The FUN Aunt's PAR- TA!!!!!!

So I thought I would change the focus kind of this special update. I know normally I talk about my family here in Iowa but since we are traveling to the Quad Cities this weekend for a big event I figured I would give you my thoughts on what I'm hoping to see.
Let me give you a little history about my "Fun" aunt, this is my mother's youngest sister.... and let me tell you she definitely lives up to her name. She was the one who would take us to the pool in the summer, go to the amusement parks and water parks. She always would play hide and go seek with us when we were younger. She is just an all around fun person . But with that fun and loving personality ,comes the down side, everyone and I mean everyone in my family confides in her.... she is the family therapist, counselor and problem solver. She takes it all in stride and does her best to help whoever it might be.
Anyway, she throws the best parties... every year she has a Halloween party that could compete with any I have ever been to, there is music,food and drink, tons of people come in costume....of course.... she even has a trunk of old stuff so people who don't show up in character, can put something on. It is just a night of great memories.
So tonight is her 50th birthday... and that mean there will be a party... I'm so looking forward to it....I'm looking forward to the food, drink and people.... I think it will take me days to recover from the fun. So look for my update next week on how the party went.

Chicken on a stick

So it is state fair time again in the great state of Iowa and that means food on a stick. On Saturday Skinny and I decided to head over to the fair grounds to check out what was new and interesting at the fair this year. We normally park in some random person's yard, who is charging $5 a car to wedge your vehicle into a space on their property. But this year we decided to be smarter, the MTA was doing shuttles from downtown to the fair grounds for $.50 each way, place parking was free, so downtown we decided to go and on to the bus. Which was actually a nice air conditioned ride, they even dropped you off right at one of the side gates.
Once we were off the bus we headed right into the thick of things, it was hard to decide which way to go first, should we check out the building with all the Info-mercial stuff, or go check out the animals? We decided on the Info-merical stuff, since we came to that building first and A.B. was working one of the booth. As we walked into the structure, we were bombarded by people. They were everywhere.....so like good little cattle we merged into the mix and slowly trudged along looking at all the "new and interesting" gadgets, toys, spas, and "things" that were only being sold at the fair ( or on late night TV.) As we made it to the end of one of the rows I saw out of the corner of my eye, the Mecca of ice cream and cookies. You see, the fair has these little chocolate cookies, they are warm and fresh baked, with a glass of cold A.E. milk, they are the best. Or you could have some ice cream... either way it is a good reason to stop at the fair. Only problem was that we were a long ways off from this little oasis, so instead we turned the corner and headed down the next ile, slowly making our way in the right direction, to hopefully make it to the cookies before closing time. As we made it closer and closer to the stand we encountered more and more people. Finally we were right in front of the cookie place, but there were a bazillion people waiting for cookies and they weren't being that patient. There were mothers with strollers who started to yell at the high schoolers working behind the counter, there were sleeveless men, trying to reach above people to grab a cup or bucket of cookies before someone else. It was an all out free for all, we stood there for a good 10 minutes trying to find a line or a way to get the cookies in a relatively polite manner but we just couldn't make an head way, so even though I didn't like it, we ended up walking a way to our next point of interest without that chocolatey goodness.
Off to the barns we headed next, to check out the livestock. We saw pigs, cows, sheep and horses...and I'm talking about the 2 legged kind. It surprises me what a interesting crowd goes to the fair, you see everything... from the toothless Joe in cut-offs and under shirts, to whole families dressed in matching outfits, I think I could have sat on a bench and people watched all day. But instead I headed for the barns to check out the real animals, we saw the biggest bull, hog and sheep.....it is just amazing to me, that animals can get that big. After seeing and smelling those creatures, I was not in the mood to eat, but it was getting late and we needed to eat something....so off to the main street we went to find something "fun" to eat. Every year they have something new on a stick, last year it was deep fried twinkies and oreos, this year they went a different route......hot beef sundae. It is a bowl with mashed potatoes on the bottom, then roast beef and gravy, with a cherry tomato on top... a pretty clever idea... if you ask me. But it didn't sound good to me. I instead got my favorite thing, chicken on a stick...plus I like it Cajun style a little spicy. So I found my favorite stand and ordered my fried dinner on a stick, with a large lemonade. It was so good biting into the fried breading and the juicy chicken, not to mention the onions. I was in heaven....or at least bliss for a while..... you see with this wonderful treat comes the good and the bad. The bad was coming I just didn't know when.....but I would find out the next day.... and I was in the bathroom every hour or so....with the trots....every year I tell myself I will never eat a chicken on a stick again.... but once the next year rolls around.... I'm in line again for the fried treat. I guess that is the price you pay for the fair.

Apple death cake

Normally I talk about Sunday dinners but this week was an off week, so we didn't go to the parentals. But I still have an interest thought to relay to you. My uncle died earlier in the week and it got me to thinking about my family and my parent's friends in relationship to food and funerals. You see my parent's are getting to the age were friends and a lot of people they know are starting to pass away, so in turn my mother and her friends are constantly taking food to the bereaving families.
To begin we have the meal/food after the funeral..... which it has now become tradition for everyone to bring their "usual". First we have the mother... she does the fish....it will either be old salmon or white fish... you eat with dill dressing.Or she does sweets, she makes the best lemon squares and chocolate cherry cake. Next you have Mama Pearl, she is in charge of tuna a fish, there is the FL retiree who makes lousy brisket bring the cheese tray. Last but not least there is the Teacher, she brings her famous APPLE DEATH CAKE. Now it is a good cake but she only makes it for funeral..... it is just a weird thing people do for someone who dies.