It's Been a Blue Ribbon Kind of Year

I've been looking forward to meeting Marjorie Johnson at The Woods gift shop all week.

She's been on Jay Leno, The View and she even baked a pie with Martha Stewart last year.

I wanted to give her something special. One of my recipes? 

A bag my Reindeer Ravioli? Nope-I was out of time. So from this crafty mess - 

came this...

... in about 30 minutes.

How would I give it to her?

And what would we chat about?

Why the Pillsbury Bake-off® of course...she's been 3 times in the 70s. She won a fridge from Monty Hall (to Betsy Chan: don't you have a Monty Hall story too?). I could have talked to her for hours. Now off to read her cookbook and decide what to make first.

One more from Mom:

here's a close-up:

from my mom's noodle

Buy a bag of beads at a garage sale and here's what happens:

only from the minds of minnesotans

STATE FAIR ARTS AND CRAFTS 2010

this is a welded piece and quite large

this was made of spoons

a wood carving

love when the artist considers the frame

saw a lot of tiled pieces i liked

of course seed art is always a favorite:

last but not least, the state fair gopher:

Speaking of Awards

and blue ribbons and state fair time:

new from anth

although i'm not a fan of sleeveless, "i die" for the fabric:

pin one on!

created a last-minute gift to celebrate judy's 25th. 

here's the back:

congrats!

state fair mini-donut holes at home

Recipe can be found at King Arthur Flour. I made a half batch. Nutmeg gives it that Tom Thumb mini-donut taste. Judy used cardamom.

A half batch makes 19 mini-muffins. They rise up tall and bake quickly. 10 minutes at 425˚.

Then you brush them with "butta" (thanks Kris), then roll in cinnamon. 

Recipe says to brush top of muffin with butter...WRONG...brush entire muffin.

Double click on this photo to see the animation. 


No need to half the amount of cinnamon sugar either. MMMMMM.