Sheep Shots

I know that part of the fun of going to a fair is the food, and the Great Allentown Fair is no exception!

This year, though, we were greeted by a number of new (to us) food vendors. I think they came along with the midway rides. It was nice to see hand sanitizing stations along the midway! Intellectually, we know we haven't touched anything, but there's something about fairs/carnivals that makes a person feel a little grotty dirty downright filthy.



Here's one of the food trailers that were new.

Of course, we went in search of the tried and true (and local) favorites.



It's not as though they weren't also there!

This year, remembering years past and how cranky we tend to be without food to sustain us, and knowing how anxious we I would be to see the handcraft exhibits (and to discover just how well I had done, truth be known) that I actually cooked breakfast (bacon, scrambled eggs, rye toast, gallons of decaf coffee) before we drove to the fairgrounds.

And sustain us (that and the regular coffee the the Other Half consumed on the way there) it did!

We ate very little at the fair this year. Drank a lot, but that was because, despite the overcast skies, it was hot.

So here's the tally, for anyone keeping score:

root beer from a tried and true (OH)

pineapple smoothie from a midway company vendor (me)--not great, not awful. I didn't get a second when I had the chance. Was glad I got a "small."

2 fresh squeezed lemonade from the midway company vendor--good, refreshing

medium cup of french fries and small diet soda from tried and true (shared)--it was Smitty's, what can I say?

2 single dips of ice cream from local vendor (moose tracks for the other half, vanilla for me)--what can I say? I would have like to try the peach sundae at another stand, but not for $6!

That was it! No funnel cake, no deep-fried anything (except the potatoes), no Vince's steak sandwich, no cotton candy.

The fudge vendor wasn't there again this year, though there was a new one--the stuff was cheap ($3.50 a chunk) which is sort of scary, and looked all melty besides. No thanks.

On the way home, we stopped at Wawa for a frozen lemonade (still trying to rehydrate) and at the Corn Shed for peaches and cucumber (for last night's dinner) and a cantalope (for breakfast) and a sweet little patty pan squash.

As much as I enjoyed the fair this year, I'll be happy to wave good-bye and welcome the farmers market back next Saturday. We are running out of stuff to cook.

Labels: fair, food

Today (after work) I was at the grocery store shopping for a ham and 4 other things. While I was looking through the half-hams (unsliced, not dipped in pink goo, reasonably(?) unadulterated) I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

Right next to me, and between me and her mother (presumably) was a child. Not a small child. One aged somewhere around 10 years. With a toothpick. Presumably from a snacky thing off the deli counter (cheese or somesuch).

She was poking holes in the heavy plastic wrapper on one of the hams!

And I spoke up!

Me: Did you just poke that toothpick into that ham?

She: ::silence::

Me: You know that you are introducing bacteria into that food and someone could get sick from it!

She: ::silence::

Her mother: You know better than that!

And so, did her mother take the offended and offending ham and offer to pay for it by putting it her cart at least until I was out of sight?

Of course not!

So I picked up the ham myself and handed it to the person behind the deli counter and explained what happened.

Then I carefully checked my ham wrapper for poke marks.

(And people wonder why I buy my meat at the farmers' market!)

Labels: current events, food

Labels: food, magazines

Nicole is in good company! She and Al Gore got me thinking about my personal Carbon Footprint.

Earlier this spring


I decided to do something about it!

My dirt is awful for growing stuff, even grass. We live in an area with highly acidic soil that is mostly shale and slate. Raised beds make it possible to grow some stuff, but we'd need to truck in loads of topsoil if we wanted to actually grow a real garden.

(I miss having a garden.)



I bought a tomato plant (first one in several years because I've had such rotten luck with them here). Nothing beats the taste of a ripe-from-the-vine tomato.

And look! I actually have a couple.





I also have chives (use them mostly in salads and on veggies).

That's Sparky's volunteer catnip patch in the background.






And sage is great with poultry.

There's a bit of lavender as well, that I grow for the lovely aroma (my favorite herbal).

So anyway, in an effort to eat more locally, I checked out Local Harvest in hopes of locating a CSA (Community Sustainable Agriculture farm) near me. Unfortunately, one of those nearby is already fully-subscribed and the other hasn't updated information in a couple of years.


I was able to get a low-down on the pricing (relatively costly for the amount of produce I can eat alone--the Other Half is a confimed carnivore).

I did find a list of nearby growers' markets, though, and I will be checking those out as the season progresses.

Meanwhile, the Other Half and I thought we would give the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers' Market a look-see.

Since I had been to the "real grocery store" the night before to shop for the week, I was really only eyeing the local produce, the local eggs, the local meat. I wound up buying only a cantaloupe (probably grown in California, it's still a little early in the season here), and lunch (steak sandwich for the Other Half, tuna on toast for me).



The tomatoes are from the grocery (and they were grown in Canada). Clearly, I have my work cut out for me!

So, here's the plan: Next Friday, I'll hit the supermarket for things like paper products and Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi, and Reese's Cups, and Saturday, we'll pack up the string bags and head to the farmer's market for eggs and cold cuts, and meat and fruit and veggies, taking care to buy the stuff that's grown right here in the Lehigh Valley. It's a habit that can only be good for us and for the planet!

Knitting Mojo: Oh, and whichever of you found my mojo, thank you for giving it a gentle nudge back in this direction!


I started this earflap cap from the Interweave Knits website last night. It's Patons Classic Wool that has been steeping for a few years in the stash on size 7s. The pattern called for a heavier yarn and size 9s.

Knit from the top down, I'll have a kid-size when I get finished, which is just fine.

Watch for a serious case of finish-itis this coming week. I have unseamed projects piling up.

Labels: food