State Fair of Texas: Fried Food Fiesta

I didn't eat the fried butter. Did you really expect me to? They were like little fried dough balls, and people said they tasted like fried dinner rolls. I watched a man eat one and as he bit into it, the butter squirted out and dribbled down his chin. It didn't look like a pleasing experience.

I did, however, try the Deep-Fried Peaches & Cream, which won the award this year for best taste. It wasn't half bad, and it didn't cause anything to dribble down my chin, so bonus! Four peach slices were rolled in a crunchy graham cracker/cinnamon/ginger coating and then fried and served with whipped cream and strawberry sauce.

Here were some of the other fried foods at the fair:
fried s'mores
fried Moon Pies
fried chocolate truffles
jalapeno "corn dog" shrimp
fried cookie dough
chicken fried bacon
fried bananas
fried pecan pie
fried grilled cheese
fried PB&J

There were at least 5 different kinds of fried potatoes available, which is what Ella ate--plain, old French fries. (She also had pink cotton candy hot out of the machine.) Greg had three, yes, three corn dogs, or "Corny Dogs", as they are called at the Fair. Evidently they were invented there decades ago. Yes, here in Texas we have a rich (saturated, even) history of frying up pretty much anything and everything.

Silly Sisters

As a 1-year-old, Natalie is, of course, VERY helpful around the house. One day she was keeping me company as I moved a load from the washer to the drier in our pantry-cum-laundry room. She stayed busy for quite some time placing packages of peanut butter crackers in to a hamper one by one. There were about 50 of them in there by the time she was done. She took her job (ie rearranging the pantry) very seriously. (And do you like my subtle nod to the Container Store?)

Ella Willden, First Grader, is a reading machine lately. Natalie doesn't enjoy reading books as much as rapidly flipping the pages and then throwing them, so this picture captures a unique moment.

Ella has lost a few very important teeth. She worked VERY HARD to lose the first one at school so that she could go to the nurse and get a little plastic tooth necklace to carry it around in for the rest of the day.

Natalie, on the other hand, is not short on teeth. Just short in a general sense, although the hair does give her about 2 extra inches.

Here I Go Again

Again with the web-based research, again with the typos that make me giggle. This time I was looking up recipes for peach salsa (I'm all revved up about home canning and feeling saucy), which led to a recipe for homemade chili powder, which led to this:

"Cut the chilies into little pieces with the shears and put in your grinder. It could be a brushed clean coffee grinder, or spice grinder, or the grinder/ blender bowel of a brawn hand wand mixer type. Grind away till you only have little flakes."
(source:http://foodiemama.com/Cooking-from-Scratch/Homemade-Chili-Powder.html)

Blenders with bowels? What WILL they think of next?

Baby (and) Beluga

Bay beluga in the deep blue sea, you swim so wild and you swim so free... You can't help but hum that tune when you visit Seaworld San Antonio. Greg's annual company picnic was at Seaworld yesterday and we had a great time. Ella loved feeding the dolphins and Natalie thought the eels were great--they caused lots of pointing and gibbering on her part, anyway. We are really lucky to have such a terrific park only minutes from our house.

Here we are at the dolphin feeding pool. Greg totally paid that dolphin to pose for us. (Do you pay a dolphin in fish?)

Natalie liked the Viva show, which we went to with our friends the Walkers. Diving, synchronized swimming, acrobatics, dolphins, belugas, and a funny guy--what's not to like? She enjoyed clapping along with the audience. Oh, and she had to wear her shades, of course, because she is really into accessories lately. She would have worn my red heels to the park if she could have somehow gotten away with it.

Once again our friend Valerie (who ROCKS!) took us backstage at Viva, where she trains dolphins and beluga whales. We saw a baby dolphin that was only a week old--cutest thing ever, and impossible to photograph. (Her mother looked tired. Amen, sister.) The belugas were very friendly--I suppose it helped that we had a bucket of fish on hand. One of the whales spit on Ella, which she thought was great. They feel kind of soft and squishy, in case you were wondering. Thanks so much, Valerie!

The Spring of Summer

Summer in Texas doesn't get much better than the spring-fed pool at Landa Park on a hot day. It's cool and wet and there are little fishies in the water. Hooray for simple pleasures.

Greg took the girls for a leisurely boat ride.

Look at Ella go!

I don't know what was up with Natalie's chipmunk teeth, but it must have had something to do with the novelty of walking in water. Good times.

The Wild Life with J & O

Jake and Oscar came to Texas--yay! While they were here we treated Jake to some of San Antonio's culinary delights--tamales, paletas from El Paraiso, Blue Bell ice cream (Groom's Cake, mmm...), sandwiches from Pam's, and "The Country's Best Tacos" from Taco Taco Cafe (Jake chose a taco de chicharron--that's pig skin, folks, and that's exactly what it looked like). To show Oscar a good time, we went to the zoo to feed the lorikeets and to Natural Bridge Wildlife Park to feed the zebras. I overcame a longtime fear and hand-fed an ostrich. You don't think they are scary? Come on down and I'll introduce you to one!

Cousins chillin' in the back seat as we began the safari.

I've still got zebra slobber on my window from that dude.

Jake's ostrich encounter--he inspired me to new heights of bravery.

Thanks for coming, J & O. We love you, and we had a great time!

The First of First

Ella is a bus-riding, book-reading, front tooth-wiggling first grader! Here she is before school on the first day (it was dark outside), getting off the bus for the first time, and posing in front of our new house.

Fun With Curly

So, Natalie has this amazing head of hair. Perfect strangers at the supermarket exclaim over her curls and reach out to pat them. At home, we have a great time trying out new coiffures--bath time is especially amusing, and Greg is a surprisingly enthusiastic stylist.

Countdown to Big Tex

So, you know how I get all excited over silly things? And how I love to plan trips, big and not-so-big? Well, the perfect storm is coming next month--a short trip to Dallas and a visit to the State Fair of Texas! We've never been to the fair before, but this being Texas, we know it's going to be BIG. It is famous for--what else?--fried food, and in reading over the list of finalists in the Big Tex Choice Awards I found this little treasure that I felt compelled to share with you:

Deep Fried Butter – 100% pure butter is whipped till light and fluffy, then specially sweetened with a choice of several flavors. The tantalizing mixture is surrounded by a special dough and quick fried.

Doesn't that just set your taste buds on fire? I'm pretty sure you have to show proof of low cholesterol levels before placing your order.