It’s called Holiday Helpings at First United Methodist Church in Knoxville, TN, and many ladies (and men, too) of the church work hours, days, weeks, and months in advance to ensure its success.  It works this way:  You place an order for soups, casseroles, rolls and sticky buns that are made and frozen in advance.  Then, the day of the sale, you pick up your order and maybe some homemade baked goods that are laid out temptingly in the multi-purpose room of the church.  This year we decided to order several items AND contribute to the Bake Sale.

In this post and our next one, we’re sharing what we cooked, wrapped, and tagged for this year’s FUMC Holiday Helpings. For all our contributions, the tags (which we think help the goods sell faster) were printed on cardstock and glued to leftover scrapbooking paper.  Tags were tied on with ribbon or twine.

First, Bert made his fabulous Slightly Spicy Munchies using the recipe on the side of the Wheat Chex® box and adding a little Slap Ya Mama seasoning, dry roasted peanuts, and cheese crackers. Easy to make.  Always sell well.

We both took turns stirring and baking these Sugared Peanuts, a recipe passed down from Bert’s mom.  (See below.)  Of course, we would have had more of these for the sale, but you know how you just hafta sample what you’re sharing!!! (These make great stocking stuffers, too!)

We tried Hello Dolly Bars from a recipe found at www.myrecipes.com that we stumbled upon when searching the Southern Living website.  Click here for this easy-to-layer bar cookie that never fails!

Another recipe in the collection of 10 Best-Ever Bar Cookies and Brownies found at the Southern Living website (www.southernliving.com) was this one for Peach Melba Shortbread Bars. Click here for the easy recipe that looks as pretty as it tastes. A feminine blue and cream printed scrapbooking paper made the tags look almost delicate.

We tried a new recipe this year for Poppy Seed Cake (Click here), a moist cake that freezes well.  The recipe comes from my friend Joy McCabe who appears on WBIR cooking up great things for tailgates, brunches, and home entertaining. You’ll love her website: http://www.joymccabe.com

And those are some of our contributions to Holiday Helpings this year. We’d love to know what you make for bake sales because we’re always looking for new ideas!

Sugared Peanuts

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

2 cups raw shelled peanuts, skins on

Dissolve sugar in water in saucepan over medium heat.  Add peanuts and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.  Cook until peanuts are completely sugared (coated, no syrup).  But be careful:  Don’t let the mixture turn back to sugar.

Pour and spread onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, stirring at 10 minute intervals.

This post is #13 for National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) 2013.

Erin Donovan, Biscuit Festival Queen

Not ones to let a little rain dampen the day at Knoxville’s International Biscuit Festival (May 18, 2013), we grabbed our umbrellas and headed to Biscuit Boulevard alongside a handful of hungry folks milling around waiting for the 9:00 serving of the best biscuits in town! (After all, even if we did get wet, we’d be attending the top-ranked of the Top 10 Food Festivals in America named by Livability.com!)

We passed the Cruze Farm Milk Truck on our way to get coffee and then checked out the booths as they prepared for the onslaught of 20,000 festival goers — ready to dig in to the doughy delights.

The crew from Plaid Apron stopped a minute for a picture but quickly got to work setting up their chalkboard with what had to be the longest name in the best biscuit competition: Candied Benton’s Bacon, Clabbered Cream, Honey & Balsamic Reduction Buttermilk Biscuit!

Sapphire‘s was ready early on, so this blueberry specialty was one of my first of five samples I could get with a $10.00 ticket.  Delicious!

By this time, the crowd packed the boulevard and long lines were ahead of us.

We waited about 15 minutes for a Green-Eyed Monster Pimento Cheese Buttermilk Biscuit from Tupelo Honey Cafe. Later, we learned this fab concoction tied for runner-up in the Best Biscuit category, but it garnered (deservedly so) the award for Best Biscuit Name.  It wasn’t the name, however, that won us over:  These biscuits were hearty yet light, creamy rich, and HUGE! (I knew I had to pace myself with more walking, waiting, and coffee sipping!)

The Pillsbury Dough-Boy stood ready with his newly acquired friend Rather from Crested Butte, Colorado.  Husband Bert grabbed a Grilled Biscuit Sloppy Joe from their tent!

Flourhead Bakery and Tomato Head offered another cheesy delight: Sweetwater Valley Smoked Cheddar and Onion Biscuit that tied for runner-up with Tupelo Honey. All that yellow goodness on top really is that fabulous smoked cheddar you get from Sweetwater Valley Farm in Philadelphia, Tennessee. (Visitors welcomed!)

After spying another long line, we knew something good was waiting where the man in a red shirt from Applewood Farmhouse greeted everyone with a smile.  Sure ‘nough.  Winning the People’s Choice Award with the most guest votes was their Andouille Shrimp and Grits Biscuit — hot, spicy, and not on anyone’s diet, for sure.  No wonder they took home the Biscuit Sunsphere Trophy!

But not to be outdone, RT Lodge now has bragging rights from the critics with their Deep Fried Biscuit with Braised Short Rib and Pickled Onion.  Mmmm. A mixture of savory, spicy, and vinegary all in one. Deserved that Critic’s Choice Award!

We saved our last biscuit on the ticket for a sweet treat — the Strawberry Shortcake Biscuit from the Southern Living booth served to us by Whitney from Birmingham, Alabama.  (Bet the whole staff wishes they’d had this assignment.)

If biscuits alone weren’t enough, there was even our favorite East Tennessee syrupy goodness from the Guenther family in a booth down the street: Muddy Pond Sorghum!

At the Biscuit Festival, even little kids get into biscuit eatin’ — like this happy fella who likes packin’ it in while strolling . . .

and these rather cooperative brothers in the children’s tent patting and rolling and cutting biscuits just like the chefs do!

Since we were stuffed from more carbs than we usually eat in a month, we were glad to take a break and enjoy the lively lyrics and thumping, hand-raising sounds of Jimmy Brown Johnson and the Band of Awesome on the Flatbed Music Stage.  No one stood still — or even wanted to!

Click here to watch this YouTube video of “Biscuits in the Front, Party in the Back” as seen and heard on WBIR’s “Live at Five at Four.”

We stopped to talk to our friends Kathy and Dan Hamilton who were on their way to the Blackberry Farm Biscuit Brunch in Krutch Park Tent.  From all accounts, this is the culinary route to a great Saturday, so we may have to try it next year.

Harry and David set up a booth for the first time this year . . .

and B97.5 motioned us over for more freebies on a plate.

We almost did a double-take when we saw the Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams booth with the owner himself, Allan Benton, serving his nationally-famous smoked country ham and bacon.

I said to him, It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Benton.  And you’re still smiling after being on your feet all morning?

He politely replied in his Southern gentleman way: Any time I’m holding Benton’s bacon, there’s gonna be a smile on my face!  (Sure enough.  He was still smiling when we passed by a little later in the morning, too.)

We mozied back around to Market Square to take in some of the crafts and farm-fresh foods brought in for the day.  We found Biscuit Festival mugs . . .

and Blackberry Farm products you can purchase online or from their catalog.  (No surprise: They have blackberry jam!) Click here for more information.

And wouldn’t you know, we’d find something never seen by us before. Thrifty Girl brought something every biscuit lover needs to wear: biscuit head bands — I kid you not!  One of kind, wouldn’t you say?

In fact, it’s just the sort of thing Erin Donovan, broadcaster for WBIR, might like to add to her growing wardrobe of must-have wearables with a biscuit theme!  She’s the Biscuit Queen for a reason!

If you haven’t been to the International Biscuit Festival, make plans for next year: May 14-16, 2014.  It’s a feast.  It’s a fun day.  And as organizer John Craig says, Who doesn’t love a biscuit?

International Biscuit Festival

www.biscuitfest.com

Click here for another blog on the International Biscuit Festival from Stuck Inside of Knoxville with that Urban Blues Again.