Sweets take Stick 'Em up contest

By Kalea Hall | August 30, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

CANFIELD

In the end, 9-year-old Amanda Hvizdos couldn’t even taste her winning caramel apple cupcakes.

The reason: She wears braces.

But the North Lima resident still got the shiny first-place blue ribbon for the junior division at the food-on-a-stick Stick ’Em Up contest Friday at the Canfield Fair.

The senior-division winner was Grace George, 17, of Salem, who won for her Ohio State University-themed, football-shaped buckeyes that were covered in caramel and chocolate with M&M’s in the middle.

“I like making cupcakes because I just think they are the best to decorate,” Amanda said.

The contest was open to the public to watch the judges make the difficult decision of finding the first-, second- and third-place winners for both divisions.

Anything from actual dinner and breakfast foods on a stick to desserts on a stick were entered. In the end, the sweets took the cake.

The special contests such as Stick ’Em Up are decided on early in the year by the fair’s arts and crafts committee. Last year’s theme was apple. Contestants were able to make anything related to apples except for apple pie.

The three-judge team tastes each treat and votes on creativity, taste and appearance. They had to judge six junior entries and nine senior entries.

“They were all excellent,” said Joanne Stringer, one of the contest judges.

Two years ago, Amanda entered the Tailgate Tidbits contest with her snickerdoodle cookie mix and took second place. She also won second for her brownies in the past.

This year she was concerned a batch of monkey bread would beat her.

Grace also was a little concerned about her competition. She overheard the judges say how sweet her recipe was. Her creativity with the presentation of her buckeyes might have helped her get first place. She used an Ohio State plate, candle, napkins and picture to accentuate the buckeyes.

“I am the baker of the family,” Grace said.