Cooking Champ Ready To Defend Her Title Sixth-Grade Teacher Challenged This Year, Working In New Kitchen

The sanitation engineers are going to miss Geri Harshman now that she has moved to a new home.

“I used to leave a plate of something for them to eat when they came to empty my garbage,” she said. “I hope they understand why I can’t anymore.”

The delectables Harshman left would make anyone want to empty her cans. After all, she is the Kootenai County cooking queen, with more than 79 ribbons to her name.

“The first time I won it was in 1989,” said Harshman. “When they called my name I was extremely surprised and elated. I get pretty emotional. I broke into tears. The judges were looking at me wondering what was wrong with me.”

Harshman, who teaches sixth grade at Lakes Middle School, retained the crown for the next five years. When she lost, the emotional Harshman was far from distraught. She was actually elated.

“There was a lot of pressure on me and it wasn’t nearly as much fun,” she said. “You know after that, I was more comfortable and I enjoyed it more.”

Some cooks are afraid to share their cooking tips and ideas, but with Harshman, there is no secret to her success. In fact, she laughs at where she gets her mysterious and treasured cooking ideas.

“I use a Betty Crocker cookbook,” she said. “I collect a lot of cookbooks, but mostly those are for show. I always stick to what is reliable. The only thing about my cookbook is, I have worn the cover off of it.”

Harshman retained her title last year and is waiting for the explosion in her new kitchen to detonate this year.

“Usually after I am done baking it looks like a bomb went off in my kitchen,” she said. “I’m a little nervous about this year. I just moved into a condo, and I am not used to the oven yet. So I am not as confident as I normally am.”

But she is confident with her cooking and will not change anything, which usually means cooking five things at once.

“While one is baking I am working on another,” she laughed. “I am compulsive that way. My students will attest to that.”

Harshman usually enters several different culinary events and each dish earns points. To win, contestants must enter six events. Points are award by ribbon color. There are several entrants and a huge variety of dishes. This makes the judges quite happy and fair officials, too.

“It’s great,” said Chris Holloway, general manager of the North Idaho Fair. “It gives all of us more to sample. That is a good thing.”

There aren’t many changes in the contest this year, except in the pie-making contest. Last year it was cherry; this season it’s apple.

“More people like apple,” said Holloway. “It’s more popular.”

Harshman is set for the challenge this year, especially because her specialty is pies.

She is confident about her sugar cookies, her angel food cake is improving, and she hopes to conquer breads.

“I still haven’t had very much luck with yeast breads,” she said. “That is my next big challenge.”

Her passions are not limited to baking. She is also a green thumber with awards for her flowers. Her zinnias and perennials also have won ribbons.

But her reputation as a cook precedes her, which isn’t always a good thing, especially during the holidays.

“Usually when the family gets together I have to prepare the meals and the dessert,” she said. “So there is little time to relax.”

Her kitchen becomes an assembly line and afterward, a war zone.

“I am used to doing 10 things at once,” she said. “But if I forget to bring my cheesecake then I get into trouble.”