Berlin Fair Competition Results 2013

I like to enter the local fair, which is hosted by the Lions Club and a big fundraiser of theirs as well as a number of other community groups.  It is a good, community fair full of rides, food which is bad for you but tastes SO good, and competitions for and exhibits of everything from chickens and sheep to baking and photography.

Usually life conspires so that I don't get to the fair except to drop off my items and (except for one year when a friend did the pickups) pick up my items.  Last year I had planned to spend Sunday afternoon there, but a storm moved in and they closed early, so I got there just in time to pick up my items!  This year I determined to go on Saturday night after a music event I was committed to attend.

I made it!  I rode two rides (the really wild scary ones I won't take my nieces on when we go to the North Carolina State Fair in a couple of weeks), and because I had eaten at the music event I wasn't hungry even for my favorite fried potatoes (which I learned as Texas Taters but here are called Butterfly Potatoes), but I did run into a friend who was doing guard duty at one end of one of the display buildings and spent time catching up with her.  Another friend was working hard in one of the main fried dough booths, and I snapped a couple of pictures of her, but didn't have time to say "hi" until the end because the crowds were so thick around it.

Both of my friends are skilled and enter the competitions also.  Lisa, the frycook, received a second and third in photography.  Ann, the guard, received a third in the knitted shawl category and may have had some others on display; her mother, Betty, is very accomplished and had all kinds of ribbons for her items, including shawls, socks, and a hat.

Very insanely, I decided to enter nine items.  Insane because five were baking, and they have to be turned in on Thursday, and I didn't know if work would let me have the time I needed to bake, especially with rehearsals on for "LES MISÉRABLES" so I don't have evenings free!  Also insane because two of the needlework items were not started as of the weekend.
So I expected a couple of ribbons in needlework, and maybe one in baking.  I ended up with NINE, seven of which include money prizes!  This year I am going to remember to get there in time to collect the money - I missed last year because of the early shutdown, and the year before I forgot to get the money before picking up my items.  It's not much, but it pays for yarn!

BAKERY

One thing I found interesting is that although I made these cookies from the same recipe, one took third and one took second.  Ann said it was probably because the ones I entered in the "Natural Baking" category have the pretty designs of sliced almonds on top.


 

Drop Cookies

Natural Baking

They don't include the white chocolate chips that the drop cooky entry does.  The chips are in the original recipe, which I altered by using half chopped dried apricots and half cranberries.  I wasn't sure the chips count as "natural" so left them out of the others and decided to add the flaked almond topping to make them more interesting.   Because these are gluten-free, I wondered how they would compare to the "regular" cookies in these categories, made with wheat flour.  I think they did well enough.

 

I tested my Ricotta Pound Cake (a melding of a couple of recipes) on volunteers at the Wadsworth Atheneum for EnvisionFest, and when I dropped it off joked that a couple would be very upset if it did not get a ribbon.  I think they will be happy!

The Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip recipe was a flyby thought - I had eight entries, wondered if I would dare round it up to nine, which is a number I like.  And Serious Eats happened to have just posted it, and I figured that with the seasonal taste and chocolate, it might get some favourable reviews.  I did not use all the spices, just ginger and cloves, and I used a cup of mini-chips instead of two cups of regular sized.

I was a bit sad that my bar cookies recipe didn't do better.  It was based on a recipe from New Zealand, and maybe another jam in the middle would have been more popular - I can try again next year!  I thought they would be marked down on appearance because I rushed and tried to cut them warm, but they did OK in that category.  And the leftovers were happily received at rehearsal on Thursday, after I delivered my entries!

 

 

NEEDLEWORK

 

I will start out by saying that I cannot post one entry yet as it is a gift and I don't want the recipient to see it before unwrapping.  I was sad that one took only fourth, and wonder if I should have entered it under "Miscellaneous" instead of the category - nothing I can change about it now! 

 

The other three took blues (First Place) so I suppose I should be happy over all.  Since I usually make dresses in child sizes, this is intended for a girl named Judith, and I hope it fits - I think it may be a little small.  If so, it will go to a smaller girl and I'll enter a bigger dress next year!  I did several starts-and-stops on this trying to get something I liked.  The top is mostly my own invention and the skirt inspired by one on the Caron website.  I know several friends with little girls and try to spread the items around.  I have no idea why the top ruffle is up on one side in the display.  This makes three years in a row my crocheted dresses won first prize in the category.

I did not intend to enter the sweater this year.  It is from a Mary Maxim kit that I bought on a whim and the original delivery date was October 2nd or after, but it arrived the week before.  I started it on Monday and finished Wednesday - but no button in my box was right.  The closest one was too small to work well.  So on the way to deliver the entries to the fair, I stopped at Joann's and gave myself five minutes to find a button and get out of there.  After a quick debate I chose the one you saw, and when I turned in the sweater two of the ladies exclaimed over how perfect it was.  So I chose wisely!  I will give it to our Assistant Director for his daughter, a cute little blondie.  Although the kit comes in multiple sizes and contained enough yarn for all of them, the pattern was only for size 18-24 months so I couldn't wait - she'll be too big next year.

 

The last item I can show I started on Sunday and finished Thursday about two hours before the deadline for entries.  When I turned it in one of the ladies predicted it would win a blue ribbon, and she was correct.  Because I was crunched for time the crown is five rows shorter than the pattern directs but it fits my head, although a bit stretchy.  It's going to Mittens for Akkol to distribute at one of the orphanages this winter and I may make one on smaller needles for myself.  I didn't have the pattern yarn so used a ball of wool I had in the stash.  Because it is dark and hard to see on the in situ picture, I've included one that I took at home before delivering the entries, close enough for the pattern to be seen.

 

Of course, my needles and hooks are not still - there are more items to finish for the M4A fall campaign (socks, shawls, scarves) and holiday gifts to work on.  Even so, I am already planning ahead to next year's entries!

Picking the Winners, Inimitably Randomly

As I posted the other day, my friend Jim asked me to draw the winners for a contest he was holding.  All you had to do was post a review of his book on Amazon, and link back to it in a comment to the intro post for the contest.
 
The cutoff was "midnight Sunday" which I read as the one between Sunday and Monday, and Jim meant as the one between Saturday and Sunday.  No great trauma, except that there was a list of persons who wanted to find out if they had won or not.  And I ended up spending much of Monday helping a friend with a massive baking exercise and got home too tired to look at the names.  Had I thought about it in advance, I would have printed the list onto slips of paper and had one of my friend's children (conveniently she has only two) pick each of the winners.
 
Failing that, this is the method I used:

• There are ten persons who met the criteria for the drawing.
• My favourite numbers between one and ten are three and nine.
• I decided that the winners would be at positions three and nine on the list.
• I decided that since the list could be different if done chronologically or alphabetically, I'd look at both versions and see if there were any overlaps.
• Jim ran the lists for me, partly as a reminder that I needed to get the drawings done.
• One of the positions had the same person on both lists, so I decided that position would get the leatherbound version = TanteLiz at number nine.
• Since position number three had different persons, I thought that if one is already getting a book, I would designate the other as the winner of the cloth-covered edition.
• Jim told me that neither of these reviewers is getting a book.
• I flipped a coin (specifically, a ten-cent coin from New Zealand), and CJ wins.

 

In case someone wonders, heads=CJ and tails=Lloyd, based upon earlier-in-the-alphabet associating.  Since the New Zealand 10-Cent coin could be seen to have a head on both sides, the obverse (with Queen Elizabeth) was deemed "heads" and the reverse (with a mask) was deemed "tails".

I tried to take a picture of the coin after flipping, but my camera washed it out.

Why use that coin specifically?  It's in my coinpurse as a memento of a trip to New Zealand that Jim and I (and a busload of choiristers and family) were on a couple of years ago, so it seemed appropriate to use that one.

Why such a complicated process?  Well, because I'm me.  To me, this is a fun sort of randomization that is harder to challenge (in my mind) than picking a slip of paper out of a hat, because there are so many elements that add to the randomness.  What if there wasn't a name at the same position on both lists? Or if there was the same name in both places?  Or the same names exchanging places depending upon how the list sorted?   What if I didn't have two favourite numbers between one and ten?  And so forth.

Probably part of this is because I am a STEM person = Science Technology Engineering & Math.  My skills are being organized, logical, and so forth.  So what looks like a Rube Goldberg way to accomplish the simple selection of a winner from a list, makes perfect sense to me.

A month of being thankful

There was a meme on Facebook to post something each day about which to be thankful.  My final post got a bit large and FB kept freezing, so I decided to move the whole list here.

1) Coming through safely the storm, and also my loved ones and friends losing no more than some fences and trees at most. We were very lucky.

2) That I can work as a volunteer at the Mobile Foodshare truck today instead of being a customer - and that I can help the people who do need food distributions.

3) I am thankful today for all the people who helped make breakfast and lunch a success - we fed two crowds! Five people helped cook and serve, plus to husband of one for dishing "Gypsy Soup" (that his wife made - vegan and everybody RAVED about it, we served many second portions) and helping some people carry their lunches to their seats.

4) Today I am going to be thankful that someone else is cooking breakfast - and lunch too, if I am lucky!

5) Thankful that there is just one more day of insanity before the election!

6) Thankful to be in a country where I can vote, where I will not get shot for voting, and where almost anybody of any colour, creed, gender, or economic status has the ability to vote.

7) Today I am thankful that I am working out of a home office and did not have to try to drive home in this weather.

8) I am thankful the temperature warmed and the snow melted and I could get my car out of the snow with no trouble.

9) I am thankful to be having supper with a bunch of "Chaotic Peasants" tonight.

10) Thankful to have spent an evening with good friends at an interesting and to get a blue-frosted cupcake with a Cyclops (X-Men, for the uninformed) pick at the concession stand.

11) Today I am thankful for our VETERANS.

12) Since my thankful yesterday was for our veterans, my thankful today is for those serving in our military, because they will become our veterans.

13) Thankful for our cast and crew, pulling together to solve problems and make the show run smoothly. And especially for people like Greg, who is basically rebuilding a major set piece overnight (with some help from Adam and Paul), and Barbara who is coming in to finish all the painting the set designer/builder couldn't get around to doing.

14) Thankful that we have a day off from rehearsals tomorrow.

15) Thankful it was the last CSA delivery of the year. We got some great stuff (including romanesco, which I am very happy my share partner let me take from our share, and apple jam and kimchi in the last salty/sweet share) but it’s getting pretty cold to be outside at the distribution site for 2-3 hours.

16)  Thankful that tonight is OPENING NIGHT for West Hartford CommunityTheater’s “My Fair Lady” and we can get that show on the boards!16) Thankful that tonight is OPENING NIGHT for West Hartford Community Theater's "My Fair Lady" and we can get that show on the boards!ple jam and kimchi in the last salty/sweet share) but it's getting pretty cold to be outside at the distribution site for 2-3 hours.
16) Thankful that tonight is OPENING NIGHT for West Hartford Community Theater's "My Fair Lady" and we can get that show on the boards!

 17) Thankful for the cast and crew who made today's doubleheader (matinee and evening show) not just possible but fun and terrific.   (Although I have to admit, ditching the cast party for a cast nap instead does seem like a good idea...........)  Also thankful to the director for treating the backstage crew to supper from Noodles & Co. tonight (Japanese udon with tofu for me).

18) Thankful for my Jacuzzi tub.  (Posted after strike of a show with four performances in three days.)

19) Thankful for insurance, and how much of prescriptions it covers.

20) Thankful for understanding and supportive boss, boss-of-boss, and matrix boss.

21) Thankful for my family, in so very many ways.
(Except maybe the teeth-of-chalk, wide feet, and bad eyes. And my dad's sense of humour about half the time.)  (OK, also not so fond of the fact that my nieces are both my height or taller. SHEESH!!!!)

22) Thankful that we live in a country where people can write, sing, and enjoy a song like this. And so many others.

23) Today I am thankful for my baby brother, born on this date a bunch of years ago. While there were times when we were kids that I would gladly have sold or traded him to gypsies, pixies, or anybody who would take him, since I was almost three he has been a constant in my life - companion, confidant, conspirator. He is also a great father (even if my nieces are already taller than I - he should have worked that out a BIT better, maybe not until they are fifteen or so?), a great husband (so says SIL), has his name on a patent, an MBA (gotten while a father AND traveling a lot for work – I am very impressed), published photography, and mad chef skills.  Which we are giving him a break on for his birthday with takeout from Outback and dessert from Kilwin’s or Carvel.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOB!!!

24) Thankful to have spent money locally today - local merchants, local restaurant. Couldn't do anything about the cinema but I do recommend "Lincoln" - there was hardly an empty seat and the audience reacted as if it were a play, laughing, cheering, and applauding at various points. When they did the roll call, you could hardly hear breathing!

25) Thankful for a weekend with the family (and random gekkos), full of laughter, music. food, games, swimming, and ice-cream. Also thankful that SouthwestAirlines got us all there and back with our luggage - and letting us take luggage at no additional charge so that we could do our usual Christmas-at-Thanksgiving swaps.

26) Thankful for a good Monday.  Work done (and I didn't forget my passcodes after the long weekend of food-coma!), errands run, boxes moved into livingroom in prep for sorting exercise. And speaking of exercise - new elliptical is set up and working. I just have to figure out the display stuff..........

27) Thankful that I have a warm, secure house with enough food and warm clothing. On "Giving Tuesday," what did you do to help those who don't?

28) Thankful for my bestie Judy and fellow Texan Laura, who drove me to and from surgery, today!  Also to the Brenners for keeping me overnight, just in case.

29) Thankful to be home again after a successful Surgery Part 1, hoping for a rapid adjustment. Now that I know what to expect, I'm looking forward to Part 2.

30)  Looking back on the month of thankfuls, I see that I have a really good life and a lot of things for which to be thankful – and yet so many other things that I could include:

·         Art museums and galleries, and the artists who fill them.  And the fact that you can experience them by more than just walking around, through things like Second Saturdays forFamilies and the living Clue games and other activities.

·         Theatres, and not just because I like to play in them.  Places that transport us, entertain us, enthrall us, and sometimes challenge us.

·         Cinema, because there are some things that don’t fit into theatres (and it’s cheaper).

·         Travel, because I like to do it and can afford it and get to visit some of the above and other places and experiences all over the world, from the Mariinsky Ballet to The Reclining Buddha to the Grand Canyon to almost touching the sky in New Zealand.

·         Music.

·         Public television and radio, without which I could not enjoy some of my favourite shows and without which I would not have learned a lot as a child and teen.

·         Having really good doctors and access to medical care, which has saved my life a couple of times and is now restoring my sight to a level I cannot remember having.

·         First responders, who protect and serve.  Policemen and firemen and paramedics and all the others who are there when we need them and do things that others wouldn’t dare.

·         Having a warm house and enough clothing and food and things, and being able to help those who don’t.  I know I said this earlier in the month, but I’m still thankful as I read about people who don’t.

·         That there are good people in the world who DO try to help others, and make the world safe for them and the next generation.

·         Speaking of the next generation – baby giggles.

·         Being able to experience the world with children and learn from my elders.

·         Ice cream.  And naps.  Had both today.

·         Friends, and not just the ones I have on Facebook.  People with whom I can be myself and be silly, and discuss things for hours or sit quietly and enjoy each other’s presence, do “what can possibly go wrong?” and have stories to tell on the other side, who I can rely upon even if we don’t see each other very often anymore.

·         Family.  Because according to a lot of people I have a good one – and I agree.

·         For living in a country where, whatever you may think of it and its leaders, we have a lot of freedoms and opportunities that you might not get elsewhere.  My forebears came here because of that, and I see it today, especially with all the griping that people are able to do about the government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”  I have been in places where this freedom doesn’t exist, or didn’t so recently that people still whisper.  Having the freedom to speak out, the ability to make changes, and just plain being able to vote, is a real treasure that we should cherish and respect.

·         Freedom of religion, and freedom from religion.

·         Creativity.  I may or may not have it, but I can enjoy it from others.

·        Books.  And public libraries.  The former can take you anywhere, anytime, suck you away better than time machines and magic carpets.  The latter make them accessible to all.

Why is it already half-way past August?

Yesterday afternoon, a friend told me that she couldn't believe how I have been surviving this summer.  In May, I was asked to take over managing the contract work for a different customer.  I've been doing it for our account with United Technologies; now they wanted me to do the same for Estee Lauder.  This came right after we finished signing a MAJOR extension of the contract with UTC, and there was a lot of work to be done on transition.  At the same time, the ELC account had signed a MAJOR extension, and there was a lot of work to be done there.  The person who had been in my role at the ELC account suddenly announced that for medical reasons she was retiring - and she went out on medical leave for the last two weeks!  Knowledge transfer?  Not so much.  Given that my predecessor at the UTC account had been gone for a year before I stepped into the role, I think they are starting a pattern of me going to accounts that are in a mess.
The ELC account is located in New York.  While the HQ is in Manhattan (and I've commuted there before, on a daily basis, for eight months, so no problem) the IT offices are on Long Island.  There is no convenient way to commute, even by ferry.  So it has involved driving there, although thankfully not on a daily basis!  I go, I stay, I come home.

However, at first they were going to have me MOVE there.  Yes, on top of all the work chaos, I was told to immediately sell my condo and move.  I pointed out that in this market, that was impossible without taking a huge loss - and what about the massive increase in living costs on Long Island?  I was told they didn't realize I wasn't just a renter.  Luckily, the person to whom I'd be reporting (UTC is Aerospace & Defense, ELC is Consumer & Manufacturing) backed me.  So did the person above him, the leadership of the account - and it turned out the person to whom I face-off at ELC not only lives in Florida, but was told that he would not be allowed to commute weekly to LI as he had done for the previous two years.  So there was no need for me to be on LI most of the time anyway.

However, there were a couple-three months of high stress while this all started to settle.  I still support both accounts, although last week they interviewed a couple people that they think can replace me on the old account.  I've given them a hard date of October 1st to do so, after which I hope to have an office either at home or some other location in the area.  I'll go to LI twice a month at most, on the weeks my counterpart is there.  And it's becoming an open secret that he and his team have been given their deadlines to wrap up things.  He already shares the role with someone in the UK, with whom I have done more of the work lately.  So I might not be interacting with anybody in LI at all, which makes going there even less of a requirement.  Many of the leadership of the account work remotely; the previous executive lives near Austin, TX, and the new one lives near Pittsburgh.  They commute into Long Island, but not every week, and on the weeks anybody comes in it's just Tuesday-Thursday.

So.

The downside to all this is that between the extra work and the commuting, I've had less time to knit.  I also have missed a number of the boxes from my CSA and my foodwriting column is woefully behind.  My social life is much reduced, I do try to get to one or two things on weekends.  And my eating has been far too catch-as-can, I've missed going to my usual Farmer's Market on the weekend and my jamming and canning is way behind for the summer.

However, in the last few weeks things have started to turn around.  Apparently the fact that I have been successful in getting the account's contracting role into shape no matter where I'm located has been a factor.  With the adjustment to twice-a-month travel, I can plan to do things on my weeks in town.  It un-crunches my weekend because I don't have to get everything done in two days.  Yesterday I helped a friend paint her livingroom in advance of the tea party we are co-hostessing next Sunday.  I get to make some of the goodies - because I am in town!  I finally turned the last corner on the baby blanket I had just started last month, and I might work on it diligently for a while today while watching Cary Grant on TCM.  I have work to do - but there will be time for that later today.  And I need to get back to exercising so I am in shape for our trip to New Zealand at the end of October.  I joined something called Dish Rag Tag because it sounds like fun, I can use some quick-gratification portable knitting, and I hope we're done by then.