Tuesday, April 27, 2010

ice creamed


The other bit of fun we had was going to the Ice Cream Festival and art and craft fair in Brenham TX last Saturday with my sister and BIL. Brenham, about an hour and a half NE of here, is half again as big as Wharton but it is also the home of the Blue Bell Creamery. Blue Bell ice cream is easily one of the best commercially available ice creams and I'm picky about ice cream. $6 for all you could eat ice cream with 48 flavors to choose from.

pralines and cream, blackberry cobbler and pistachio


cotton candy and blackberry cobbler

Just some of the ice cream we sampled.








The arts and crafts part of the fair was a mix of crafts, food tasting booths, and resellers. There was a lady there selling tupperware (tupperware?), and hats and starter plants ($3 for a 4” pot!), kids toys and I forget what all. Those are the booths that I just kept on walking past though I did buy me a nice hat for $12. 












And then there were the ladies selling hand made goat's milk soap. They even milk the goat's themselves. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of them. I bought two small bars...rosemary oil with herb and cucumber melon.













And the older lady selling aprons and carry all bags for $5. I got one of those too. And no, I didn't take a picture of her either, too busy shopping I guess.









Actually, most the pictures I took were afterthoughts as we were leaving.

Like these bird feeders


and these bird houses







and the slumped bottles. These people had it down...flat cheese trays, shallow dishes, spoon rests from beer bottles, clocks.













And the bottle cap jewelry. They had a very clever magnetic holder system so you could change out your bottle cap ornament which they sold for $6 each!









They also had a classic car show mostly 50s, 60s and 70s...Mustangs, GTOs, Camaros. Whoa, wait a minute. Mustangs, GTOs, Camaros? Those can't be classic cars. I spent many an hour in those cars. 

And then there was this little contraption. A bar stool on a four wheel platform with a 6 horsepower motor tucked in. Or you could get the model that comes with the beer cooler trailer.











And, this being Texas, no fair is complete without the fried stuff food booth. The sign on the building that you can't see said fried okra and something else fried that I can't remember now. I know you will find this hard to believe, but it had the longest line, I kid you not.









But my favorite thing I saw all day was not at the fair. We passed this yard on our way out of town. The whole back edge of property was lined with some very cool folk art making sort of a fence. I actually had more pictures of the fair and ice cream but I deleted them to take these pictures.










































My personal favorite.


13 comments:

  1. That was fun - People in texas must be health food crazed, fried oreos? Fired snickers! Fried TWINKIES? Really? Heart surgeon heaven!
    Love the yard art- that is the best!

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  2. The art is fantastic, and I'd love to walk round that place with 48 ice-creams.

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  3. Blackberry cobbler? Yum.
    Flattened wine/beer bottles? Genius.

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  4. OMG!!! I love love love ice cream! Why didn't you tell me this fair was coming up?? Darn! I want me some of that for sure. Great tour of the fair by the way. Though that jewelry mannequin was a little scary. And the folk art fence is awesome. Thanks hun!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  5. Hook up a usb cable and send some of that ice-cream my way :)

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  6. What a great hat! I love festivals and fairs. Fun.

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  7. What a wonderful chronicle of the art and craft fair, so rich with ice cream and bird feeders.

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  8. Looks like a blast. I can't think of anything I'd rather celebrate than ice cream. Pistachio ... yummmm.

    Love all the bird feeders lined up in a row, and your hat? Seriously nice. Such a deal, too.

    Thanks for sharing this fun event with us. In DC we are too serious for ice cream festivals. It's a shame, isn't it?

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  9. LOVE the folk art! Baby doll heads! Love it.

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  10. Mmm - I've kind of turned into an ice cream a holic - best I stay away from an entire fair of the stuff!

    Dr. M LOVES goat milk soap - we use it exclusively in the shower. We order from some rescue farm in Michigan.

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  11. Very cool stuff. I bought some home-made goats milk soap while in Maui. I will never use any other kind again! I have already noted their website. We live where it is very dry and this soap actually leaves my skin supple. Love it.

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  12. An artist around every corner. I love this last, uh, statues, art, whatever they are, I loved them.

    The ice cream made me have bad urges for some but thank goodness all we have is vanilla and I can resist vanilla.

    Sounds like you had a great time. We all need one now and then.

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