This summer has been super busy, but somehow I did find a few minutes to enter some items in our local Platte County Fair (the longest continuously running county fair west of the Mississippi River, mind you) and this year I came home with two blue ribbons. I was so excited!
I entered a jar of dill pickle spears, yup that’s them with their blue ribbon right there, but I was hoping to enter a jar of our yummy hamburger dills also. Unfortunately, when I went to grab a jar I discovered my husband had eaten every last one. Yes, my husband ate my fair entry, but he did apologize and added, “If it’s any consolation, you should have won a blue ribbon. They were delicious.” Okay, so I don’t have a shiny new ribbon to show for it, but I’ll take that vote of approval.
If you want to give your own husband-pleasing pickles a go, you should try the hamburger dill canning recipe here at Small Talk Mama.
I also entered three photos in the fair, one of which brought home a blue. This photo of a female cardinal braving a winter storm is one of my favorites from our back porch. I’m so glad the judges liked it too.
There are so many reasons I love to participate in the county fair, but one of my fondest is that I think my Nannie would be so proud. My grandmother, we called her Nannie, entered her own county fair each year and earned oodles of ribbons throughout her life. Before she passed I consistently ogled her latest blue ribbon projects each fall; so when my husband and I moved to a county that hosted its own fair, I decided to carry on the tradition. My first thought in the exhibit hall this year was that I hoped I made my Nannie proud.