State Fair Recipes

Some folks collect state fair recipes and cookbooks, either from their own state or those from all fifty states.

You can find hardcover state fair cookbooks published by mainstream publishers and also smaller printed publications, sometimes published by the various state governmental agencies. Recipes from state fairs are often printed in local newspapers in the food section.

The Senior Citizens Cookie Recipes Book (1976, 24 pages) is one example of the smaller publications that can be found. It's a small cookbook with a stapled binding and was published by the State of Indiana Commission on the Aging and Aged. It was available at the 1976 Bicentennial Indiana State Fair. The Cookie Bake-Offs were held in the Senior Citizens Building and open to male or female Indiana residents who were 60 years of age or older.

The cookbook contains recipes from the 1975 Senior Citizens Cookie Bake-Off Contest held the previous year. Notice the Bicentennial colors on the cover. An entry form for the 1976 contest is in front of book. Name and location given for winners next to their recipes. Two pages in the center of the book contain photo Highlights from the Senor Citizens Building that were taken in 1975, with captions for the photos.

Some of the recipes called for name brand ingredients. Cocoa Puff Krispie Cookies was the Third Grand Prize Winner in the Final Bake-Off. It was submitted by Pearl Lee Mauck of Corydon, Indiana.

COCOA PUFF KRISPIE COOKIES

1 stick of Margarine
6 oz. package of dates
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup coconut
2 cups Coco-puffs
Powdered sugar or coconut

Cook margarine, dates and sugar over low heat until dates are melted (about 10 minutes), stirring all the time. Remove from heat. Add nuts, coconut, and coco-puffs.

Stir well and roll into small balls. Flatten and shape.

Roll in powdered sugar or coconut. Makes about twenty-five, or according to the size you roll.

There are 28 prize-winning recipes in all. The next recipe below was submitted by Mary Kinchlow of Indianapolis, Indiana. Although I've shown the recipe as it was printed, please note the addition of the cup of pecans at the very end of the recipe rather than higher up in the instructions.

PECAN STICKS

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp. cinnamon
2-1/2 cups cake flour
1 tblsp. sugar
1 egg white, beaten stiff
1 cup chopped pecans

Cream shortening and 1 cup sugar together. Add egg yolk, cinnamon and flour. Mix. Spread 1/4 inch thick in a well-greased 10 x 15 inch pan. Add tablespoonful of sugar to beaten egg white and brush over top of dough. Cover with thick layer of pecans and press into dough. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Makes (75) 1 x 2 inch sticks. Add the cup of pecans to dough and sprinkle additional nuts on top.

You can look here to get an idea of some of the state fair recipes booklets that periodically become available. Most of the smaller booklets have been saved as part of someone's recipe or cookbook collection.

Baskin-Robbins Pumpkin Pie

At one point during the past week, somewhere on the roads between hospitals in Kerrville and far north Houston where we've been visiting relatives who are ill, I noticed that Baskin-Robbins had changed their logo.

While I'm not overly fond of the new look, they get points for even standing out at all amidst the jillions of other signs in the retail glut that is Texas. (We have the space to build duplicate stores and restaurants every 2.5 miles and so we do. For me, it's definitely a love/hate thing.)

Seeing the sign triggered thoughts of ice cream cakes and ice cream pies, and so I got to looking around to see if I had a recipe booklet from Baskin-Robbins.


Sure enough, I found one. The Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Show-Off (1973, 24 pp) is a booklet containing 47 prize-winning recipes from a Baskin-Robbins-sponsored recipe contest with the same name.

The only evidence of the Baskin-Robbins logo in this publication is on the front cover, where it appears they took part of the old logo and added a prize-ribbon streamer tail to it, sort of a play on prize-winning recipes I guess.

The photograph on the front cover shows the Grand Prize winning recipe -- Heavenly Ice Cream Puff Fondue. This recipe was submitted by Laurie H. Freedman of Brooklyn, New York. The names and locations of the winning recipe contestants are shown at the end of every recipe.

The interior pages are printed on pink paper, a reflection of the familiar old company logo colors. The rear of the booklet is stamped with the name and address of one of the franchise stores (#543 in Rockford, Illinois in this case). Perhaps they were giving these booklets away as a promotional item at the individual stores.

Since we're still deep into the Christmas holiday season, I thought I'd share the following recipe from the booklet which seems fitting. This winning recipe was created by Susan T. Burtch of Richmond, Virgina.

PUMPKIN PECAN PARTY PIE

There are, of course, traditionalists among us pumpkin pie eaters. However, holiday dinners and special parties the year around call for a super special pumpkin pie. Here it is, and the grand point of difference is a Butter Pecan Ice Cream "crust".

1-1/2 quarts Baskin-Robbins Butter Pecan Ice Cream
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each ginger, nutmeg, salt
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup chopped pecans

(Thirty minutes before preparing Ice Cream crust, put a deep 9-inch pie pan in freezer.) To make crust: Working quickly, line bottom and sides of frozen pan with Ice Cream. Do not put Ice Cream on edges of pan. Build up crust 1/2 inch above edge of pan by overlapping tablespoons of Ice Cream. Freeze at least 2 hours. Combine sugar, pumpkin, spices and salt in a saucepan; cook over low heat for 3 minutes. Cool. Reserve 1/4 cup whipped cream for garnish. Fold remaining whipped cream into pumpkin mixture. Spoon into frozen Ice Cream crust, swirling top. Freeze at least 2 hours. In small saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, butter and water. Bring just to a boil, cook 1-1/2 minutes, remove from heat, stir in pecans. Cool. Spoon mixture around edge between filling and crust. Mound the 1/4 cup of reserved whipped cream in center. Freeze. Let mellow for 10 minutes in refrigerator; cut in wedges.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Old Fashioned Butter Pecan is one of the Permanent Flavors at Baskin Robbins so you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. The photo of the finished pie was shown on the rear cover of the recipe booklet.