Yummo Cotton Candy!!

It's fair time again and my friend and I went on our annual trek to see the sights. Not much there, but we enjoyed what little we saw. Along with trying to win a hand carved wooden pin (2X and missed one by 1 number, shucks), we mostly sat and visited with friends, ate some fair food, (not traditional this time, fajitas) and wandered the commercial exhibits and campers. Of course the final purchase of the night was an extra large bag of fresh, right out of the spinner, cotton candy. It always makes me smile and brings back memories of the South Plains Fair in Lubbock. Of waitng around while my parents and 100 others make plans for opening the ACU Hamburger booth (or ACC for most of that time). Of getting out of school early with free fair tickets and going as a family to enjoy the hamburgers, rides and games. Of going to some GREAT country concerts such as Dolly Parton, The Oak Ridge Boys and many, many others that the fair brought in every year. Of getting old enough to go to the fair with a "date". or at least on a group date with a boy you really, really like. Of coming home from college on fair weekends and begging my mother to go with me just so I could go and get me some cotton candy because, unlike today, the fair was the only place you could get this delicious spun sugar and it was a rare treat only gotten once a year. I noticed that the convenience store had some bags of cotton candy for sale this past week and was sorley tempted to purchase some, but I decided to wait until the fair opened and I sure am glad I did.

Fair Winners

Last weekend, I went to the Midland fair and checked things out. Like I previously said, this was their first fair in over 40 years. As a result, they didn't have a carnival booked so there weren't any rides, not that I am into the carnival rides. Who knew that you needed to book a carnival at a minimum a year + ahead of time. These are a few of the items my friend and I judged. The top picture is of the Jalapeno Jelly the grand champion in the canning area. It was really great. Had the standard Jalapeno flavor along with a little sweetness and heat. The pie was our grand champion in the baked goods area. It was a lemon meringue. It had a great lemon flavor. It was the only one that we kept going back to to take another bite. So, we knew that it had to be our grand champion. The orange purse was made from hand felted wool. A lot of work went into the making of that purse. It definitely deserved the award of Grand Champion. The last picture was of a tricycle/recumbent bike that was made out of found objects. (or at least that is what it looked like to me) It really worked. We know this because we had a tester try it out. It looked like fun and I would have tried it out myself, but watching our tester try to get out of the bike totally changed my mind. I would have had to roll out sideways and then untangle my legs to get out of there. I am so glad that I didn't try it. It got our reserve champion award in the had crafted category.

while at the fair on Saturday, I purchased some Meyer's Lemon and Olive Oil, Fig Balsamic Vinegar and two varieties of linguine. I can't wait to try these items out in a recipe. I think I will make a lemon chicken pasta dish this weekend. Doesn't that sound wonderful? I would have made it tonight, but didn't want to make the trek to HEB at 5:00 with all the other people shopping for dinner. I am glad I didn't go because my Schwann's man came to my door and delivered dinner without me having to get back out again!! Sometimes I just love Schwann's.

Food and fun times

I promised I would talk about what I ate at conference. I still haven't unearthed my thumb drive that I saved my nightly summary of the foods I consumed, but here are some of the highlights of that week at conference. You know they were great things when 2 to 3 weeks later I can still vividly remember them. First off was the blueberry and granola pancakes. They were awesome. I deliberately took my camera with me everywhere so I could take pictures of everything and came home with no pictures. Terrible blogger!! Anyway, this pancake batter had homemade granola mixed into the batter along with a few blueberries. Then it was topped with fresh blueberries, fresh whipped butter and sprinkled with powder sugar. You could top it off with some warm maple syrup, which I did. unbelievable! Such incredible flavors with the oats and cinnamon and a touch of sweetness coming from the granola and the fresh blueberries. When I first tasted them, I knew right away that I would have to make some myself. (haven't' yet, but it's coming. first have to make the granola) The next thing that was awesome I didn't even order. Two of my friends had the short ribs. they had a coffee, cocoa, cinnamon rub on them that was to die for. The meat was so tender that it simply melted in your mouth and the flavors blended together in such a richness that . . umm it was incredible!! I wanted to pull their plate over and just consume what was left. It was very good. That is another one I will have to play with and make. Believe it or not, I have never cooked short ribs. Since I am now teaching the culinary arts, I am going to be experimenting more at home so that I can come up with interesting dishes to serve in our restaurant at school. Well, that is all I will leave you with for now. got to get to the midland fair and experience some goodness and fair foods out there.