FALL FAIR, FALL FARE

County Fair
Next Sunday I can start entering items in our County Fair! Frugal ways pay off in ribbons and cash. Thrifty skills that I learned as life skills when I was an ambitious child are showcased at county fairs. Last year, my first year ever to enter a fair, I won 5 ribbons! What’s more, I had never won a ribbon for cooking/canning or woodwork. However, I have won many ribbons over the years for my sewing skills.

This year, I plan to enter a bird house that is huge and has no top. It is meant to be used to house a plant. Last year, I entered a real bird house. The house was made entirely of wood taken from my 108-year-old home. Learning to use a table saw paid off, and I lost no fingers!

So far, I have canned NO tomatoes, but I might can one jar just for the fair. People do that, I hear. There are mulberries in the freezer that might be canned juice…hmmm. I will can at least one jar of fig jam.

This year, I will also enter sewing items. I just need to look at the fair list and find things I have made this past year.

Report forthcoming in the next few weeks!

Check out your county fair office to see what you can enter. I call the county agent to find the Fair Office number.

In the meantime, will you share your stories of your county fair? What did you enter?

More Fall Fare

I know it sounds strange, but September seems the perfect time to make biscotti. For years I thought it had to be tooth-breaking hard to be deserving of the term “biscotti.” Not so! I read that it can be cooked just once and sliced, or it can be cooked for just a few seconds the second time.

I don’t drink coffee, so dunking is not even an option. I use these for snacks, often when not at home, so dunking is not a possibility. Besides, I am trying not to cause dental failures by chewing on bricks that are just short of concrete hard.

Therefore, my biscotti is just extremely dry, not rock hard. If I give it away to coffee drinkers, I bake a batch that is rock hard. Okay, the biscotti I prefer and make is not THAT dry.

Now, for the good news—I have made and tested a recipe of my own biscotti. There may be about six variations/flavors that I have tested to perfection so far. I will share these for the rest of September. The goal was to cut calories and fat. Even though we all need a bit of fat in our diet and even in snack foods that we use to tide us over the afternoon, I just assume that most of us are not lacking in fats and oils in our diets.

There is only one remaining task—find the recipe and test it. I saw the recipe about a month ago and left it on the counter in anticipation of September.

Until the end of the year I will post recipes every week or two.

Do you have favorite Fall recipes?