Last weekend, I felt like the teenage girl at the fair, whose boyfriend won her a teddy bear.

Except this wasn’t the fair…it was the tomahawk competition at the Forest Glen/Danville event.

I guess I should explain, especially for my readers who aren’t NWTA Rev. War Reenactors. We had our Forest Glen/Danville event last weekend (the one I couldn’t shut up about), and honestly, the weekend was a smash hit. We got more public to come out, and a good blend of both Continentals and British forces. Phew!

Thank you to the 42nd for showing up and providing the sea of red coats we were really hoping for.

On my facebook page, there was a discussion about trying out my latest recipe, Blue Moon Glazed Sausage and Apples, over the campfire. I rose to the challenge, and while I will say that the ingredients worked out very well indeed, the “glaze” did not.

It turned more into an ale stew than anything else. But the flavor was definitely there.

Plus, as a bonus, the combination of apples, onions, and sage (which was the basis for my recipe), was very common in the late 18th century.

 

Everyone seemed very pleased, so if you’re interested in trying it yourself, just follow these simple instructions using the same ingredients (except the butter, orange peel, and apple cider vinegar…I left those out). Throw the veggies into your dutch oven with some cooking oil. Cook them down. Then add the apples, and cook them down a bit. Then throw in the sausage and cook until warm. Pour in the beer and the brown sugar. Stir and let thicken, then serve with the sage.

See? Nice and easy, which is good for cooking at reenactments.

To get back to the competitions, my father-in-law decided to boost up the tomahawk competitions this year by getting really great prizes, and including a woman’s skillet toss.

Turns out he’s one smart cookie. The competitions were a real hit (if you don’t mind the pun). The skillet toss was a blast. My sister and I riled up the whole camp (since I was in charge of making this happen) and got a rather impressive group of spectators to watch all the women throw a skillet as far as possible. And they were really trying! You should have seen some of these throws. One went clear to the left…right towards my head. I ducked, even though I’m pretty sure the skillet was launched considerably higher than where I was standing. It really was a great throw…just in the wrong direction. 🙂

I didn’t see the single tomahawk competition, but when I found out Thomas tied for 2nd, I figured I didn’t have a shot at that blue mug I had been eyeing for the last couple of weeks. See, my in-laws bought the prizes ahead of time and kept them on the counter in the their home. There were some really beautiful bowls, mugs, and a pound of powder. But the blue mug was just so pretty.

I did, however, see the team tomahawk competition, and man was it nail biting. Each three person team did really stinkin’ well! Thomas grouped up with our friends Greg and Shawn, and suddenly I knew it was on, and he really had a chance of winning. So of course Thomas’ team had to go last, and the top score was really going to be hard to beat. Greg and Shawn threw first, and brought the score to a place where all Thomas had to do was stick the tomahawk in the wooden round for each of his three throws, and they’d tie. If he hit the card in the middle of the wooden round, he’d get three points instead of one, and win.

Oh man, I was so nervous.

He threw the first time, and it stuck.

My little sister asked me why I wasn’t applauding, and honestly, I was just so nervous for him. Thomas is pretty good, and I knew that, but I really wanted him to feel proud of his turn, and if he lost it for the team by just missing one throw…well, he’d take that pretty personally.

And there was that mug…

He threw the second time, and it stuck again.

Okay, so far, so good. But what would happen if they did tie?

He threw the third time, and… it stuck in the card! Three points, and they won!

Yeah, that was pretty awesome. And sexy, if you don’t mind me saying so.

All the guys choosing their prizes already knew Thomas’ crazy wife with the loud mouth wanted the blue mug, so when they chose theirs, they teased that they’d go for it, but gave it to Thomas in the end.

So like I said…teenage girl at the fair. I was so proud, and when Thomas gave me the mug, I wasn’t shy about it. I mean, that’s kind of the point of the prizes…bragging rights. Just like the teddy bear. No guy buys the teddy bear for his girl. He wins it.

I hope you enjoyed my little tournament tale. I do want to note that the event went very well, and all the Rhodens were very happy with how things turned out. We had great weather, great battles, an awesome first aid seminar, great food, great company, more spectators, lots of singing, and a whole lot of fun. To be honest, all the work we put into this thing was completely worth it.

Thank you to all those who participated!!!! I can’t say that enough.