Elinor Ives of Sturbridge, Mass., an English Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, took home the top prize for the Great American SPAM Championship at the Woodstock Fair in Connecticut.

She made Elegant SPAM-Berry Bites and won $150.

Here's her recipe:

ELEGANT SPAM-BERRY BITES

1 can SPAM Classic
Olive oil, for frying
3 sheets puff pastry
1/2 cup Craisins
1/4 cup honey mustard
1/4 pound Jarlsberg or Swiss cheese, cut into 24 triangles
Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the SPAM into 8 slices, and then cut each slice into 3 squares, for a total of 24 squares.

In a non-stick pan over medium heat, fry SPAM squares in olive oil until light brown. Place on paper towel to cool.

Thaw puff pastry according to package directions. Using a small glass or 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut 8 circles from each sheet of puff pastry and place the circle on a non-stick cookie sheet. Top each circle with a few Craisins, 1/2 teaspoon honey mustard and 1 square of SPAM.

Bake SPAM-Berry Bites for 10 minutes and then top each with 1 triangle of cheese. Return bites to oven for 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and puff pastry is golden brown.
Garnish with fresh parsley.

She now has has the chance to win a trip to SPAM Jam Waikiki in Hawaii next April or a $3000 cash prize.

The contest was a family affair with Elinor and Josh Ives took first and third place and their daughter, Lila Ives, won second place in the kids contest.

Elinor and her family love to eat and experiment with different flavors, just for fun. Elinor and her husband have entered the culinary contests at the fair for the last three years and what they love most is the challenge of creating delicious and original recipes.
Josh is a merchandiser for an outdoor retailer and his recipe was for SPAM Apple-Tizers and won a $25 prize.

Lila, 7, is just starting second grade and won $30 for Pasta SPAM Delight.

Here's another winning recipe from the Fair in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Championship

JoAnn Sandgren of Southbridge, Mass. took first place in that one.

Double Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 - 16.5 ounce jar crunchy peanut butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Baking Chips
1 cup Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Baking Chips

Cream the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Add eggs, yolk and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Stir in peanut butter. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together; stir into the peanut butter mixture. Lastly stir in both kinds of Ghirardelli chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for about 2 hours.

After dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheet lightly with non-stick spray. Shape dough into large gumball size balls. Place them on prepared cookie sheet and flatten with fork in a crisscross pattern. Bake cookies for 12 to 14 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly on cookie sheet before transferring to a rack as they are soft in the middle and may crack.

Yield: about 50 cookies