Raising Maine

By RAYE TIBBITTS, Raising Maine Contributor

Country fairs are an annual tradition in Maine dating all the way back to the early 1800s. For most families of the 21st century, it's all about the carnival rides, pig scrambles and grilled sausage and peppers. But for some, it's about the exhibition hall, where Mainers compete for blue ribbons and cash prizes in categories that range from the best nine-pointed star quilts and hand-tatted lace to the biggest pumpkins and best double-crust pies.

Faye Harvey of Union competes in pie contests all over the state. Recently, she won the blue ribbon and $50 at the Pittston Fair, site of Maine's only fresh strawberry pie contest. White Chocolate Strawberry Pie, a standard single-crust recipe with a twist, won over the taste buds of Steven McGee, contest judge and fair president. Layered with a cream cheese and whipped cream base and fresh, local strawberries, Harvey's recipe was "unique, with just that little bit of extra flavor," said McGee.

As a member of one of the fair's founding families and a pie contest expert, McGee judges each pie on four characteristics: Appearance, taste, texture and the recipe.

"There were 15 pies in this year's contest - five in the double-crust category and 10 in the single-crust category," McGee said. He sampled them all, but it was Harvey's winning entry that sold the fastest to fairgoers after the judging was complete. Slices went for $1 each.
Diana Weymouth, manager of the Pittston Fair exhibition hall for 22 years, always asks the fair president to judge the pies. Three men and three women complete the panel, tasting each entry and ranking their personal scores before arriving at a final decision. "All you have to do is show up with your pie and your recipe on the day of the fair, and you're entered," Weymouth said. The only stipulations are that the pie is in a nine-inch pie plate and that the strawberries are fresh.

"That's basically the way all the (fair) contests are run," Harvey said. She has been entering them for the last 12 years and owns many blue ribbons, for everything from lobster pie to blueberry pie. The recipe for her Pittston Fair winner came from one of her husband's magazines. The combination of strawberries and chocolate struck Harvey as a winning combination, but many of her recipes are entirely of her own creation.

When asked why she enters pie contests, Harvey smiled. "I like to cook, and I like to experiment."

Exhibition hall contests are not limited to pies. Cooks compete with pickles, jams and jellies, applesauce, cupcakes, whoopie pies and chocolate chip cookies. How do you make the best chocolate chip cookie out of a recipe that has been a standard since Ruth Wakefield baked the first Toll House recipe back in the 1930s?

According to Weymouth, it often comes down to "a matter of the judge's tastes."

"No nuts," insisted one fairgoer. Yet another insisted a cookie isn't complete without them.
Whatever your subjective preferences, Maine's fair exhibition halls offer a diversity of locally grown and creatively crafted entries to inspire families in all aspects of domestic genius. And the halls, unlike the harness races and firemen's musters, are the places where there's always something to see, as long as the fair gates are open and sun lingers in the late summer sky.

BLUE RIBBON
STRAWBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE PIE
Faye Harvey, from Union

1 package cream cheese, softened
7 squares (1 ounce each) white baking chocolate, divided
2 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 9-inch pie crust, pre-cooked
2 cups fresh, sliced strawberries

Melt five squares of chocolate in a double boiler or microwave-safe dish, then cool to room temperature.

Beat cream cheese, milk and confectioner's sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla and white chocolate. Fold in whipped cream, and spread in prepared crust.
Arrange sliced strawberries on top.

Melt remaining chocolate and drizzle over berries. Refrigerate for one hour before serving.