As summer starts to settle in and the temperature rises, it also signals the start of the summer festival season.  And the second week in July always means the start of the Heart of Illinois Fair.  For many years I volunteered in the Foods/Textiles building and even served a stint as the Superintendent of these wonderful competitions.  When my full-time job made it impossible for me to devote the time and energy needed, I, with much thought and consideration and a bit of sadness, stepped down.  The good side of this is that I can now enter in the competition, which I love.   And what is even better is that my granddaughter Lainey also competes.  I am glad to see that she is following in grandma’s footsteps!

This year Lainey decided she would enter brownies.  Lainey (on the left) and her younger sister, Ella at the kitchen counter ready to begin baking.

Silly girls having a lot of fun!

Unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder, and milk melted together in a heatproof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water.  It smelled heavenly!

Lainey with the finished brownies.  Notice that a piece of the corner is missing?  We could not resist the urge to sample the brownies.  We all agreed that these double chocolate brownies are the best!

And here are the ones going to the fair!

I also made a batch of my favorite sugar cookies.  These cookies have won in the past at the Heart of Illinois Fair and the Illinois State Fair.  They were also featured by Andrea on her wonderful blog Keeping It Cozy!!

And, of course, I must enter peanut butter cookies.  These won first place in the Illinois State Fair last year.  What a great time I had being with the girls.

Thanks for stopping by.  This weekend is going to be a busy weekend as the sisters have a lot of work to do on items for the shop.  And of course we will have to make time to go to the fair to see if the judges thought Lainey’s brownies and my cookies are as good as we think!  Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Until next time,

Pat, Kathi, and Carla