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Slideshow: Home bakers compete for National Festival of Breads Champion title.

Jennifer M. Latzke, Editor

May 24, 2021

6 Slides

Traditionally, the biennial National Festival of Breads would come to Kansas in June. Where better to celebrate bread than the breadbasket of America?

For this seventh contest, however, there won’t be an in-person festival, drawing thousands of fans of gluten from around the nation to Kansas, in the middle of wheat harvest.

Instead, Kansas Wheat, the lead organizer of the festival, is bringing the contest to an ever-growing audience of national and international home bakers through a virtual experience.

Fans of the National Festival of Breads can also help select the People’s Choice Award on the official website at nfb2021.com. Voting closes Tuesday, May 25.

Final selection of the Best of Breads Champion, and announcement of the People’s Choice Award will then occur during a virtual event June 9. The virtual broadcast over Facebook can be found at the official National Festival of Breads page, bit.ly/fbnfob. Fans can “like” the page to get notified when the event goes live. The virtual event will also feature each of the finalist recipes, interviews with the finalists, and sponsors with tips and advice for home bakers.

The National Festival of Breads is the nation’s only national amateur bread baking competition and is sponsored by Red Star Yeast, King Arthur Baking Co. and Kansas Wheat. It not only celebrates the creativity of America’s home bakers, but it also showcases the work of wheat farmers during the traditional hard winter wheat harvest season. Kansas farmers harvested 281.25 million bushels of wheat in 2020, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Adults and youth compete in separate divisions by submitting an original recipe that uses King Arthur flour and Red Star yeast products. Recipes are reviewed by a qualified panel of food experts, and category winners then compete for the overall Best of Breads champion title.

This year, three adult and two youth finalists were selected, as were 27 Honorable Mention award winners. Recipes for each finalist can be found at the National Festival of Breads website with links to each recipe in the photo captions.

Adult Division finalists include:

Barbara Estabrook, Appleton, Wis. Hearty Wild Rice ‘N Tart Cherry Bread, Traditional Breads category

Susan Simpson, Harrington, Del. Apricot-Raisin Babka Ring, Sweet Breads/Rolls category

Anakkarat Barth, Long Beach, Calif. Savory Thai Peanut Sauce Rolls, Savory Rolls category

Youth Division finalists include:

Maggie Sleichter, Clay Center, Kan. Strawberry Lemonade Swirls, Sweet Rolls category

Madee McKee, Wamego, Kan. Blueberry Blossom Tree Braids, Creative Bread Shape category

Kansas Wheat contributed to this article.

About the Author(s)

Jennifer M. Latzke

Editor, Kansas Farmer

Through all her travels, Jennifer M. Latzke knows that there is no place like Kansas.

Jennifer grew up on her family’s multigenerational registered Angus seedstock ranch and diversified farm just north of Woodbine, Kan., about 30 minutes south of Junction City on the edge of the Kansas Flint Hills. Rock Springs Ranch State 4-H Center was in her family’s backyard.

While at Kansas State University, Jennifer was a member of the Sigma Kappa Sorority and a national officer for the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. She graduated in May 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and a minor in animal science. In August 2000 Jennifer started her 20-year agricultural writing career in Dodge City, Kan., on the far southwest corner of the state.

She’s traveled across the U.S. writing on wheat, sorghum, corn, cotton, dairy and beef stories as well as breaking news and policy at the local, state and national levels. Latzke has traveled across Mexico and South America with the U.S. Wheat Associates and toured Vietnam as a member of KARL Class X. She’s traveled to Argentina as one of 10 IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism. And she was part of a delegation of AAEA: The Ag Communicators Network members invited to Cuba.

Jennifer’s an award-winning writer, columnist, and podcaster, recognized by the Kansas Professional Communicators, Kansas Press Association, the National Federation of Presswomen, Livestock Publications Council, and AAEA. In 2019, Jennifer reached the pinnacle of achievements, earning the title of “Writer of Merit” from AAEA.

Trips and accolades are lovely, but Jennifer says she is happiest on the road talking to farmers and ranchers and gathering stories and photos to share with readers.

“It’s an honor and a great responsibility to be able to tell someone’s story and bring them recognition for their work on the land,” Jennifer says. “But my role is also evolving to help our more urban neighbors understand the issues our Kansas farmers face in bringing the food and fiber to their store shelves.”

She spends her time gardening, crafting, watching K-State football, and cheering on her nephews and niece in their 4-H projects. She can be found on Twitter at @Latzke.

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