Summer Has Arrived!!!

Lucky for the kids and animals at the Merced County Fair, our summer didn't arrive until yesterday.  Good grief Charlie Brown ..... it was 106 in my neck of the woods.  To make it even worse, it was 95 degrees in San Francisco/Oakland area, right on the ocean.

It's time for me to switch into major frugal "electrical" mode.  I started off perfectly by forgetting I left the AC on yesterday.  That will cause an ouchy spike in my bill.

In between sleeping on the couch, which I seem to be doing a lot of, I ran down to Lowes to pick up my new rug.  I really tried to revive the old one, but couldn't get the wet dog smell to go away.  I'll call a carpet cleaning company and see if they can fix it.  

As you can see, Cooper doesn't get six feet from me.  He thinks I'm going to leave again!!

All that heat made it hard to head on down to the Magic Kingdom.  The good news is we have solar panels, so they run the AC day and night.  Unfortunately, that makes the Knights lower the drawbridge early, letting the hoards in before their allotted time so they don't melt.  

You cannot imagine the fights that break out over who sits where.  We make the peasants sit in a long line of chairs until the allotted 4:30 when the bell rings and there is a mad dash for the tables.  Yes, they have fallen down and gotten hurt.  What can I say, it's BINGO!!

The Castle Lawyer played hooky and left me to my own devices.  All went well, even though the King and most of the Knights were off galavanting around the country, until almost the end of the night.  One peasant came to say she only received $150 as a payout instead of $250.  

As much as we tried to convince her she was incorrect, you know how those gambling peasants are.  She was having none of it.  I told her if I was off in my cash register at the end of the night by $100, I would give it to her, knowing that wasn't going to happen.  We actually triple count those payouts.

I finally asked her to go get her money and show me.  Well what do you know, there was another $100 bill right there in the stack.  That made $250.  Truthfully, I was so tired, I COULD have paid something out wrong, but that's why I count everything so many times.  

At long last (it seemed like 10 or 12 hours) it was time to head home.  I hit the sack with the puppies and was out like a light!!

It's going to be like a grilled cheese melting on the fire day today ... 105 predicted, then hopefully it will cool down to the mid 90's.  I think I'll make an air conditioned truck trip to the big town of Modesto, where all the stores have AC to keep me cool ... that is if I don't fall asleep on the couch again!!

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I guess I was a lot more tired than I thought.  I had plans yesterday to get things done, but I ended up on the couch most of the day ..... sleeping!!  I think I worked a few too many hours, a total of 93 in 7 days.

Here's the morning crew!!  That's the Sheriff in the back and left to right ... Danny, me, Ed and Fred.  What a crew to draw to!!  We all arrived at 4:30-5:00 in the morning to cut up everything for the day. Baked potatoes, bacon and linguica ends for breakfast burritos and peppers and onions for linguica sandwiches.

This group was fun from start to finish, with jokes, ribbing and GREAT food!!  The Sheriff was always mixing up something for us to try.  They cut the ends off the linguica (so it would fit the buns), then cut them almost in half long ways so they would lay flat on the grill.  It helps that Danny was a meat cutter all his life.  Don't tell him I used his knife to cut a wrapped burrito in half!!

I have a new spice for you to try.  It's called Cajun Seasoning by McCormick.  Vern put it in almost every burrito concoction.  It enhanced the flavor so much and only gave a hint of heat in the back of your mouth.  Gosh that was good!!!  A little fajita sauce mixed in with the eggs didn't hurt either.  Sound weird?  That's what I thought, until I tried it.  Add a little garlic herb mixture and you've got a total of 114 burritos out the door on one morning!!

The hardest part was training new recruits every few hours when the next bunch came in the door.  These two guys were out of control!!  I left before the ticket line got filled up, which I'm sure put the kibosh on their activities.  All of these guys are part of the dirty thirty that do everything around the Lodge.  It's unique that two of the crew are retired commercial airline pilots.  You can probably imagine the conversations!

I didn't have time to check out anything at the fair, but I did walk by the ponies every evening on my way to my truck.  I'm sure they put on as many miles as I did!  By the way, that ended up being an average of 7 miles walking per day, even though I rarely left the building.

Yesterday I was up at 4:00, but fell asleep on the couch about 6:30.  I woke up in time to get my truck smogged, along with picking up some chicken to cook for the puppies.  I discovered you can't cook a big chicken twice in a row on those little propane canisters.  It takes TWO!!

More sleeping occurred here and there until it was time to crash.  By then the temperature outside was 105 degrees and I was roasting, feeling much like that linguica on the grill!!

I'll probably spend even MORE time on the couch this morning, as it's Magic Kingdom time tonight.

Let Sleeping Goats Lie

The best part of the fair is at 4:30-5:00 in the morning when it's all quiet and everyone is sleeping.  It's also not 98 degrees.  The goats and sheep reside right across from our booth.  Not wanting to wake anyone up, I snuck across the walkway to get a couple of pictures.

Cattle don't snuggle up at night.  Neither do horses.  It was funny to see all the goats and sheep cuddled together to keep warm.  It wasn't a cold night, but they've all been shaved to present the best picture.  I tiptoed so as not to wake them.

It was so early, even the cattle were still snoozing.

This is the nice, peaceful calm before the storm.  In no time, this ring was a madhouse as the sale began.  Here's how it works at this fair.  The local meat market providers buy up all the animals at market price.  They are then resold to anyone who wants to bid on them ... usually friends and family of the kid it belonged to.  That money is your donation.  The animal goes to .... well, you know where .... and the kid gets all the money. 

Surprisingly, there isn't much in the way of ice cream at this fair.  We do have a small milk barn that serves up ice cream bars, milk and chocolate milk.  Lucky for me, they had a little milkshake too.  Nothing to write home about, but it was refreshing on that 103 degree day.

Our fair was always in July in the past in the heat of the summer.  It was so hot animals died right and left in spite of all the fans in every building.  Since then, they moved it to the cooler (??) month of June.

Here's one of OUR products.  Linguica is usually covered with bell peppers and onions.  This was a "hold the peppers" order.  Yes, it's huge, which it should be considering it's $12.00.  I'm not a fan of greasy meat ... I stuck with the hot dogs!!  Not much better, but a little!!

Saturday, I blew it the entire day.  This is an ooey gooey cinnamon roll.  I couldn't help myself.  Here's a hint though ... eat it all in one sitting.  Once it cools off, it becomes a brick.

I've got one more day of fair tales, but for now, I'm crashing.  Almost anyway.  I have to get my truck smogged this morning at 9:00, then catch up on puppy food.  The rest of the day I suspect I'll be caught sleeping on the couch!!!

PICTURES!!!

Finally, a short break in the action!!  It's the last day of the fair and we're not cooking breakfast burritos, so our attendance isn't required until 10:00.  Boy does THAT feel good!!  It's weird ... I have this funny sensation that I have gloves on.  You know the ones ... they are thin, rubbery and make your hands sweat!!  They also make your hands very soft, in case that's on your wish list.

Every morning when I got there, these birds (no clue what they are) would grunt, chirp and make all kinds of weird sounds.  Apparently it's breeding season, along with a load of nest builders and babies.

Here's the Sheriff cooking away.  This guy knows his way around a grill.  There are 12 linguica in a package and we cooked at least ten packages, just for lunch.  Pretty crazy, right?

Here's two of three guys who showed up almost as early as I did, every single day.  Some of the dirty thirty at work cooking up bacon and potatoes for the 114 burritos we made and sold yesterday.  Not just any burritos, but 3-4 inches thick and 10 inches long.  You get your monies worth around here.

While putting together orders, sending out all that linguica, and adding condiments (fresh lettuce, tomato, onion and thousand island sauce) to over 350 cheeseburgers, I kept the hot dog machine loaded and ready.  That was just the lunch servings on one day.  I don't want to see another cheeseburger as long as I live.

Remember those birds?  Unfortunately, that's where our ice machine is located.  To keep from getting pooped on, the guys would throw towels on their heads when we required more ice.  The one guy that didn't go the towel route, got bombed!!  

That's my order bar ... pretty inventive for having done this only once before.  It worked perfectly!  Again, this is some of the dedicated crew.  Our problem this year had to do with scheduling.  The fair came at the same time as every single graduation in the County.

So there you have it!  Working the food booth at the fair.  I'll tell you about the rest tomorrow, but for now, I'm off to clean up and play with the puppies.  Poor babies have been locked up all the time I've been gone.  I'm sure they think I've deserted them.

OH MY!! Another LOOOOOONG Day!!

My computer is working again!  YAY!!  I think it just needed a kick in the butt, like the gal who shall remain nameless.

It was a great day in the neighborhood!!  I talked the one girl into coming back and the Sheriff had a little talk with the other.  Amazingly, it went VERY well today, with the exception of a few arrows slung here and there.  What, are you a seven year old?????

I actually did have three pictures, but of course Blogger refuses to upload anything at this hour in the morning.  I guess I can't blame them!  For some crazy reason, I'm waking up at 3:00 now with no hope of sleeping in.

I didn't have time to go visit the Westerfield's daughter Jenny who was judging the flowers.  Oh wait ... that was back on Wednesday.   Time flies when you're having fun.  No worries Barbara, I have a medallion set aside.

I was supposed to meet the Sheriff at 4:00 am.  He was a no show.  I see a theme here.  When he did arrive, we threw together 80 burritos before setting up for the lunch crowd.  Today was Friends Helping Friends Day when all disabled children are allowed in free.

The Elks Lodge feeds everyone, close to 700 this year.  Once that was over, I really thought I would catch a break and go home early.  Instead, I spent another 12 hours slinging burgers and linguisa with two extra hours thrown in training even MORE new people to do the work of a restaurant chef.  I certainly have new respect for the people that cook all the food in restaurants.

I hit the bed as soon as I got home.  Today I'm off again, this time at 5:00 to make 100 burritos for the last big day of the fair.  I'm determined to get pictures.

It Was A Great Day At The Fair

My computer isn’t working. Typed this on my phone.

Arrived 5:00. Got everything ready for no customers. It’s high school graduation day.

Got in an argument over sausage sitting on the table for 3 hours. She who shall remain nameless said I just didn’t understand food safety. It was fine since it was only there for 15 minutes. When she finally looked to see what it was (not what she thought it was) she said “oh”.  It sat for another 1-1/2 hours.

The next crew that came in at 5:00 pm had no idea what to do and wouldn’t do anything we told them.  It was a madhouse!!!  lol

I left after 14 hours.

I like working with the Sheriff so I’m back here at 4:15 am. A gluten for punishment!!!  My puppies think I moved away!!!

The Good And The Bad

THE GOOD:      

I'm still alive

THE BAD:        

No blog today since I don't have time.  I got every minute of extra sleep I could.  I ended up working13 hours yesterday because my replacement didn't show up until 6:00 pm.  The five women who volunteered to help didn't really want to do anything.  I guess they thought they were just getting a free ticket into the fair.  SURPRISE!!!

I'm back at it this morning at 5:00!!!

My Little Corner Of The World

This is it.  My little corner for the week.  Lucky for me, I stand about this far away from that scorching hot grill in the 100 degree weather.  That's the bacon and potatoes for some of the burritos we make.

This morning I went outside and did my best imitation of a condor.  I just stood there with my arms spread out drinking in the wonderful cool air!!

This is a shorty since I don't have time to write much this morning.  Besides, I will probably make lots of typos and not see them, since my eyes feel like a bucket full of sand.

We got REAL busy yesterday but still nothing like it's going to be for the next few days.  The fair officially opens today.  Besides putting up the orders, which by some miracle I didn't screw up, I had to take care of the hot dogs.  BOY are Kirkland brand beef dogs delicious!!  I know, because I ate two of them that got a tad bit overdone.

Yes I feel like I got drug through a knothole backwards after a grueling six hours at the Magic Kingdom last night.  For a happy place that gives out lots of money, I can't believe how grumpy everyone was. Was it a full moon?  I never even had time to check.

My puppies think I have abandoned them, so I'm going to spend some quality time on the couch before heading out again.  

First Day Fair Blues

It's always an unorganized mess the first day, am I correct?  This day was no different.  We arrived extra early, hoping the fridge repair guy would show up (we already knew it was on the fritz).  That would be a NO.  All of the food for the day ended up in the smallest of refrigerators.  Leave it to a woman to make it all fit.

That's when we discovered the Pepsi was awful.  That's my go-to drink.  When I've got to go and go and go, that's the sugary sweet one I need for energy.  It had WAY too much carbonated water and not NEAR enough syrup.  A call was made to THAT repair guy.

In the meantime, we cooked and wrapped up 75 of the biggest breakfast burritos on the planet.  They went as fast as we could cook them for $7 each.  Unfortunately, we only sold ONE cup of coffee out of the 75 cup pot.  It took me a minute to figure out the third time the coffee percolated that no one had taken the grounds out.  That little stick thing makes it perk again and again.  There was a two minute training session.

To make matters worse, they located the darn cinnamon wagon right across from us.  The obnoxious smell of cinnamon rolls wafted through our building.  We tried to cover it up with linguisa!!

At long last I couldn't stand it any more.  I grabbed a donut from the box hidden in the far corner of our booth.  There was one less for sale.  Oh my gosh it was good!!!  My taste buds were screaming with joy!!  The best part, there was no funny metallic aftertaste!!

Then came the chili for chili dogs and burgers.  Uh oh ... they bought the kind with beans.  I am NOT picking out all those beans!  So we grabbed a slotted spoon and smashed them into non-existence.  The Sheriff added his special spices and VOILA!!  Chili!!

Just when we were getting into the swing of things, I mentioned I would love a hot dog, but the ones they bought were awful.  Limp, squishy, kind of like baby food.  I won't name the brand, but the Sheriff ate one and threw the rest in the trash.  He had no idea!  We DO have standards, you know.

That meant I had to make a Costco run for their good dogs.  Too bad I left my card at home.  All I had with me was a debit card and my driver's license.  The nice people at Costco gave me a temporary card so I could purchase 175 dogs, which are currently residing in my fridge.  I'll load them up shortly for the trip back to the fairgrounds.

At long last the refrigerator was repaired and working, the soda machine was fixed (while we watched carefully in case we need to do it again) and we have dogs.  It just HAS to be a good day today!!  Well except for that part when I head off to Bingo and don't get home until 10:30.  What's that saying?  No sleep for the wicked or was it "volunteers"!!!

The Big Merced County Fair!

I bet you thought you were going to see lots of FAIR pictures.  I did too.  No, this isn't one of the entries in the fowl category, it's the chicken I cooked when I got home at 7:00 am.  I know things happen, but I wasn't expecting to be the sole person sitting in the parking lot at 5:30.

It seems the Sheriff canceled breakfast on Sunday.  The "one in charge" forgot to call me.  There I was, rushing to the fairgrounds, giving my "I'm cooking" excuse to the gate guard and heading through the obstacle course to the burger stand.

Uh oh ... no one there yet.  I waited, like the good little volunteer I am.  I had to move my truck twice because the fairgrounds crew wanted to power wash the area.  Finally, when no one arrived by 6:30, I called the only person that I knew would be awake.  What's so-and-so's number I asked.

I woke her up.  Sorry for calling so early (not sorry), but aren't we supposed to be cooking?  "No ..... not until noon".  I went home and never returned.  I was considering not returning at all, but then I would be the bad guy.  I received an apology about 5:00 pm.   I'm going back this morning ... at 7:00, but I'm bowing out on Tuesday, since it's Magic Kingdom Bingo night and I'm not feeling the love.

I stopped on the way home for a few of those mini propane bottles.  Cooper needed some dinner and I was completely out.  George's recipe for cooking a whole chicken has worked three times in a row.  I'm considering it a keeper.  Isn't it pretty??

Since I too was out of chicken, I threw on three big bone-in thighs.  Surprisingly, they came out perfect.  It's a miracle!!

It was a boring day, since I was geared wrong from the start.  I worked on this quilt for a few hours, but kept making mistake after mistake.  The seam ripper is now my best friend.  

Time to try something else.  You know those mini-muffin-tin take-along egg things?  They are like a quiche, only made in a muffin pan.  I buy them from the freezer aisle quite often.  Wouldn't it be better and cheaper, to make them yourself?  No it would not!!

They looked great until they came out of the oven and dropped two inches into little hockey pucks.  Unlike hockey pucks, they were not the least bit slick.  In fact, they completely refused to leave the refuge of the pan, in spite of the liberal application of butter.

By the time I got them out, they were in a zillion pieces.  I think I ate three, but honestly, I lost count of the parts.  The rest of the pieces went in a zip lok bag.  Then I faced the pan.  How could they possibly stick that bad??  

I spent the next hour cleaning each and every hole with my fingernails.  Nothing else seemed to work, short of a blast furnace!!  I considered throwing the pan away, but it was relatively new as pans go.

Needless to say, I won't be making THOSE again.  I'll pick up another box from the freezer section. 

Maybe, if I'm really lucky, I'll have a fair picture or two for you tomorrow.

Graduation???

There was a party on the first day of "day care school" and a graduation when the year was over, complete with cap and gown.  Then there was a Kindergarten party, followed ten months later by THIS!  ANOTHER official graduation (no cap and gown but ties required) and TWO parties before 1st Grade.

How did kids nowadays get to this spot?  I didn't have a party OR a graduation until I finished 8th Grade, and then it was just a graduation.

This kid is cleaning up!!!  That's over 50 bucks in his hand!!!  This is Braden, my good friend's grandson.  I'm sure there will be at least three more graduations in his future.

This is a shorty today, as I'm off to the fairgrounds at 5:30 to help cook breakfast burritos for the kids and parents bringing animals to the fair.  It's going to be a hot once, since the temps will be in the 90's today and up to 100 by Wednesday.  Hot stove, hot kitchen, hot food ... it's going to be a hot week.  Like a sweat box ... so maybe I'll lose even MORE weight!!

I'm showing this image again because I love it.  I think it's the best one of Union Pacific 4014, taken by Mike Harriman.  I would love to have this hanging on my wall.  I think the 4014 got much more publicity than the 150th celebration!!  This is the only one in existence in working order.

A quick note about the ice cream.  You may not want to leave it in the freezer more than an hour or two before eating.  I left it overnight and it required a hammer and chisel to dislodge it from the jar.  30 seconds in the microwave worked too.  With every bite I kept thinking "how could you possibly lose weight while eating all this FAT!!"

And so I'm off .... at 5:15 in the morning (what was I thinking when I volunteered for this one??)

I may get up really early in the morning, but I NEVER leave the house before 9:00!!!

Do NOT Lick The Knife

We all do it.  There's something particularly yummy laying along the edge of that knife.  Frosting, peanut butter, fudge ... something delicious that just should not be washed away.  I used to use my fingers, but that left too much of the good stuff behind.  Then I had to wash not only the knife, but my fingers.  Besides, you might cut yourself.

Why not save time and water by just licking the knife?  I've tempted fate a few times, for only for frosting.  NOTHING beats frosting in my book.

Might I say there is a big difference between the knife on the left and the one on the right.  Width is particularly important.  I'm here to say you should NOT lick a knife with a narrow rather bent blade.  Yup ... I did it ... and now have a nice slash across my upper lip.  I'm pretty sure that's because I had just sharpened it.  It's hard to get a bandaid to stick to your lip!!

I'll survive I suppose.  Maybe it will even help my diet, since it's uncomfortable to eat.  Or maybe THIS will help!!!  Ice cream trumps frosting any day.  This is rather funny as a Keto dessert, since it's how I made ice cream for years, except the sweetener was sugar.  This time it was Swerve.

I had the two cup mason jar, it was the lid that was elusive.  Luckily, the Mason Jar company makes lots of different sized jars and only one size lid.  Just for kicks, I tried it.  The cocoa powder didn't mix very well with the cream upon shaking.  After an hour in the freezer, I opened the lid to a "pouf" of cocoa in my face.  Note to self ... shake harder and longer next time.

Better yet, leave out the cocoa and make vanilla ice cream, or maybe add a little instant coffee.  The perfect activity for the next visit with the grandkids.  Was it good?  Heck yeah!!  It's ice cream!!!  Not near as sweet as the real thing, but cold and delicious when you're craving sweets.

Of course that little mason jar isn't going to last long.  No problem, I've got five more in the cupboard.  That's perfect since I'm sure it will take five jars before my lip heals up.