the UNfair results are in: Oh the shame. . .

So the results of the 2009 Oregon State Fair are in. . .

This year I entered/placed:

Blueberry Jam- 1st place

Lemon Pound Cake - 1st Place

Ginger Cookies - 2nd Place

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti - 2nd Place

Blueberry Lemon Scones - 3rd place (WTF???)

Buttermilk Biscuits - 3rd Place (WTF??? are you kidding me???)

Toasted Coconut Marshmallows - 3rd Place

Pecan Pie - 3rd Place (the crust was all messed up, so I feel lucky to have placed at all)

Mixed Nut Bars - Didn't Place at all (bwah?)

Banana Nut Muffins - Didn't Place at all (seriously, am I being punked???)

So, naturally, I feel embarrassed and humiliated, and just want to go spend the rest of the afternoon in bed. But I will be fine. What do they know anyway??? Ultimately I do wish some of them would have placed higher (namely the SCONES, biscuits, and mixed nut bars), but with the nearly ten thousand entries that the home arts division received this year, I guess it is still pretty flattering to have placed eight out of my ten entries.

Pecan Pie

A homemade cream cheese pie crust filled with all of the flavors of my delicious Pecan Bars morphed into a pie. Now if only I could eat pecans. . .

Plum Cake Tatin

Yesterday we picked some Italian prune plums, and this morning I was inspired to whip up a little something with them. I decided on this simple upside down plum cake, a take on the classic apple tarte Tatin (named after the Tatin sisters who originally created the dish at their hotel in Lamotte-Beuvron, France in the late nineteenth century).

A Total Nut Job

A variation of my classic (blue ribbon winning) Pecan Bars
with Hazelnuts, Pecans, Almonds, and Macadamia Nuts

Thyme for an Update!!!

Well, after 12 short weeks coming all the way from seeds, our small attempt at gardening this year has turned out quite well. I am a proud papa. The chives have flourished, and we snip off hand fulls at a time to use several times a week. The dill, unfortunately, has come and gone to seed already but it came up plentifully, and lived a good life. And my little babies (the thyme and sage) have been nursed along from tiny seedlings. . . and while we were all melting in the recent heat wave, they could not have been happier.

You'll remember the sage/thyme seven weeks ago:



And look at them now...all grown up (wipes tear from eye):

Toasted Coconut Marshmallows