Farm Girl Fair Fun, Blessing, an Appointment & The Best Taco Dip EVER!
Whew, wow — what fun we had at the Farm Girl Fair! But the work to get ready for the FGF was intense — in a good & satisfying sort of way. Let me tell you all about it — and give you my favorite taco dip recipe while I’m at it!
First, let’s talk Farm Girl Fair! It’s the amazing idea of three super creative and hard-working Norman gals — and it came to life this past Saturday in the most magically perfect way. These inspired ladies wanted to create a moment. Not a thing or a place but a space of time that could take people back to what we all imagine ((or hope)) life must have been like, somewhere in life’s seemingly distant past.
The FGF echoes the spirit of Charlotte’s Web and small town county fairs of decades past with hand-crafted wares, giant slabs of spiced apple cider cake ((I’ll tell you about that later)), sleeves of sweet & salty kettle corn as tall as your toddler, hay rides, pony rides, games, amazing live music and even a pie contest!
Speaking of the pie contest, I made a yummy sour cream double dutch apple pie and it won the “Most Creative Pie” award. Yippee — I wanted to win so bad, I was happy to get an award! I will be sharing my “creative apple pie recipe very soon. ((Well, ‘very soon” may be an exaggeration — I am still in recovery mode!))
A month or so before the FGF arrived, I began making molded crayons – thinking it would be a fun and inexpensive item for kiddos to purchase. I will share my crayon making tips in another post, but let me say: making these crayons was super fun and slightly addictive!
As the big day crept closer, I began packaging my homemade taco seasoning blend and green and red enchilada sauce mixes.
I spent one entire day making jars of my famous hot fudge sauce,
another day making 4 cakes (sans buttercream) and on the eve of the fair, I almost broke.
On FGF eve, I made almost 20 jars of sweet basil and toasted walnut pesto, 2 batches of stove-top sweet vanilla buttercream, 2 batches of stove-top salted caramel apple buttercream, 2 batches of the most perfect homemade pie crust and an entire sour cream double dutch apple pie. ((Not to mention, gathering, sorting, labeling, pricing and packing all of my wares)).
Oh, boy — the mountain of dirty dishes was unbearable! Yes, I think I almost broke.
But then Saturday came. Along with it came something I never expected. Here is what I imagined would happen: Tana ((my sis-in-law who shared a booth with me and creates hand sewn & stamped pillows — SO CUTE!!)) and I would sell some things and have a leisurely day with a perfect opportunity to relax and visit.
Here is what really happened: at 1:04 I looked across a crowd of visitors ((purchasing visitors I should add)) and yelled to Tana in surprise: “Tana!! It is already after 1:00!! I thought it was 10:30!” the shocked look on her face said it all. We were slammed. And it was awesome.
That isn’t all though – I quickly realized not only would Saturday be a good business day, it would be an amazing cup-filling day. Oh, the encouragement and kind compliments that seasoned my day. You, my dear friends, are just the very best. Thank you for taking some time out of “the busy” we all get sucked into to fill my cup. You cram-packed blessing into overflowing and I feel like the richest girl in the world.
What a day, I will not forget.
And then there was Honey. In the midst of busy and blessing, I had a providential appointment. You know about those, right? Those encounters when, once you get a chance to reflect – you just know… that was totally God.
Honey and I know it was God. Early that morning, before Honey — I was getting ready while it was still dark. In the rush of final details and trying to make an exhausted face look pretty, David asked me to wear my wedding ring for the day. You would think that is something I always do, but I rarely wear my ring. You see, I have chronic blood pressure issues and about midway through any given busy day, my hands swell and watches and rings are hurriedly and almost unconsciously being peeled off my body.
I wanted to remind David of this fact in response to his request, but something about the way he asked me caused me to comply. I did remind him of my ring stripping history and mentioned if I unknowingly repeated that behavior there would be a good chance I would lose my ring. He was happy I was going to wear it anyway.
Sure enough, around the lunch hour, I wrangled a tight ring off of my finger and stuck it deep into my pocket. Later, my MIL handed me some cash for food and I shoved that very wad into the same pocket. In the chaos of customers, questions and sales, I pulled some money out of my pocket for Brod to get a snack. As I spun around, it happened.
I met Honey, a slightly shocked looking, eighty-something, big as a minute, beauty queen of a lady — holding a sparkly diamond ring at eye-level. My heart dropped. I hugged her hard and said, “Can you imagine? Can you even imagine what I would feel like at the end of this day when I realized I lost my wedding ring? All of this work, all of the effort and then to end that way?” And we hugged again and I cried.
“He wouldn’t let you lose your wedding, nothing can change that – this ring can’t change what you have, you will always be married.” and we cried and hugged. “I lost my husband in March and I miss him so much…”. We went on to minister to each other’s hearts in only the way two people who love the same King can. It was a treasure in time and I love her.
You see, if I had told David “no”, if I had left the ring at home, I never would have absent-mindedly taken it off, lost it and found Honey. God knew just how much I miss my dear friend and grandmother-in-law and just how much I need an “Alice hug”. When I least expected it, an “Alice-like”, cheerful, warm, conversational, dear friend of a person, who happened to be wearing the most beautiful shade of lemon yellow ((Alice’s signature color)) appeared, holding MY wedding ring.
As only God can do, we both got something we needed. I got that hug and a sweet reminder to treasure these married moments all the while Honey needed to be validated in her grief and reminded that the reunion is coming. I got WAY more than I gave and, I will say – that hug was the best hug I have ever been privileged to experience. If you need a soul-filling hug – find Honey. Pure providence.
Last order of business, is the much promised Taco Dip I whipped together in the wee hours of Saturday morning and sampled throughout the day of the FGF. This dip is so easy to make, especially if you happen to have a baggie of my premixed taco seasoning. If you don’t have a baggie – HERE is the recipe. The key to a perfect taco seasoning blend is hatch or another variety of NM-type chili powder and Mexican oregano.
If you are a local or not ((this stuff can ship easily)) I have extra packets of this seasoning blend for sale, just comment below and we can make arrangements.
I told you this dip is simple! Just combine the cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, salsa & 1 T of the taco seasoning and stir!
After those ingredients are well combined, fold in the chopped cilantro.
Serve with veggies or tortilla chips! This simple dip so SO good, but not even close to how food that Honey-hug was!!
- 6 oz cream cheese, softened ((I use light))
- 2 T light mayo
- 1/2 c sour cream
- 1/2 c salsa ((I like Herdez))
- 1 T taco seasoning blend ((link to recipe in profile))
- 1/4 - 1/3 c chopped fresh cilantro
- In a small mixing bowl, combine first 5 ingredients. Next, fold in the cilantro. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, or serve immediately with chips, veggies or over a baked potato.