Once again it’s time for the County Fair – and that means 4H projects.
Angel Girl has been perfected these pinwheel cookies as one of her projects.
She’s made a double batch of these little gems every week for the last few weeks.
These are a really fancy cookie to make and are sure to impress your friends and family – just like they impressed the judges!
Chocolate Swirl Cookies
1/2 cup shortening or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons cocoa
Cream together the shortening and sugar. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, mixing well.
In separate bowl mix together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add to the creamed mixture with the milk.
Divide the dough in half. Set one half aside and add the cocoa to the other half.
Roll each half on between sheets of waxed paper to about 1/8 inch thick. Take the top piece of waxed paper off of both layers. Place the white layer upside down on top of chocolate layer and peel back the waxed paper.
Roll up the long side of the dough and refrigerate.
Using a serrated knife, slice into long roll of dough into slices and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until firm.
Enjoy!
It’s all over.
It was a l-o-n-g day of 4H judging at the County Fair, but it’s all over now.
And I’m a proud momma.
The kids did well.
4 projects are going to the State Fair.
2 projects are Outstanding Junior exhibits.
7 projects got a blue ribbon and one project got a red ribbon.
But most importantly, the kids did a great job exhibiting, had good attitudes and showed maturity (at least for one afternoon!)
I am beyond tired.
My brain feels numb.
But it’s all over for another year.
(She sighs a happy sigh)
I am a 4H mom and the county fair is tomorrow.
Some of you can appreciate the stress that is implied in that sentence.
I have spent the last 14 hours of my life answering questions, finding lost pieces to projects, giving advise, tasting cookie dough, reading project reports, finding lost recipes, printing project reports, filling out exhibit tags, reminding, encouraging, prodding, and multi- tasking.
Notice I didn’t say yelling. Or crying.
Not yet anyway.
Things have gone amazingly smooth this year and most of the projects are done. We have a few little details to finish up in the morning and 4 children have baked goods to make so they are fresh for the judging tomorrow afternoon.
It’s a big day.
We have five kids with 14 4H projects and 11 open class exhibits.
I still have my sanity – for now.
Stay tuned…
It’s mid-July folks, the time all 4H moms anticipate with fear and trembling. It’s time for the County fair.
For those of you who are uninitiated into the workings of 4H, let me describe it like this: imagine that all of your children have all of their school projects due on the same day and at the same time.
I have four children in 4H this year, and our family rule is at least 3 projects. My brain has been functioning a little like this…
“Need to fix the printer to print off the last… has Dagmar started her bread?…where is Angel Girls entry tags…I still need the printer…Pedro has to start… is the varnish dry?…write-ups…I forgot the laundry…are we out of flour?… Matt needs to mount his picture…where is the label maker?…mint flavoring…Class 521 A or is it B…the printer…oh no! I forgot about supper!”
One project in particular has given me grief. Pedro refinished an old oak footstool and looked to me for help to upholster the top. I’ve done things like this in the past, years ago before children, when I had complete thoughts and working brain cells.
Somehow we muddled through and everything worked out. But I learned an important lesson, “Just because it looks easy on HGTV, doesn’t mean you can do at late at night, just before the project is due.”
It’s time to heat up some lunch, pack up the projects and head to the 4H building. That’s where I’ll spend the rest of this warm summer afternoon with other 4H moms just like me, dazed, brain dead, and much too tired to have an intelligent conversation.
Now if I can just remember who I am and which children are mine…
The County Fair.
