A fair way to celebrate

Last night, I went to the Spokane County Fair. When I was younger, going to the fair meant riding on rickety roller coasters and getting whiplash. It was only a couple of years ago that I discovered the delight of the expo center - the whole reason fairs exist, right? Livestock, produce, baked goods, flower arrangements, table settings, photography, quilts, weird stuff made by kids. It's such a strange grouping of things. In other rooms, you have people demonstrating pots and pans, selling vacuums, and marketing small, sanded down slabs of wood as the "bald man's hairbrush."

 

At the pots and pans demo, there was a display of pots and pans through the years, just to show how well they've held up over time. In this display was an ice bucket with penguins etched around it. It was the exact same ice bucket that Oma had on her counter, which she always filled with pretzels, which I would empty every time I came over (thus beginning my ridiculous affection for this salty snack), and then grab a cold 7-up from her fridge. The ultimate combo.

That's when it occurred to me that it was just 2 days from what would have been her 104th birthday.

Which meant I had the perfect excuse to buy a few granny smiths and have kuchen party. It was just with myself, but I had fun. I'm sure Oma would have, too. She'd be rather impressed with how well her recipe has held up (kind of like that ice bucket, I s'pose). It seriously schmecks. Mmm, mmm, mmm. The rest is still warm, sitting on my counter.