Osage artisan festival

Last weekend, I drove up to my hometown in northern Iowa to visit my mom and stepdad.  My mom suggested that we drive to nearby Osage and check out the town's fall artisan festival.  We didn't know what to expect.  We thought we'd find a few food booths and a couple pumpkins to buy.  But boy, were we surprised by what we saw!  The main street was lined with food and craft vendors. Visitors were walking up and down the street, in and out of stores, wearing their knee-high leather boots and drinking pumpkin lattes. My mom and I had no idea it was such a big event!

I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I've been told it's kind of a "no-no" to take photos at a craft fair. The vendors don't want other people stealing their project ideas -- although maybe that's not as big of an issue nowadays with Pinterest and all.

Anyhow, I took a photo of the "Autumn" sign above, because I wanted to buy it but didn't have the cash.  (Again, we had no idea that it was a craft fair, so I didn't budget for it. If I go again next year, I'll save up some spending money!)  I also thought this jack o' latern chair was adorable.

Here's one of the parking lots full of vendors.  There were four of these vendor lots, if I recall correctly.

There was a taco truck that had a huge line of people, and the food looked wonderful.  But my stepdad wanted to stop at one of his favorite Osage restaurants, Teluwat.  The place was packed, but we managed to snag a table by sharing it with a group of really nice women, one of whom told us that she had more than 30 grandkids and four great-grandkids! She was adorable!

My stepdad and I ordered the special of the day: the breaded pork tenderloin.  It was huge, but so good!

Everyone told us that we had to stop at the new Unc's Cheesecake bakery in town.  We were so full after lunch, we didn't sample the cheesecake.  But my mom and I did order a couple of carrot cake balls for the ride home. Actually, I thought they were pumpkin cake balls, but when I ate mine the next day, it turned out to be carrot cake.  Still very good, although I really wanted pumpkin!

Sugar cookies decorated for fall.

Carrot cake balls for the ride home.

Have you been to any fun fall festivals this year?  I'm always looking for a new one to visit.  I just love this time of year!

Homemade salsa

 

I'm happy to say that despite the dry weather, my garden tomatoes and peppers have been plentiful this year.  I planted jalapenos earlier in the summer (I found a three-pack of jalapeno seedlings for 99 cents at Fareway!)  So I thought it would be fun to try to make salsa at home.

I've never made salsa before, mostly because my husband is super picky about salsa.  Like the three little bears, he doesn't like his salsa too watery, or too hot, or too thin. I asked him what he thought the perfect salsa recipe would look like.  He said the salsa had to be thick, like the Pace picante sauce we get at the grocery store. The recipe has to have vinegar in it, he says, and a little bit of heat, but not too much.

I searched and searched for a recipe that meets his requirements, and finally landed on the Rockin' Salsa recipe from Allrecipes. (Click here for the recipe.)  I modified the recipe a bit, because all I had were jalapenos, not banana peppers and such.  I was a little worried about all the sugar in the recipe, but it really didn't taste overly sweet, and it makes a huge batch. I also didn't can the recipe; I froze the extra salsa instead.  I don't feel comfortable canning recipes that aren't USDA approved to ensure food safety.

Do you have a favorite salsa recipe?  How do you like your salsa?  I'm glad I found something that my super picky husband really likes.

Grandma's refrigerator pickles

I've been holding out on you guys. I've been meaning to share my grandma's refrigerator pickle recipe, but kept putting it off.

This is my go-to recipe when the cucumbers are plentiful in my garden. My grandma shared it with me after I just graduated from college and was learning to cook on my own. She used the giant cucumbers that my grandpa grew from an old hog lot he turned into a garden. Old hog manure turned out to be excellent fertilizer!

Here's the recipe, if you want to give it a try. Enjoy!

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Grandma's refrigerator pickles

4 cups sugar

4 cups vinegar

1/2 cups salt

1-1/3 tsp. mustard seed

3 onions, sliced

Cucumbers to fill a gallon jar

Mix all ingredients together. This syrup is cold. Keep in refrigerator for five days, then they are ready to eat.