Tea Party – Tampa April 15th, 2010
As we see our country quickly loosing its footing as a free, sustainable society with the debt we are incurring (well, I guess sustainable is relative when you look at God’s long term plans anyway) 
 Sarah and I decided to finish up our Florida trip with a visit to join up on a tea party gathering. We were very excited to see so many people standing up for conservative principles!
The Winner is Announced for the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest on Oprah
Sarah Fuchs did a great job and her recipe was fantastic, however there were also 28 other great “Sweet Treat” desserts that the judges thought out did hers. Her category did end up winning the entire contest, but not Sarah’s “Fudgy Chocolate Chip-Toffee Bars.” The winning recipe was: “Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups.” The announcement was made today on the Oprah Winfrey show and won the grand prize of ONE MILLION DOLLARS!
We had a great time and Sarah is already cooking up more ideas in her head for the next Pillsbury contest and maybe even entering others!
Going back in time just a bit, on Monday afternoon, the Pillsbury film crew selected Sarah, along with 9 other finalists, to interview for a website “spotlight” about the whole bake off experience. They supplied make up, a film room and all and put her under the spotlight, literally! Later on that same night, Pillsbury announced the four category winners. I have a sampling of what went on below; it was quite the event!
The Pillsbury Bake-Off Begins!
Sarah Fuchs started making her recipe as the 44th Bake-Off began this morning.
Pillsbury Bake Off Dinner
The night before the competition, we gathered with the 99 other finalists and all the guests and enjoyed a gourmet meal.
We learned quite a bit about the process of how recipes are selected. Well over 10,000 recipes are submitted and now they are down to 100. First, they weed out obviously not original recipes, ones that don’t meet the requirements, etc. From those thousands left, they send them to the main Pillsbury selection panel to weed them down to what think will make easy to make, yet unique and good tasting items. Then, all those remaining are cooked and taste tested by a panel at a rate of 4 dozen a day for weeks. Then from those hundreds cooked, they put the team to work looking though every known recipe book, online, etc to make sure they are original recipes. When cleared, the final 100 are chosen. Quite a process.
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First Day at the Bake Off
We arrived in Orlando Florida last night and kicked off the first day of the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest.
Sending The Troops Off To War
One hundred, fifty Marines were deployed today out of Springfield, and we were there to show our support along with a few thousand others today…
Thanksgiving 2008 – “You Been Farming Long?”
We all had a great time at Rolland and Ann’s family’s house eating a huge feast and playing games.
The afternoon was filled with football, riding the horses, and jumping on the tramp. Most of the boys kicked around the football and had the annual Turkey Bowl. Ryan and Kaitlyn had their fill on the tramp for about an hour. Even at gymnastics, Kaitlyn loves the tramp the most.
In the evening we got a few kicks out of Scattergories and Catch Phrase. It was lots of fun to say the least
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