Festive Weekend

I love festivals, but the heat of summer is too much. Last weekend was perfect weather to get out and enjoy a couple. I crammed so much in last weekend, I was a bit overwhelmed on what and how to blog.  Then the week passed by so quickly, I didn't get it together. Hang onto your seats - here goes a big ol' post before we get too deep into another weekend (I actually, have very little planned other than my husband's game on Sunday).

On Saturday (before we headed out for our mini anniversary road trip) my mom and I took a quick trip to a local festival. Lincoln Place is a neighborhood in a town about 20 minutes from us. The neighborhood was settled by Eastern European immigrants who had arrived to work in the steel mills in the late 1800s/early 1900s. For many years, the area was known as Hungary Hollow. Mexican immigrants began to arrive around 1920.  Around the same time the area was officially named Lincoln Place to reflect the American ideals the residents now embraced while continuing to honor their various cultures.

I was not expecting the Mexican influence, but it was great to see the different cultures featured side by side in food and dance.

 A sad chapter in the history of Lincoln Place was a fire in 1953.

One of the actual fire engines that responded to the fire was on display. I have to admit, this fire engine looked much older than something I would have expected in the 50s. Perhaps it wasn't their newest truck.

Throughout the day, various dance troops performed.  We were only at the festival for about an hour, so we only saw Mexican and German dancers.

 I wish you could see how intricate this dress was. Each flower seemed to be individually crafted.

The food was the main event. There were at least ten different booths representing countries including Armenia, Bulgaria, Russia, Germany, Macedonia, Mexico - main dishes, desserts, snacks. There were so many things we wanted to try...and you can see we did our best.  The first thing I did (and it was difficult) was to eliminate Mexican food from our sampling. I wanted to try the Eastern European cuisines with which I had very little previous experience. I was happy to see the prices were very reasonable. I brought home leftovers. And there may have been some desserts we took home...not sure what happened to the pictures, so maybe that didn't happen :)  I picked up apple strudel from two different booths (German and Macedonian) for my strudel loving husband. His winner was the German strudel. I can't compare them because someone didn't share his favorite. I did, however, enjoy the Macedonian version.

I bought this dessert from the Russian booth. Large wafers are layered with cooked sweetened condensed milk (basically dulce de leche).  It is super simple to make, but apparently the wafers aren't readily available outside Russian/Ukrainian shops.  I loved the look of this dessert, but was not a fan of this particular flavor.

I found this cutie for my Christmas tree at the Russian booth.

This was the first year I'd even heard about this festival. Sadly, they announced it will most likely be their last one due to lack of funds. I am quite curious about their budget and expenses. I hope they find a way to continue.

Sunday my niece and I went to a local Art Fair. It had been circled on my calendar for awhile (technically marked as "interested" on Facebook).  At the last minutem I invited my niece and was super happy she was able to go. There was a wide variety of artists using all kinds of different mediums.

Is it a painting? Yes and no. It is a combination of painted fabric and embroidered details.

 A closer look reveals the intricate ribbon embroidery.

 I think I could find a place for this guy in my house.

How pretty would this be hanging above the patio or as a canopy over a bed? I loved how it filtered the light.

This artist had a quirky aesthetic. It is fascinating to see what is in people's brains and even more incredible how they get it out into their art.

We talked a little to this artist She made cyanotype sun prints using local plants.  Her father was (is?) an environmentalist. I loved how her artistic passion incorporated his scientific passion. In related news, I just put a sun print kit into my Amazon cart. Sounds like a fun project for our sidekick and bonus boy.

I thought this artist had a fun aesthetic.

 Who could resist this lineup. People without $400 ;)

I could have spent so much money at the art fair!

I think I have buyer's remorse, actually non-buyer's remorse about this artist - Layl McDill of Minneapolis. We spent quite a bit of time looking at her booth filled with items made from polymer clay. Her work was fascinating. She was so open and informative about her work. I was not surprised at all to see she on her website that she teaches classes.

Each color is a log of polymer clay shaped and pressed into the bigger log. She then continues to pull and press the log into various sizes. Then she cuts slices off the log to make the various pieces. It is incredible to see the same design several inches in diameter down to half an inch in diameter.

She had several teapots made from her creations. It is creation layered on creation to make yet another creation. I would say simply stunning. but there is nothing simple about it. .

You all know I am obsessed with Christmas ornaments. I really wanted one of her ornaments, but $24+ seemed too extravagant for an "impulse" buy.  I found some of her work for sale on another website. There are tons of ornaments, but pictures do not do her product justice. I feel like it would be nearly impossible to choose one through the website. But I may I might have to try!

 The detail and colors are amazing. Do you see the snails??

I wonder if she sold this guy or has one similar. Perhaps I will be sending her an email and ordering myself a Christmas present.

A couple of local restaurants were serving food at the art fair. One was a wood-fired pizza place my husband and I love. Wee especially love a pizza we had during a pizza crawl event we attended a couple years ago - Chili Lime Pork. Unfortunately, it is a seasonal item and I just noticed last week we missed the season. However, this Maple Bourbon Pork from their fall menu is super tasty. My niece and I picked up a couple items to take home to share with my husband for lunch.

Tuesday was our 7th anniversary. Although we had celebrated in advance over the weekend, I couldn't resist making him a special meal. I chose him over Cookbook Club - that's true love.  I had some comp time at work, so I took the afternoon off to focus on the meal. By now. you all know how much I love to make new things. It might be the bane of my husband's existence. He says I make something good and then he never sees it again. He is very much a person who loves the tried and true. I decided to make him a meal of known favorites. (Side note; he would have never met these favorites, if I had tried new things, just sayin'.)

Any meal that includes my Jalapeno Boats has my husband's instant attention. I've been making these for so long I just wing it every time I make them. I cut the jalapenos in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and ribs. For the filling, I start with a block of light cream cheese, add shredded cheddar, crumbled bacon and chopped cilantro. Then I spread the filling inside the jalapeno boat. It gets a little messy corralling the filling into the boat, but your hands are your best kitchen utensil, so it all works out  Finally, I press filling side down into panko to give them a bit of a crust. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or so (until they start to brown on top and peppers soften a little.  I had these ready when he came in from work.

Bacon Wrapped Potatoes with Honey Scallion Sauce - This recipe from Aaron McCargo, Jr (winner of season 4 of Food Network Star) might be my favorite of the night. I remember watching the show and when he made these I had to try them. I've only made them a handful of times over the years because they are super decadent. Potato wedges are wrapped in bacon and slowly cooked in shallow oil. By the time the bacon is crisped up the potatoes are cooked through. The crispy bacon with the soft potato is a great texture. The sauce, however, is what sends it over the top - honey, melted butter, green onions, salt and pepper. I love the how the warm butter draws the green onion flavor into the sauce. So simple and so divine. I might have licked the plate.

Mexican Street Corn Salad I made the salad early in the afternoon, so it had time to chill. We are obsessed with the flavors of street corn - cotija cheese, lime and cilantro. This recipe uses a bag of frozen corn which you char a little in a skillet. I had to make a second trip to the grocery store because the first bag of frozen corn was not good - it was old tasting (like it had been picked well past its prime). You definitely need a good ingredients to make delicious dishes.

The final step was cooking delicious ribeye steak. I was always intimidated making steak. It was too expensive to ruin. After I got my cast iron skillet, I found instructions on cooking it on the stove and finishing in the oven. We like our steak medium rare, so it takes almost no time to cook - a couple minutes on each side and then in the oven for a couple of minutes. The secret is in the "board sauce" - chopped garlic and herbs smashed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper to make a paste. Spread the paste on the cutting board and put the hot steak on top to rest. Once rested, I slice the steak and mix it up with the board sauce. It is SO good!  You can mix and match any herbs you like. On this night I just used basil cause my rosemary had died. Other times I've done cilantro and a bit of jalapeno.

You might be wondering where the dessert is....there was going to be an orange souffle....  However, I chickened out. I figured I had enough going on. I've never made souffle and no matter how easy Ina Garten says it is, I am still a bit nervous. One of these days.

I debated even including this  or perhaps even worse wrapping up a very pleasant post with this. Just trying to keep it real. So, a week or so ago I bought this frozen paella at Walmart. It was marked down, but still had good dates on it. I decided to make it Wednesday evening for myself. It had a strong seafood smell to it - not in a bad way (unless you ask my seafood hating husband).  It looked good...and tasted good. When I finished eating dinner, I was already looking forward to eating the leftovers the next day. That is until I woke in the middle of the night and proceeded to throw up several times. Then woke up again...you get the idea. I can barely think about it without feeling queasy and I currently have a strong aversion to all things seafood. Hopefully that aversion will pass...I am not sure I could ever forgive Sam's Choice if it doesn't pass.

I ended up being sick all the next day and into Friday. My ribs still hurt from the trauma.

I don't have a festival packed schedule this weekend. I am planning to enjoy some time at home, but even as I write this part of me is wondering what I might be missing out there. I have a recipe (ingredients already purchased) ready to try. I might also do a little sewing. 

Hope your weekend is off to a good start!