Closing the chapter

The CA State Fair closed at the end of July and my entry was returned this week. I tore open the box and pulled out an envelope that contained the ribbon and judge's scoresheet.





The judge's comments are,

Wow! This is a wonderful piece of double knitting. I'm amazed at how well you maintained your tension with so much going on! Good job!

I had to read it twice because I thought if anything was going to knock me down a few notches, it was going to be the tension. I guess not. And it was good to hear that she recognized the technique and the level of difficulty. So, that closes the the chapter on this year's entry. As I'm working on next year's entry, I'm thinking, "Why do I put myself through this?" lol

Here are the rest of the photos I took at the fair. Enjoy the amazing work by these talented makers and other sights from the fair!


Lunch on a stick


Kabobs


Meat on the grill


Cow wash


Best of Show
Decorated Cake, Tiered Cake
Wine Country Vines and Flowers
Shay Weisbrich


Best of Class
Decorated Cupcakes, Uniform Cupcakes
Hamburger
Joana Rodriguez


Winners in Leavened Bread, Non-Leavened Bread, and Quick Bread


Best of Division
Decorated Cookies, Themed Cookie Set
Golden State Sweets
Cynthia Torres


First Place
Decorated Cookies, Themed Cookie Set
Sunshine & Summertime
Kimberly Vadenais


Best of Class
Youth Decorated Cake, Age 16-18
Chess Cake
Sara Cheng


King Arthur Flour gluten free baking contest
First Place
Mexican Corn Stick
Jennine Quiring

Second Place
Strawberry Cabernet Cake
Rachael Ryen

Third Place
Brown Butter & Mixed Berries Mini Cakes
Peggy Linberg


Second Place
Models, Buildings and Rooms
Fallingwater
Bill Reese
Sacramento


Third Place
Models, Buildings and Rooms
Caveman Camping
Kevin Knight
Sacramento


Best of Division, Embroidery (Counted Techniques)
Judge's Choice
First Place
Mother of Winter
Lona Bradford
Sacramento








Award of Excellence
3-D Artworks
Patience
Molly Brown
Sacramento


First Place
Handspun Yarn, Wool
Sock Yarn
Melissa Plummer
Amador


Second Place
Handspun Yarn, Wool
Derby Girl
Rachel Coffman
Placer


First Place
Handspun Yarn, Art/Textured Yarn
Christmas!
Betty Henderson-Sparks
Sacramento


Second Place
Handspun Yarn, Art/Textured Yarn
Fairy Queen
Ha Dang
Sacramento


Honorable Mention
Handspun Yarn, Luxury Fibers
Sunset Silk
Tabitha Warren
Marin


Honorable Mention
Other Fiber Art, Weaving
Amethyst in the sunshine
Pamela McSmith
Riverside


Honorable Mention
Other Fiber Art, Weaving
Color: I can't help myself!
Roberta Valdez
Santa Cruz


First Place
Modern Quilts, Two or More People -Medium/Large
Alissa McBain
Sacramento


Honorable Mention
Crochet, Crocheted Afghans
2017 Temperature Blanket
Josephine Salazar
San Joaquin


First Place
Crochet, Any Other Crocheted Item
Bed Doily
Suzanne Sullivan
Sacramento


First Place
Crochet, Crocheted Wearing Apparel
Judge's Choice
Forest Fairy
Suzanne Sullivan
Sacramento


Second Place
Crochet, Crocheted Wearing Apparel
Summer Vest
Suzanne Sullivan
Sacramento


Honorable Mention
Crochet, Crocheted Wearing Apparel
Sacramento Crochet Guild Award
Royal Baby
Noelia Briones
Sacramento


First Place
Dolls and Toys, Amigurumi
Wakanda Forever
Adwoa Cooper
Solano


First Place & Third Place
Crafting a Brighter Future, Newborns in Need: Any Baby Hat or Booties
Melinda Wong
Sacramento

11 lemons in 3 days

Our Meyer lemon tree was shaded by Texas privet trees and it was really struggling for the past few years. We finally cut down those pesky privets and after 18 months of good air circulation and exposure to sunlight, the lemon tree has made a nice come back. We have beautiful lemons again!


Meyer lemons

Yesterday, Joanne posted a link to a Meyer lemon muffin recipe that uses 2 lemons, peel and all. Perfect! I baked up a batch and 4 disappeared before I could snap a photo. I moved this recipe from my "I'm hungry" board to "I tried it and I liked it" on Pinterest.


Meyer lemon muffins

They weren't too lemony, in fact I thought they would have a stronger lemon taste. But now that I think about it, I was comparing the muffins to cakes and other baked goods that were probably enhanced with extracts or artificial flavors. No, these muffins are naturally good with whole lemons. I'm going to make these again.

2 lemons down, 9 to go.

When the lemons are pretty and beautifully ripe, they want to be marmalade. They need to be marmalade. If you haven't made marmalade before, you probably don't know that a batch of marmalade can't be made in a day. It's a 2 day process so it requires a little bit of prep and planning. I usually don't think about canning until Sunday, so this 3 day weekend worked in my favor. 8 lemons were picked, washed, sliced, and dumped into a pot of water for 1/1/2 batches of Meyer Lemon Marmalade.


Marmalade prep

After 24 hours, I'll add sugar and heat to transform this pot of citrus and water into bright, yellow, delicious Meyer Lemon Marmalade.


Long weekend marmalade

That's 10 lemons. Where did the last one go? We had barbeque beef sandwiches for dinner and had cole slaw on the side. The juice of the last lemon went into that big bowl of cabbage and carrots.

Do you have an awesome Meyer lemon recipe to share? Let me know about it, I'd love to give it a try.

There's hope

After the incident with the squirrels and the nectarines, we covered as much fruit as possible with bird netting. We hope that a little deterrent will send the critters to other yards for food (and there's plenty in this neighborhood).

I'm happy to report that we haven't experienced the losses we would have without the netting, and the fruit is ripening on the trees. Thanks to everyone who suggested netting. I'm sorry we didn't take action earlier, but we'll be ready next year.

Here's a photo of a few of the orbs from the garden.


From our garden

See that little orange tomato in the front? It's our first tomato of the season. I have 10 plants in the garden so this is just a teaser before the avalanche.

The apricots are coming along nicely and we've sampled a few. They're really good.

The Independence nectarines are almost ready. They really do ripen around the 4th of July, how about that? We've eaten a few of those too and they're really juicy and sweet. No wonder the birds and squirrels are enjoy them so much.

And finally, I thought I'd share a photo of a pie I made. The recipe is from a King Arthur Flour handout that I received at a traveling baking demo last year. It was after that demo that I conquered my fear of making pie crusts. This pie was frozen, then a week later it was thawed and baked. The crust wasn't soggy at all and the pie was (if I do say so myself) perfect! There's one more in the freezer. :)


Apple-Cranberry Pie

Summer fruit

You know it's summer when there are apricots everywhere--at the Farmers' Market, in the stores, and in my home. I had 3 lbs of apricots from a friend's tree and found a recipe that used most of them--Apricot Crisp.

It's goooooood, especially with vanilla ice cream.


Apricot Crisp

(Okay, who else thinks this looks like chili, yams, and mashed potatoes? lol)

Tasty pin

Here's another winner that I found on Pinterest.


Chewy Apricot Almond Oatmeal Cookies
Recipe

They're a nice change from my standby cookies with made with cranberries and pecans. Apricots, almonds, and sunflower seeds make these chewy, fruity, and nutty. I'll definitely make these again.

Hot Cross Buns

Do you remember this song? I think just about everyone who learned to play the piano, violin, or recorder learned it.

Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One ha' penny, two ha' penny,
Hot cross buns!

These are fresh out of the oven, Easy Hot Cross Buns from King Arthur Flour with cranberries, dates, and golden raisins. Yes, they are easy. Although, next time I'll make them smaller (they're huge!) and butter the pan more because 1/3 of the buns stuck and ripped in half when I turned them out. It was fruit on the bottom of a bun or errant egg wash that made them stick. Regardless, the buns tasted good and they were a nice treat to take to today's spin-in.


Hot Cross Buns

Oh, and here's a cross-section of the quiche if you're interested. Eating quiche takes me back to high school when I worked at a vegetarian restaurant (but my crust is better).


Mushroom Broccoli Quiche

Winning pins: Quiche & Coffee Cake

Pin #1: Mushroom-Cheddar Quiche


Mushroom Broccoli Quiche

This recipe is Mushroom-Cheddar Quiche from King Arthur Flour. I added broccoli florets and sauteed them with the onions and mushrooms. I thought there would be too much filling for the crust, but it was fine. The broccoli actually prevented the quiche from being too egg-y. The crust has parmesan cheese in it and really compliments the filling.

Pin #2: Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake


Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

This recipe is from Michelle Smith's blog. This isn't a throw and go coffee cake, but it isn't difficult to put together either. There are 4 layers: cake, cream cheese, blueberries, and crumb/nuts. We had it for dessert tonight and I'm looking forward to enjoying a slice with a cup of coffee tomorrow morning.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Glaze

Here's another recipe I found through Pinterest, Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Glaze.


Lemon Poppy Seed muffins with Lemon Glaze

The recipe comes from Picky Cook and it's a keeper. The muffin has a fresh lemon taste and the glaze makes it extra special. This pin is moving from the "I'm hungry" board to the "I tried it and I liked it" board.

Dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar

I needed something sweet with my afternoon coffee, so I tried a recipe that I pinned: French Breakfast Muffins.


French Breakfast Muffins

Dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar--how could they be bad? They're quite good and perfect with a cup of brew.

Weekend snapshots

I tried Poppytalk's recipe for Marmalade Muffins using the Mandarin Orange Marmalade I made a few weeks ago and substituting pecans for walnuts. The muffins were delicious by themselves or with a little butter. Next time I won't use cup liners though--the warm muffin stuck to the paper. No biggie, I'm not above eating off the paper.


Marmalade Muffins

The weather was warm this weekend and the garden was showing off early spring color.


Nectarine blossoms


Santa Rosa Plum blossoms


Bossy wings


Daffodils