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We went to the Pennsylvania State Farm Show this past weekend.
I’ve not been a lifelong Farm Show fan, but I’ll put on my excited face and take Grace once a year. Because she adores animals, even when they stink and people elbow you to look at them.
Anyway, we spent all day Saturday peering at horses, goats, sheep, cows, rabbits, chickens, ducks, alpacas, and assorted other birds and beasts.
The animal that Grace was most looking forward to seeing – the pig – was not in attendance. I’m not sure why, but the entire swine section was empty.
I’m wondering frankly if it had something to do with the H1N1 flu, but that’s really wild conjecture.
Fortunately for me, God smiled down and convinced the Pork Board to bring in a big momma pig and her thirteen 15-day-old piglets. If not for that display of oinking and squealing, we may have had to make a second trip to the Farm Show this week. That would not have pleased me as the building gets smellier as the week rolls on.
Snarky sarcasm aside, Grace loved the Farm Show, and I love that Grace loved it. Her least favorite part was my most favorite part, and that was the Main Hall.
The Main Hall is packed full of vendors, mostly small businesses and individuals who make stuff produced on farms. We sampled a lot of food, drink, and spice concoctions, and, though many were good, we deemed three of them as indispensable (and worthy of toting around for the rest of the day). We opened and begun using all three already.
Chef Tim’s Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette
Chef Tim was serving samples of a cucumber, tomato, and crouton salad doused in his dressing. Grace, Joe, and I each ate our sample salad and then drank the leftover dressing. It was that good.
We bought the biggest size Chef Tim was selling because I know we’ll use this a lot.
Miller’s Mustard
Miller’s was offering samples of their mustard, as well. We tried pretzels dipped in their hot pepper mustard and their sweet pepper mustard, and we also tried the hot pepper mustard mixed with cream cheese on crackers.
Even Grace liked it, and asked for a second bite.
We bought the hot pepper mustard because all three of us liked its zing. Delicious.
Fiore’s Garlic Sauce
The line for this sample was almost the whole length of the hall. One little square of bread dipped in Fiore’s garlic sauce made a garlic explosion take place in my mouth. We use a lot of raw garlic, but this sauce had a slightly different flavor. It’s hard for me to describe.
We bought two jars. I know we’ll cook with it, probably often. I also think it will be amazing to put out as an appetizer dip with bread when we have people over. They’ll be so impressed!
I didn’t receive any compensation, nor any free products, for writing this post. I thought it would be neat to highlight some small businesses who are more or less local to me, whose products are amazing, and who are succeeding in this economic climate.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
That's fun. My girls would have enjoyed that too. We are thinking about joining a 4H club this week that works with horses. My kids love animals.
Sorry we live just a little too far for the PA Farm Show (though not that far here in Phoenixville, PA). All those farmer's products sound wonderful.
Your farm show sounds a lot like our Georgia National Fair, although ours is in October.
4H would be so much fun! I bet you're all going to love it. I don't think I'd drive that far for the Farm Show, either. These products are available online, but no taste testing that way.
We have state fairs in the summer, too. They are much more convenient!
Sounds like Grace had a wonderful time, and you were a great mommy for taking her. Good for you, highlighting local folks, promoting their good products. That is how it should be. Thanks for linking to TMTT.
Sounds like fun, I love trying new products and finding new, yummy things.
Oooh I love some food festival visiting. We have a huge food festival near here every September. don’t go every year but did this year and it was awesome!
There is just something so very Pennsylvania about the Farm Show! I was there the first day, too…. mostly just to get my annual milkshake, but we saw some animals, too.
There is just something so very Pennsylvania about the Farm Show! I was there the first day, too…. mostly just to get my annual milkshake, but we saw some animals, too.
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