Skilled homemaker has fun at fair

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

A city girl who knows how to garden, cook and can?

Yes, and then some. Joanne Dean, who lives between Fort Collins and Wellington on a small acreage, has mastered many arts of homemaking and has ribbons from the Larimer County Fair to prove it.

At this year's fair, Dean earned the grand champion prize for her Dobos torte, an Austrian recipe. Since her first fair entries eight years ago, she has brought home five grand championships in baking and sewing. Her baking accomplishments are generally representative of her Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian heritage. In 2005, she won the grand champion ribbon for a complicated nut bread called povitica.

Last year, she decided to go for the gold in canning, too. She started canning and making jams in her early 20s, and she thought she had several good recipes to show off at the fair. Thus, she was brought to tears when all her canning entries were rejected.

"You have to follow USDA guidelines for the fair," she explained.

The fair judges are very particular about safety with canned goods, and contestants have to follow special high-altitude rules. Some recipe books comply with these rules, but others do not.

This year, with lessons learned, Dean entered canned goods again and brought home blue ribbons for her honey-spiced peaches and currant-apple chutney. Lacking a pressure cooker, she sticks with pickled or spiced items like these for her fair entries, since they do not require high-pressure processing.

A former software engineer, Dean likes the fair for its competitive spirit and the chance to improve her skills.

"It's a way to put yourself out there and get feedback," she said.

Of course, she also uses these skills for the benefit of her family. Her yard boasts a peach tree, apple trees, a large garden and even some chickens --and she makes yummy recipes from all of them.

"It's fun and creative, and you're doing something special for your family," she commented.

Dean was raised in San Francisco, but she always went to the county fair and enjoyed the exhibits.

"I'm half city and half country," she said with a smile. She began learning domestic skills at an early age. Her mother taught her to bake, and she learned sewing from her landlady, a professional pattern maker.

As a young woman in San Jose, Calif., Dean found a neglected pear tree in the middle of a parking lot and helped herself to the fruit, making delicious pear butter from a crop that would otherwise have gone to waste.

"I always wanted to live in the country and have my own eggs," she said. Now she does, and she's making full use of the rural bounty.

The following are some of Dean's favorite recipes from her garden and fruit trees.

Honey-spiced peaches

Yield: about 3 quarts

8 pounds small peaches
1 cup sugar
4 cups water
2 cups honey
3 sticks cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons whole allspice
3/4 teaspoon whole cloves

Wash peaches and drain. Peel peaches, leaving peaches whole. Treat to prevent darkening. Combine sugar, water and honey in a large saucepot. Cook until sugar dissolves. Drain peaches. Cook fruit one layer at a time in syrup, 3 minutes or until hot throughout. Pack hot peaches into hot jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add 1 cinnamon stick, 1/2 teaspoon allspice and 1/4 teaspoon cloves to each jar. Ladle hot syrup over peaches, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 25 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

From "Ball Blue Book of Preserving"

Curried apple chutney

Yield: about 10 pints

2 quarts chopped, peeled, cored apples (about 16 medium)
2 pounds seedless raisins
4 cups brown sugar
1 cup chopped onion
1 cut chopped sweet red pepper
3 tablespoons mustard seed
2 tablespoons ginger
2 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 hot red peppers, chopped *
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot. Simmer until thick. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. Ladle hot chutney into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

*When cutting or seeding hot peppers, wear rubber gloves to prevent hands from being burned.

From "Ball Blue Book of Preserving"

Dilly bean salad

Salad:

1 pound small green beans, steamed tender-crisp (about 5 minutes)
2 tablespoons snipped fresh dill
6 scallions, sliced, with some tops

Dressing:

2 tablespoons olive or salad oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a medium serving bowl, combine the cooked beans, dill and scallions. In a small bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Add the dressing to bean mixture and mix well. Serve salad at room temperature.

From "Jane Brody's Good Food Book