Goin' big time at the South Carolina State Fair

Gingerbread Recipe from the 1880s.
No processed sugar.

He shoots - he scores...why bake bread from recipes that are as old as the hills?  Because every second place ribbon means I clean up on a dandy $5.00 - $6.00 payday per ribbon.  But the competition had their own ideas for my demise.  These ladies have been baking breads and cakes for 70+ years.   Me - a couple - but my stuff is good and I know it.

The Competition plotting my overthrow

I took second place in 6 categories in the South Carolina State Fair Baking Competition, non-yeast recipes...how specific is that for a category?   A recipe for old time Crackers Jacks from my Grandfather in the early 1920's and a gingerbread recipe by none other than Laura Ingalls of Little House on the Prairie Fame...she published her recipes as well as her personal diary.  Also made those famous Christmas time lollipops my great uncle and aunt George and Jennie Billings made when the weather got real cold so you could set them outside in the snow...

Popcorn recipe from Grandpa Swartz

The Billings Family Christmas Lollipops

It is tough to be humble