Hot Rod Car Show

One of the things I really like about the 4-H program is the opportunity for the members to work as a team for community service or to work a fundraiser for the club.....it's not all about owning animals, there's so much more to it.   This past Saturday the kids in our 4-H club had the opportunity to sell popcorn as a fundraiser for our club during the American Graffiti Car Show held in Petaluma.

Our shift was from 2-4 p.m. and it was a busy one.  Bryce and another 4-H member took turns holding the sign out in front of the booth and collecting money and making change on the sales.

But before our shift at the popcorn booth, Bryce and I had a chance to walk around and check out some of the 450 cars that were entered.

Bryce wanted to take a pic in front of this lavender car for his sister, Paige.

The bonus of working the last shift of the day was we had a prime viewing spot from our booth as all the cars began to cruise the boulevard.  Fun times at the car show. 

What did you do this past weekend??

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment, I love to hear from you!. Have a fantastic day!

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Pound Cake for 4-H Fair Entry Ideas

Sunday we geared up for our last 4-H cooking meeting of the 4-H year.  Fair season is just around the corner and my cooking co-leader and I thought it would be fun to give the kids some recipe ideas they could possibly enter in the county fair.

I adore my subscription to the Food Network magazine and really utilize and modify many of the recipes I find in it.  The May issue is where we found the Quick Bread {or pound cake} recipe we used yesterday.

We had a group of 10 kids {11 counting Paige} show up for the meeting with mixing bowl in hand.  This particular recipe allowed you to choose the 'mix-in' ingredients of your own choosing....the choices I had out for the kids to choose from were, dried cranberries, raisins, shredded coconut and chocolate chips.

We split the kids into four groups to work together and decide amongst their group members as to what mix-ins they would choose for their pound cake mini loaves.

While the pound cakes were cooling, the kids made a glaze to drizzle on top, if they wished.

 Baking in the kitchen sure leaves the house smelling SO good.  I was hungry and could hardly wait to try Bryce's or Paige's cake.

But someone was more impatient than.  As I peeked around the corner, I found Paige digging into her own mini loaf....doggie style.

Mix and Match Quick Bread by Food Network:

Create your perfect loaf of quick bread: This customizable recipe leads to thousands of possibilities!
1. Choose a Flavor
Prepare 1 cup fruit or vegetables (one kind).

*Pear, shredded and squeezed dry
*Apple, shredded and squeezed dry
*Banana, mashed
*Carrot, shredded
*Zucchini, shredded and squeezed dry

2. Pick Your Mix-Ins
Choose up to 1 3/4 cups total of the following ingredients (use no more than 3/4 cup nuts). Toast and chop any nuts; chop any large dried fruit.

*Walnuts
*Pecans
*Almonds
*Hazelnuts
*Pistachios
*Dried cherries
*Dried cranberries
*Dried currants
*Raisins
*Dried figs
*Dried apricots
*Pitted dried dates
*Rolled oats
*Chocolate chips
*Sweetened shredded coconut

3. Prepare the Pan
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or three 6-by-3-inch mini pans.

4. Make the Batter
Mix 1 1/4 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon each baking powder and salt, and 1/2 teaspoon each baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl; add your dry mix-ins (from step 2). In a medium bowl, whisk 2 eggs, 1/2 cup cooled melted butter or vegetable oil, 1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon citrus zest (optional). Stir your fruit or vegetables (from step 1) into the egg mixture, then fold into the dry mixture until just combined.

5. Bake the Loaf
Spread the batter in the prepared pan(s). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes for a standard loaf, 35 to 40 minutes for mini loaves. Cool 30 minutes in the pan(s) on a rack, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.

6. Make a Glaze
Prepare a glaze, pour on the cooled bread and let set, 15 to 20 minutes.

Chocolate
Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons milk, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.

Vanilla Bean
Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and the seeds from 1 vanilla bean.

Brown Butter
Brown 3 tablespoons butter over low heat; cool slightly. Whisk with 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Use immediately.

Citrus
Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon each milk and citrus juice, and 1 teaspoon citrus zest.

Cream Cheese
Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons softened cream cheese, 2 tablespoons milk and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract.

Make these in advance: You can store them in an airtight container for up to 1 week.




I love to hear from you! Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment. Have a fantastic day!


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From Teats to Feet & the Ugliest Dog!

As most of you know from my previous posts, it's fair time in our area.  And I hope I'm not boring you with all the photos I take, but I know I like to check out photos of different areas and events happening around the U.S. so I hope you do as well.

The Sonoma-Marin Fair is located in Petaluma, CA.  I really like it because  A) I grew up going to this fair,

B) It's a small fair  and  C) There's a lot of agriculture involved and shown in this fair, which really gives people an up-close view of farm animals and farming.

I love all the hands-on exhibits you can participate in.  At this fair, they are all  included with the price of admission. 

Paige is milking, or trying to milk this life size Holstein cow.  These two teats must be dry, let's try the other side.........

Mission accomplished.

In the same area, you can also try to rope a steer from sitting atop a saddle, play dress up in gold rush attire and .......

discover gold!

Paige, Bryce, Cam and Leila are panning for gold.

Bryce found a nugget.  Which he can then take to the 'General Store' and buy a Tootsie roll or two.

After all the Tootsie rolls were bought and eaten, it was time for an ice cream break.  I think this booth is the busiest booth at the fair.  Clover serves up FREE vanilla ice cream cones every day from 1 - 4 p.m. 

We sat in on the Holstein show for a little while.  Our friend, Frankie is showing her Holstein.

Over at the rabbit and cavie barn, our friend Megan shows Paige how she shows her rabbit.  Look at how still this rabbit lays in Megan's hands.  Megan is an expert rabbit handler.

They also have the Cutest petting zoo you can visit for no extra cost as well!

Loved this little goat!

I think Paige wanted to curl up and take a nap with these girls.

Where else can you go and pet a deer? 

Crazy hairdo on this one.

And because the $7, 5 minute pony ride is better than the free horse ride Paige can get at home, her Godmother, Devi bought her a couple rides.  Thanks Devi!

While we were petting animals and riding ponies, Bryce was peddling a tractor pull competition.

And of course no fair is complete without the carnival portion of it.  We rode a few rides.

It was nice having Devi with us.....I made the poor thing go on all the rides with my kids.

(I don't think she minded though)

Paige almost hurled on the tea cup ride, although you can't tell from this photo.

And after a VERY LONG day, it always feels good to get your feet rubbed, or your entire body.

Bryce could have kept feeding the Jiggle Foot machine quarters ALL day. 

He was obsessed.

I can't say that I blame him!

Friday night is also the night the 22nd annual Ugliest Dog Contest was held at the fair.  We missed it but here's the winner:

Princess Abby ~ a 4 year old, recently rescued, Chihuahua mix.

Her curved back and ever-squinting left eye won her the title and $1,000 dollars!  I think she's a cutie :)

Abby taking her red carpet victory walk.....

Abby's photo by Associated Press

I hope you get a chance to visit your own local fair :)

Happy Saturday!

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How to BBQ 500 Chicken Halves-Western Weekend Style

It's BBQ time.  Only 500 chicken halves at once!  Sunday was final day of Western Weekend in Pt. Reyes Station and Marin County Farm Bureau , of which Dominic is the current President, puts on it's largest fund raiser of the year.  A chicken BBQ. 

Remember the BBQ pit burning party at deer camp we had last week?  Well Sunday, Dominic and crew put all of those pits to use.  The deep pits were lit at 6 a.m. with mesquite briquettes and by 7 a.m. the chicken halves were put on. 

The kids and I drove over to Pomi's deer camp, Red Hill Gun Club (where the BBQing takes place) at around 10 a.m. to check on the progress and snap some photos and maybe score a little sampling :)

When we arrived, one pot was completely done.  At this point, some of the 'special sauce' is poured into the pot and it is left to simmer over very low heat creating steam in the pot which produces a very moist and tender chicken half.

The combined process of the 'special sauce', barbecuing technique and steaming is a long time family recipe between some of the ranch families in the area and has been used for decades.  The chicken is not marinated in the sauce, but used during the cooking process as a baste and in the steaming portion of the process as well.

The kids and I did score a sample.......finger licken' good!

Ron Pomi (right) and Matt Field (left) are flipping 24 (or so) chicken halves at once with two grates.

Matt, Ron and Petie Ielmorini are placing some chickens in one of the huge pots to simmer and steam.

Dominic is finishing up the last batch by basting some of the chicken halves with the special sauce using a homemade basting brush made out of bay leaf branches.

The chicken is then driven out to Pt. Reyes Station where the event takes place.

We arrive in Pt. Reyes Station just in time to put the finishing touches on the 4-H "Three Little Pigs" float.

The three little pigs are SO cute!

Camilla Taylor as the Big Bad Wolf.

The chicken BBQ  is set up in theToby's Feed Barn parking lot.

The parade begins at noon.

The Nave group has been around for at least a decade and performs quite the comical routine.

The teddy bear line.

Palace Market float.

Every parade needs an antique tractor.

Bonnie and Clyde made an appearance.

Bryce was so excited to ride on the float and throw out 4-H stickers to the spectators.

Our float driver, John Taylor with his son, Billy Joe.

This is where we watched the parade from.  Perfect seat!

Cowgirls. 

Horse and Carriage #1.

And #2.

Native American dancers.

Even a fire shooting snail.

Top of the snail.

This was my favorite float.

It's a rolling saloon.  Complete with band on one side,

and kitchen on the other side and dancers all around.  It just made you want to join in!

After the parade, we walked over to the BBQ and along the way, I had to check out the home baked goods. 

Tomales FFA volunteers serving up the chicken.

Regina Pozzi serving salad.

The dining area.

Clover Stornetta donates all the milk, ice cream and butter to Marin County Farm Bureau for this event.

Mike Griffen, from Clover, along with his crew also donate their time cooking beans as well.

Happy diners.

Raspberry pie was calling my name.  SO GOOD!

Bryce wanted a bite.  I think it was a bit too tart for his taste, but perfect for mine.

Happy Monday!

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