Good luck Adrienne

Local lady Adrienne McEntegart Boyle will have plenty of support as she bids for a place in the Aldi Brown Bread Baker of the Year contest.

Adrienne is one of eight contestants from over the country who is through to the national semi-finals, and stands a 50% chance of going all the way into the final. The contestants are split into two groups from which two from each group will qualify for the final.

The final stages of the prestigious event takes place at the National Ploughing championships at Screggan, Tullamore, with the semi-finals on September 20 and the final two days later.

A bus from the local ICA guild has been engaged and the 19 seats have been taken up by members to make the journey to go and give their wholehearted backing to Adrienne who is a respected member.

She was twice runner-up at federation (county) level in the competition and this year made the big break through winning the heat. Fellow guild member Rose Marie McEnteggart was third in the county heat which was open to anybody to enter, not just members of the ICA.

Adrienne went onto the regional finals staged at An Grianan on August 4, and was one of eight from 26 contestants to make it to the finals.

Brenda Leary, president of the local guild says the members are ‘very excited’ by Adrienne’s feat which came while the guild was on summer break.

The members met up again on Wednesday for the first time in a few moths, and the hot topic was Adrienne’s brown bread, with plenty only delighted to taste her successful formula.

She has been ‘baking regularly just to keep practising’, told the guild president.

It’s been a wonderful year for the guild, named the Guild of the Year” in Louth. Adrienne could provide the crowning glory by winning the competition outright, but regardless of how she fares now it has been an outstanding achievement by her.

She will bake her bread ‘live’ in the Aldi tent in front of spectators at the National Ploughing championship to try and earn a place in the final two days later on the Thursday when she will go through the process of baking her recipe again if it all goes to plan..

This year’s prize fund has been increased significantly to over €15,000 with the winner receiving €5,000 in cash plus the title of Ireland’s Best Brown Bread Baker 2016.

Also there is an additional bonus and prestige that her bread will be sold in Aldi stores throughout the country and she will receive at least €5,000 worth of profits when the bread is stocked in stores.