Monday, February 27, 2006, 20:18
Farm Toy Show
I made it through the Farm Toy Show on Sunday. It started at 9 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. The Farm Toy Show portion of it was in one gym, but I never even made it over there. The craft show was in another gym.
My husband visited the farm toy part of it, and he said there must have a thousand people in the gym. About 200 of them made it to the craft show. A couple of vendors around me had cash registers, but I didn't hear their cash registers going at all, and in fact, a couple of other vendors said they didn't sell half this year of what they sold last year. I can't complain, though, because I sold 12 books. The most books I've ever sold at a craft show has been 20, the least number of books is 9.
The cow poster and the cookies were a big hit! The kids especially loved the pictures of the cows -- and the cookies. I think many of the youngsters were hungry by the time they got around to my table. They would ask their mom or dad if they could have a cookie, and mom or dad would say, 'yes, I suppose you're hungry. It's just about time for lunch.' It was probably a long day for some of the little ones. I'm glad I had cookies to' take the edge off' their hunger.
The cookie recipe is in Christmas in Dairyland. I made a sign pointing out that the cookie recipe was in the book. I only sold one copy of Christmas in Dairyland,though, and that was to a man whose great-grandfather appears in one of the stories. He had read the story before because one of his relatives has a copy of the book, but he wanted a copy for himself.
I spent a long time trying to figure out how I was going to display the posters, and then Randy came to my rescue and built a couple of easels. He bought the materials Saturday morning, put one together, and then when I went to town to set up Saturday afternoon, I had one of the easels with me. I brought the other one Sunday morning, and they worked perfectly.
I am happy to report, also, that the tablecloth worked out very well that I bought material for and which my sister hemmed for me. I bought a new table to take to craft sales, as well (it's heavy!), and the material is plenty long enough for the table but almost was not wide enough from front to back. Still, I thought it worked out all right.
As for my cowbell, unfortunately only one person was brave enough to ring it.
The interesting thing about the cow poster is that it sparked lots of conversation. I found out that people have many concerns:
1. Their first concern is that we have lost so many dairy farms, and that we are losing more every day. They expressed the bewilderment I have seen expressed by many other farmers -- 'how could this have happened? How could we have *let* this happen?' They are also concerned that farming will soon be only a corporate venture and that there will be no room for small farmers of any kind.
2. Their second concern is that children are growing up in too much of a technological society and that they are losing touch with reality. They are concerned that too many children are growing up not learning how to work and not learning how to do any kind of chores around home. They are concerned that children are not learning how to entertain and amuse themselves unless it involves a "gadget" of some kind. And they are concerned that too many children do not know that milk comes from cows and that eggs comes from chickens -- and that they ought to be thankful to the farmers who provide the food they eat, or if not thankful, to at least recognize where their food comes from.
3. Their third concern is the growing disparity between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in this country, and they are concerned that we will soon have no middle class -- just the very rich, and then the rest of us. They are concerned about rising costs for supplies and materials and health care and groceries and gasoline. They are also concerned about the large numbers of jobs going overseas.
One of the other vendors at the craft show was my best friend when I was kid. Vicki makes goat milk soaps and lotions and sells them at craft sales. She appears in my books, and most recently in the story "Gertrude and Heathcliff" in Cream of the Crop. On a sad note, her mother, who also appears in "Gertrude and Heathcliff," passed away on February 5, 2006.
All together I would have to say that the Farm Toy Show was a success, and I'm glad I went.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Friday, February 24, 2006, 23:06
Cookies!
I baked sugar cookies Thursday night to take to the Farm Toy Craft Sale this weekend.
And oh-boy, did I bake cookies! A triple batch of cookies. Which ended up being 16 to 17 dozen cookies. (I made them relatively small.)
I am planning to offer a cookie to everyone who stops by my table on Sunday. The cookies are from the recipe in "Christmas in Dairyland." This particular sugar cookie recipe is the easiest recipe I've ever worked with for rolled sugar cookies. I did not roll out the cookies, though. I made them into balls and flattened them with a glass dipped in sugar.
The recipe is very old. It does not call for any salt. I am supposing it does not call for salt because if you use all butter, the butter is salted. If you don't use all butter, you can add a half teaspoon of salt.
Here's the recipe:
Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies
This recipe can be used to make cut-out cookies or you can roll teaspoons of dough into balls, dip in sugar, and then flatten with the bottom of a water glass dipped in sugar.
• 1/2 cup of butter, margarine, or other shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of cream (or Half & Half)
• 2 1/4 cups of flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon extract (I have also used lemon juice; if you want a less lemony taste to the cookies, use lemon juice)
Cream together shortening (butter or margarine), sugar, eggs and cream. Mix in the dry ingredients and the lemon extract or the lemon juice. Work the dough with your hands for a minute before rolling out the cookies.
Bake on an ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
A single recipe makes about three dozen cookies.
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LeAnn R. Ralph
