… as long-time readers will know, this weekend marks the annual Aby Village Show… it’s the time when all the locals gather to show off their prowess in the kitchen and garden as well as photography and needlecraft… it’s a time for us all to gather as a community with fingers crossed and breath bated waiting to find out who’s scones have favoured the judges this year… who’s victoria sponge has risen to perfection and who’s fruit pie has ticked the right boxes… and you may say, ‘well Mr Franks, you’re sure to walk away with the gold medals… we love your cooking and your cakes are excellent’ but what none of you realise is that the judges of these kinds of village shows are not looking for creativity or flair… they are looking for perfection… with rules… rules that I am not very good at following… rules laid down by the coven of witches known in this country as….. The Women’s Institute…
… scones have to be a certain size (believe me… I have fallen foul of this one before)… victoria sponges must be made with three eggs, just jam filling and no cream (and not four like this…) and a small loaf must be small and you must understand what this means…
… I was actually at a wedding last year so I couldn’t enter or enjoy the genial ribbing we all give each other after the judges have given their decisions and the items are all put up for one of the most raucous auctions you’ll ever attend… so this year i’m planning on going out guns blazing and entering quite a few items…
4 scones – recipe can be found here…
4 cheese scones – recipe can be found here…
a deep-filled cherry pie with a chocolate lattice pastry top – this is my we should cocoa entry this month and I will post a full recipe later next week…
a small loaf – recipe can be found here…
a victoria sponge made with three eggs – recipe can not be found here…
6 biscuits – I went for gingernuts which are sublime!
it is now Saturday morning and after a full day and half a morning of baking I have been down to the village hall and submitted my bakes… by the time you’ve read this I will probably be biting my nails in anticipation of a result… I will update this post this afternoon when I return from the brou-ha-ha…
… well… not a bad haul after-all… First Prize with my cheese scones (about time I bloody won the scone prize)… First Prize with the bread… and Third Prize for the Cherry Pie, which if you ask me is a fix… that pie is clearly a winner!… Vic Sponge and Biscuits didn’t even hit the scoreboard although i’m not really surprised about the Vic Sponge as it was a little dark around the edges… what a day!
eat and of course, enjoy!
Every one a winner…………or see me!! xx
Fingers crossed!
They look great to me – good luck! 🙂
Good Luck! I reckon those ginger nuts look particularly unbeatable… fingers crossed 😉
Everything look great! I wish you all the best for this …
Good luck – the Victoria Sandwich looks perfect this time. The ginger nuts and cherry pie look particularly outstanding too.
You can't call the WI witches they'll eat you alive!!! :-))
They all look fabulous (and perfectly sized) to me. Good luck!!
As I think you are 5 hours ahead, I can only wonder what is going on in your Aby Village Show!!! Did you win anything yet, are you biting your nails . . .
And yes Mr. Franks, I do believe you should be walking away with all the ribbons!!! Seriously, everything looks fabulous!!!!
Good Luck!!!
Good luck Dom!!!!!
Yayyyyy! You must be on cloud nine. Not a bad day at the Village Show for you. I will be going back and looking at all the recipes. Congratulations Dom, I very happy for you.
Stewards enquiry on those gingernuts.
ooh Dom, sorry that you didn't get the Cherry Pie prize, err I have a feeling it was a WSC thing, chocolate pastry does not go down well with the WI set. I think it is remarkable that they gave you a prize at all given your total disregard for tradition 😉
I agree, that Cherry Pie had WINNER all over it!
Well done Dom, and I am impressed, 2 first places and a third. I only managed one first at the Petersham show, I know just how hard the competion can be!
Well done! They all look lovely! I wish we had a village competition like this, it sounds fun!
Good result – but those gingernuts do look really good and surely should have won something. I'm suspicious of skulduggery behind the brou-ha-ha.
Well done – that is quite a bounty!
Yay!!! You are the Olympian of baking!!! Congrats on all your ribbons!!!
What fun! The deep dish cherry pie with the chocolate lattice top looks seductive. Great job!
Great looking bakes, what fun and congratulations! Your friendly neighbours won't be able to rib you any more!
Woooohoooooo! Will you now be appearing in a nude calendar featuring strategically placed, err, gingernuts?
Oooo congratulations on winning!! Even if you didn't get a clean sweep of all the prizes, there's always next year! Well done!!
Yi ha, many congratulations Dom, though I reckon you were right, that Cherry Pie clearly deserves a first – as do those biscuits I might add. I can see why the cheese scones won, they look perfect – how on earth do you get them to all be the same size??? Sounds like an impossible task.
Fabulous…well done! They all look delicious. I wish I lived in a village with a show! 🙂
dom
I want postal entries to our show next year dom
we have nice certificates too!!!!
I would like to “twin” our show to the ABY show!!!
well done
Congrats!!! send a scone my way pls…the tea is just brewing…. 🙂
Haa, nice work, Dom, well done!
Congratulations on first prize for scones and bread – well deserved as they look amazing! Shame about the pie but third place is still amazing. I'm going to have to try your award winning scones 🙂
Wow. Well done. That was some contribution you made. Love the cheese scones the best!