Here in North Texas, Fall is eagerly anticipated yet shy to make its entry. We Texans long to shed our perennial sandals and shorts and huddle around bonfires and bask in the warmth of cozy sweaters and new boots.

This kind of scene is a reality many places, but not around here until November. We Texans must be patient when it comes to seasonal changes.

But no matter what the temperature, the State Fair of Texas opens its gates for three glorious weeks every October. For me, that signals Fall is really here.

When I was a kid, my family made the trip to Dallas just to see Big Tex and have a Fletcher’s Corny Dog while we walked around the exhibits. But the ultimate was the rings. I loved rings. The cheaper, the better for a girl with a limited allowance. My best state fair ring was a smiley face inscribed with my name. Who could resist a treasure like that?

If you know me, you know that of course, I saved the ring. I’m just excited it still fits. What a fashion statement.

That treasure notwithstanding, my best memories of the State Fair of Texas are when I entered my cross-stitch projects. The first one I entered won a blue ribbon. What a thrill!

The above photo holds a special place in my heart. The items you see above are a christening gown, a knit sweater set with cap and botties, and a handmade bib, made with love for my father in 1929. She entered the gown in the 1929 county fair and won a blue ribbon. See the dark blue ribbon laying on the bib? That’s her ribbon. Imagine her delight!

In 1989, I took her ribbon, along with the sweet little gown, bib, and sweater set, and entered them in the State Fair of Texas for their nostalgic baby exhibit. Sixty years later, my entry of her baby items garnered a blue ribbon. Full circle moment!

My love of family heirlooms, blue ribbons, needlework, and fairs inspired the novel I’m writing. My heroine wants to enter her beautiful crazy quilt in the county fair and win blue ribbon recognition for her artistry. What is a crazy quilt? Click here to find out!

What about you? Do you have great memories of attending your local fair? Will you go this year? Have you ever entered a fair? I’ve love to hear your story! Leave your answer in the comments.

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Ah, Eggs a la Goldenrod. Mom served this to us every Sunday at lunch. Well, maybe not every Sunday. But it sure felt like it. I hated Eggs a la Goldenrod.

Then. Now, I crave it. Go figure.

Turns out, this dish has been around for a long, long time.

I knew it had been around since the early 1950’s. A while back, I discovered an old index file full of recipes my mom (or one of her sisters) had collected for a home economics class in high school.

But it’s even older than mid-century.

Fannie Farmer, famed cookbook writer and principal of the famed Boston Cooking School, included it in her first cookbook, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, published in 1896.

I bought the cookbook to help me understand what people fixed for dinner at the turn of the century. Specifically, what my characters might eat.

It’s super interesting and very humorous.

I was thrilled to find my old hated, newly loved Eggs a la Goldenrod recipe in this classic.

Try it and let me know if you hate it or love it!

Ever heard of a crazy quilt?

Crazy quilts were all the rage for young women in the late 1800’s. But they were quite controversial.

Because—gasp—they were not at all practical.

In fact, crazy quilts featured sumptuous materials like silk, satin and velvet. Not exactly affordable stuff, much less easy to care for.

That’s enough, right there, to send any practical farm woman scampering for the latest log cabin quilt pattern and some good, practical calico.

While I think crazy quilts are a thing of beauty and a showing of great skill, the people–especially men–of the early 1900’s abhorred them, and jokes abounded at the idiocy of such an undertaking.

Newspaper articles abound on the lunacy of the crazy quilt.

And that’s why I chose to feature this art form in my historical novel.

More to come!

I love looking at old photos. Behind the people, the expressions, and the setting, there’s always a story.

I wonder what their lives were like, way back then.

What were they thinking?

What were their dreams?

What were their hobbies, education, or routines?

Take a look at this photo of my relatives. Judging by the clothing (women in shirtwaists and dark skirts that fall to the ground), and putting that together with their birth dates, I’m figuring this photo was taken between 1895 and 1900.

When I look at this, I long to know more.

When that spunky gal on the right, Ola, was older, her family begged her to write down her memories. What a wealth of information that is! In her writing voice, she talks about how it was to live during a time before cars and planes made family and friends accessible.

Ola lived to be 93 years old. She experienced love and loss that is incomprehensible to me. But what got to me was the leaving. When she was a child, she and her family left the comfort of family in Georgia to make a better life in Texas. They traveled by train to get to Navarro County, where she eventually met and married her sweetheart, Clarence. Then, in the early 1900’s, she and Clarence loaded their young family into a covered wagon and made an arduous trip to northern Oklahoma.

 It’s that last bit, the travel by covered wagon, that made my imagination go wild with possibilities.

What would it be like to leave behind safety, security, and beloved family in order to make a better life in an untamed land?

That question led me to my current novel-in-progress.

I’d love to tell you all about it in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, if you have any old photos hanging around, take another look and ask yourself, What’s their story?

I’d love to hear it!