What else have I been doing?

We went to the Renaissance Festival this week end.  It's really not our thing and my better half said every 10 years is enough. It sounds like a good idea so I think we will stick to that plan.

Michele ate a turkey leg.

Then we learned how to play a game that is supposedly over 3000 years old called Morris. Since I'm the queen of games in my family and probably have over 100 games in my house, I had to buy it.  They had wine and chocolate sampling so we did have to partake it that. That was about the most excitement we had at the Festival.
On the way to Mpls we went a different route and I stumbled into a little shop in Litchfield called Very Vintage. If I was going to own a shop this would be it.  It has a little of everything. Well, maybe not food, not that I recall anyway.

I did purchase a couple of things.  I fell in love this this cute tray, it has a lot of personality and I love the color. It's not just going to sit around collecting dust. I actually use trays a lot. The little chair I bought 'cause I collect old sewing paraphernalia, however I really don't think this is that old but I did think it was cute and inexpensive so it came home with me and I will put this to use also.
Lastly, I've been working on a couple of things for my Etsy shop.

I need to add a nose and some whiskers and I may do something different around this neck of the cat before he gets listed and the other piece of work is a crazy quilted pin keeper.

What Have I Been Doing?

Well, for starters I've been sneaking around my neighbors garden when no one is home. At least I think no one is home. If they are home I bet they are wondering why I am tromping throught their garden and pulling weeds, when my own garden so desperately needs attention. These are just a few of the pictures I took, and my plan is to put them on cards and give them to them for Christmas.

Isn't she sweet?

This is where Lucy is when I get up in the morning.

This is usually where she is when I leave in the morning and get home late afternoon. She leads us to believe that's where is all day.  But then one day this week I had to come home early to get something ..........

And this is what I found. Actually she was sound asleep but when she saw me this was the look I got from her.  I tried to scold her, I really did, but just look at that face.  I don't think she took me seriously.

Fruit Salsa

Fruit salsa was one of my favorite foods at the state fair this year. I've had it before with mangoes and pineapple and wasn't such a big fan of it.  But this one was made with apples, fresh crunchy apples. So I decided to make my own version and here it is.
Fresh Fruit Salsa
2 apples, any firm crisp variety,  I used two different kinds and colors but don't know what kind they are-whatever is in my backyard.
1 peach
8-10 strawberries
a hand full of raspberries - only because I had them in my backyard, next time I'm going to try blueberries as the raspberries get a little mushy.
Chop fruit and set aside.
Mix together 2 heaping Tablespoons of raspberry preserves with 1 Tablespoon brown sugar, a teaspoon of white sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.  Spoon over fruit and mix gently.
Cinnamon Chips
1 package 6 inch tortillas
Cinnamon sugar - I'm guessing about a cup.  I always have a shaker of it and had to refill it.
I use about 3/4 cup sugar to 1/4 cinnamon
Spray tortillas with non stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, flip over and repeat for the other side. Just go ahead and make up the whole package - trust me, if you don't use them all for the salsa, someone in your house will eat them. Cut into wedges with a pizza cutter and arrange on large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can get quite a few on the baking sheets as you can place them very close together. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes until they are golden brown on edges. You will want them to be nice and crispy but not to dark. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
I found this genius way of making these chips on the internet and wish I would have thought of it myself 15 years ago. I often made these for an after school snack for my kids but did it the painstaking way of  standing over a hot stove and deep frying them in hot oil in a frying pan.

More Fair

These are just a few other things from the fair that I thought were like of cool.

I didn't just eat at the fair

We saw other stuff too. I like sheep as you may well know if you have read my blog before. As for the pig, well, it's the largest boar in Minnesota. He is 1450 pounds to be exact. I had so many questions in my mind when I saw him. How long will he live? What have they been feeding him? Can he walk? When he was born did they pick him out of the litter and decide they wanted him to be MN largest boar? Why, what is the point ? And lastly does any one else feel bad for him?

Food at the Fair

This is a sample of some of the food we ate at the Minnesota State Fair. The tasty treats included are: Honey ice cream, alligator and hush puppies, cheese curds, pineapple milk shake, beer on a stick, fruit salsa, hot dish on a stick, Uffda and what was a deep fried Reece's Peanut Butter Cup.
And not for the reviews: The honey ice cream was good. The alligator was tiny pieces, dipped in batter and deep fried and tasted like deep fried batter. The hush puppies were over done and dry. The deep fried cheese curds, well, need I say more? Who can you possibly go wrong there? The pineapple shake from the dairy barn was wonderful. The beer on a stick was very clever and I wish I would have thought of it. As far as the taste, I'm not a beer drinker so I would have to check with my daughter on that one, she seems to be the expert. The fruit salsa was excellent and I'm going to be trying to make that at home. The hot dish on a stick was good but the Uffda was out of this world. I had that last year and was so impressed I had to go back for more this year. And the last picture is the remains of a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup on a stick. That's one of the few things that I must get when I go to the fair. Not pictured and barely worth talking about is the camel on a stick. It was very dry (but I guess we all know camels) and tasteless.