pictures from 2011 minnesota state fair

my mom and i went to the minnesota state fair last month.

deep fried pickle slices, the best thing ever from the fair. two slices of pickles with cream cheese in between, breaded and fried. SOOOOOO good.


i think there were 6 of them to start with. they gave ranch dipping sauce, but it wasnt really needed. they also had ones with salsa in the middle, and a third kind with something else but i forgot. and you could get a sampler with all three kinds in it. but the cream cheese ones were the best. we demolished them.


funnel cake fries, which are WAY easier to eat than regular funnel cake. i love funnel cake but its so damn messy and theres way too much of it for one person. these fries had the same awesome funnel cake flavor in a much easier to eat package, and in a smaller, more realistic portion. it came with chocolate dipping sauce, but they didnt need that.


cheesecake on a stick, not so good. the chocolate around it was pretty gross.


all these pictures were made with seeds








bees wax sculptures


i liked the plants that made up the horses hair


i couldnt get a picture in focus thru the glass, but this is all cross stitch



handmade wooden toy train


wooden semi hauling a bulldozer


a SNORT! (reference from the kids book 'are you my mother?')


a tinker toy model of the midway at the fair


frankenstein, cross stitch


very intricate very small scale cross stitch


norwegian wedding cake


painted dinosaur



i wondered what kind of plants these were


they made up the pillar around the bell


now i want more deep fried pickle slices!

applesauce

a few weeks back me and my mom made applesauce.

first we went to the orchard and got apples.


i overslept so we got a late start, which meant by the time we got there tons and tons of people and their kids were there. it was ridiculously crowded and loud. we suggested to each other that perhaps next year we'd see if we could come during the week instead of on the weekend. mom suggested that next time we should bring our reusable tote bags because the plastic bag handles and the paper bag handles really cut into our hands during the long trek back out to the car.

we got 1 peck of paula reds that we used in the applesauce. we got honeycrisp and ginger gold to eat, knowing we liked them both. and we tried some wealthy apples, but they're pretty tart and kinda mealy. there were no paula reds in the 'seconds' display, and there were no sweet 16s out yet, we were only a day early for those according to their chart. and despite their website saying they had sweet tango apples, they did not.

the paula reds


the apples sit in a bowl of water and lemon juice to prevent browning after being run thru the apple peeler/corer/slicer thing while they wait their turn to be cut up further.


cut up and starting to cook


peels and cores for my compost bin


the apples cooking down under medium to medium low heat (stir frequently!)


my moms new toy she got for xmas last year. a heavy duty stick blender thing where the blade part detaches for easy cleaning.


sharp! do not touch!


it was fun to use and made quick work of the soft apples. much much quicker and less painful than mashing by hand with a potato masher.


did i mention it was fun to use?


filler up! the funnel comes in extremely handy.


putting the lids on


put the jars in the canner basket


and lower the basket into the water


figured out that putting a cookie sheet in between layers of towels helps protect the table from the heat better than juts the towels alone


ta da!


1 peck of paula reds made 7 pts of applesauce. the sauce is gorgeous, light colored, and delicious. the stick blender worked awesome and we'll never go back to the potato masher.

hole in one!

my mom picked up radishes at the farmers market and one of them was quite bizarre!





i'd love to know how THAT happened.

canning peaches and pears

a few weekends ago my mom and i canned peaches and pears (sept 4 and sept 5).

peaches!


what kind of peaches are good for canning? colorado peaches! (colorado peaches are really good, alberta peaches would be the best) and make sure they're cling-free (freestone) peaches. you dont want the pit to cling to the peach (clingstone) when you cut it open. it makes for a messy frustrating canning experience that often ends up with mushy bruised peach bits, or excessive amounts of peach cut away and wasted.


sterilized jars


sterilized rings


peels and pits and any bruised parts, great for the compost bin


some we chunk, some we slice


load the canner


good stuff maynard


the canning kit i wished i'd had when i canned my sauce


necessary canning equipment


pears!


for our own reference, these kind are good pears for canning, even if they're on the small side.


stove setup, clockwise: the big water bath canner, a pot of water for blanching the skins off the pears, a pot of sugar water syrup to pack in the jars, and the little pan with water for sterilizing the lids.


counter setup, right to left: bowl of cold water to cool the blanched pears and rub off the skins, bowl of cold water with lemon juice to help stop browning and hold the peeled pears until they're sliced, knives and towel to slice and core the pears with, metal measuring cup to move syrup from the pot on the stove to the jar, jar to put the slices/chunks of pear in, and funnel to help get the syrup in without mess.


blanching the pears in boiling water, just a few at a time


the peels rub right off after blanching


but sometimes the bottom peels dont all come off, or are bruised and you have to cut the bruises away


mmm, fresh peeled pear


cored and quartered


most awesome rubber spatula for easing the fruit into a better, more tightly packed position in the jar


nummy


peaches:
syrup was 18 cups of water with 5 cups of sugar. we didnt use it all, but we always end up having to mix up a second batch so this way we didnt have to.
32 large peaches
got about 3 1/2 peaches per quart
got 8 quarts and two pints

pears:
14 cups water
4 cups sugar
14 pounds of pears (according to the box), approx 54 little pears
got 6 quarts and 3 pints