Circle Craft is easily my favorite craft fair to attend. This year was apparently the 40th anniversary of the fair, which is kind of insane to think about. It definitely did not disappoint, and we came home with a fairly hefty haul of crafty goodness and yummy foods too. These are some of my favorite finds!
My very first stop was Winterluxe, recycled cashmere made into gloves, scarves, hats and wrist warmers. There, I found some uber cute mittens (three different shades of purple). I liked how they fit very snug in comparison with other pairs of mittens that I've gotten in the past. I was quite tempted by the fingerless wrist warmers that she had, but I settled on just the mittens in the end.
I wasn't planning on buying pottery this year, but then I happened upon a new vendor, Bussard Grove Pottery. I was immediately attracted to the one gorgeous piece that has a mix of purple and turquoise for the colors. When I flipped the piece over to see the price, I was impressed with how reasonable it was, so I bought it. Turns out, it was the last piece of that particular style! I asked the artist how she achieved the beautiful color, and she explained that it is a process that requires several refirings. The more firings the piece got, the more intense the color of the glaze became.
I had eyed the stamps at the Old Island Stamp Company every year that we've gone to Circle Craft, and this year I decided to take the plunge. Now that I have Tombow markers, I'm feeling the need to have stamps that I can color with them. :) I ended up buying four different stamps: an adorable little bird with a toque, a penguin(!), a Christmas ornament and a Christmas sentiment stamp.
One of the new vendors for food this year was Bean Boy. They make organic hummus in four different flavors. We tried all four available flavors and went with Sweet Chili Lime, Bean Boy Jazz, and Chipotle Roasted Garlic hummus. My favorite of the three is the Sweet Lime Chili; the lime gave a different freshness to the hummus overall. Hubby's favorite is the Bean Boy Jazz; it is essentially like a refried bean dip with kick. I tried it, but the heat got to be just a little too much for me in the end.
Another new vendor to the fair (but not new to us) was Monkey Butter. They make all natural peanut butter in a wide variety of flavors. One of the newest flavors is Maple Bacon. I was skeptical, because I do love bacon, but I really don't need everything to be bacon-flavored. It is surprisingly good; the maple isn't too overpowering and the bacon gives an extra salty element to the peanut butter itself. We bought a six pack sampler, which included white chocolate raspberry, dark chocolate banana (which we've bought before), maple bacon, salted caramel, dark chocolate cherry and white chocolate pretzel.
Every year, I like to visit Steve Griffith Signature Ornaments. This year was no different, as he had created a whole line of different colored penguins! I chose a pink one, as well as a purple one. I was quite tempted by the white glitter covered one, but I decided against it in the end.
My big purchase this year came from Sartoria. I've eyed their stuff every year since they first appeared at the fair, but I always changed my mind in the end. This year, I was set on getting some long johns to wear around the house. I figured they could work with layering with some of the shorts that I like to wear around the house. I found some really cute purple and grey ones, and the brief has a cute little lion design on it. They are SUPER comfy and warm. All in all, a very successful Circle Craft!
Here is the meal plan for the week. No new recipe this week, but a couple of recipes that were previously new that I'll be trying again. Enjoy the week and happy cooking all!
November 10-15th
Sunday: Pot roast with rich tomato gravy, mashed potatoes
Monday: Fettucine with ragu
Tuesday: Curried chicken salad sandwiches
Wednesday: Best-ever Mac & Cheese
Thursday: Nothing (hubby must fend for himself whilst I'm at school for parent-teacher interviews)
Friday: Corn frittata with cheese