Fair Warning

This morning Ben arrived at my  house, early because they were going to Lake George.  We worked on entries for the Schaghticoke Fair.  He and his brother have entered six kinds of cookies:  butter, sugar, snickerdoodles, oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate chip.  We taste tested and all seem to be winners, except maybe the oatmeal cookies because I had inadvertently bought the refined oats instead of the whole oats, and they could be a little soggy, or mealy. The peanut butter cookies are topped with peanut halves, courtesy of Five Guys Burgers.  Besides their hearty and low-cost hamburgers with all the toppings, including grilled mushrooms, and their delicious french fries, there are complimentary peanuts in the shell. We needed only 3 extra peanuts.  They'll never miss them.   In addition to the cookies, Greg has entered  white frosted cupcakes, and Ben the deluxe decorated cupcakes.  The theme of the Fair (with winning design courtesy of Lauren Madigan) is Happy Feet.  So Ben' s cupcakes are topped with penguins fashioned from gumdrops, TicTacs, and Mini-Oreos.  They are presently sitting in my refrigerator, actively deteriorating, so by Tuesday afternoon's  judging, the penguins may have sunk completely into the cupcakes.  Tomorrow, the boys are supposed to show up to work on their floral arrangements. BTW:  Where have all the flowers gone?   I've been told that the early spring allowed them to bloom early, but accordingly they are dying sooner also.  Nothing's blooming around here, except hydrangeas, and the Fair judges don't consider them flowers.  ***Kill me now.