Linda Skeens, author of Recipes and Tips from America’s Favorite County Fair Champion, is with us this week to talk about the joy she finds in cooking, crafts, canning, and family.

Last summer at the Virginia Kentucky State Fair, one woman won first, second and third place for best cookies. She also swept all three awards for candy and for savory bread. And won the blue ribbon for cake, pie, brownie, sweet bread, and best overall baked goods (that was strawberry fudge.) But it didn't end there. She won for canned tomatoes, canned corn, pickled peppers, sauerkraut, relish, spaghetti sauce and both jelly and jam. And after the fair posted these utterly dominating results on social media in June, you guessed it— she went viral. Linda Skeens, a 74-year-old grandmother from Appalachia, won 30 ribbons in all.  Now, after decades of cooking for her family and competing in county fair cookoffs, she’s not only internet famous, but has been celebrated across the country for her mouthwatering, downhome dishes.  Her award-winning recipes and delightful family stories will be published for the first time ever in a new book, BLUE RIBBON KITCHEN: Recipes and Tips from America’s Favorite County Fair Champion.   

When Linda Skeens gained sudden and widespread fame for winning dozens of ribbons at the Virginia-Kentucky District Fair in the summer of 2022, people across the country began asking, “Who is Linda Skeens?” Her first-ever published collection of recipes and family stories, Blue-Ribbon Cooking: Recipes and Tips from America’s Favorite County Fair Champion, answers the question that’s been on everyone’s mind. Linda is an Appalachian grandmother who’s been cooking for her loved ones and entering county fairs for decades, frequently taking home the highest honors. In her new book, she shares more than 30 of her prize-winning recipes in additional to more than 70 other family-favorite dishes. From canning and fudges to stews and casseroles, this cookbook features a lifetime of recipes collected and perfected by Linda Skeens.

BUY THE BOOK: https://a.co/d/5GJkbZy

LINDA IN THE NEWS:

• Here & Now NPR https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/05/31/blue-ribbon-kitchen-cookbook
• https://www.today.com/food/people/linda-skeens-makes-tv-debut-today-rcna39316
• https://www.npr.org/2022/07/08/1110242519/county-fair-award-winner-linda-skeens
• https://wcyb.com/news/local/local-viral-baking-sensation-linda-skeens-to-appear-on-the-kelly-clarkson-show-thursday
• https://www.today.com/food/news/linda-skeens-cookbook-rcna49493
• https://www.today.com/food/people/linda-skeens-virginia-kentucky-district-fair-rcna36121
• https://www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1125268653/linda-skeens-tiktok 
• Today Show
• NPR
• The Kelly Clarkson Show

Women Beyond a Certain Age is an award-winning weekly podcast with Denise Vivaldo. She brings her own lively, humorous, and experienced viewpoint to the topics she discusses with her guests. The podcast covers wide-ranging subjects of importance to older women.

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