at the fair

this week has been a very busy one...so far i've been to the state fair 5 times! the first time was on saturday when t and i dropped off produce, the second time was later that night after al's grad party (just for fun, and we met up with al and kati there), the third time was to drop off oatmeal blueberry cookies for the blueberry contest on wednesday with my mom, and the 4th and 5th times were yesterday to drop off other baked goods with my sis and then i came back at night with the hubby to stroll around in the rain (it was super romantic). i love sitting around and watching the horse shows and strolling the tents and buildings. it's nice to go to the fair and not be able to do the rides or the beer tent, because i can take more time to really look at everything else that the fair is all about!
unfortuantely, i still haven't cracked the "top 3" in ANY category that i've entered! the only baked good that even placed this year was the chocolate bourbon pecan pie, which looked like a dream, and received an honorable mention in the pie category. now i have another "4th place" ribbon and a reason to try even harder next year! ted tells me to stop thinking like ricky bobby ("if you ain't first, you're last") but i think it's easier said than done...i mean, that's pretty much my life's mantra!
however, t's produce won accolades in the ag building! he got blue ribbons (excellent) for his cherry tomatoes, mint, and habenero peppers, and red ribbons (very good) for plum tomatoes and (my) potatoes. so he'll be picking up plenty of ribbons (and some cash too) on sunday...our last baby-less trip to the fair!
around the homefront, i'm working on the more "intensive" cleaning tasks, like scrubbing the grout between the bathroom tiles, cleaning out corners, and sanitizing dog toys (because unfortunately you just cannot keep little mouths away from dog toys, and dog and baby toys are pretty much interchangable). this will keep me occupied until my little lady decides to show up, which should be soon! i have less than 3 weeks left til d-day, but as everyone keeps telling me, she could very well show up at any time now. i'm leaving some other chores, liek changing the crib bedding and the changing table cover, until i go into labor, lest they be covered with cat hair before we make it home from the hopsital!
but for now my bag is packed, the car seat is in my car, and i'm ready to go when she is!

sorry for the lapse

since i have been going from family reunion to riverside birthday party to vacation to a girls-only AC getaway to my shower and taking care of setting up a nursery in between, i have been insanely busy and not normally home for a stretch of more than a few days. add to that nursing, baby basics, and childbirth classes and my nights are generally full-up as well. thus i apologize for my lack of updates for the past two-and-a-half or so months. however, i have decided what i will be entering in the home-ec fair competitions this year, by class:
cakes, chocolate- chocolate ganache cake
coffee cakes (not yeast), other- blueberry cake
dessert pie, 8 or 9 inch, other- chocolate bourbon pecan pie
blueberry contest, any baked item with blueberries as a main ingredient- oatmeal blueberry cookies
i was going to enter the cheesecake class as well, but i really only like my plain cheesecake recipe and i think that i might be outclassed in that category! plus, at 37 weeks pregnant, i will really only be able to do so much, and four entires ought to be enough. this week (at 35 1/2-36 weeks) i will be doing a test-run on all recipes and typing them out to submit with the entries. i think i'll do the cookies today, and i know i'll do the chocolate ganache cake on thursday, as ted's family is coming over for a bbq that day for his father's 50th birthday...there's so very much to get done before then!
this year, ted will be entering several exhibits in the fair as well, in the open vegetable show, including hot peppers, potatoes, plum and cherry tomatoes, and mint. he had originally intended on entering white onions and yellow squash as well, but when we got home from vacation we found that they had not fared quite so well as the other veggies so perhaps they will have to wait until next year.
on the baby front, we're in the home stretch! the stroller, crib, and changing table are all assembled and put in place (although the cats have taken them over completely, one in each...i know that i should discourage it but it's completely adorable), and the car seats should be installed by the end of the week. i've got my hospital bag packed, and i can't wait to meet my little ruby! i hope to get in one or two more updates before she arrives, but as far as i'm concerned she'll come when she comes, and there's really nothing that i can do about it besides cross my fingers, pray, and hope that it's quick!

home again

we are home again after spending the weekend (and monday) in lancaster, pa driving around amish country. hubby and i stayed at a lovely "farm" which wasn't so much of a farm but had some nice animals and little pond, plus a little garden that a few amish women tended to. the food was excellent, and i was unaware that out there they use the term "smorgasbord" the same way we use "buffet," but they had a nicer buffet than i think i've ever been to. seriously, the place was not the fanciest place i've ever stayed, nor the most expensive, but i think that it was the NICEST place. big difference. everyone was super-friendly, everything was spotless, service was great, it was just an all-around nice trip. there was a really cool jungle-gym type wooden ark, and when i went to take pictures by it i looked down, and underneath the ladder there was a mama duck sitting on ther feather nest! she was there all weekend! once i get the pictures developed (i know, old fashioned...i can barely even find film most of the time anymore, but i like the waiting part, and i'm not a fan of digitals), perhaps i'll post a few. there was also a peacock, which reminded me of growing up at my parents' house. strange, i know, for a peacock to remind me of growing up in suburban nj, but for some reason there was one in my neighborhood and it made the most awful noises so i could always tell when it was around, and sometimes it would climb up on roofs and spread its feathers just to show off. as soon as i heard that noise this weekend, i knew there was a peacock around, so we looked around until we found it right off the walking trail by the barn/ anyway, there were baby ducks, geese, and even friendly swans, something i had never seen because the swans near us chase the geese and ducks off the lake! there was also a heron one morning. ted liked the sheep because they were always cuddling with each other (which probably has some scientific name and purpose, but i'd want to cuddle with a sheep too: they're super soft!).
between the smorgarbords, the whoopie pies, the "best ice cream in lancaster county," and the dining car on the train, i feel like i gained about 10 pounds...though the scale says only about 5. i'm a little nervous to go back to the doctor on tuesday because i think she'll tell me that i'm getting too fat too quick, although now i can feel the baby getting bigger and i can even feel her kicks on the outside! in fact, when daddy-to-be tried to lean on my belly to listen to the heartbeat this morning, she kicked him right in the head! she's hilarous already. but i am nervous about the weight gain thing...i did start out overweight, and i don't want to gain very much more, but now she's got to gain too!
i haven't baked too much since i got home, mostly because i'm trying to "normalize" and get back to where i was before the trip by eating a little healthier. however, i did make my "healthified" banana bread yesterday, and added some blueberries, flax seed and wheat germ to make it even healthier (and less of a guilty pleasure). it turned out a little gooier than normal, perhaps because i hadn't accounted for the extra moisture than 1 1/2 cups of wild blueberried would add! however, it was scrumptious. i do plan to do some baking when i get back from the store today. i think i'll make cookies, since hubby is playing at his friend's band's record release show in hoboken tomorrow night and i like to send something good with him sometimes, expecially when it is a special occasion (and i won't be able to make it...the shows have been too late for me, and i feel more than a little uncomfortable being visibly pregnant in a bar). so, maybe sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, oatmeal raisins or just plain chocolate chip? who knows, maybe all of them!
til next time,
v

a lovely mother's day

we had a such a nice mother's day around here. hubby and i went to church (his mom joined us!) and then over to his parents' house for breakfast and to see his little brother, who is graduating from college on friday and moving back home. then we stopped at my mom's for a few minutes, and my dad showed me the arbor/swing he is building for baby and me for mother's day/my birthday (which is rapidly approaching...i feel like i should have accomplished more in this quarter century than i have!). it is adorable, and we'll put it down by the apple trees on the lake, and hopefully train the grapes to grow up the sides. THEN we came home, cleaned up, did a little prep and had a nice BBQ for my mom. My mom and dad, two uncles and and aunt, my sister, her boyfriend, and his mother were all inattendance. dh made AMAZING burgers and manned the grill for most of the day. I had made some banana bread (which no one touched beacuse there was too much food...i sent people home with it!) and miniature cheesecakes for dessert, both tried and true recipes that are hard to mess up! however, i do make very low-fat banana bread (usually the people in my family are diametrically opposed to low fat foods), and no one seems to notice! there was SOOOO much food that i can live on leftovers all week! that won't be too bad, as it will be quite the busy week with the graduation on friday, and hubby & i are going away for the weekend and don't know quite what we're doing when we come back just yet. ooh, and i have lots of planting to do later on in the week as it froze last night and may freeze again tonight, so we have most of the plants huddled under the picnic table (which is covered in a tarp) and in the brown room...i don't know just what we'll do when the baby actually needs a place to sleep!

going to take this blog a new direction

as lots of things are changing in my life right now, i think i'll take this blog in a new sort of direction. i'd like to talk a little more about my cooking/baking pursuits, as the state fair is rapidly approaching and this year i'd like to enter a few things in the home ec. classes and maybe take home a few blue ribbons instead of only honorable mentions. i've been trying out new recipes weekly, so i'll give updates on what works, what doesn't, and what the hubby likes (i'd say "or doesn't," but he doesn't complain much about baked goods).
also, i'm about 23 weeks pregnant, praise God, and with no real complications so far. dh and i feel very, very blessed and are currently looking north and west for farms within a few hours of home. we may put our house on the market or even rent it out as it is in a good location for commuters (as both of us once were; i'm blessed to be out on disability and debating whether or not to return to work in the end of October...right now I'm leaning towards staying home full time, as I've always wanted to). with a little one on the way, we need more room to grow, both literally and figuratively. we'd like a small farm on which we can do some sustainable organic gardening and have a few chickens, a cow or two and some horses. every little girl needs horses. also, at home here we have no real yard, only a small vegetable garden, a steep hill, and the lake (which is not so pretty this time of year). every kid needs a place to run around and right now we just don't have that. i feel guilty even having the dog here sometimes! but, we'll see where life take us in the next few months. i really don't want to think about packing up my whole life right now, and it is convenient (and also pretty nice) to be around friends and family at this point in my life.
anyway, back to the topic at hand: this baking thing. yesterday, i made a "fruit swirl coffee cake." the recipe was actually from the betty crocker cake mix cook book, and i was trying it out for the class in which a cake mix must be a main recipe ingredient. it also called for one can of any type of pie filling; i used key lime, which didn't make for a nicely colored finished product (it was a very light green, almost yellow/white so there was no real contrast between the cake and the filling), unfortunately, but was tasty and rather unique, i think. the cake itself was sort of flat, made in a jelly-roll pan with the dough first spread out over the pan, followed by the pie filling spread over top of that, with approx. 1 cup of the dough then heaped in tablespoons on top, with a vanilla glaze poured over the cake after baking. the heaps of dough didn't spread as i'd have liked, and the finished product would perhaps have been prettier had i used smaller spoonfuls and maybe spread them out or swirled them a bit. the dough mixture itself called for few add-ins, but i think the sour cream added to taste and texture. perhaps lemon or orange zest would have been nice for color and flavor, though. all in all it was tasty but i was rather disappointed by the appearance. dh suggested that i use cherry pie filling, apple pie filling, and blueberry pie filling next time on 1/3 each, for a beautiful red, white and blue cake that i'm sure would be just as tasty but maybe more aesthetically pleasing. i'll try it maybe for the 4th of july or flag day.
i don't know what i'll try next. if i can't get reservations for tomorrow night (mother's day), hubby and i will be having my family over for a bbq, and i need something special that mom would like (that mean no lime or anything remotely exotic, or orange as she is allergic), but that is "eat-outside" friendly. i'll start scouring the cookbooks in a few minutes.
anyway, that's all for now. if anyone reads this ting, please let me know if you have any recipe suggestions! i would greatly appreciate it!

i usually write about myself but...

well i can't help it really. but what i'd really like to talk about today is the pressure that most women today feel to work outside of the home. since when is it a crime to successfully and efficiently manage your home and money? that's the homemaker's real job anyway. now i'm not at home, obviously (i'm actually writing this from work, unfortunately), but in the very near future (as soon as i can figure out how to make it work financially without selling my car) i would like to make that transition. i work a few part-time jobs outside the home, but would not take full-time work because it would not allow me to take care of my home (or my high-maintenance hubby) as i like to. so many women today complain that they are looked down upon for making the decision to stay at home, especially if they don't have any children. now i'm not tackling this issue from a religious perspective (if that's what you want, just look around the interwebs...you'll find plenty of blogs that do), but having one partner stay home simply makes good sense. one person can be responsible for budgeting, paying all the bills, keeping the house (and its contents) clean and in good repair, and doing all of the other things that many people nowadays pay someone to come in an do for them (like an accountant, a maid, a repairman, etc.). Plus, the individual saves on gas and transportation costs by staying at home the majority of the time, not to mention the savings of having food cooked at home. now again, this is just for a couple, without taking into account any children that they might have that might otherwise go to a pricey daycare facility. this also doesn't take into account the perks of a planned menu with home-cooked food, and the change in atmosphere when one partner is at home to make the home a comfy, happy environment. this should not be underestimated, as most of the time when someone comes home from work, that person is not in a particularly good mood (i don't even want to tell you what I'm like when I come home from work most afternoons). having someone who has been home and is fresh and cheery can make all the difference. also, in the old days, people used to just pop by during the day. if no one is home, no one can pop by, and we miss all of these lovely visits! if there's no one home during the day, what happens in an emergency? when do other necessary things like grocery shopping, car repairs, banking, etc. get done? and who does them? splitting housework right down the middle sounds like a lovely idea, and might work in an ideal world, but we do not live in an ideal world. one person ends up doing more than their "fair share," and may become frustrated with their partner (who might not even notice that he or she is "slacking" in that department), or may be downright exhausted after working and doing housework. even though i don't generally consider feminism to be a dirty word, i really think that they gave women the short end of the stick by telling us we could have everything if we just tried for equality in everything. it simply is not possible, and we kill ourselves trying to obtain it.
i'm no economist, and no homemaker either, but it just seems to make sense to have someone at home if its at all possible. others are more than welcome to disagree, but they can go off and work all day and then clean the house and make dinner and whatever else they want. i'm opting out.