Why I Couldn't Go to Sleep Last Night

Reason #1 - I couldn't get in my bed if I wanted to! Belle thinks my side of the bed is HER side of the bed.

Reason #2 - This is what got delivered...

Yarn for my cardigan! I had to order it because the multicolored yarn is new from Lionbrand for this fall and it's not in stores quite yet. I'm impatient like that. Most of the time, I'm so impatient that I don't even make a gauge swatch when I start a new project. I'm glad I did this time though.

The directions called for using a 9.0 mm crochet hook. This is HUGE! My swatch is suppose to be 4 inches.

The 9.0 mm hook made the swatch an inch too big and the stitches were way sloppy. I dropped down to a 6.0 mm hook because that's the next size down that I had on hand.

That seemed to make it close enough so I started the project.

I'm starting with the back of the cardigan, bottom to top. The bottom edge is suppose to measure 22.5 inches and gets narrower as you go to the top. Well, I got 17 inches. Ugh. I needed a slighter larger hook. Of course I didn't have  one. Impatient me had to run out to JoAnn before they closed for a larger hook. I thought I needed a 7.0 mm hook. Well, apparently this size doesn't exist. My choices were a 6.5mm or a 8.0 mm. Again, the 8.0 mm just looked HUGE so I went with 6.5.

6.5 mm still made it a little short. I ended up using the instructions for the next size up to get closer to the measurements I needed and got a piece that was 22 inches. Close enough for impatient me. I hope that half inch doesn't end up biting me in the butt later on! Worst case, I may have to adjust the stiches for the sleeves where it goes into the armholes if my sleeves are a hair too not wide enough (or something like that!)

I've got 16 rows done so far and my hand is a little sore this morning.

And finally, Reason #3 - My legs are killing me!

BOTH my hamstrings are killing me 24/7. I've been running with the pain but I'm getting worried that it's just getting worse instead of better now that my right side is hurting too. I can't sit or lay down because squishing my legs down on a surface makes them spasm. The only time they are comfortable is when I'm sitting on ice. I can't get comfortable to get to sleep.

I decided I'm taking the rest of this week off running. I was suppose to do my 13.1 mile time trial today. Otherwise, this is suppose to be my low mileage week with only 30 miles on the schedule. After this week, the mileage really goes up with long runs of 19-20 miles. I'm getting a little panicky that I've got some injury that's going to affect my training because I've been pretty on track so far. I scheduled a sports massage on Friday at my chiropractor's office. Til then, I think I'll just lay around with ice and ibuprofen and hope a couple days off will help.

Sprint with the Spirit 5K and Week 8 Wrap Up

I had a good week of training last week. I ran with my group again on Thursday and we ran our 6th mile at 8:06, then I ran 2 more on my own and my pace dropped again. I worked all weekend but decided to squeeze in a 5K on Saturday morning. I hadn't raced since July 4th and hadn't done any speed work otherwise, but since I seemed to be able to do OK on these group runs, I wanted to see if I was getting any faster when I ran on my own.

So this is what happened...

Mile 1 - 7:38
Mile 2 - 7:56
Mile 3 - 7:48
last 0.1 - 0:46

Official time - 24:08
Average mile pace - 7:46

Pretty happy with that. I finished 6th overall in the women's race and 2nd in the 40-49 age group. The woman that won my age group was 2nd overall and ran 22:45. I was going to try and stay with her but I realized she was running 7:20 pace at a little past the half mile mark so I backed off. I then started pacing off another woman who is in the 35-39 age group that usually finishes ahead of me. I then realized she was running slower than usual and I passed her. I think I would've run a faster second mile if I hadn't paced off of her for as long as I did. Gotta learn to run my own race! I ran my fastest time of the year so far. Hopefully I can break 24:00 next time around.

I have a race prediction chart that shows a table of equivalent performances at different distances. According to this chart, a 24:10 5K equals a 3:55:10 marathon. A 24:00 5K equals a 3:53:33 marathon. I feel like I am this close to being in shape. I just have to get my head into it and not fall apart during my longer runs.

So this is how last week went...

Sunday- 8 miles
Monday - 17 miles
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday- rest (blew off  cross-training again)
Thursday - 8 miles (8:43 pace with my group)
Friday - 4 miles
Saturday - 4 miles

41 miles total

I have a lower mileage week this week but the training schedule also says I'm suppose to run a half-marathon. I am working all weekend and since there aren't any half-marathon races in the middle of the week, I guess I'll be timing and racing myself.

My New Project

OK, first things first...

Some advice on WHAT NOT TO DO. Probably common sense for most of you but I did it anyway. Since I fell asleep on the couch Monday morning and did not get my 17 mile run in in the morning, I had to do it in the evening. So here's my advice... do NOT eat pizza (even yummy homemade Margherita pizza) at 5:30 pm and go running at 6:00 pm. Let's just say I felt like I was going to die about an hour later. I got over it though and finished in 2:52. I breezed through my first 7 until I felt like death and really slowed for my last 4. This was supposed to be an "easy"(i.e. SLOW) run so I kept telling myself that at the end. The purpose of your long run is to get your body used to just moving constantly for hours at a time - almost 3 in my case! Now I'm thinking - just gotta be able to run 9.2 more miles in 1:03 to make my goal. Looks like I'll have to pick up the pace some.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel too bad yesterday.

Now, my new project!

I am going to make this Colorfully Modern Cardigan while doing the Lion Brand Crochet Along (link HERE if you want to participate too).

I've never done a Crochet Along but I get the Lion Brand e-mail newsletter and it looked like something I would actually wear so I decided to participate. There will be weekly blog posts on the Lion Brand site for this project so I'm thinking it will help me get it done and not have it end up as a UFO!

Indiana State Fair and Week 7 Wrap Up

Ahhhh... it's over. Time to enjoy someone else's creative cooking and a glass or three of wine!

The fair ended yesterday. Quite honestly, I am all faired out this year. I think I was all faired out a week ago.

Saturday was the Spam and Bisquick Competitions. I didn't place in either one. There was some controversy about the Spam judging and I'd have to day that I was in the "I'm upset" camp along with some others. The "theme" this year was a sandwich. You had to make any kind of sandwich with Spam in it. I made "Chipotle BBQ Spam Sliders with Pineapple Slaw." I used little Hawaiian rolls, split them, brushed the insides with adobo sauce, then baked the sauce onto the roll. I did this because I didn't think the chipotle BBQ sauce I was using had quite enough kick, but the adobo sauce is VERY hot so it would make everything too hot if I stirred it into the sauce. Another woman had made a "Black Friday Special" sandwich and used typical Thanksgiving day leftovers as the sandwich filling then baked a special bread to put it on that was mostly stuffing. Anyway, the judge shows up and tells everyone "I know what bread tastes like" and decides to destroy everyone's sandwiches by just pulling all the filling out onto a plate and tasting the filling only! In my case, that meant she never tasted the spicy adobo sauce baked onto the sweet Hawaiian roll that was suppose to compliment the pineapple slaw and BBQ sauce covered Spam inside. The lady who baked her bread is going to file a complaint. Yup, not happy!

Bisquick was the last competition of the day. I made "Fiesta Fritters" which were fritters with corn, bacon, green chiles, and red bell peppers. They are great straight out of the fryer. I figured I was taking a chance competing them cold after they had sat around for hours as they are never going to be as crisp as straight out of the fryer. Anyway, no placing but I didn't have any left to bring home either. After the competition, all the regulars went back to the prep room to share food, pack up our stuff, and say goodbye until next year.

Afterwards, my younger daughter and I spent some time taking in more of the fair... eating...looking at stuff.... eating...doing a couple rides on the Midway... eating. We spent 9 hours at the fair on Saturday! I was dead on Sunday.

I need to detox from all the fair food I've had. Here's a sampling (NOT eaten in a single day) ...

Fried cheddar cheese with sour cream jalapeno sauce (from the Wisconsin Cheese booth) and an apple cider slushy. These are my fair favorites and I always get them the first day of the fair. If it's been a dry year, sometimes they run out of apple cider slushies before the fair is over.

Twisted potatoes with cheese sauce. Absolutely horrible for you. This is why I'm on the run-to-eat plan!

I hadn't seen this before...

Sure, I'll try most anything once! These were actually pieces of cornbread (there were whole corn pieces inside) with a donut glaze and chopped bacon. I think it's all about how you present something. My daughter thought the idea was "gross" however, I make a Maple Bacon Biscuit Bake which is very similar - biscuits topped with a maple sugar glaze with bacon pieces - for breakfast and my family inhales it.

I also had to support the Cattle Farmers and eat a Hoosier Ribeye sandwich. I had to support the Dairy Farmers and eat a "Blue Moo" which is a grilled blue cheese and cheddar sandwich. My daughter and I had a strawberry shortcake from the Ag/Hort building.

Whew!...I think that's enough. It's a good thing I had a good training week (week 7):

Sunday - 4 miles
Monday - 8 miles (8:45 pace for 5 of them)
Tuesday - 16 miles (4 with my new group)
Wednesday - cross train (30 min exercise bike, then weights)
Thursday - 8 miles (6 with my group at a GREAT pace)
Friday - 4 miles
Saturday - rest (if you can call 9 hours at the fair "rest")

40 miles total

This week is about the same with 41 miles total on the schedule. I did 8 yesterday. I'm planning to do 17 this evening. I was going to do it this morning but fell asleep on the couch!

What's your week look like? I am returning to normalcy and working more.

The Highlight of My Day

My day has had it's ups and downs.

Alarm went off at 4 am. I laid in bed trying to decide whether to get up or not. My plan had been to get up at 4 am so I could go running with the group at the fitness center again. However, the weather has cooled off significantly in the last two days so I toyed with the idea of sleeping longer and trying to get my 8 miler in later in the afternoon.

I finally crawled out of bed and checked the weather report. The high was suppose to be 75 this afternoon. Then I looked at my day again. I was planning to leave the house at 9 am so I could be at the fair by 10 am. The Red Gold Chili Contest was going to be judged at noon but the fair handbook said the electric outlets for your crock pots were first come. The building opens at 10 am and I wanted an outlet. My guess was the judging would take an hour and I'd be home at 2 pm. My daughter has a dentist appointment this afternoon so I have to pick her up from school. Then it's the usual evening craziness after that.

I decided I really didn't have time between the fair and the dentist appointment to get 8 miles in, stretch, and shower. Putting it off til evening risked not getting a run in at all. I got my butt out the door.

Today I decided to try and run with the faster women since they were running the furthest distance (6 miles). I was a little nervous when I asked what their pace was and they said "around 8:30." They are all very nice and they reassured me that they don't leave anyone behind. They said that they stopped at someone's house halfway thru the run to let everyone catch up. I'm thinking "good thing since it's pitch black and I have NO idea where we are going!" With that, I turned my Garmin on and we took off.

I ended up staying with the group my leader for the whole run. It was too dark for me to see my pace. All I could hear was my watching beeping at every mile marker. We stopped after 3 miles to let everyone else catch up. We stopped long enough that I started getting cold and stiff but I couldn't exactly run on ahead, as, I had no idea where we were! Finally, we started up again and I was worried again that I couldn't keep up but then it was just me and the pacer. We ran back to the fitness center and I continued to run 2 more miles on my own after that. I finally stopped my watch after it beeped 8 miles and turned the light on. 1:11:50. I was pretty happy with that. I was back in my car by 6:20 am and glad I got my butt out the door this morning.

Got home. Got the kids to school. Showered. Then I felt BAD. I was trying to eat an energy bar and drink some milk and I could barely choke it down. My head hurt, my face felt like it was on fire, my stomach hurt. I couldn't figure out why my face was so hot since I hadn't seen sunlight on my run. I thought maybe I was getting sick. Or maybe I was too tired. Or maybe I sampled too much chili last night. Maybe I had a migraine. I crept around the house and slowly loaded my car for the fair. Finally, I took a handful of ibuprofen and Kaopectate pills and grabbed a Diet Coke for the road.

By the time I got to the fair, I felt fine again. Maybe I just needed a Diet Coke (I'm an addict). I walked into the building and the coordinator had this waiting for me...

If you place in some of the sponsored contests, the sponsor gives you an apron. Usually they have all the place winners wear their aprons and take a group picture after the awards are announced.

My apron collection

At the Fleischmann's Contest last Tuesday, my friend Fancheon won the dessert pizza contest and placed third in the original yeast bread contest. Yes, Fancheon is simply an amazing lady. I want to grow up to be just like her! Anyway, the rule book allows you to enter both contests but then it stated "one award per winner." The judges reviewed the rules after the contest and decided she couldn't place in both contests. Apparently my Asiago Rolls were the next highest placing so they took away her third and gave it to me.



Fancheon still beat me as far as I'm concerned but there was prize money involved and the sponsor did not want to award two prizes to the same person so they gave her her highest award and moved me up.

Next, I checked on my pies.

Blueberry Crumble got second

(looks like my filling held up this time!)

Dutch Apple got second

Two pies. Two placings. I'm happy. Mary Alice Collins brought 26 pies to the fair this year. One in every category. Her Apple Walnut took the Pie Sweepstakes. Her husband is Darl Collins. He's the guy that brought over 20 cakes this year and won the Cake Sweepstakes. I have no idea how they can bake all that much less get it all to the fair!

Here is my chili...

Red Gold Chipotle Chili

For many of the contests last week I felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants, creating recipes last minute on the fly. I really worked on this chili recipe. I made it at least 4 times to tweak it. The first time I made it, my husband's comment was "It's too hot. No one in Indiana except you can eat this chili." Anyway, I put some time into it. I was surprised to find that there was only one judge for the chili contest. Some contests have up to 3 judges who make a consensus decision. I think chili is very variable with everyone having their own tastes and preferences, plus I'm sure it gets hard to taste after the first several servings so I was surprised there was only one judge. I did not place. I was a bit disappointed but I guess you win some, you lose some.

I got back home at exactly 2 pm.

So what was the highlight of my day?

I finally had the chance to download the info off my Garmin onto my computer so I could look at my splits from this morning... and then I just stared in disbelief...

Mile 1 - 8:29

Mile 2 - 7:52

Mile 3 - 8:25

Stopped for 3:38

Mile 4 - 8:06

Mile 5 - 8:15

Mile 6 - 8:28

Mile 7 - 9:33

Mile 8 - 9:04



Apparently I'm quite capable of running at a faster pace when I'm running with someone else and, obviously, I run slower when left on my own. I guess I'm going to make an effort to get my butt out of bed and start running with this group when I can. This gives me more confidence though that I might yet pull off a 3:55 marathon.

I am definitely feeling better about things!

16 Before 8

I am really trying to get back on my marathon training plan this week. I have doubts at times if I can pull off a 3:55 marathon. Lately I am having a real hard time just mentally having good runs. It's like I feel like my body can do the workout but, lots of times, I just quit in the middle and tell myself "next time."

Yesterday was my pace run. 8 miles. I tried the track thing again and reeled off 1:15 pace laps (8:45 mile pace) for 5 miles. I was actually even 10 seconds under pace for the whole thing when it's like a switch went off in my brain and I just didn't want to run that fast anymore. I reasoned that I needed water and my left hamstring really was hurting. So, I walked a lap, drank some water, and then stretched my hamstring. Then, I just couldn't get going again. I ran the next 2 miles in 18:40 total, then a slower last mile for a warm down. So, my 8 mile pace run just kind of disintegrated.

Today I had 16 miles on the schedule. I decided to meet up with a group that meets at the fitness center at 5 am (!) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I figured I would do better if I had some company for at least part of my run and I needed something to get my butt out of bed since the only way I was going to get 16 in today would be to do it in the morning before it got too hot.

Alarm was set for 4 am so I could eat before I ran. I either slept thru shutting off the alarm or it didn't go off so I woke up at 4:35 am. I ended up cramming a peanut butter sandwich in my mouth while running out the door to the fitness center, hoping my stomach was going to be OK. I made it on time and ended up running 4 miles with part of the group, then 12 more on my own. I got 14 miles in before the sun hit. I ran thru two subdivisions that I wasn't really familiar with but just tracked the miles on my Garmin and found my way back to my car. All in all, it was really nice running before the sun came up this morning. I was done before 8 am.

Tomorrow is cross-training day so I'm going to try and hit the fitness center after work. I might try to run with the group again on Thursday. I am suppose to run 8. Part of the group ran 6 at a faster pace this morning but I hung back with some slower runners since I had run pretty hard for at least 5 miles yesterday. I think I might do better at maintaining a faster pace if I had some other people to run with.

Pies

Wanna know a secret? ...

You don't have to know how to roll a crust to make a pie.

For years I never ventured to make a pie because the whole crust thing intimidated me. Then, I got this pie crust recipe from a co-worker and I've never looked back. It is a press-in crust... easy as pie!

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup milk

Stir it all together until it forma a ball then dump it into your pie pan and press into shape. Voila! You're done. No cutting stuff in and chilling the pastry and rolling it out.

So here are the pies that went to the fair yesterday...

Dutch Apple

Blueberry

My daughter's 2-Crust Apple

All of my pies have streusel tops due to the press-in crust. Dutch Apple and 2-Crust Apple are separate categories at the fair. My daughter insists on trying to roll out my pie crust recipe for the top crust. My personal opinion is that it doesn't work that way but, it's her pie!

I used to think that my pies wouldn't do well because I didn't have a rolled crust but my blueberry pie has placed first several times at the County Fair, won the overall pie in the Blueberry Contest several years ago, and placed first at the State Fair two years ago. This year was the very first year a judge did not like my pie because it had an oil crust rather than a rolled crust. The pie had other problems too. It was too runny. I suspect I got rushed and didn't cook my cornstarch long enough before I added it to the filling. Anyway, I always read my judging sheets. I have learned more about baking through the judges comments as well as their comments during the open judging than any place else. Here is the comment sheet from the County Fair on my Blueberry Pie...

"Bit ran"

"Oil crust just won't be as flaky"

I agree with the first comment. The second comment I took as one person's opinion on one day. My crust has done well before so I am keeping it.

Speaking of comment sheets, this was the one for my Smith Island Cake...

"Had to cut with two hands vey dense" - Ouch!!

Smith Island Cake





Needless to say, I did NOT make this for the State Fair. This recipe will need some work if I'm going to compete with it. Or, I may just make it for my family instead.

I decided not to compete in Pillsbury so I just dropped the pies off and came home. I will find out how we fared when I return to the Fair on Thursday for the Red Gold Chili Contest.

My family loves blueberries. They are on sale at Meijer for 0.99 a pint - a GREAT price! I had to make another blueberry pie for them.

Filling doesn't look runny on this one; hope the one at the Fair is the same!

Then I made blueberry muffins... all brown and irregular...

There were 15 of these last night!

then I had two overripe bananas and leftover walnuts...

Banana Walnut Bread (what's left of it!)

Baked goods don't last very long at our house. Admittedly, I've sampled my share of all of these. Like I've said, I've never met a carb I didn't like!

Running was a bust last week. 5 miles TOTAL.

Starting my training week over again today. I got in a VERY HOT 4 miler in this morning. This week should be better. I am working more but my husband is back home and I am only competing at the fairgrounds on Thursday and Saturday.

Off to work now.





Free Candy Bars

If you googled "free candy bars" and got here, you might be disappointed.

If you got here before 8/18/13 and live by a Meijer store, you might be in luck.

I was making my pies for the fair this afternoon, when I ran out of sugar! I couldn't believe it. ANOTHER trip to the grocery store. I figured I'd make the most of Meijer doubles while I was at it.

Deal of the Day

FREE!!

Meijer has single size Dove bars and Twix bars on price drop for $0.50 each until 8/18/13. There are printables for $0.50 off 2 Dove bars at both www.coupons.com and www.redplum.com . There are also printables for $0.50 off 2 Twix bars at www.redplum.com and www.smartsource.com. You can print 2 of each coupon from each website and you can double 2 like coupons at a time at Meijer so you can get 8 candy bars at a time for FREE!

Pies are done and I'm going to have a relaxing evening with my family.

What are your weekend plans?





Grocery Deals Today

Today was a day to step back, breathe, and reassess things.

Yesterday, I was so tired I could barely drive home from work. I am using my second "wiggle week" as far as marathon training goes since I barely have the energy to drive, much less run! By the time I got done carting the kids around to dance and cheer, getting dinner, making sure homework got done, etc. it was midnight again.

I just want to sleep today. Wishful thinking. I still need to clean up around here! I decided to pull out of both Pillsbury contests on Saturday. I an still going to enter two pies in the regular fair contest but not do the Pillsbury ones. Pillsbury has to be original recipes and I haven't had time to practice my visions. I'm thinking about pulling out of the Red Gold Salsa Contest next week too. I am still doing Red Gold Chili because I've got that recipe down. I also decided not to run when exhausted this week and that took a lot of pressure off.

So what am I doing today? Grocery shopping (again!) for regular food. I haven't been deal shopping in a couple weeks due to the "abnormal" shopping I've been doing for fair ingredients. It was time to stock up the regular pantry. Plus, Meijer is going to stop doubling coupons on August 25th so I want to try to get some good deals done before the doubling goes away. Kroger stopped doubling on July 31st. It seems like the really good deals are getting harder and harder to do.

Deal of the Day

Got these for $0.70 each - they are 14 oz. boxes

Meijer has Cheerios on sale for $2.50 a box, buy 4, get $4 off instantly. So, $6 for 4 boxes. Then I used two printables from www.coupons.com for 0.50 off one box, doubled, and two printables from the Pillsbury website for 0.60 off one box for another $3.20 off, so I paid $2.80 for 4 boxes.

Meijer is also running some deals where you get $8 of when you buy 8 select products. I did two separate transactions and ended up with the following...

$27.36 after coupons and Meijer instant savings

4 boxes of Cheerios

5 cans of Maxwell House coffee

7 boxes Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese

4 packages of Kraft cheese slices

4 pints of blueberries

3 lbs of apples

1 jar Jif peanut butter

Blueberries and apples are for my pies tomorrow. Everything else is for my pantry. I will probably be doing some more grocery stock-ups before this ad week is out.

I'm going to bed EARLY tonight!





Carnage in the Kitchen

So today after the Ghirardelli contest, Kenda had to go straight to work and said she was taking all her leftover items from today and bringing it in with her. "I don't need to add to the carnage in the kitchen" is what she said.

I couldn't have said it better myself! I gave her my leftovers to take with her too. She has three people baking for the Fair at her house so I can only imagine the amount of food she has there. We all have leftover competition food and practice food and food that just didn't work out.

Some of my leftovers

 Whatever I have left tomorrow that is still edible is going to work with me.

Fancy Dog Treats

I also figured out last weekend, the day after I turned my cookies in, that I had made a HUGE mistake. I made most of my cookies on Thursday for the Saturday turn-in. Instead of putting them in air-tight containers I left them sitting out on my baking rack. On Sunday I was getting a box of cookies together for my neighbors when I bit into a piece of biscotti and discovered they weren't crunchy. Ughhh... won't make that mistake again. This is how my cookies ended up doing...

Coconut Pistachio Biscotti (biscotti category) - no placing

Pecan Pie Cookies (nut cookie category) - no placing

Honey Pecan Bars (other honey cookie category) - 2nd

Brickle Bars (dairy cookie category) - no placing

Other stuff I turned in last week...

Caramel Corn - honorable mention

Honey Oatmeal Bread - honorable mention

Loaded Potato Rolls - 1st and Yeast Roll Sweepstakes winner

Cinnamon Apple Pull-Apart Bread - no placing

German Chocolate Cake - 4th

Aztec Cake - 3rd

Honey Applesauce Cake - 1st

Last night started out OK and disintegrated into chaos. First I made my original yeast bread item for the first category of Fleischmann's. I made Asiago Rolls. It was a one shot deal. I had dreamed up the recipe a couple days ago (driving home from the fair) but had never made them before. I didn't have time to make it more than once last night.

Asiago Roll

They were originally going to be called Rosemary Asiago Rolls. I have 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary in the recipe but I couldn't really taste the rosemary that well when it was all said and done so I took the "rosemary" out of the title so I wouldn't get dinged by the judge for not having rosemary flavor in my rolls. Personally, I think they were a little salty.

Next, I started making my chocolate dessert. It had to have Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips in it and be a "bite-size delicacy." My vision was a small tart-like dessert with a lime cookie crust, bittersweet chocolate ganache filling, and a swirl of coconut buttercream on top, garnished with toasted coconut. Well, I couldn't get the lime cookie crust to work. In fact, I ended up messing with that til 11 pm.

In the meanwhile... I started making the crust for the second Fleischmann's contest - dessert pizza. This is the crust I had already made. I ran 4 miles while the dough was rising. I decided 8 wasn't happening last night. I got the crust baked and thought about my toppings some more. In the spring when I made this I had fresh peaches and honey roasted almonds on top. I had tried almond butter, ricotta cheese, and mascarpone cheese as the bases but none of them worked like I wanted. I had settled on using goat cheese but then needed something else to make all the stuff stick to the crust. I came up with peach preserves. Of course, I didn't have any peach preserves at home.

At 11 pm, when I decided the lime cookie was not going to work, I thought about scratching out of Ghirardelli... except I already had already made the chocolate ganache. My next brainstorm was to just make a meringue shell and pipe the ganache in it. Meringue takes an hour to bake and then you turn the oven off and keep the door shut until it's cool. I put the meringue in the oven and ran to the grocery store; picked up peach preserves and looked for one more thing to put on top of the chocolate ganache as a garnish. Found raspberries.

Came home, turned the oven off, and went to bed.

This morning, the meringues were "OK", not the best but they were done. I also decided to shave some white chocolate over the whole mess because the bittersweet is, well, really bittersweet. I loaded all the food in the car and went to the Fair. I put both the "Ghirardelli Bittersweet Clouds" as I called them, and the "Fresh Peach Pizza" together in the prep room at the fairgrounds.

Ghirardelli Bittersweet Clouds

What's left of my Fresh Peach Pizza after judging and sharing

Well, I didn't place in any competition today. I'd say I was totally unprepared. Every year I always have some great ideas but tend to run out of time to practice them.

The kids beat me home from school. My younger daughter was experimenting with the "carnage" when I got home. This is what she created with my Ghirardelli leftovers...







Simple and Elegant!

It's a raspberry stuffed with bittersweet chocolate ganache, topped with a white chocolate chip. Now why didn't I think of that!





Bleu Cheese and Bacon Scones

Told you I was going to make something with bacon in it!

I thought these up on Friday night while I was fixing a family favorite - burgers with bleu cheese and caramelized onions (I throw A1 on mine too). I was going to put caramelized onions in these too but then got worried it would make them too heavy/soggy so I went with the dried minced onion instead.

Bleu Cheese and Bacon Scones

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

4 tablespoons cold butter

1 cup Bleu cheese crumbles

1 cup crumbled bacon

1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together your flour and baking powder, the cut in your butter.

Stir in Bleu cheese, bacon, and minced onion.

In a measuring cup, stir together milk and vinegar. I was originally going to use buttermilk in this recipe but then I discovered I didn't have enough buttermilk and I didn't want to make ANOTHER trip to the grocery store so I did this instead. A teaspoon of vinegar in a cup of milk is a known substitution for buttermilk. I don't know if cider vinegar really amounts to any difference in taste but I like the taste of cider vinegar so that's what I used.

Add in 3/4 cup milk mixture into dry ingredients, then add liquid by spoonfuls until a shaggy dough forms. You will not use all your liquid. Divide dough in half.

On a floured surface, shape each half of the dough into a 6" disk.

Transfer disk onto baking sheet and cut into 8 wedges. Separate wedges and brush tops using left over milk mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes until tops are golden brown.

Today was a relatively short Fair day and traffic was better. There was every banana-apple-orange-lemon-nut-coconut-fruit bread, muffin, and scone imaginable entered in the Clabber Girl contest but mine was the only entry with bacon in it. In fact, it was only one of two entries that was not a sweet bread.

Sometimes it pays to be different...

I'm good with third!

Tomorrow will be another long day. First there will be the Ghirardelli Chocolate Contest followed by two categories of Fleischmann's Yeast - any original yeast bread item and a dessert pizza. I am entered in all three. I have my first yeast bread rising now. Also still have to get 8 miles in tonight.

Gotta run now!





Apple Cider Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Big looong day today.

I decided several weeks ago that my apple item for the Apple Contest today would be some kind of pork with apples. I tried out several ideas. My original idea was a breaded pork cutlet with some apple butter between the pork and the breading - sorta like apple fritter meets breaded pork. That did NOT work! By the time I got the apple butter and breading on, I couldn't get the pork in the middle to cook without burning off the breading. Sigh...

I finally settled on a pork tenderloin. In the process, I did get to learn how to cooking a pork tenderloin to perfection (and I think my family is sick of pork tenderloin!) I got the apple taste with an apple cider glaze and cooked apples. Rules of the Apple Contest state I have to have Domino Sugar in the product so I used it in the glaze. Here's my recipe...

Apple Cider Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups apple cider

1/4 cup cider vinegar

4 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon ClearJel

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and ClearJel. Dissolve in 1/2 cup apple cider. Pour remaining cider and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour in brown sugar mixture. Stir until thick and remove from heat.

Tenderloin and Apples:

2 pork tenderloins (about 2 pounds total)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

6 Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced

1 Vidalia onion, sliced

1/4 cup apple cider

Mix your apples and onions together and set aside

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large oven safe frying pan over medium heat and rub tenderloins with remaining oil, the sprinkle with salt.

Most important step to a moist tenderloin here! Cook tenderloins in pan until evenly browned, about 12 minutes, then remove from pan.

Add apples and onions to pan and cook until lightly browned. Add apple cider and cook for 2 more minutes then remove from heat.

Rub tenderloins with mustard, thyme leaves, and pepper. Place on top of apples and pour half the glaze over tenderloins.

Second most important step here - roast for 10 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees - do NOT overcook your tenderloin!

Remove from oven and transfer tenderloins to a cutting board. Tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

Place apples on a serving platter. Slice tenderloins and place on top of apples. Drizzle with remaining apple cider glaze as desired.

The Apple Contest check-in wasn't until 1 pm but I knew Sunday at the Fair was going to be a parking nightmare and was worried I wouldn't get into the fairgrounds if I waited til 1 pm to get there. I got up at 8 am to make the tenderloin. My younger daughter and I left the house at 11:15 am. We got to 35th and Keystone by 11:45 am (this is about 2 miles from the entrance). We didn't get to the back of the Home and Family Arts Building to unload our food until 12:45 pm! ... and that was only because I cut some guy off with my SUV because I was in the right lane to get into the gate, then they blocked my lane and I switched lanes, then they unblocked the lane I was in so I had to switch back. After unloading, I still had to park my car and walk back to the building to plate my food. The whole infield was full and cars were parked completely around the track itself. I finally just created a space for myself in the grass and called it good.

My daughter entered an apple pie in the contest. Neither of us placed. Rosalind Boyd who is another regular won the contest with an apple soup. She got to the fairgrounds at 8 am this morning and kept her soup in an insulated container. She was the last person to plate her dish and served her soup in a bread bowl that was lined with cheese slices to keep the soup from soaking into the bread too quick. What a great idea! My daughter begged a cup of it off of her and said it was simply wonderful - sweet, then spicy, had some onion and peppers in it too. Hopefully I can get that recipe. My friend Kenda's daughter Klaine (who is a middle schooler) got 4th. She made an apple salad type dessert that featured apples with chopped up Snickers. As you can see, there are some really creative people out there.

My Tie-Dye T-Shirt Cookies didn't place either. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

Tomorrow is Clabber Girl. Rules are, make any kind of quick bread i.e. breads, biscuits, muffins, scones, etc. using Clabber Girl baking powder. This is a hard contest because quick breads are easy to make but hard to make well for a contest. The judges are very picky about how brown or moist or how well mixed your product is.

Remember all that bacon from yesterday? Yup, that's going into my product. Everyone loves bacon, right?