• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 3 28-oz. cans of diced tomatoes
• 4 15-oz. cans of pinto beans
• 1 16-oz. bag of frozen corn
• 1 package of taco seasoning - I used the new hot and spicy style
• 2 tsp. of chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder (not garlic salt)
• 1 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1 tsp. of coarse ground pepper

Brown the ground beef, and add the other ingredients. Fill one of the tomato cans with water and add that, too. Simmer at least a half hour. Flavors really blend better if refrigerated overnight before serving.

After bringing in the soup, I brought in my dessert for the dessert contest. I was definitely outclassed this year (you may recall that I tied for first last year). Andrew and I made Snickerdoodles (mostly Andrew), one of our favorite cookies:

• 2 sticks of butter (not margarine)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups plain all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar (found in the spice section)
• 1/4. tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Cream the better with the sugar. Add the eggs. Mix the dry ingredients together and then add to the creamed mixture.

Roll dough into 1" balls. Shake in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes four dozen cookies.

After that, I helped sort comment cards. Sorry, but I forgot to put the Netherland Dwarf groups together - meant to do that at the end! When you enter a rabbit show, make sure you know whether your breed is shown by variety - in which case you need to write down things like black, light gray, or REW - or by group - in which case you need to note broken, agouti, solid, shaded, etc. Netherlands show by both, but need to note the variety.

Hollands were the first to the table. We just had 25. I can't complain since I only brought four myself. Since I've decided to sell Rizzo and two young senior bucks, I only have three homegrown rabbits in my herd that are not granded. I brought them and one of the two bucks I bought at Convention.

It was Janice Jones' day to shine. She had both BOGs with her senior bucks. Her solid was BOB. I showed in three classes, taking the broken senior doe class and BOSG/BOS. It was not a terribly huge win since bucks were mostly shown, but it was the first leg for Kizzy, who recently turned senior. Now all of the rabbits in my herd have at least one leg (not counting sale rabbits, which have 2, 1, and 0). I had really hoped the judge would like Kazia. She just needs one leg to grand. Maybe next time.

I wrote for the Flemish after that and then it was lunch time. We had our soup lunch followed by the dessert contest. You pay $1and sample all of the desserts. Then you vote. Fudge - in four flavors, I think - won this year. What great fun. Yes, I did sample almost all of them. I've been off of my diet for a week. But not, I haven't gained any weight yet. January's coming though . . .

The costume contest was adorable. Anna dressed her Himi Jersey Wooly as Santa. He was adorable. All of the rabbits were cute. I have no idea how Roger Bustle was able to make a choice. They were all winners.

I missed the DQ contest. There had been a judging clinic for youth that morning, too, that I missed. Apparently both were great learning opportunities. There was a good surprise for one contestant, who found out that her rabbit didn't have a DQ after all.

I registered rabbits in the afternoon. Then, before I knew it, the raffle was over, the breeds were finished up and the Best In Show Contests were held. Anna was excited because the judge looked at her Jersey Wooly a number of times. But I guess he must have been the third favorite. Still, it was fun to see her in the running.

There was an NCRBA meeting after the show. It was one of those meetings where a lot got done in a relatively short period of time. Somehow I volunteered to re-make the NCRBA website into a one-page deal that could be updated once a year.

I am also now part of the audit committee for the NCRBA. Paul Dvorak and I have a huge job ahead of us, I think. I really do need to learn the word, "no!" But I don't think it's going to happen.

After packing up in the rain, Anna and I headed over to a Chinese Buffet for our Sandhills Rabbit Fanciers Christmas party. We played a game of gift exchange. I took home the gift I brought. I never take anything that I wouldn't like to have myself. In this case, it was a beautiful metal ladle. You never seem to have the right one when you need it.

It was a long day. I was up at 4:30 a.m. after getting to bed well past midnight. We got home after 10:00 p.m., in the cold and rain. Boy, am I grateful to Andrew for feeding my rabbits for me. All I wanted was a shower and my bed!

Laurie

¶ 10:02 AM