Category Archives: Food

Haslet Wild West Fest

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Over the weekend we went to check out the 2nd Annual Haslet Wild West Fest and Chili Cookoff. Needless to say, we’ll be back next year. Haslet is a small, growing community north of Ft. Worth, Texas. You are in the country yet far away from the city that you forget it’s there.

When we first arrived we saw cattle trucks. I was already excited. They had a small rodeo arena set up with a lot of bleachers ready for fans to view the day’s upcoming events. Over in the park there were small venues set up including Lee’s BBQ (my food critic says the turkey leg was delicious), Sweet Tea, Italian Ice, Craft booths, a bus for the blood drive and a festival wouldn’t be a festival in Texas without a mechanical bull. On the far end of the park sat the contestants for the Chili Cookoff.

This being only the second year of this festival, there were about 10 teams ready to go for the Chili Cookoff. Each person gets a sample of each tent’s Chili, then when you are ready, you can vote for the “People’s Choice” award. I’m just going to come right out and say it – I voted for Hippie’s Blend Chili. It was so good I’m thinking of showing up next year with a mason jar asking if I can take some to go. It was nice to walk around, talk to the chefs and see the different tastes in each chili. Some were more meaty, one had brisket and some were pretty watery. The thing I love best about Texas Chili is that it has no beans. Makes my choices a little easier – I’m not a bean fan.

Hippies Blend! Yummy!

The Rodeo Arena had events going on all day. First, we started off with high school rodeo. I had never seen high school kids partaking in bull riding so I figured, eh they are probably on smaller bulls. Wrong. They get right up there like the grown men. They did really well! Hopefully we’ll see some of them in a professional competition in a few years. Later on in the evening, the professional bull riding was to take place. We didn’t stay for the entire day so we happened to miss out on this. At least we got to see the high school kids ride the bulls.

Next up – Weiner Dog Races. We were looking forward to this but happened to miss the event.
Mutton Bustin! This I was excited about and apparently so wasn’t everyone else. For those who are not familiar with Mutton Bustin, parents sign up their children (under 50 lbs) to ride on the back of a sheep and hold on. It’s the children’s form of bull riding, with sheep. It’s really quite entertaining, and super cute.

My favorite future rodeo star!

If you are in the North Texas area in May, be sure to swing over and check out festival. It’s great for the entire family in this small Texas town. Great food, entertainment and I think all the ladies will agree there’s nothing like walking around and seeing real cowboys everywhere you turn. You really get to experience what Texas is all about!

The Edmunds Family at the Wild West Fest!

Chinese Dumplings

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A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to learn how to make authentic Chinese dumplings. As with most opportunities, I grabbed it! My friend’s neighbor is originally from China, her mother is in the states visiting so they decided to trade off in the kitchen, they will each teach the other an authentic dish of choice.

I’m going to be honest in saying I had no idea how much work it is to make dumplings from scratch. We made the filling and the wrappers (not the store bought) and they were soooo delicious!

We started off with the dough.

In a large bowl add flour (2-3 cups) and gradually add water. At first, the mixture will be stringy. Continue to gradually add water and work the dough. The dough will become more “doughy” until a ball forms and the bowl is clean. Add a little bit of water to the top / surface of the dough, cover the bowl with a towel and set aside.
About halfway thru making the filling, come back to the dough, need it a little bit with more water. Cover and set aside.
Filling:
2 lbs. Ground Pork (Uncooked)
1 Bunch  Chives
½ Ginger Root
­­3-4 Green Onion
1 Entire Napa Cabbage
3 tsp. Salt
¼ c. Soy Sauce
1/8 c. Sesame oil
1. Finely chop entire cabbage in a food processor. Once all is chopped, squeeze the liquid from the cabbage into a separate bowl. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, chop ginger, green onions and chives. This will be chopped a little finer than the cabbage.
* For all of the following direction, mix in the same direction.
3. In a large (different) bowl, add the pork. Using chop sticks, loosen up the pork.
4. Add Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce and Salt. Begin to gradually add the liquid from the cabbage, followed by water. As the liquid is added, the mixture will gradually become easier / smoother to stir. Continue to do this until the mixture stirs easy enough to stir easily after the vegetables are added.
 
5. Add the Cabbage, Chives, Ginger Root and Green Onions. Stir the mixture is at a good consistency (smells salty) and mixture is smooth.
 
Dough
  1. Take out the dough.
  2. Cut 1/3 of the dough and then ½ again.
  3. On a floured surface, roll out into a long snake about ½ – ¾ inches long.
4. Cut into ¾ inch pieces.
5. Roll all sides in flour and press down on cut sides.
6. Roll out into thin little circles.
7. Stuff with filling and firmly press sides.  
 
Cooking
  1. Boil large pot of water.
  2. Add ½ cookie sheet of the dumplings.
  3. Stir around the outside of the pot.
  4. Dumplings will be cooked when they float to the top and are fat.
** Can also freeze prior to cooking.

Enjoy! This recipe will yield about 100 dumplings.

On Tap aka Lincoln Inn, Essex, VT

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Back in 2007-2008, just about every Tuesday night my roommate and I use to go to the Lincoln Inn in Essex Junction. Now it’s known as On Tap. Why Tuesday’s? Well, each night of the week a live band would play, each night was a different genre. Tuesday’s happened to be bluegrass night. 🙂

Bluegrass night was run by Bob Degree who has a band of his own, Bob Degree and the Bluegrass Storm. Various Vermont bluegrass bands would play throughout the month, some that were familiar (Mad Mountain Scramblers) and some not so familiar.  We started going every Tuesday and they pretty much knew we were coming, making sure to save us a table and were ready with our usual orders (chicken strips with sweet potato fries and a side of honey mustard). Don’t forget a pint of Blackbeary Wheat or Switchback! It was the best time just hanging out with friends, listening to awesome music and drinking some great brews.

Last time I was home for the holidays, I met up with a few friends at On Tap. I was happy to see that they are still serving microbrews and having live music. There’s really nothing better than that atmosphere.

(March 2008)