Why-Not Wednesday

Before:

After:

Brimfield Antique Fair...September 2010

Stuff, antiques, junk...

Whatsits, gadgets, gizmos...

We decided to hit Brimfield for the 2nd time this year (look here for my blogpost about our trip in May), walked our feet off, bought some fun stuff and ate some great food!

Best. Sandwich. Ever.

Some tips? Wear walking shoes and be prepared to get dirty! Parking? Don't park at the first lot you see, keep driving, sit in traffic for a little bit (it always moves fast) and park in any of the lots right in the middle of the action.

We parked in J&J for the second time, and I really like it for its central location, relatively inexpensive fee ($6), and the fact that it puts you right smack dab into one of the best lots at Brimfield.

Something I didn't fully realize until we went this year is there are different 'shows', which are run by different promoters. What that means for you and me, is that there are different huge lots which technically all have different names...think of them as different named fields, each with hundreds of different dealers and booths to work your way through.

Can I just show you some cool pictures? I love taking pictures there, gorgeous stuff...all with its own history...

Rise and shine, time to head to Brimfield!

I love purple, especially purple bottles.

Seriously you can find anything here:

Lawn Ornaments...

Bugs...

Rar!

Seriously had so much fun. On our feet for about 7 hours! But look at all of our loot!

Final tally:

Many bracelets, 2 were bakelite, red and orange glass bangles, and old school plastic bangles. They are so cute with the right outfit.

Grape jello molds

Sherbet dishes (4 green, 2 pink, 1 yellow) Can't wait for new dishware for blog posts!

Kitchen curtains for my Mom

Refrigerator box (glassware for the fridge...glassware that takes the place of a piece of gladware!)

Ball jar

Brownie camera to play with ($10!)

A purple bottle (hard to see in my pic, but it's on the right hand side)

One booth was just FULL of lab glassware, think beakers, graduated cylinders, test tubes etc. The guy said he bought out an old MIT lab. It was fantastic. My husband bought some great glassware that he has a grand plan to display some mementos from our recent travels.

The grape placemats are my own :)

We were literally the last car in the lot!

I don't know about you, but we are definitely headed back for the May 2011 show! 

It is just fun, plain and simple. Wether you are looking for something in particular or looking for something fun to do, go for it! See you there next year!

Blackberry Sorbet

Every August growing up, I would walk the edges of nearby fields, picking blackberries, and watching over my shoulder for neighborhood dogs on the loose!  Those blackberries were sweet, huge, juicy and plentiful. I'd come home with a sherbet container full, and more than a few prickers.

Nowadays, I get my blackberries at Wilson's Farm or the local grocery store. Unfortunately, they're rarely as sweet and large as they used to be, but still fantastic. 

This year my eyes were bigger than my stomach and I was left with a lot of blackberries in my fridge before leaving town for a few days...hmmm...what to do? I also had some watermelon and a few kiwis that I also didn't want to go bad...time for 'Everything but the Kitchen Sink' sorbet! 

This came out so well, I urge you to try something similar with some leftover fruit from your labor day weekend festivities!

This sorbet tastes like late summer, and is full of wonderful blackberry flavor. The addition of some sugar, with the sweetness of the watermelon and kiwis, brings out the true blackberry flavor even if you have some pretty sour blackberries.  This fruits of summer sorbet combines the light, refreshing flavor of mid-summer watermelon, the sweet taste of kiwi (which has a strawberry and banana cross flavor to it), and of course the end of Summer blackberries. So good!

Blackberry Sorbet

1-2 cups blackberries (approximately, use what you have)

1-2 cups watermelon (again, approximately)

2 kiwis

Juice of 1 lime (I squeezed gently, didn't go too crazy with the lime juice)

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup water

1 Tbsp Coconut Rum *optional...helps with scoopability post freezing

Blend with a blender or handheld mixer

I started to strain out some of the seeds, and did so with a fine mesh strainer and a rubber spatula...but decided to just leave everything in there, because a lot of the flavor comes from that pulp.

 In the end, the seeds were not a big deal at all! So don't worry about it. They are so fine, it did not make a difference.

Blend, pour, freeze...

EAT! Enjoy! Happy Last Days of Summer!