What I've always liked about 4-H programs is the sort-of mentor mentality that seems to flourish there. I was fairly active in 4-H as a kid. I think I gave up on keeping record books, which is kind of funny when you consider how much I enjoy keeping histories of just about everything in my adult life. The final year I was in 4-H, I remember going out to the sheep pen about a week before the fair and all my little lambs were wild and dirty. I'd gone from dedicated 4-Her who had lambs who would follow me around like puppy dogs, to too-busy teen who barely remembered what I had named that year's animals.
Luckily, I was big enough that year to simply strong-arm my sheep around the ring. I didn't give a hoot about showmanship at that point and I made it through the market classes on experience and all the great advice I had received from others about raising and showing sheep through the years. That's what I remember most about 4-H, it wasn't just being fed information by a teacher, but working with a host of people such as other kids who had more experience in a project, their parents, sometimes aunts and uncles, and older people in the community who no longer had kids of their own at home.
Later I regretted, a bit, falling off the 4-H wagon so easily. They had a lot of cool exchange programs and scholarship opportunities that I wish I had taken advantage of.
My kids got involved in 4-H in Ford County at a fairly young age. They had a Cloverbuds program there for pre 4-H age kids. Munchkin #1 was in it for two years and #2 was in it for one. It was a lot of fun. We got to hang out with our neighbors and friends and they did a lot of community service projects together. Then we moved to Shawnee County where, technically, munchkin #1 was still too young to be in 4-H. County to county, the rules vary slightly. Some go by age as of January 1st, some go by age as of fair time. So #1 showed in the Shawnee County fair as a first year 4-Her even though she'd spent most of the year in Ford County.
I was very happy to find the 4-H environment here in Emporia was similar to what we had experienced in Ford County. We haven't taken advantage of the program to near the extent that we probably will. This year was kind of testing the waters for us since we'd kind of soured on 4-H while in Shawnee.
The girls both took Food and Nutrition as a project. We didn't make any of the county meetings (I mismarked my calendar once and the other time we had a snowstorm), but did manage to go to a couple of meetings with our local club leader. I am thinking of this because middle munchkin is making muffins today and, quite honestly, I am blown away by the end product.
At the end of their first meeting, my oldest came out wrinkling her nose. "She's all about the measurements being exact and the way you mix things has to be just so." Her assessment seemed to be that it didn't really matter. She just wanted to be able to eat something that tasted good.
This is good, I told her. I am an estimator and a make-it-up-as-you go kind of cook. As a result, I'm not always successful in my endeavors. Sometimes I end up with something fantastic. Sometimes the things I make flop. Sometimes I try to repeat my fantastic creations and can never quite get them right because I've neglected to write them down. It's a process and it works for me, but now she knows first hand that there are other ways to do it.
For the 4-H fair, she came back with a blue ribbon on her cookies (where her dad took over the mentoring - my cookies pretty much consistently suck) and a purple ribbon on her quick bread. She may have poo-pooed some of the tips from the 4-H leader, but she obviously learned a few things, as well.
Middle munchkin, on the other hand, was thrilled with the results of her cooking lessons. I was amazed when I listened in on the judges consulting when my daughter, age 8, set forth a half-dozen points for baking that I had barely any knowledge of. She explained how you know if your muffin is overmixed. She explained what a good muffin top looks like and how you test it to see if your baked product is done.
The muffins she took to the fair were absolutely beautiful, and the muffins she made today were stunning, as well; just like pictures in a recipe book. Each one was full and lightly browned and popped right out of the pan. She's already told me that she's eager to take Foods as a project again, and to go to more meetings with our club foods leader.
They are both eager to take a few other projects, as well, and my youngest will be old enough for 4-H this year, too. I'm thrilled, because we've met so many people through 4-H already who will make wonderful mentors in areas where I have no skill or interest. In fact, I think it's time for me to start thinking about areas where I can be a mentor, as well.
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