Judgement Day

Until this month, I can only think of one other time in my life when I was asked to judge some type of contest.  That was at least 20 years ago, when I judged written essays in a small scholarship competition.

I got to experience another form of judging this month at the Iowa State Fair.  For over two decades, my spouse and daughters have been entering food baking competitions there.  This year, we decided we wanted to see what it was like on the other side of the table, so we sponsored our own category.  This not only allowed our family to choose the category, but also choose the judges -- us, of course.

Months ago, we decided our competition would be chocolate raspberry dessert, and we provided our clever category name:  Death By Chocolate Raspberry.  This choice was largely based on my own bias for that type of dessert.  To ensure we'd have some entries, we put up $100 in prize money -- $60 for first, $30 for second, and $10 for third.

Judgment day came, and we were pleased to have 14 state fair entries with plenty of variety.  There were chocolate raspberry cheesecakes, cupcakes, brownies, and more.  As with most food categories, the entries weren't judged solely on flavor.  We had decided to use three criteria: 50% of the points were based on taste, 25% on appearance, and 25% on creativity.

Influenced by both time and a desire to not get sick, we judges divided the items among us, selected our favorites (the highest point-getters), and then got together to determine the best of the best.  In the end, a mocha chocolate, raspberry-filled cupcake came out on top, and a great time was had by all.

I hope to be a judge in the future for this or another Iowa State Fair food category.  Like anything else, after having experienced it for the first time, I'd be much better at it the next time.  Knowing what to look for in the recipe / item, what to say (or not to say) on the entrant comment cards, and how to consistently score different types of entries will all be more second-nature to me.

Also, I like eating.