plates with the samples from the cheese tasting. All were very tasty. I’ve rarely met a cheese I do not like.
I was proud of my entry and found the whole experience fun. Let’s see what kind of trouble I can get into at the next cheese festival!
