Some of Alanah Boxall's favourite childhood memories involve being in the kitchen with her nanna, making things like big batches of tomato and chilli sauces and baking fruit cakes.
So it is not surprising that the new head steward for the cookery section at Wagin Woolorama's favourite class is an intergenerational category.
The 22-year-old Arthur River local has been involved as a judge at the competition for the past four years and has always looked forward to seeing the entries in the grandparent and grandchild team's event.
This special section asks for a team of two, an adult and child who do not have to be biologically related, to bake and decorate two gingerbread men.
The ginger-flavoured biscuits can be made to any size and decorated at the discretion of the entrants, although Ms Boxall said she was always partial to classic icing styles.
"It's always very cute, and gingerbread is generally easy to bake and yet stays together well to allow for the decorating," Ms Boxall said.
"This category is always a highlight for the judges."
Ms Boxall said she was excited to see the volume and quality of entries at this year's show, with entries allowed in the range of 30 classes to be delivered to the Woolorama Office at the showgrounds right up until 11am on Wednesday, March 6, before judging commences at 1pm that day.
The classes include cakes, biscuits, slices, muffins, breads and scones, with various sub-sections within those classes.
For example, one cake sub-class is for a decorated cake from the Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake recipe book.
This was a particular favourite class of Ms Boxall's as it allowed for the creativity of the entrants to be showcased.
She entered a similar class herself when she was in year 10 with a teapot creation, and she won first place in that class as well as first place in the CWA First Time Cookery Competition.
Ms Boxall said she was looking forward to seeing which cakes were entered in that sub-class this year, given the book had experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent years.
The book has even featured on an episode of children's television show Bluey, with the Duck Cake made for Bingo's birthday, and she said that particular design featured at Woolorama last year.
"The decorated cake section is always a judge's favourite, it's a delightfully fun category that not only look fabulous on display, but also bring back childhood memories for many," Ms Boxall said.
Another class the head steward is hoping will continue to grow is the men's only section, where male entrants can choose from four sub-sections - pikelets, chocolate chip biscuits, scones and rocky road.
"It is great to see entrants into this class each year and I hope that more men are happy to get their kitchens messy and have a go at baking," she said.
All sections other than the decorated cake class are tasted by judges, who will rate the entries based on their presentation, texture and taste.
Ms Boxall, who has a passion for real good old-fashioned country cooking, is keen to see the competition continue to be a "steadfast companion" and feature of the Woolorama.
"Cooking has been a long-stood tradition across regional Australia as a way of bringing people together for generations, and the cookery competition at Woolorama celebrates this," she said.
Ms Boxall said she would love to continue to build on the competition, by encouraging younger people to get involved and submit entries, as well as potentially adding new competition classes.
"I would love to get the local district high school involved again in the cookery section at the Woolorama, it's a great way for kids to unleash their creativity as well as learning life-long skills at the same time," she said.
"I'd also love to see the men's only farm themed decorated cake return as a class at the Woolorama."
