Sister Bay’s 65th annual Fall Festival actually started today with the antique car show, but most of the festivities are planned for the weekend. This includes a parade, concessions, a dog show, an auto show and best of all… The Happy Schnapps Combo playing outside at the Husby’s/Sister Bay Bowl stage. Fall Fest, is lovingly known as Fall Down Fest by the locals because people literally… fall down… honest. We haven’t been to the festival in awhile but Kimberly Sawyer, Miss Wisconsin is going to be in the parade and we don’t want to miss that. Unfortunately, the ping pong ball drop has turned into a ping pong ball shoot. Normally, a helicopter drops 10 thousand ping pong balls and people scramble to pick them up… many are prize winning. Unfortunately, one lowly person complained the helicopter was too low and that was enough for the FAA to pull the plug. Too bad. The parade starts at 11 and the Happy Schnapps Combo starts at noon… be there or be square!
No folks… they aren’t all on the ground yet. I had someone call a couple days ago asking if Door County still had color… so Adi and I took a long walk yesterday…
Grammy's girl
Check out all the beautiful scenery…
Sunny Slope Road
MOO
Plum Bottom Road
Tilden Gabert's old barn
So in answer to the question… the photos speak for themselves! Don’t forget, beginning Sunday stay two nights and get the third night free at Egg Harbor Lodge.
Check out my photos on Facebook and become a friend of EggHarbor Lodge (Egg Harbor is all one word on my Facebook account).
I took a few photos of some of the scarecrows around the village yesterday. I didn’t get up to the Landmark… usually Jeanne does an awesome job with their display. We on the other hand are able to get up one lowly scarecrow. Ours is pretty traditional…
Packer Backer Pumpkin Patcher
So is the one Jerry is putting up at Trio…
Jerry putting together Trio Restaurant's scarecrow
Others are much more elaborate like this one from the Patricia Shoppe with its hand painted gourds…
Alice in Pumpkin Patch Wonderland
Bruce and Gail from the Lull-Abi put a nice display together as well. Their scarecrows from last year were er, um… well, pumpkins were used as anatomy and not in a good way.
Pumpkin Patch at the Lull-Abi
I am heading downtown now to help with the brats… I will try and get out to get some more pictures of the festivities. I may have to wait until tomorrow however, I imagine it is going to be jammed today.
Yes kids… it is almost here, Pumpkin Patch Festival, that is. Here is the schedule although it doesn’t mention that we will be frying a few brats downtown beginning tomorrow since the weather is so nice… that and the beer truck is already there. Check out the schedule…
We finished our scarecrow but need to put a few finishing touches on it. Tomorrow I will head downtown and post a few pre-Patch photos along with some scarecrow entries. Gotta love a festival… right?
I snapped a few photos today to show the progression of the fall colors in Door County. It isn’t peak for sure but the colors are still pretty…
Heritage Lake
County E in Egg Harbor
Egg Harbor Marina
Last year the colors hung on the entire month of October. Pre-peak, post-peak… it is all good. Check out the Egg Harbor Lodge web cam to keep track of the colors.
Packers vs. Bears tonight so we are headed to Mike’s Port Puband that means JELLO SHOTS! Every time the Packers score the bartender hands out Jello shots. Who doesn’t like Jello? Mark and I went for lunch today with our friends Kim and Don today who live in Colorado and she had no idea what a Jello shot was… Kimmy… you better get out more!
It’s fall and in Door County that means FESTIVAL. The beauty of a Door County Festival is you can either participate in the festival… or not. If you aren’t a festival goer, check out the many parks, galleries, museums Door County has to offer or take a quiet bike ride on our back roads. Better yet, just enjoy the water view from your balcony at Egg Harbor Lodge! If you LOVE a festival, here is a list of upcoming events…
Location: Downtown Baileys Harbor
From:9/18/2010 To 9/18/2010
9am-4pm. Arts & Crafts, entertainment, food. Information: 920-839-2366.
HARVEST FESTIVAL AND HARVEST MOON CELEBRATION
Location: Citywide
From:9/18/2010 To 9/18/2010
Citywide celebration of autumn’s bounty featuring an art and craft show, car show, food booths, music and entertainment plus children’s activities. The day concludes with a Harvest Moon celebration from 5 to 9pm. 800-302-6695.
FALL HARVEST FEST
Location: Orchard Country Winery
From:9/25/2010 To 9/25/2010
10am-5pm. Live music, free tours, free wine and beer tasting, pick your own apples, craft booths, food and baked goods, horse drawn wagon rides, face painting, inflatable castle, pumpkin bowling and pumpkin painting. Fun for the entire family. Information: 866-946-3262 or 920-868-3479.
PUMPKIN PATCH FESTIVAL
Location: Throughout Egg Harbor
From:10/9/2010 To 10/10/2010
Arts and crafts, rides for the kids, free concerts and much, much more. Family fun all weekend. Information: 920-868-3717.
FALL FESTIVAL
Location: Village wide in Sister Bay
From:10/15/2010 To 10/17/2010
Parade, arts & crafts, food booths, live music, ping pong ball drop. Parade Saturday at 11am. Information: (Nov-May) 920-854-2127 (Jun-Oct) 920-854-2812.
Fall is just about here. No, the colors haven’t really started but the air is cooler and many businesses around Door County have started their fall decorating and that includes Egg Harbor Lodge. Mark and I headed over to Gordy and Eunice Bley’s farm in West Jacksonport to cut cornstalks last week. Eunice worked at Egg Harbor Lodge for many years… we still miss her here. Basically, Mark chops the stalks and I rip off the corn. We made the mistake one year of leaving the corn on and raccoons wreaked havoc with our displays.
Thank goodness we have the Egg Harbor Lodge truck…
EHL truck
Some of the cows came out to check out our progress…
Yesterday, we went to Schartner’s Farm Market to pick pumpkins… actually two loads of pumpkins (the first load included straw bales). Egg Harbor is home to the famous Pumpkin Patch Festival (October 9th and 10th) so one can never have enough pumpkins.
Door County Pumpkin Patch
We took everything back to Egg Harbor Lodge and got everything displayed. It looks really festive. So yes, at Egg Harbor Lodge, fall is officially here!
1 gallon apple cider (just the regular grocery store stuff)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
2 pieces stick cinnamon
1 orange
Directions:
Cut the orange in half, slice one half into rounds. Pour the cider into the bottom of a percolator and add the rest of the ingredients to the basket. Squeeze the other half of the orange into the basket and throw the rind in as well. Perk.
The cider may be made on the stove, just put the spices in a tea ball or cheese cloth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1/2 hour. Put in a coffee make with a glass pot to keep warm.
The annual Gun/Deer hunt begins tomorrow at the crack of dawn…6:22 a.m. to be exact. Tonight, I will make Pan Seared Venison Loin with a Shiitake Mushroom and Chardonnay Sauce for my family and any hunters that stop by. My friend Ronnie and I took a wild game cooking class at the Savory Spoon Cooking School (now located in Ellison Bay) and got this recipe from our teacher Chef Bruce Alexander, from the famed Alexander’s restaurant in Fish Creek. Even if you think you don’t like venison, this recipe will change your mind…
Pan Seared Venison Loin
3-4 pound venison loin
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Dry Rub (you can use any type of rub you have on hand i.e Emeril’s etc.) Bruce uses his own concoction
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Clean venison loin of its silver skin. Brush with olive oil and rub with dry rub, kosher salt and pepper. Let meat sit, covered in the refrigerator for 3-8 hours is desired… Preheat heavy saute’ pan (I used my cast iron skillet) until very hot. Sear all sides of loin until seared well. Pull the loin from the pan and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Place loin back in the pan and roast in a 375 degree oven until medium rare (I know this sounds weird for venison to be done medium rare, but trust me, it’s delish and important for this recipe).
Shiitake Mushroom and Chardonnay Sauce
2 cups shiitake mushrooms stemmed and sliced thin
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup chardonnay
1 cup veal or beef demi-glace (it is like the Better than Bouillon… add water to it to make a cup. The directions are on the package. If you can’t find it just use 1 tsp. Beef Better than Bouillon and 8 oz. of water and mix together).
1/2 cup heavy cream
Place the meat on a platter and cover with foil, then in the same pan saute’ the mushrooms in the oil over medium high heat until tender. Add the wine, demi-glace and cream and reduce until nice and creamy.
I usually slice the meat and pour the sauce over as opposed to keeping the loin whole because when people see the meat is medium rare they turn up their noses. Serves 6-8. I usually double this.
Have a safe hunting season and if you are a walker, don’t forget your blaze orange. I cut a blaze orange cap and put it around our dog, Bailey’s neck, just to keep her safe.
