Winners named in Farmers’ Market first preserves contest

For Janice Hymel of Hahnville, the secret to winning the German Coast Farmers’ Market’s first preserves contest was really just common sense.

“I just do what my momma used to do,” Hymel said of her winning fig preserves that took first place. “I used the recipe my mother and aunts always used – and that was it.”

Hymel’s mother made fig preserves for her seven children and husband, she recalled. Every night they had a dessert – preserves, bread and milk. The preserves were usually fig, but they were typically whatever was in season and could include pumpkin. It was one of her fondest memories of her mother, who she described as “a very hard working woman.”

She also recalled how they made preserves with the bushels of peaches her father brought home from the French Market. This is where she learned how to make peach preserves and how it became her favorite.

Because of Hymel’s health issues, she could not attend last Saturday’s contest at Ormond Plantation where the Farmers’ Market is held every Saturday, but the victory was no less sweeter.

“I was very excited,” she said of learning she’d taken the top spot in the contest. The figs came from her neighbor across the street and her daughter, Lenni Martinez, helped her cook them. It was a welcome time of her doing something different although she’s made preserves more than 40 years.

Hymel, along with her fellow top contestants, won a cookbook and Farmers’ Market gift bag. Nancy Wilson and Joan Zeringue Robbins, both of Hahnville, were contest judges.

Winning was a surprise to Nicole Hue of Des Allemands.

This 11-year-old didn’t dare expect she’d take second place with her pear preserves, but she did.

“One of my aunts helped me a little bit,” Hue said. “We have some really good cooks in the family.”

It wasn’t just any aunt, but aunt Janice Hymel who took first place in this contest.

“I didn’t really think there was like a kind of pear jelly and I wanted to try it,” she said. “It took a very long time to get it the right consistency.”

Hue also consulted a lady at the Farmers’ Market about how she made her apple cinnamon jelly that had bits of apply in it, which she liked but didn’t want pear bits in her jelly.

“I think I did good,” she said. “I knew what to do. I just didn’t really know how lot it would take and how it would turn out.”

This was Hue’s first big cooking project.

“I didn’t really think I would get into the top three,” she cooed. “I just thought it would be fun to try and get in. We put it into jars in August of last year.”

In Destrehan, Don Montgomery was already contemplating his lemon juice project because he had a lot of lemons in his garden. By juicing the lemons, they’d have juice until the next crop.

Montgomery placed third in the preserves contest with his strawberry preserves.

“I just really enjoy making it fresh as I can,” he said, preferring preserves because it keeps more vitamins. “You get the full fruit. I hate to see the fruit go to waste.”

For this grower, he appreciates people noticing his hard work.

“I enjoy really doing it,” Montgomery said of a love for this work kicking after he retired. “For people to say I’m in the top, that’s just an added bonus that they feel the way I do – that it tastes really good.”

Montgomery said he my bring his granddaughters to help him on next year’s contest entry – blackberry or blueberry preserves.

Nearby, Mona Smith said she entered the contest with Satsuma jelly, which she and her sister made because her mother had so many satsumas. They made 48 jars of the jelly.

“I thought it was a lot of fun,” said the Destrehan resident of making preserves and jellies. “I was getting a kick out of watching them [judges] taste all the jellies.”

Smith entered her jelly because she wanted to see if she’d win in the contest and she did – fourth place. It was the first time she’d entered such a contest and she was happy with being a winner.

She and her sister are already working on their next projects – peach preserves and pepper jelly.

“It’s just something in the family so we can have our own jelly,” she said. “I came from a country-style family that did that sort of stuff – just put it on the shelf or in the freezer for later on. That’s what we did when we were kids.”