Summer Reading 2017 Closing Carnival

Time goes by quickly when you are busy, and boy were we busy! We always look forward to the summer reading program each year, but we are also ready for a rest by the end. Our last day to earn prizes was July 26, and we wrapped up with a carnival July 29.

In previous years, we always drew the raffle prize winners in front of the crowd, which made for a lot of disappointed faces. I hated it, kids and parents hated it, and I finally realized it was the only thing I was still doing "because that's the way it was always done". This year, in between the 26th and 29th, I asked random patrons (and one guy who came in to ask about carpet cleaning) to draw the winning tickets, and we announced them at the carnival:

If you can't read the names in the picture, don't worry - if you won, we have already contacted you! Of course we wanted to make sure everyone thanked the staff, the volunteers,

and the sponsors. We posted some pictures taken throughout the summer as well, to make sure everyone was looking at the thank-you lists ;)

Our carnival theme was "Dragons Love Tacos" (which we of course read out loud). As I told the crowd, this was one (actually, two now) of those books that adults think, "meh," but kids absolutely LOVE. Including my own son, whose book report and Halloween costume were both inspired by it:

Of course we had some games, like toss the taco in the dragon's belly,

And a simple roll-the-dice, tell us that many fun things you did this summer:

Dragon crafts:

Masks

Puppets

Coloring pages WITH shiny metallic markers of course

 

I set up a photo op with serapes, giant taco, Can of salsa,

and flames

Space City Sertoma brought over some bouncy houses:

There were dragon approved snacks - some hot, some mild!

We had a nacho bar I did not get pictures of, and it was my one disaster for the day - I turned the slow cookers full of cheese on, but neglected to make sure the power strip was on. Oops! So by the time the cheese warmed up enough, half the crowd had left. There was a BIT left over. 

Just in case dragons came and got into the spicy stuff, we had fire fighter practice outside:

My volunteers got a tiny bit wet running this.

And a real live fire fighter

with a real live fire truck!

Thanks to Mr. Tommy and the High Rolls Volunteer Fire Department, as well as everyone else who helped make this such a great summer!

Now, off to clean the glue bottles and straighten up the shelves...

Adventures of a Lost Bunny

Hi there! Do you know me?

I think I was riding in the car with my tiny human, and got too close to the window. A Lady found me in the middle of Tenth Street, with cars going by me on both sides. That was pretty scary! She has been trying to find my tiny human for me, but no luck so far.

It's nice how everyone is trying to help!

We have had a few fun adventures while we are looking.

I went to story time at the library, and they made me a pretty necklace.

We read about making the world beautiful, and about how sometimes the ordinary, comfortable things are the most beautiful:

These little guys were lost, too, so I helped transport them to someone who can take care of them:

I thought this little guy might be lost too, but he said he knew where he was going:

There was a lot of rain this month. I'm sure glad I'm not still out there on the road!

The teenagers let me join them for pizza and board games:

We went for a few walks in the mountains:

I did not see any 'real' bunnies, but I met a BEAR!

The Lady's kids are learning about different countries. For Australia they tasted something called Vegemite.

All I can say is, they must not have carrots in Australia. Do NOT let the name fool you, this tastes NOTHING like vegetables!!!

We did some rock painting and hiding, too. Apparently this has become a Big Thing here lately. Maybe my tiny human has been hunting for rocks? 

I am having loads of fun, but I sure would like to find my tiny human again! Please let The Lady know if you recognize me!

High Altitude Friendship Bread

I have been playing around with friendship bread for the past couple weeks, and getting very frustrated with it falling in the middle. My kids still devour both loaves before it's time for the next batch, they don't care, but it has been driving me crazy!!!

This last time (and it is the last time, because everything needs a break sometimes), I ended up with one unclaimed starter plus my own. That means 8 potential batches. Baking day just happened to fall on my day off, so I decided to empty out my kitchen, try different variations, and experiment until I finally got it right!

There are many optional ingredients in friendship bread (which is by no means Amish, btw). I chose these for my 8 variations:

Apple Strawberry

Sliced Almonds and Craisins (I love craisins!)

Gingerbread Raisin

Banana Pecan

Candy Cane

Taste of Thanksgiving

Chocolate!

Orange Plum Apple Spice

None of those will deal with the falling issue, however. Those of us who live at almost 7,000 feet know to decrease the fats and add more flour without even thinking about it. Small adjustments haven't been working for me, so I decided to think bigger, cutting some things in half and adding a lot more of others. I also tweaked the baking soda and sugar a little, and cooked longer but at the same temperature.

Success!

And man, does my house smell good! That's the banana nut (with 1/2 cup regular sugar and 1/4 cup brown).

The Strawberry Apple:

Since it had both applesauce and oil, I added 1/2 cup of wheat germ for additional dry ingredients. It only took an hour and 15 minutes to cook through. Slightly indented in the middle, so the oil pus applesauce did make a difference. Maybe omit the oil completely next time?

The Cranberry Almond:

I used whole grain flour for this one, but still dusted the pan with sugar for some extra sweetness. TOOK FOREVER TO COOK. I lost track of how long. Obviously pretty flat.

Gingerbread Raisin:

I used self-rising flour and omitted the baking powder and salt, but kept the 1/2 tsp baking soda. Sunk a little.

Candy Cane:

All purpose flour with the adjustments I made in the banana nut and strawberry, but it sank anyway. And came out in chunks. Hmm.

Thanksgiving:

I rough-chopped the Pecan Flavored M&Ms and added more flour. Still sank. A LOT. (But it tasted REALLY REALLY good, so I am going to have to perfect this one later.)

Chocolate Chocolate Chip:

Also more flour, baked at the same time. Started off okay, but sank after I took the picture. 

Waaaaait a minute...the common denominator in the sinking breads was pudding mix!! The sugar in it, maybe? And the Thanksgiving one, which sank the most, had more sugar in the form of the chopped-up M&M crumbs. Of course it took me until the end to figure that out, but I am going to suggest further reducing the sugar if you use pudding mix. Let me know if you try that and it works!

And then I went to make the Apple Orange Plum bread...but we had visitors and I was mixing and talking and put the oil in before I realized the next step was applesauce. Oops. Quick scan of the kitchen came up with about 2 cups of frozen blueberries, so I threw those in (still frozen), instead:

And it didn't sink! Not even a tiny bit! Reinforcing the added sugar theory.

So, the final verdict? If you are at 5,000 feet or above and your bread sinks in the middle, try this as your base recipe:

1 cup starter

3 eggs

1/3 cup oil (omit if you are adding applesauce)

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup if you are adding pudding mix)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour

Then add whatever flavors your heart desires - except perhaps pudding mix! Bake at 325 for at least an hour, but probably closer to 1 1/2 hours - keep checking through oven window, but do NOT open door until you are sure it is completely done. Better to be a little more brown on the edges than to be soggy in the middle.

Good luck! Feel free to comment with any tweaks or additional ingredients you have tried! Now...who wants to help me eat these 16 loaves of bread???