It's Fair time

It's my favorite time of year in Ventura. Fair time. I'm not sure exactly what it is -- maybe it's the fact that it's on the ocean, maybe it's all the old-timey stuff and for sure it's because of the great, greasy wonderful culinary wonderland that is the food -- but I just love this fair.

When we first moved here, Rob and I weren't big fair people. But I went the first year I was here alone and I loved it. Rob resisted for a couple of years, but finally, I got him to go and he LOVED it. His favorite part is the Commercial Building where they sell all the fair crap/merchandise. I love Home Arts because they have sewing, and table setting and my favorite cooking.

Last year, I decided to put my proverbial money where my mouth was and entered the fair. I entered a peach pie made with peaches from my peach tree, sugar cookies and oatmeal cookies. I got a first place for the pie, a second place for the sugar cookies and third place for the oatmeal cookies. I couldn't have been happier. Well actually I could have. I could have won all first places and the blue ribbon for all of cooking, but hey, it was a first try.

This year the weather has been unusually hot and sticky. Fortunately the heat has abated for now, but the humidity remains. I'm beginning to think the reason most heavy cooking and baking happens in the winter is to avoid the hot, sticky days that can wreak havoc on baked goods.

I ended up battling my peach pie crust, and I think it won. The juices overflowed and popped the top and the foil I put on the edges to keep them from getting too brown stuck and in one spot it looks pretty bad. The peaches, which were from the farmer's market, weren't very good. The texture was good though, so I put a bunch of turbinado sugar on them. In fact, this is the year of turbinado sugar because I used it on my cookies too. I figure everything is going to get soft because of the humidity, and the sugar will keep it crunchy and give the cookies and pie a little edge.

My buddy Kaia helped me bake the cookies. She and I are becoming quite the baking team -- making cookies year-round. Rob and I also take Kaia to the fair each year. This gives us a completely different experience from when we go ourselves. We're old fogies and love stuff like photography, horticulture, home arts and shucksters. Kaia likes rides and games and candy.

I took my entries to the fair today. They'll be judged by tomorrow -- Wednesday, the first day of the fair. I'm not as optimistic as I was last year -- especially about the pie. But I had so much fun with Kaia and I felt so happy just baking my brains out for the county fair as so many have done before me. It's, like all-American and stuff. It's also really fun to create happy memories for a lovely little girl, which can be taken out for solace or joy as she gets older.

No matter what the ribbon, the real prize was getting ready.