TRAVIS GRAVEN: Some of you may have watched The Great American Recipe on Iowa PBS, so
we decided why not try to find the Great Iowan Recipe here at the fair and invited people
to share how food connects with their family, heritage, and legacy.
Soon, the winners will be on display right here at the fair.
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I don't know about the technical aspect of it, but it looks darn tasty.
DIANNA SHEEHY, JUDGE: It does look tasty.
And we'll see.
As we watch me eat.
Yes, it's tasty.
And it has a nice outer crust.
And a nice lattice weave.
LISA LaVALLE, JUDGE: I'm just looking for a little bit of real Iowa, real history, real
family stories.
And then a beautiful something that they can show off in a dish or on a fork.
It's all about family.
And then family experiences.
I had a parallel with an old bishop's buffet story of something.
And other stories about cooking with your grandma and making grandpa or your dad so
happy for something you cooked.
So I love the fact that I can relate to almost every recipe that's come through here.
TRAVIS: What kinds of stories have you seen so far?
DIANNA: Well, there was a story from an 85-year-old man that entered some apple crisp, and it
was a very dear story.
Then another story was an aebleskiver, a Danish thing where it's in a nice little skillet.
It had to do with a great grand parent coming from another country.
TRAVIS: A lot of food does have a story behind it, right?
DIANNA: There is, but a lot of contests don't have a story that is printed up but the stories
enhance the whole judging process.
And this particular contest requires a story.
And so that's 20% is on the meaningful story.
This one is exciting.
Growing up on a centennial farm, my family has one of those, that means a lot.
KRYSTAL BELLIS: I made my grandma's famous Christmas caramels and brought them to the
fair.
TRAVIS: And what's the story behind them?
KRYSTAL: About 50 years ago, she decided she wanted to make caramels one Christmas when
she was about nine months pregnant with my uncle.
She made them and they were instantly a hit and they've been a tradition ever since.
JUDY KIBURZ-HARRISON: I brought oatmeal munchies that my mom used to make.
My grandmother used to enter the state fair, and my mom entered.
And so I started taking care of my mom when she needed help, and she taught me how to
do cookies.
She used to do pies and everything, but when she got older, she mainly did cookies.
She wanted me to carry on the family tradition.
She had a stroke in 2013.
I helped take care of her and she passed away in 2017 so I carry on the tradition.
DIEGO RODRIGUEZ-NEGRETE, JUDGE: My style of cooking - there's a lot of tradition that
I'm inspired by.
But very much so just ingredients.
I think that's really what was showcased here was Iowa ingredients.
LISA: Makes us all proud to be from Iowa.
Beautiful food and just such skillful entries.
This is the first year of the contest.
I think it was a big success, thanks to everyone that participated.
So I just feel lucky to be here with everybody.