It's never too soon to start thinking about the Minnesota State Fair, especially with several new food contests to ponder.

Karo Syrup is sponsoring the first "Kids Cookie Contest," seeking a cookie or bar with high kid appeal that includes Karo syrup.

King Arthur Flour is sponsoring its first Great Cake Contest, seeking cakes of any kind made with King Arthur flour.

Lindsay Olives is sponsoring the Olive Lovers Salad Challenge for any type of salad that uses two or more varieties of Lindsay Olives.

These contests join longtime sponsors such as Ghirardelli Chocolate, Fleischmann's Yeast, Pillsbury, Malt-O-Meal, Hidden Valley and Spam.

For contest details and entry guidelines for all competitions, call the State Fair entry office at 651-288-4417 or go to www.mnstatefair.org, click on "competition," then "creative activities," then "baked products and special contests." You're welcome.

Gotta love a birthday party. Midtown Global Market is celebrating its third year of international flavors from noon-2 p.m. Saturday with its first Global Bake-Off. A variety of birthday cakes and desserts from Andy's Garage, Café Finspang, Holy Land, Manny's Tortas, Pham's Deli, Salty Tart and more will be available for sampling. Market visitors can taste, vote for their favorites, then take home the recipes. A $3 suggested donation will go toward Hope for the City's Lunch Box for Kids program, which helps families that find their food supply stretched during the summer when kids aren't in school for breakfast and lunch. Midtown Global Market is at 920 E. Lake St., Minneapolis. To learn more, go to www.midtownglobalmarket.org.

Faced with budget cuts for the KidzRCookin program she began at Perspectives, Minneapolis mom Bridget O'Boyle decided to enter a contest that was right up her arugula. Hidden Valley Salad Dressings sought "veggie-loving moms" who nurtured a love of vegetables in their kids. O'Boyle won, earning a $5,000 grant to start or maintain a community vegetable garden. "We've had this vision for a long time, but have been bootstrapping it," O'Boyle said. KidzRCookin is part of the Kids Cafe program, both of which give students hands-on culinary instruction while building self-confidence.

O'Boyle grew up in Inver Grove Heights "when it was still farmland," raised by parents who were pioneers of organic food with a pick-your-own raspberries business. So she was a little surprised to realize that some kids have never gardened. At a recent planting party, "some kids were literally like, 'ew, dirt'." But just as Kids Café operates on the "if they cook it, they'll eat it" idea, O'Boyle is hoping that "if they grow and cook it, it will double our odds."

Stymied by finding enough urban space for a big garden, they had their first brilliant idea: planting seeds in pots placed in wagons so they can move them in and out of the sun, up to a faucet, or just out of the way. Keep track of the garden's progress -- they're growing all the ingredients for salsa -- at www.kidzrcookin. blogspot.com/

KIM ODE