JUNE 2019:

Two leading lights of the highly competitive Cookery and Preserves classes at Condobolin Show have now tested their culinary skills at the 2019 Sydney Royal Show.
Joy Gibson is no stranger to the “Royal”, having qualified as a regional Champion on three previous occasions to vie for the State Rich Fruit Cake title.
Through that time, she has been trying to talk her friend Leanne Anderson into tackling a similar challenge and this year Leanne said, “It was the pushing from Joy that made me do it.”
Joy who knows her way around the complexities of exhibit delivery at the Royal undertook to have their produce in the pavilion on the Sydney Olympic site on the closing date, one month prior to the Show.
Although this was Joy’s first venture into open competition, from 17 entries in the Sultana Cake she scored a Highly Commended ribbon; and her Rich Fruit Cake in a class of 28 and Plum Pudding in a class of 19, were both considered good enough to display. At the Royal, only the very best exhibits are actually displayed.
First-time Sydney Royal exhibitor, Leanne, was runner-up against 14 entries in the Fresh Apricot Jam class; third against 13 entries with her Peach Jam; and her Tomato Relish was Highly Commended among a field of 25 entries.
Interestingly, both ladies entered Lemon Cheese and made the display out of a field of 18 entries. Perhaps the judges, who commented “too yellow”, may have thought the farm fresh eggs had been touched up with food colouring!
Would they do it again? The answer is a resounding “Yes”; they have signed up for next year. As Leanne said, “We need that blue ribbon from the Royal.”