By KRISTIE LINDEN
Assistant Editor
[email protected]
Lexi Fox has already made a name for herself in the Washington County junior baking world — having earned the first-place blue ribbon in the junior baking contest at the county fair for the past three years in a row.
But now the Nottingham Township 12-year-old has made a move for a statewide title as well.
Lexi, a sixth-grader at Ringgold Middle School, earned third place out of 77 contestants at the PA Farm Show in the PA Preferred Junior Baking Contest on Jan. 6 in Harrisburg. The first three places earn monetary awards and Lexi took home $100 for her efforts.
She’s been the top junior baker at the Washington County Agricultural Fair for the past three years. The blue-ribbon winner from all county fairs gets to represent their county at the PA Farm Show and compete for state bragging rights.
“That’s how this all was triggered,” said Julie Fox, Lexi’s mom. “The first-place winner goes to the farm show. The farm show is big competition. They’ve all won first-place ribbons — it’s the best of the best. It’s all blue-ribbon winners.”
In previous years, Lexi’s recipes of strawberry shortcake bars and salted caramel sundae brownies sent her to Harrisburg. In 2022, she received fourth place at the state level.
This year, Lexi entered her own creation of caramel apple bars.
“I like apples and wanted to try something new,” Lexi said, adding that the bars are like a combination of apple pie and cheesecake and taste a bit like a caramel apple.
To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Thursday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.