Can you imagine how pathetic my life is that I devote five days of blogdom to what I ate at the Minnesota State Fair???  It isn’t all about the food though, so I thought I would share a couple more quilts today.  I wish I could tell you who made them, but most quilts don’t have names displayed.  Isn’t this a lovely quilt?

It’s all the more interesting when you can appreciate the size of it:

And I love the pieced/applique’d quilt behind it.  Our little group felt that quilters really did some amazing work this year and definitely cranked the competition up a notch.  Very inspiring!

Roseann Kermes of Rosebud’s Cottage  in White Bear Lake (the provider of the prizes for this giveaway — THANK YOU, ROSEANN!!!), tells me that there are over 50 quilt designers here in our land of lutefisk & lefse, Paul Bunyan & Babe the Blue Ox, and the Mall of America & Nickelodeon Universe.

A designer I like very much, and she lives just across the Minnesota River from me, is Celine Perkins.  Her pattern company is Perkins Drygoods.  Celine’s patterns are always appealing to the eye, look more complicated than they really are, and her instructions are impeccable.  Who could ask for more?  Well, how about one of Celine’s patterns in the giveaway (in addition to the two kits from yesterday and three more surprises to come = six winners)?  This is a new 2012 pattern for a table runner.  Very nice, Celine!  Someone will love this, I know.

Okay, now I can talk about Fair food!  Same deal as yesterday.  I ate three different foods at the fair, one from each of the groups below (main dish, side dish, and dessert).  Leave a comment on this post that includes a food item from each group that you think I ate.  You can enter one time each day, Monday through Friday, this week.  I will have a new post each day for that day’s comments, and the previous post will be closed.

Main Dish:    Spaghetti & Meatballs on a stick, Teriyaki Ostrich on a stick, Hot Fresh Turkey Sandwich, Lamb Chops on a stick, or Alligator on a stick.

Side Dish:  Deep-fried Green Pepper Rings, MN Corn on the Cob, Mango on a stick, Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Swiss Cheese on a stick.

Dessert:  Fudge Puppies, Deep-Fried Candy Bar, Cream Puff, Deep-Fried Fruit on a Stick, Butterscotch Cake on a stick

And FYI (since someone asked), Fudge Puppies are a Belgian-type waffle rolled onto a stick and dipped in chocolate.  (What an educational blog this is!)

Fine Print:  Winners will be posted Saturday, September 8th.  If there are more than six people with all three foods chosen correctly, I will award additional prizes.  If there are fewer than six with three correct answers, I will do a random drawing to bring the number of winners up to six.  And you can enter up to FIVE times, once each day this week (Monday – Friday).

Can’t win it if you’re not in it!  Good luck, and see you tomorrow!

–Sue

Today is the 12th and last day of the Minnesota State Fair, “The Great Minnesota Get-Together”! According to Wikipedia, our fair has the highest daily attendance of any fair in the US.  (Texas beats us in total fair attendance, as their fair runs for twice as many days as the MN State fair.)  Over 100,000 people attend the fair each day, with well over 200,000 each weekend day and Labor Day!  Whew!  That’s a lot of corn dogs and…

I wanted to get in a quilt picture, and this quilt was my FAVORITE one at the fair.  What a fresh take on a Grandmother’s Flower Garden.

And as you can see, the maker of this quilt was amply rewarded with ribbons.  One of the large rosettes was given by Rosebud’s Cottage, a quilt shop in White Bear Lake, MN, owned and run by Roseann Kermes.  You may recognize Roseann’s name as a pattern contributor to quilt magazines, as a guest on Pat Sloan’s quilt radio, from her booth in Heritage Square, or as a quilt shop owner in White Bear Lake.

Roseann’s  quilt shop is definitely a worthy destination shopping trip.  She’s located in a fun area of White Bear Lake with lots of other interesting shopping and unique restaurants.  Roseann’s shop is filled with cool ideas, quick kits, fun patterns, great samples, and LOTS of wool and wool patterns as well.

And speaking of quick kits and fun patterns, Roseann donated two (count ’em, TWO) 22″ x 22″ table topper kits, patterns included; plus three patterns, each by a different well-known Minnesota designer; and a tool by a 4th well-known Minnesota designer.  SIX prizes.  Woo-hoo!  Here are the toppers (I’ll talk about the other prizes during this week):

So now let’s talk about fair food — no, Fair food!

I ate three items on Tuesday, August 28th.  (I’m being specific because I went to the fair twice.)  I consumed a main dish/meat item, a side-dish item, and a dessert.  No….a Dessert…which I ate first!  I’ll give you some items to choose from.  What I devoured is somewhere on these lists, one item from each list.  Ready????

Main Dish:    Spaghetti & Meatballs on a stick, Teriyaki Ostrich on a stick, Hot Fresh Turkey Sandwich, Lamb Chops on a stick, or Alligator on a stick.

Side Dish:  Deep-fried Green Pepper Rings, MN Corn on the Cob, Mango on a stick, Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Swiss Cheese on a stick.

Dessert:  Fudge Puppies, Deep-Fried Candy Bar, Cream Puff, Deep-Fried Fruit on a Stick, Butterscotch Cake on a stick

Did you make your three guesses, one from each category (Main Dish, Side Dish & Dessert)?  Include ALL THREE choices into a comment to this post.  You don’t have to include the total description of each one (for example, for Teriyaki Ostrich on a stick — just enter “ostrich” plus your two other choices, of course).  You need to have all three courses correct to win…see Fine Print below.

But wait…there’s more…this give-away is going to run all week, so if you check back Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday….you can enter up to FIVE times!  That’s the deal, you can enter once per day, comments will close at midnight Friday, August 7th, CST.

Fine Print:  Winners will be posted Saturday, August 8th.  If there are more than six people with all three foods chosen correctly, I will award additional prizes.  If there are fewer than six with three correct answers, I will do a random drawing to bring the number of winners up to six.  And you can enter FIVE times, once each day this week.

Good Luck!  (NOTE:  Comments are closed for this post.  Contest runs through Friday 9/7/2012.  There will be a new post each day from 9/3 thru 9/7/2012, and you may leave a comment on the current day’s post.  You may comment once each day.)

–Sue

PS:  By the way, these are all foods available at the fair, along with hundreds of other foods!  See you tomorrow…

I’ll confess right off the bat — I got this “recipe” from Judy Laquidara’s blog, Patchwork Times.  There are variations all over blogland, but here’s what I like:

Homemade Hand Cream #1

This makes a heavier cream, excellent for wintertime and WONDERFUL for your feet.

16 oz. baby lotion
8 oz. Vaseline
8 oz. Vitamin E Cream (can usually find at dollar stores)

Whip these three ingredients together with your electric mixer until well mixed.  Put into 1-cup wide-mouth canning jars (my new favorite way) or into travel-size plastic containers.

Tip:  To get the cream into small-necked containers, scoop the lotion into a large zipper-type bag and cut out a corner.  Roll the top of the bag down securely so it doesn’t open up on you when you’re squeezing the lotion out the corner opening.

Homemade Hand Cream #2

This makes a lighter-weight cream, still excellent.  The only difference is the amount of Vaseline.

16 oz. baby lotion
4 oz. Vaseline
8 oz. Vitamin E Cream

Whip these three ingredients together with your electric mixer until well mixed.  Put into 1-cup wide-mouth canning jars (my new favorite way) or into travel-size plastic containers.

And a REMINDER:  Click here if you haven’t entered my give-away.  (Comments must be on the original posting to be eligible to win the prize, so comments on this particular post are closed.)

–Sue