Fair week is over and everyone is settling back into somewhat of a normal routine.
However, last week was bustling as Mallory and Eileen put the finishing touches on their craft and photography projects for the annual Northwest Montana Fair. It was entry day and down to the wire when Mallory added colorful beads to her knitted scarf to give it extra pizzaz. It worked. The judges liked it and she won a blue ribbon.
Mallory’s knitted scarf with colorful beads.
Eileen’s winning photography also impressed the judges. She received glowing remarks and took home four blue ribbons for her efforts.
The judges said about Eileen’s photo entry, “Nice shot. Detailed tones, effective.”
With judging underway, it was time to decorate the 4-H project booth. This year’s fair slogan was “Get Excited,” so decorating was challenging. However, a pink pig and a green and white tie-dye sheet made it all come together.
“Get Excited” at the fair!
By midweek, fair energy was high as the girls went to work at the shooting sports booth, helping fair-goers take aim with pellet guns.
They were “Excited”!
But, disappointment was just around the corner when we – the evil parents – decided not to spring for POP tickets for carnival rides.
If you wanted to ride the rides, you should have thought about it when you could have gotten the discount!
Whaaa – They got over it and mellow moods took shape for Friday’s Fair Parade. A fun time was had by all, and fair week was blessed with magical Montana weather. However, today it’s “Hot as Hades.”
I had considered baking a fresh cherry pie, but why heat the kitchen? I’ll freeze our cherries for a cooler day – namely Thanksgiving.
But you may not want to wait that long to try this taste-tempting cherry pie recipe. It comes from my old Betty Crocker Cookbook that I bought from the grocery store when I was a newlywed.
The pages are tattered and worn and I still refer to it for favorite recipes. One time I tried to replace it with a new one, but to no avail. I think it’s because Americans have changed and so have recipes. People are fat, and Betty Crocker must now be lean.
With that said and done, it’s time for the recipe. And to top it off, I do believe it’s the same one that Champion Pie Maker Irene Houston uses for her award-winning pies.
Picture is representative. Photo by Valeria Boltneva:
Winning Cherry Pie Recipe
(this recipe will make a 9″ cherry pie)
Ingredients:
- Pastry for 9-inch two-crust pie
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups fresh tart cherries – cleaned and pitted.
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Instructions:
- Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare pastry. Stir together sugar and flour; mix with cherries. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan; sprinkle with almond extract and dot with butter.
- Cover with top crust which has slits cut in it; seal and flute. Cover edge with 2 to 3 inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil last 15 minutes of baking.
- Bake 9 inch pie 35 to 45 minutes until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.
Serve warm with a dollop of homemade vanilla ice cream, if desired. Enjoy!
