Although I have been busy with many projects, my early morning reading time is still my favorite time of day especially when I am enjoying a good book. Cool mornings with a hot cup of coffee and the quiet of the early light is relaxing. Only three of my last eight have been winners, though. …
Sunday Chat – Garden and Cooking
Ah, finally, a day to relax after the craziness (albeit self imposed) of fair week. Ten days of cooking competitions, fair volunteer shifts, and enjoying the shows has left me grateful for a Sunday chat day to put my feet up and watch football games. In the garden, I am thrilled to see the toad …
More Fun at the Mountain State Fair
Tuesday night was the third cooking contest, this time with eggs. The rules specified a frittata, so I decided to make mine Mediterranean. It has Italian sausage, spinach, onion, garlic, mozzarella cheese and cherry tomatoes. Tomatoes often add too much water to a recipe, so I had the idea of cutting cherry tomatoes in half …
More Fair Fun and a Tomato Tian
Today, I will share my third place winning recipe for the Tricolor Tomato Tian. A tian is a French peasant dish consisting of sliced vegetables, overlapped in an earthenware dish, then baked. The vegetables are meant to be the stars of the dish, so no sauces or cheese are added. I thought a tomato tian …
Garden and State Fair
Rain fell off and on last week, and one drizzly morning these boys came by for a visit. Both males, they strutted around and loudly gobble-gobbled. I threw some sunflower seed hearts out for them. They were happy as clams to do a bit of hunt and peck. The goldfinches and a woodpecker got their …
Cradle Quilts Update
Happy Mail this week brought more Cradle Quilts for the drive. I am just blown away by the generosity of readers who not only make the quilts, but pay to ship them to me. One day there were five packages to pick up! How fun is this! And I know there are more on the …
End of Summer Drive and Happy Mail
We had a nice drive recently with some friends. We wanted to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway when the weather cleared and cooled off, so we emailed our buddies and got a group to go. We met at a parking lot, then drove up to the parkway together. The scenery is lush and green everywhere, …
Apple Festival Weekend
Labor Day weekend is Apple Festival time. This annual event celebrates our county's primary agricultural crop, with a downtown street festival that lasts four days. We usually try to get there for at least one day, often going for both the street festival and then coming back on Monday after they pick up all the …
Stashbusters
Here we are, the beginning of September, just a few check-ins left to get that Stashbusters number higher in the 'out' category. For me, this month was a bounty of finds that were just irresistible. First, I needed some tone on tone fabrics for background, and the sale at Foust Textiles, a North Carolina textile …
Mountain State Fair Final Prep
With all the entries I'll be doing in the fair, I have quite a bit of preparation to do. I pull things out I have made in the past year, go through my blog posts to make sure I have included everything I can, and maybe whip up a project or two for other categories. …
From My Carolina Home 