Jam Queen Dominates at Fair

If you want to win a ribbon for jam at the Minnesota State Fair, you’re going to have to get past Mary Gorham first.

Gorham, of Minnetonka, has been entering her jams, jellies and other creations into state fair competition for the last 10 years–and winning.

A lot.

Gorham’s jams and jellies earned her five blue ribbons this year, along with the Bell Preservation Award for the best soft spread (her entry in that category was a nectarine-peach butter).

Gorham grew up on a dairy farm near Arcadia, WI, and she remembers watching her mother can produce–corn, green beans, fruits, peaches, peas, cucumbers–from their huge garden. But she says that’s not how she learned to be a champion canner.

“I just watched,” Gorham said. “She wouldn’t let me do anything.”

And besides, she adds with a laugh, “I didn’t really like my mother’s jams. I thought they were too stiff.”

For the last five years, Gorham has entered 20 of her canning creations–the maximum number of entries allowed in the State Fair’s creative activities categories. Her specialty has always been jams, particularly berry jams.

She reels of the categories she entered this year:

“Beet pickles, bread and butter pickles, cucumber relish, tomatoes, orange marmalade, raspberry jam, strawberry jam, pear jam, peach jam, blueberry-rhubarb jam, nectarine-peach butter, rhubarb jam, blueberry jam, blackberry jam, nectarine jam, grape jelly, cherry jam, plum jam, very berry jam …” her voice trails off as she counts, but that 20th category remains elusive.

Gorham’s canning obsession began after one of her three daughters entered applesauce into state fair competition, and won a ribbon. In 2001, she entered her strawberry jam–and lost.

“I was crushed,” Gorham said. “I said, ‘I’m not doing this anymore. Next year I’m not entering.’”

File that under “famous last words.”

The next year, Gorham’s blueberry jam won a third-place ribbon. “I thought, OK, maybe I CAN do this,” she remembered.

During the learning process, she said she made some "pretty bad jam.” But she gradually got better.

The ribbons began piling up, year after year. And so did the adjunct awards, such as the Gedney Award or the “Processor of the Party” award, which are given to competitors who earn the most points (which are compiled according to the number of ribbons won).

For the last five years, Gorham has maxed out on the number of entries: 20 each year.

The soft-spoken Gorham is more cutthroat than she looks when it comes to State Fair competition.

For an indication of her level of competitiveness, consider this: After winning 11 ribbons last year, she was so depressed that she contemplated not entering anything at all this year. (She did, of course.)

Gorham points out that it’s more impressive to win ribbons in the strawberry and raspberry jam categories, because those are the ones with the most entries. This year both her jams won the blue ribbons, as did her peach and pear jams and her orange marmalade.

It’s not exactly a money-making proposition: Each blue ribbon earns $12. Second-place ribbons earn $9, and third-place ribbons get you $7. “It helps a little, especially with the price of sugar these days,” Gorham pointed out.

But then there’s the acclaim. Gorham was recently in a St. Paul cooking store, and she began chatting with the clerk about her canning and her winning history at the fair. Gorham was invited to give a class next spring on jams and jellies.

Is there a down side to the hobby?

“Sometimes I regret it,” she admitted. “Sometimes my family’s going out having fun, and I’m inside canning–especially in July and August, which are the busiest months.

“A lot of times I ask myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ And then, when I get a ribbon, I say, ‘Oh, I see. I get it.’”

And yes, Gorham and her family happily consume the fruits of her labors.

“I have toast or an English muffin every morning, and I always put jam on it,” she said. “I love to eat it.”