Prize-winning...

This is the weekend of the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair. It's the biggest event of the year in West Tisbury (barring presidential visits) and although some curmudgeons avoid it like the plague, I've gone almost every year for as long as I can remember. The exceptions were 1986, when I was in Japan, and 1991, when I was in New Zealand.

This is the first year in a long time that I've entered anything. I decided that if we're going to settle down here again, I'd better start participating. So I went the category I've been working on most lately: baking.

For my entry, I decided to make carrot cake. I used fresh local eggs, laid by my brother's chickens, and carrots from the local CSA. I spent about an hour peeling those tiny little roots, put everything together as planned, and stuck it in the oven. Ten minutes later, I looked up and noticed that a key ingredient was still sitting on the counter. Ooops.

When I took it out of the oven, I discovered that it tasted OK, but not as good as usual. My mother, who had not tasted the way it was meant to be, talked me into entering it anyway. I figured, what the heck, it's all about the decoration. Fortunately, I finally got the frosting right. It had taken me three tries to get cream cheese frosting that wasn't runny. I had thought it was supposed to be easy. Anyway, this is the cake I took in for the fair:

I visited it later in the day, and lo and behold, it had a blue ribbon attached!


Mike also entered a couple of things. He got third place in the professional sculpture division for his angel and second in Handicraft: Metal Works for his latest sword:



We will be collecting our $12 in prize money next week! Long live the fair!

Comments

gmoke said…
To the Blue Ribbon Prizewinners of of the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair, congratulations!

In case you scheduled a mainland visit, Paul K is scheduled to teach Saturday, August 29 at the NEA 10 am class.
August 23, 2009 at 4:45 AM
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