Well, did I go to the TomatoFest? Yes indeed. I wouldn't want to miss out on fried green tomatoes. Of course, that isn't the only reason I went. I think it's a wonderful event for the community. It was started in 1986 by The Citizen privately with proceeds going to the food pantries. Melina Carnicelli was the chairwoman in charge of pulling it together, and she did a marvelous job. I was on the first board of directors for several years when it became a not-for-profit event. Melina Carnicelli was the first board president.

My job was getting the pasta dinner together. At that time there were several local restaurants that were wonderful about donating food for the dinner. The Hollywood donated sauce and meatballs. The Sunset, Springside Inn and Pavlos donated the rest of the food items, and the pasta was donated by the Hershey Company in Pennsylvania who had bought the Procino Rossi Co. Every year more of the community became part of the event.

It was great to see how many crafts and talented entertainers and musicians there were and how many sponsors there are.

The entertainment for children made sure it was really family oriented. No, I couldn't miss out on such a great day. Many, many thanks to all the volunteers and to Melina Carnicelli.

Incidentally, when I was in line for the fried tomatoes, I counted 24 people in line ahead of me. When there were only 12 ahead of me, I turned around and there were at least 20 in line behind me. People do love fried green tomatoes.

There are several more festivals scheduled this month so have fun. I'm going to a Red Hat event next week. I joined the Red Hats, and they have many places to go, and it is such fun. It feels good to be with a group of ladies who are happy to be spending time doing things together. I'm certainly glad we outgrew the “grandma stay home and wait for family to come visit them” stage. I didn't think I'd be good at that. I also ushered at the Merry-Go-Round for the final performance of “My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra.” It was very good.

My ethnic recipe this week is Swedish. My other recipe is from a family collection of old recipes. Hope it's good.

Today's Blooper

My friend's family went camping. The husband, Bob, made hot chocolate from a can of hot chocolate mix. The kids didn't like it at all. It seems Bob's wife is always using empty containers to hold things on camping trips. This time the hot chocolate jar held the cremora. He must have thought he was making a hot white chocolate drink.

Diana Sobus, of Auburn, specializes in making ethnic foods

Swedish Roast Lamb

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper

1 5-pound leg of lamb

3 sliced onions

3 sliced carrots

2 cup hot beef broth

1 1/2 cups hot strong coffee

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rub salt, pepper, into the lamb and place lamb on a rack in a roasting pan. Surrounded by carrots and onions. Roast for 30 minutes then skim off fat. Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Add broth, coffee, cream, sugar. Continue roasting 40 minutes to 1 hour depending on desired degree of doneness. Baste frequently. Transfer lamb to a warm platter and strain gravy through a sieve on lamb.

Dill Green Tomatoes

8 cups water

4 cups vinegar (2 cider; 2 white)

3/4 cup canning salt

1 tablespoon of alum

Whole kernels of black pepper

Garlic cloves

Dill sprigs

Sliced onions

Green tomatoes cut in wedges

Canning jars or gallon jugs

Mix water, vinegar, spices in large jar. Fill jars with tomato wedges. Put liquid mixture to top of each jar. Add pepper kernels, garlic cloves, onions and sprigs of dill.

Seal jars tightly. Tip jars upside down for 24 hours to make sure of seal. Wait two months before using.

If you use smaller jars, put two of everything - pepper kernels, cloves of garlic, sprigs of dill. If using gallon jugs, use 4-6 of everything.