Weekend Treats

CJ and I were super busy this weekend cleaning the house, painting, and other stuff I don't remember. I did make something tasty for us:
Steak Tartare. It was delicious. The recipe came from The Gourmet Cookbook, which is my favorite.

I also made some tomato soup, did I mention I like tomatoes?

Salad

Tomatoes, I love them. Last week I made this super easy, super tasty salad.

Heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, salt, pepper, basil, and balsamic vinegar. What could be easier or more tasty?

The Homemakers

My new neighbor Tisha and I spent a large part of the holiday weekend canning and pickling. While we knew it was a lot of work, we really had no idea how much it would be.

On Saturday morning, we went to the St. Paul Farmers' Market. We bought a box of tomatoes, a bin of cucumbers, and a lot of shallots, cauliflower, chilies, peppers, and other such things.

Have you ever peeled a box of tomatoes? It takes HOURS. Ever peel shallots? Hours again.
(Not even close to a box of tomatoes)
(That's a lot of shallots to peel)

Luckily the cucumbers only needed to be soaked, for 12 hours.

After two days of work, we finally ended up with this:
Not Shabby.

There are pickles, two bottles of which have become refrigerator pickles because they didn't seal.
Here's a close up:
Unfortunately, some of the garlic turned blue:

We also made Acharro, or something like that. Sri Lankan for various pickles.

We made two kinds of tomatoes. Regular, without spice:
And some made as a Sri Lankan spicy pickle:

A lot of work, but it was worth it, I hope. As long as no one gets sick or dies, I'll call it a success.

State Fair Review

CJ and I made it to the State Fair three times this year. We were planning on going today too, but we both needed to relax a bit. Because we aren't making it today, I don't get to try everything I had in mind, but below is the rundown of what we did try.

Pronto Pups- CJ was the main consumer of the pronto pups, but I was able to get a bite or two. They, of course, were wonderful. Hot, crunchy, mushy, hotdoggie, everything good.

Cheese Curds- We shared an order, and we couldn't finish them. We got them from the original cheese curd stand, and they were so,so good. Cheddar cheese, battered and deep fried, with lots of salt. How can you go wrong? They were very tasty, as expected, but to finish and order means death to the tummy.

Corn Fritters and Fried Green Tomatoes- A sampler of the two in one order, they were very good. The FGTs were crisp and hot and tasty. The Corn Fritters were amazing. Hands down the best thing we tasted at the fair. They taste like what deep fried balls of creamed corn would taste like, served with a side of honey butter. They are sweet and crisp and full of flavor.

Speaking of corn, we each got the roasted corn twice. Simple corn on the cob, roasted and dipped in butter. Season it yourself with salt and pepper, it is exactly as you expect- good.

Garlic Fries- Our friend Christina convinced us to the the Garlic Fries from a sports bar cafe like place. CJ and Christina really liked them. I liked the garlic a lot, but the fries were only okay.

Fries- CJ and I also shared an order of regular fries from the big fry places. They were crisp and greasy and really quite good. I like the kind with the skin on better, but these were excellent.

Spam Burger- I got one bite of Trevor's Spam Burger. It was amazing. The flavor was fresh and new, the texture was that of fried processed meat, with cheese, on a bun. This was something I was hoping to get today for myself. I'm kind of sad I'll have to wait until next year.

Lamb- CJ got lamb on a stick and I got a gyro at the Lamb Shop in the food building. The lamb is all grass fed and the farm is sustainable. We had to get something there. The lamb on a stick, with mint jelly, was great. Chunks of marinated lamb on a little plate with a stick to eat it with was genius. The lamb was tender and flavorful, a great fair food. The gyro was pretty good, but more meat would have been nice. It could have been a bit more juicy too, but the sauce and the pita was good, which helped a lot.

Apples- I got an apple cider freeze for $0.75 and CJ got a glass of apple cider in the Horticulture Building. The cider was pretty good, but not tart or cidery enough. It is too early in the season. The apple cider freeze is the best buy of the fair. It is tasty, refreshing and cheap. It is a very basic food, but incredibly good for what it is.

Walleye Fingers- Deep fried, battered, walleye chunks with lemon and tarter sauce. The walleye chunks were big. They were crisp and not too salty. Not my favorite thing from Giggles that I've ever had, but good.

Turkey Leg- It was late at night when CJ got this, and it sounded like a good idea at the time. It was huge. The outside was good. It was barbecued and had a nice taste. The inside meat wasn't that great. It wasn't as moist as I hoped it would be and the meat didn't have a very nice taste. It was just bland and boring.

Tom Thumb Donuts- Deep fried mini-donuts. Deep fried sweet dough, how can you go wrong?

We also had a bunch of things to drink including water, beer, lemonade, root beer, and soda.

We sure do love the state fair.