Friday, March 16, 2007

Porch Talk, Final Fair Update, Friday Florida Food Post

There's Jr. in the anxious moments just before he walked "PIG!" into the auction arena. All the folks around him are fair volunteers who work tirelessly to make the fair a success. The auction is the real thing with a auctioneer speaking in rapid-fire auctioneeralese. As I mentioned in a previous post, the animals are bid upon by individuals, organizations, and businesses with big hearts. The bidders bid way above actual market price, and their generosity is much appreciated by the kids who have raised the animals.

When a little boy who is battling bone cancer walked his pig into the ring, the bidders went crazy until the final price for his pig reached $10.00 a pound.

Like I said, they have big hearts.

Jr. did just fine and "PIG!" earned a sweet $4.00 per pound. She weighed 235 pounds so get your calculator out.

After 4 years of fair pigs, he thinks he'd like to try a feeder steer for next year. That will be a whole new learning curve, pen, etc. That's a long way off tho, so for now, I'm putting that concern on the manana backburner.

This is Friday so it should be a Florida Food Fest post, so let's talk strawberries. A few days ago, Mrs. FC came home with a flat of perfect Plant City strawberries. Red all the way through and the aroma was heavenly. So was the flavor. I think I ate half of the flat myself.

How do you prefer fresh strawberries? I'm not into dipping them into anything else. I just want to eat them naked (the berries) by the handfull.

It's the time of year where you can sit on the porch, eat a sandwich, and not be bothered by sweltering humidity or mosquitoes.
This lasts about 2 days.
Just kidding. It's been porch weather for weeks and last night we even got a little rain to help those seeds and seedlings in the pigpen garden.
I did have to put the top back up in the JEEP tho ... bummer.
Adjacent to the garden, I raked in Black-eyed Susan and Purple Coneflower seeds in the area I burned last week. I'd like to get a little "wild" perennial patch going.
Today, on a break from National Board writing, I will rig up my antideer garden protection as the bean seeds should be breaking the surface soon. "Blaze" the yearling deer with the white streak down his spine has been hanging out around the garden, so I really can't delay.
(Oh, it was a ham sandwich and yes, ... I shared with Flounder)
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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Darn you for showing those strawberries!

Does Flounder drool like our dog when he watches your food? Does he consider you to be a fairly uninteresting background to the main event, the food?

By the way, please excuse me if this ends up as a double post. I tried to post but it didn't seem to take.

Suzanne said...

Great job on the pig Junior! By the way he's the spitting image of you-know-who.

Plant City strawberries sound absolutely wonderful. I know they are nothing like the bland white-in-the-center variety that's available at the local supermarkets right now. I like them serve au naturel but there is an alternate that is fabulous -

STRAWBERRIES CHANTILLY

Fresh strawberries
Bowl of fresh sour cream
Bowl of light brown sugar

Grab strawberry by it's leafy handle - dip into the sour cream and then into the brown sugar.
No double dipping unless you have your own personal bowls.

This is really delicious FC. Try it and let me know what you think.

Anonymous said...

Geeminy I am slowly scrabbling out of the winter slump/funk that slammed me to a near stand-still this year. Feeling the tug of spring thank God and glad to be back out checking your blog. Catching up and enjoying the nature lessons and other updates. I have missed a lot. Flounder is just like my mooch-pooch, Smokey. Your pond pics were really cool!

Anonymous said...

Strawberries? Unsweetened, of course!

pablo
www.roundrockjournal.com

SophieMae said...

Oh my gosh! Those strawberries look SOOOOOOOOO good! And I just LOVE your CrackerBarrelesque porch!

We're heading toward Brooksville tomorrow. Hmmm, wonder how many hours earlier I'd have to get up to make a little detour to Plant City.

Re your earlier post... I didn't at first catch the bee in the willows. Super shot!

threecollie said...

I can't think of single way that strawberries don't taste good.

R.Powers said...

Mark,
At least I didn't go on and on about how wonderfully juicy, fruity, and sweet they were :)
Yes, to Flounder, I am just a oddly shaped food bowl.

Zanne,
Thanks! Your strawberry dish sounds tempting. There should be another flat of strawberries coming in soon.

Momadness,
Glad you're feeling springy! Welcome back.

Pablo,
Just like our tea!
:)

Sophie,
The porch is Crackerbarrelesque, but the food is better ... so is the service.
Road trip? I guess this means there will be another great pictorial over at Florida Cracker Crumbs! Jr is actually in Brooksville this weekend visiting a chum.

ThreeCollie,
Me neither, but my favorite is strawberry fresh and uncluttered by adornment.

Anonymous said...

Hey, that's not a clip on tie!

(Do you want to blur some of the image of Jr?)

pablo
www.roundrockjournal.com

R.Powers said...

Pablo,
He borrowed it from a buddy, already tied, and slipped it on over his head.
Sharp eye dude.

R.Powers said...

Pablo again,
Borrowed the jacket too.

ImagineMel said...

I personally think that if he should ever need to borrow a jacket because he a)lost b) can't locate c) left at Jonathan's , he should be forced to wear Katy's. :) I've missed the little ninja this week!

Anonymous said...

I just finished my very own flat of Plant City strawberries Monday. Wish I had more...

Congrats to Jr. for PIG!, I just supported my local county youth fair (SEYF)a few weeks back and attended the hog showmanship and auction. I love the atmosphere!

LauraHinNJ said...

The strawberries look wonderful - yes I'm jealous!

I like them washed and quartered, with just a hint of sugar and a good dose of fresh lemon juice. If you let them marinate that way for a bit, you end up with the most wonderful strawberry syrup to soak up with some angel food cake. I usually skip the cake though.

Deb said...

First, congrats to Jr. That's a huge chunk of change!

Second, I like my strawberries totally unadulterated. Straight from the field, no extra sugar or cream thank you. They'll be coming in late June here.

Third, that porch looks very inviting. I sat out on my back steps last Sunday and thought the 40 degree weather, and sunlight, was heaven.

Deb said...

fourth- there's no way that dog won't get what he/she wants. Laws of nature here.

R.Powers said...

Mel,
He's down at Brooksville, ninjaing around with Jim. I'd miss him too if I was doing anything except NatBoards reflecting.

GatorGal,
Thanks! And hooray for your support of the fair kids there.
Those strawberries are spectacular this year. I hope the Starke crop can compete when they come on line.

Laurahinnj,
Suuuure you skip the cake. We believe you, really we do :)

Deb,
My wife had the AC on yesterday, today it's 43 and the doors are wide open. Typical spring.
Yes, the dog got his share!

Rurality said...

I love the smell of strawberries but can't stand the taste. You can have all my strawberry cheesecake. I don't need the calories anyway! :)

Go Jr! Bye, pig.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I love your porch and it looks so homey.