Four food contests won at State Fair

Entering recipe and food contests at the Indiana State Fair paid off in a big way this year for Wells County’s Fancheon Resler as she managed to win prizes in four different contests.
She took the $500 first prize in the Food for Thought food story writing contest. The contest’s 40 entries focused on Indiana food memories and was sponsored by the Indiana Humanities Council.
Her SPAM Pasta Pizza (Tuscan style) took the $150 First Place cash prize in the Great American SPAM Championship (adult division). Her recipe will move on to a national competition where she will have a chance to win a trip to Hawaii in April 2011 and attend the SPAM Jam Waikiki Festival.
Her 4th entry was in the Malt-O-Meal Make It with Cereal Contest where she took the $100 cash First Place prize for Chocolate-Raspberry Pizza.
In addition Resler’s recipe for “Grandma’s Gooseberry Raisin Pie” took second place in the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance sponsored Heirloom Recipe Contest. The recipe had to be at least 50 years old and a short story was part of the presentation. Resler explains that the contest was judged very differently from any other at the state fair as five food alliance people and media people did the judging. Entered to be judged were a variety of items from meat to breads to desserts to salads.