County Fair 2011

Thursday I had the enjoyment of attending the opening day of the Sacramento County Fair at Cal Expo.  Dad was volunteering that the Sacramento Area Beekeeper's Association (SABA) booth and I just was there because I enjoy the Fair.  Dad had a great time talking to the little school kids.  I walked around the Fair stopping to talk to exhibitors.  I found some Flemish Giants being shown be a FFA girl, it was one of my babies baby.  I love seeing that! 

After wandering around seeing who was there (and who wasn't) I stopped and watched the swine show. I was really impressed with the judge.  He explained to not only the exhibitors, but the audience as well, why he placed the hogs in the way he did.  Then I went over the the Market Lamb show and Market Turkey show rings.  I was really waiting for the market and dairy goat shows. 

While I was watching the turkey show, I had quite a few school groups come up next to me, spouting some very incorrect versions of what was going on.  I heard that they were having turkey races, cock fights, and even one parent asked me if  the animals in the ring were actually turkeys...I really had no idea what to think. 

After the Turkey Show finally ended, the goats came into the show ring!  I was so excited for the goat show because that is the field I'm going into.  The judge for the goat show was also very impressive, explaining his placings and the good points and faults of each goat.  Unfortunately, I did not get to see the Dairy or Nigerian Dwarf goat shows, as they were being shown on Friday.

Before we left, Dad and I watched some of the Market Beef Show.  Again, the judge was very informative and explained his reasons for placing the animals as he did.

In all, I had a fun time at the County Fair!

Strawberry Jammin'

Yesterday afternoon my wonderful Dad bought fresh strawberries for me to make into jam! I came home from work and the 12 baskets he bought for me made the kitchen smell like a strawberry patch! Yummy! Dad made two baskets into sugar coated strawberries (a great snack at any hour) and I made seven into jam this morning!

I don't really know why I like making strawberry jam so much. I never eat store-bought jam, but mine I love the taste! As is my norm, I base my recipe off the one in Ball's Blue Book of Preserving and add a bit of my own twist (which will be even twistier next year).

Strawberry Jam

2 quarts strawberries
1 package powdered pectin
7 cups sugar
Honey (I really don't know how much...maybe 1/2 a cup)

Wash and drain strawberries, remove stems and crush. Combine strawberries and pectin in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. Stir in honey and sugar. Bring back to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute or until gelling point (I'll explain that shortly) stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Ladle into hot jars leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps and process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Make sure to label and date the jars before storing them in your pantry...it's never nice to eat mystery canned goods. Oh, it make about 7 or 8 half-pint jars of jam.

Okay, as promised an explaination of "gelling point". If you want jam (and not ice-cream topping) you need to make sure you jam is gelled. To do this I put a metal spoon in the freezer when I start. When I think it is getting close to gelling, I pull the spoon out of the freezer, dip it in the boiling jam-to-be and pull it out and away from the steaming pot. If the jam is still syrupy it is not even close. Wash off the spoon and stick it back in the freezer. Keep that pot boiling and constantly stir. I go for about two to five minutes before testing it again. When you've reach the gelling point the jam falls off the spoon in a sheet. You can also use a candy/jelly thermometer.

Just an observation, this batch of jam came out super dark! It looks very cool! And it tastes super yummy!

Granola Greatness!

Last week one of my co-workers brought in some homemade granola mix that she had made for her daughter as part of a "final's week survival kit". That inspired me to try to make some myself. It will be a good snack for me while I'm in college and just in general.

I admit, I didn't scour the internet for recipes. I did however do a few google searches that came up with many granola recipes that called for pure maple syrup. Sorry, I can't afford any pure maple syrup in my present situation. So I continued my hunt. I found a recipe for Honey Granola in a cookbook I already had "1999 Taste of Home Annual Recipes".  I had to, of course, spice it up a little to my own taste (and what we had in the pantry), but I really like the turn out!

1/4 c. Honey (I like local honey)
1/4 c. melted butter
1 tbsp. brown sugar (light or dark)
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 c. rolled oats (Quaker Oatmeal!)
1/2 c. unprocessed bran
1/2 c. salted peanuts (Planters!)

Take a 9-inch square baking pan, mix honey, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Add the rolled oats and bran and mix together.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.  Stir in the peanuts.  Cool.  And ENJOY!  Store in a cover container.

Next time I want to add raisins and maybe pretzels and white chocolate chips or something.  If you have any good granola or other easy to transport snack recipes, send them my way!  God Bless!

Eggbert!

Everyone, meet Eggbert! He is my new pig! Made out of Red Heart SuperSaver yarn. He is about 18 inches long and about 7 inches tall, complete with blue button eyes and a curly tail. I named him Eggbert, because I say that if I were to get another puppy, my dog Arnold would want him called Eggbert.

I had no pattern for Eggbert he evolved as I crocheted. I started with his head, the snout first then the rest. Next came his body with a brown belt around his belly. Last was his legs, ears and tail.

Currently, Eggbert is spending the next week at the Sacramento County Fair and was judged yesterday morning. I have yet to discover his placing, but I'm hoping that he is loved by the judges.

I plan on making a cow, horse, goat and sheep to keep Eggbert company. The next project I work on will be made out of more "natural" yarn. I have decided to move away from acrylic and nylon yarns and focus more on wools, cottons, bamboos, angoras, alpaca, and other "natural" yarns. I'm not a crazy hippie, just a young lady, with a desire to move toward back to our roots.

With my next project-with-out-a-pattern, I will definitely write it down and let everyone in on my secret. I regret not doing that with Eggbert, but there was so much ripping out stitches and trying again, it would have been impossible to read. If anyone out there has any patterns for crocheted animals I would be more than happy to recieve them.

Good Luck at Fair Eggbert! And God Bless everyone else!