10/10/11

Today is the "what we entered into the fair" rendition of the blog.  

Let me warn you... I took a lot of pictures this year to capture the fun and had a hard time not putting them all here.  You will get to feel as if you were with us all weekend long by the time you finish reading today.

The photograph and jams/jellies/lego piece were taken on Saturday to the fairgrounds.  The jams/jellies, etc... were made before this weekend, mostly in the summer.

First off... my photograph. 

I have learned over the years to not stress too much over what I choose because I never know what the judges are looking for.  This year I chose one of my favorite shots from Old Salem when we went for Wesley and Mikayla's site visit for their fourth grade project. It is a tin cup by a window.  I just love the lighting.

 

Next we'll do the jams/jellies.

I entered my muscadine grape jelly.

my jalapeno jelly, pear jam, and strawberry/pineapple jam

Mikayla entered her strawberry jam.

Wesley entered his strawberry /peach jam.

 

Wesley tried out something different this year.  He decided to build something out of Legos.  Since this was his first time we were not sure what to expect for him, but he did his best and it is all that mattered.  This is his original design of an airplane, with a man waiting to service the airplane.

On Saturday we began the baking process.  I was making my cranberry nut bread with my brother cheering me on. 

Cranberries were added to the other ingredients and it was so pretty I had to photograph it.

Mikayla made her chocolate pound cake.

 

The baking area is ready....  I also made cheese straws on Saturday night but since I was in the middle of making them and they can be quite greasy, I couldn't take a picture of that.  You'll have to wait till later in this post.  :)

Sunday afternoon was filled with four other things to bake/make.

Wesley began working on his honey muffins while I began my macadamia nut brittle.

Here are those scrumptious macadamia nuts..

Wesley was being his typical silly self while baking.  He made us laugh.. and had to be re-directed a few times.  :)

Wesley needs to continue to learn how much Pam spray to use in a pan.... notice how he sprayed so much it puddles up in the bottom...  Yeah, he had to wipe some of that out. The good news is that his muffins came out REALLY easily.

 

Mikayla made brownies....

In between all of the kids baking I finished up my macadamia nut brittle.  I was so thankful for Kevin and Mom being there to cheer and give extra hands with the kids doing their stuff.

Mikayla still working on those brownies.

Wesley's honey muffins turned out great!

Mom was trying to show Mikayla how to work with cracking an egg and they had a runaway egg.  haha!

Mikayla wanted me to get this shot of her putting the dark brown sugar into the bowl....

 

Wesley had a hard time staying with the peanut brittle.  He kept saying how hot the sugar was and that he was glad he wasn't those peanuts going into it.  He didn't want to get burned. ha!

Those brownies had a lot of steps, but they are good!

I had to step in and help Wesley when it came crunch time with his peanut brittle.  He stirred and I held the thermometer so we could make sure we took it up at the right time.

He did great on the first time and we didn't have to re-do it this year. ha!

Next came Mikayla's blueberry muffins.

After mixing she scooped them up into the muffin tins.  She also had a hard time with the Pam spray and I had to help her out.  :)

Here are my cheese straws.  I must say they are quite delish.

Mikayla Girl's blueberry muffins.  They turned out so pretty!

Me and my babies after we had mostly finished all of our baking.  We still had to package it all up for the fair.

Mikayla's chocolate pound cake

My cranberry nut bread

Steve entered his squash and okra.  He was doing great to get what he is showing here!  It was a hard year for growing certain things and with the nights getting cooler he wasn't sure he would have anything at all!!  When he and Mikayla went out to the garden to Sunday night he found these.  He said the squash will be lucky to get a ribbon and that would be because the judges felt sorry for him. ha!  He liked how his okra looked.

Mikayla's brownies

Wesley's peanut brittle

My macadamia nut brittle

Everything packaged and in the Golden Chariot.  I drove them up to Mom and Dad's as Mom graciously takes them for us since they have to be at the fairgrounds early Monday.  Whew.... another year done.  Now we wait!