Some of the best cooks you’ll ever find are the ones who you’ve never heard of. They didn’t go to culinary school and don’t own big restaurants, yet in their respective towns, they’re local legends for their perfect fudge and spectacular springtime strawberry preserves. This was the case for Appalachian grandmother Linda Skeens before the world caught on to the deliciousness that she’d been cooking in Virginia for decades.
It all began last summer when the Virginia Kentucky District Fair posted the results of their annual cooking competition to Facebook for the very first time. At that particular fair, Linda Skeens earned first place in cakes, pies, brownies, and sweet breads categories and won first, second, and third places in the cookies, savory breads, and candy divisions. If that wasn’t impressive enough, she also earned top awards in canning and quilt embroidery. This wasn’t her first competition, or even her 10th. What the world didn’t know was that Linda had a collection of more than 1,000 blue ribbons that she’d been amassing for three decades. It wasn’t long before Texas radio host Mason Moussette caught wind and spread the news to TikTok. Soon, people were writing songs about Linda, printing T-shirts, creating online fan clubs, and collectively asking, “Who is Linda Skeens?”
