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Tuesday night was the third cooking contest, this time with eggs. The rules specified a frittata, so I decided to make mine Mediterranean. It has Italian sausage, spinach, onion, garlic, mozzarella cheese and cherry tomatoes. Tomatoes often add too much water to a recipe, so I had the idea of cutting cherry tomatoes in half and placing them cut side up on the top of the frittata. This worked well when I tested the idea on a quiche a month ago, so I went with it.

It did not place in the competition, but we ate almost half of it ...

Today, I will share my third place winning recipe for the Tricolor Tomato Tian. A tian is a French peasant dish consisting of sliced vegetables, overlapped in an earthenware dish, then baked. The vegetables are meant to be the stars of the dish, so no sauces or cheese are added. I thought a tomato tian would be a good entry, with some onion and garlic for flavor. The dish is baked at a high heat for a long time to reduce the water in the tomatoes.

Starting out, the assembly of the elements is so colorful! When I tested the ...

Rain fell off and on last week, and one drizzly morning these boys came by for a visit. Both males, they strutted around and loudly gobble-gobbled. I threw some sunflower seed hearts out for them.

They were happy as clams to do a bit of hunt and peck.

The goldfinches and a woodpecker got their share in the feeder. There is a titmouse on the back side as well.

The garden is winding down, but the squashes refuse to fully ripen. I’ve moved the leaves around to get more sunlight to them, and I am still waiting. The largest ...

August is the time to get out the glue gun and do some crafting for the fair. This division of the exhibits has been thin in participants since covid shut down the fair in 2020. In 2021, there were so few entries, practically every entry got a ribbon. In 2022, it was a bit better, but still not as many entries as there is space to display them, so it looked sparse. I plan to do my part this year to help this division have more items to display, entering 10 categories. I hope more competitors will do the same ...

More surprises were in store as I went back to the fair again on Friday and Saturday. This little beaded Christmas ornament was one of those last minute ideas that I put together the day before the entry turn-in day. It is difficult to see, as most of the beads are clear. It has a line of beads on a straight wire to three green ones, then another wire makes a swirl around the central line. I was gobsmacked to see a third place ribbon on it in the Christmas Ornaments category in Crafts.

Between turning in my dishes for ...

It has been a great time at the fair this year so far. I’ve been to the fair twice now, both times to find entries in the competitions, and to compete in two cooking contests. Those of you who are in my Friends of From My Carolina Home facebook group, and who follow me on Instagram, know my big news, as I was just too excited to wait. The Quilted Jacket we all worked on with our quilt along won first place in quilted clothing, and Best in Show!!!

Then the matching purse and accessories also won first place ...

It’s been a busy week, beginning last weekend with the Apple Festival. I went to an orchard on Saturday, hoping to get some more great shots for the Agriculture category for the fair. I did get a couple that might work for next year’s competition. These are just a few of the varieties of apples this one had. Leading off, Jonogolds.

These are Pink Ladies. I was trying to get an artsy shot, with the ones farthest away a bit blurred.

These are Honey Crisps. The blurred background worked a bit better here.

Some of the trees on ...

It is Apple Festival weekend, the start of the fall season for me. Although all is still green outside, my heart is ready for colorful leaves, pumpkins, football games, wearing sweaters on cool days, and warm comfort food. This week I was delighted with the cool mornings, and amazingly was able to capture a visiting hummingbird making the rounds of my scraggly verbena and petunias. Lovely, isn’t she?

She stayed long enough for me to get several photos, most came out blurry but this one was clear enough to see her well enough.

The garden continues to give me ...