edith ingraham

The first year Edith Ingraham entered a State Fair contest, she won a blue ribbon.

“That’s the way I got hooked,” she says.

So, every year since 1983, she has been coming back, vying to win another, and another.

“I usually end up with ribbons.”

She’s best known for her culinary skills, having won first place in the 1996 Dallas Morning News Holiday Cookie Contest.

However, Ingraham’s entries span several categories. This year, she entered a knitted piece, polymer clay jewelry, embroidery and a steam punk mask like those worn at Mardi Gras parties.

At the fair, Ingraham also will compete in the ice cream making contest against her daughter, Stephanie Hollowell. It’s an interesting match-up, since Hollowell learned everything she knows about cooking from her mother, and both have racked up awards for their recipes over the years.

“We’re both cutthroat,” Hollowell jokes. “We’re in it for the glory.”