Iowa State Fair, Some Finished Objects and a Recipe

The Iowa State Fair is already over for another year, but I was lucky enough to make it back to Des Moines for the first two days of the Fair. Once again, it was a great time!

Megan in the tunnel at the Master Gardeners' gardens. I have a photo of her in this same spot over the last few years. I think she was able to stand up in the the tunnel the first year I took this photo.



Noah found his favorite spot in the same gardens



Megan got to try on the Fremont County Fair Queen's tiara. So sparkly!



I could have sat and watched the baby ducks all day. Too cute!



And future farmers...





It was a good fair.

I've also done some spinning.

This...


Became this...


And I finished my very first lace project in July. The Girasole shawl. It is made out of my merino/silk handspun and was a wonderful pattern to knit. Now, I'm trying to figure out my next lace pattern to tackle.





If you've made it all the way down to here with all of those photos, I'll reward you with a recipe. This is one of my favorite cookies that my Grandma makes. They're called Butterscotch Squares, but I've always called them Red Hot Cookies. No matter what you call them, they are yummy!

Butterscotch Squares

2 Sticks margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Red Hots
Chocolate chips
Nuts (optional)

Melt the 2 sticks of margarine over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat and let cool. Stir in and dissolve sugar and brown sugar. Add two eggs (make sure your batter is cool - you don't want to scramble the eggs).

In another pan, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this mixture to the batter and add the vanilla.

Place mixture in a 9 x 14" greased pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and red hots and grind the nuts on top of the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes (may vary based on your stove).



Let me know if you try this recipe. I'd love to hear what you think.

Finally, I went to take Xena's photo the other day, and you'll never believe what happened. Those crazy squirrels are trying to get in everyone's photos.