We’re slowly slowly slowly settling in around here, but this weekend kicked off the agricultural festivals this area is so known for, so we scrubbed the paint out of our hair and headed out for a day in the sun.
There were lots of examples of celebrating California history. You could pan for gold with this guy who looked like he was born for this job, or take pictures with people decked out in full on cowboy outfits complete with leather chaps. People take their historical reenactments seriously.
I think it might be a law that a California festival feature classic cars, particularly here in the home of American Graffiti. I was stopped in the parking lot on my way out by two different people asking if there were classic cars to look at. People around here take their cars even more seriously.
This is what I take seriously. Artisanal foodstuffs. There are so many little local companies throughout the valley that grow and bottle the most amazing things. This company bottled flavored oils and vinegars and I had a wonderful time tasting each one.
There’s a Hershey’s factory in Oakdale, which is why they hold a chocolate festival there, but this one was kind of disappointing. There weren’t a ton of chocolate vendors there, and then we had to wait in a line for nearly an hour to get a couple little free samples. But at the end of that line was the booth with the fancy caramel apples, and they were worth the wait. Caramel apples are another of my obsessions, and this booth had one they called “Ala Mode” which was a caramel apple dipped in a hard yogurt topping and sprinkled with cinnamon. Oh wow was that good.
Atticus was just happy to leave the house.