The Garlic Festival: A Photo Essay by Leah Lar

Oh blogging, how I miss you! Work has been crazy, and every day I cry because I don't have time to blog. I don't even have time to read blogs. I don't have time to do anything other than work and resent work. Because I work and resent work for more and more hours each day, I have been reduced to a frazzled mess by the time I return home and either go out and drink to forget or go to bed at 9:00. I've lost touch with far too many things, and am therefore recovering today. I am uploading photos and cleaning things and throwing other things away and making phone calls and getting organized and making lists and remembering all the things that make work worthwhile.

And now... a blog entry.

D and I went to the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival yesterday. I don't know how I found about it. All I know is that its been looming on my calendar for over six months. Most are perplexed by the existence of such a festival. I, on the other hand, have been counting down to it since I discovered its existence.

It couldn't have come at a better time. I needed the country, I needed foliage, I needed sun, I needed cheesy fall-themed crafts. I've been yearning for the country since I am no longer a person who is able to visit a lawn. We wanted to make an elaborate weekend of it - head upstate, stare at leaves, partake of a maize maze, dine at the Culinary Institute of Art, consume insane amounts of garlic.

Our plans were thwarted first by the non-existence of a maize maze. The closest one, it seems, is in CT.

It then came to our attention that one needs to make reservations for the CIA at least months in advance.

And then there was the weather issue - showers predicted for the entire weekend, which meant no gazing at foliage.

We were, however, determined to go to the garlic festival, rain or shine.

We woke up early yesterday and checked the weather. The forecast was bleak. I wanted to wait until the following day, when thunder storms were predicted, but at least there was a chance that the forecast would change! D wanted to go yesterday, and since he was driving, I agreed.

And oh how glad I am that he insisted that we go yesterday, as it didn't rain at all and the sun actually came out!

It ruled.

When we got there we couldn't believe how many people were there. There were seriously zillions of cars. And trizillions of country folk. It was bliss.

And here, dear readers, are photographs of everything we ate at the Garlic Festival as well as some shots of miscellaneous crafts and garlic cloves..

Enjoy!

Garlic Herb Corn-on-the-Cob: This was being sold by a boy scout troop, and it was delicious. So delicious, in fact, that we returned hours later to eat another one.



Potato-Garlic Soup in a bread bowl: This one was not a winner. The woman put at least three extra tablespoons of minced garlic in our soup and it still somehow managed to not taste of garlic. Additionally, the bread-to-soup ratio was way off. With hindsight we should have went with the garlic chowder.



Garlic roasters for sale:



Garlic merch. The only garlic merch I bought was a wooden Christmas ornament shaped like a garlic clove.



Marionettes having nothing to do with garlic but which are still awesome.



These are whirly gigs made of soda and beer cans. I was obsessed.







D had some sort of garlic cow product on a stick.



Garlic all dressed up with nowhere to go.



Baskets of garlic everywhere.



There were samples of everything, including raw garlic cloves of many different exotic types of garlic.



These are garlic necklaces. I didn't buy one, although I really wanted one. I also wanted garlic earrings.



A display of different types of garlic.



This guy from the Garlic Foundation was giving a talk about how garlic grows, and showed us the scape (?).



I took the paperwork to become a member, but its $15 just to receive a newsletter four times a year!



Garlic!



And more garlic!



And still more garlic!



These vendors claimed to have the best pesto in the universe, and they were right! We bought their garlic spike variety.



Garlic ice cream, folks. I'm pretty sure it was just vanilla with minced garlic mixed in, but dear god was it delicious. I worry now that I will crave it in the future and not be able to ever have it again.



The worst garlic bread of all time.



And of course garlic popcorn.



This teenager was utterly mortified (blushing and embarrassed) that I was taking her photo. I didn't have the heart to tell her she wasn't even really in it.



And the grand finale! Roasted garlic...



... dipped in chocolate fondue!!!!



I know what you're thinking... wtf!? That's what we were thinking. We paid 50 cents for two cloves since we thought it would be a disaster, but we ended up going back for more! The texture was what was most amazing.



We also tried samples of cheeses and pestos and dips and spreads and pickles and everything else one can imagine. We bought pesto, a marinade, a garlic/dill dip, and, well, garlic.

I think that this will be an annual adventure. Being in the country was like being in utopia. I didn't want to come back to the city, but luckily our return was rendered easy by stops at the Christmas Tree Shop (50 cents ramekins? impossible!) and Target, where I found reverse fudge strip cookies and remarkable storage options. It was a lovely day, even if we didn't get to stay in the country.