Holly Bratten stunned the judges at the Southern California Fair at the Perris Fairgrounds with her recipes and submissions in the food and baked goods categories. Bratten, who has submitted every year since 1992 at the SoCal Fair (previously the Farmer’s Fair), took home Best of Show for her pickled onions, 25 1st place awards, nine 2nd place awards, and four 3rd place awards. She also took one 4th and one 5th place award.

That means out of 45 entries, Bratten took honors in 44, a remarkable success by any standard. “I’ve always enjoyed it [submitting to fairs], “but I’m retiring,” said Bratten. “From now on I’ll just cook for my family.” In addition to the SoCal Fair, Bratten submitted six times to the Indio Fair and twice to the Del Mar Fair. With her SoCal Fair submissions, Bratten covered the table with cheesecakes, cookies, brownies, jams, and salsas. Bravo!