2011 NC State Fair

Friday of last week I went to the NC State Fair. It's held every year although this was only my second time attending. I actually didn't stay for as long as I would have liked but I ate everything I'd planned to!

We went the day we got back from our lovely anniversary getaway. So we were tired that night. However, since it was the last weekend we had to go. Initially, I had planned to add these pics to the anniversary post, but I got carried away!

So here's a couple of pics to wrap up my busy weekend.

I love taffy! Didn't eat any but it was neat how the machine kept spitting them out.

All your fried wants. Actually the fair also featured fried pickles, kool-aid, candy apples, snickers...the list goes on.

It was a nice night to go. There wasn't a lot of people and the weather was nice and cool.

Fried dough, funnel cake, whatever you call it, it's some good stuff. I was good and shared one.

Also in the mood for cheesy fries.

For dessert we had a cinnamon bun.

Chema wasn't brave enough to try a turkey leg...and I don't eat much meat. So we just stared in awe. I wonder what they do with the leftovers?

Of course the ferris wheel. We didn't get on any rides. That's when you notice how old you are when you are at the fair and don't even want to get on the ferris wheel!

What's not shown here is my half-eaten candy apple. I hadn't had one of those since I was a kid so I had to endulge. I remember why it's a kid's treat: those candy pieces are annoying when they get stuck in your teeth! I could have sucked on it like a lollipop but a red mustache isn't all that flattering for a 27-year-old. I also felt like I was going to have a mouth full of cavities the next morning.

It was business as usual on Saturday. Day 1 of our vegan challenge started and then Sunday was my typical long run day. My marathon training weekly update is coming soon so don't miss that!

All in all a nice, well-rounded, weekend. Next stop: Halloween!

Weekly Recipe: Appetizers

As many of you know I'm in the middle of an important move. So instead of Weekly Recipe Thursdays, we have Weekly Recipe Friday this week. I didn't actually make any of these recipes, but they were so good I had to share. Wednesday Chema and I had lunch with his aunt and uncle (he has 3 aunts and 2 uncles) as a sort of farewell. Here's a sample of some of the things we ate.

Bottled artichoke hearts with a spread of some type of homemade sauce (I forgot to ask what it was) and an anchovie. The sauce didn't have much of a taste but it didn't need to since anchovies have a strong flavor. Don't sleep on anchovies! They are so good!

Salad: Your preferred lettuce or field greens, tomato, pineapple pieces, tuna fish and shrimp. You can season this with any kind of salad dressing you like. This one was creamy, very similar to Thousand Island. I don't like shrimp. So I picked mine off and gave them to my husband!

Strangely, this was my favorite appetizer and I don't typically like blue cheese. Just cut up some tomatoes in thin wedges, drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil, and top with slices of blue cheese. Super easy and super delicious! I think I ate up half of the plate all by myself.

We also had huevos rellenos, a Spanish version of deviled eggs, but I didn't get to take any pics of that. Chema's aunt also served pork chops (I don't eat meat much, maybe chicken once in awhile) as well as homemade french fries. I don't eat fried foods often but I had a couple. They were good!

So nice not to have to cook!