Thanks to a Special Foods Workshop put on by the Town ‘N Kountry Kids 4-H Club, the largest number of 4-Hers recently participated in the annual 4-H Special Foods Contest held on May 26.
Eighteen 4-Hers spent the day preparing smoothies, salads, muffins and various meat dishes.  Judging the contest this year were Maria Feldhaus, 4-H Advisor for Miner County, and Margo Edwards.
This contest gives the youth a chance to prepare a recipe from any of the five food groups. One requirement is that three ingredients must be measured during the contest in front of the judge.  Often times, first time participants will choose something simple, such as a smoothie.
During the contest, 4-Hers are tested on their nutritional knowledge and must answer questions from the judges.  Other elements of the contest include planning a menu and displaying a table setting to go along with the special dish. The variety of the table settings vary greatly year to year and often showcase bright colors and themes.
Results for the 2016 Special Foods Contest and the special dishes prepared:
Purple: Hope Baysinger – Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie, Katelin Deneke – Pork Apple Burgers, Ellie Evans – Chocolate Banana Smoothie, Bailey Feistner – Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Keaton Fridley – Blueberry Blast Smoothie, Kenlie Fridley – Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie, Victoria Hoffman – Simple Summer Smoothie, Brady Larson – Pizza Meat Cups, Bryce Larson – Strawberry Rhubarb Smoothie, Nathan Linke – Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza, Megan Linke – Skillet Lasagna, Emily Ohlrogge – Creamy Chicken Tortellini, Isaiah Schultz – Green Grape Salad, Sutton Senska – Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie, Payton Uecker – Strawberry Banana Smoothie;
Blue: Michael Hoffman – Oreo Milk Shake, Clay Moody – Strawberry Banana Smoothie;
Red: Henry Hunter – Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Smoothie.
A few of the winning recipes include:
Creamy Chicken
Tortellini Bake
By Emily Ohlrogge
Ingredients:
•    Five cups frozen cheese tortellini
•    Three and a half cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken
•    32 oz. Alfredo sauce
•    One half tsp. garlic salt
•    One cup shredded mozzarella cheese
•    One-half cup shredded parmesan cheese
•    One cup chicken = three and one-fourth oz.
Directions:
1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.
2.    Combine tortellini, chicken and Alfredo sauce in bowl.  Put in pan and cover with foil.  Bake 30 minutes.
3.    Uncover and top with cheeses. Continue baking uncovered for 20 minutes until bubbly and brown.
Pork Apple Burger
By Katelin Deneke
Ingredients:
•    One lb. ground pork
•    One-third cup Granny Smith apple – peeled, cored and chopped
•    One-fourth cup sweet onion, finely chopped
•    One tsp. minced garlic
•    Two Tbsp. teriyaki sauce
•    One egg, slightly beaten
•    Four hamburger buns
•    One (eight ounces) can sliced pineapple, drained
Directions:
1.    Turn on the broiler – allow oven to heat up for five minutes or more.
2.    In a large bowl, mix together ground pork, apple, onion, garlic, teriyaki sauce, and egg.
3.    Form into four patties.
4.    Lightly oil grill pan/broiler.
5.    Broil burgers five to 10 minutes on each side, or until done.
6.    Add pineapple slices to grill pan/broiler when burgers are turned. Broil four to five minutes.  Turning once.
7.    Place opened buns on a cookie sheet.  Broil until toasted.
8.    Serve burgers on toasted buns topped with pineapple slice.
Green Grape Salad
By Isaiah Schultz
Ingredients:
•    Two cups green grapes
•    Two oz. cream cheese
•    Two oz. sour cream
•    One-half Tbsp. brown sugar
•    One oz. chopped pecans
•    One-fourth tsp. vanilla
Directions: Mix grapes, cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla together. Mix brown sugar and pecans together and add to grape mixture. Serve.

4-Hers participating in Shift 1 of the Special Foods Contest on May 26: back row (left to right): Henry Hunter, Emily Ohlrogge, Bailey Feistner, Ellie Evans, Brady Larson; front row: Victoria Hoffman, Keaton Fridley, Kenlie Fridley and Michael Hoffman.

Back row: Megan Linke, Katelin Deneke, Nathan Linke; front row: Clay Moody, Payton Uecker, Isaiah Schultz, Hope Baysinger, Bryce Larson and Sutton Senska.