Chipper, originally uploaded by caryn74.

When I was probably in about 5th or 6th grade my 4-H club — the Penn Loyal Pals — put on a bake sale. I think it was on a Saturday morning late in the summer, meaning no one was really around. Especially because we held it on the corner in front of the post office in our little town of only a few hundred people. Probably not the smartest marketing plan and I think the only money we really made came from the parents dropping off and picking up their kids. I don’t really remember what I made for the bake sale — probably apple cinnamon muffins, because that is what I was trying to perfect for my Foods entry for the fair that year. I don’t remember how I placed on that — probably not very high. The muffins were tasty, but I think they probably had too many “holes” in them. And judges at the fair don’t really appreciate holes in the middle of their muffins and quick breads. I find that in real life, no one really cares about that kind of thing as long as other people are doing the baking. Plus chocolate chips don’t hurt.