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Butter sculpture unveiled this morning at the State Fair

NYS FAIRGROUNDS -- As thousands of people flock to the Great New York State Fair this year, many will visit the Dairy Products building to see the butter sculpture. Each year’s design serves as the building’s centerpiece for the duration of the fair.

The 2011 butter sculpture was unveiled at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. This year’s theme pays tribute to food service cafeteria workers in New York State schools, with the title “Feeding Our Future.”

Last year’s theme was “Dairyville 2020.” In years before, the themes have ranged from sports figures to nursery rhymes. The first sculpture back in 1969 featured a cow jumping over the moon. In 1986, the sculpture featured New York Mets baseball player Daryl Strawberry. In 1989, it was a “Wizard of Oz” theme. And in 2000, the sculpture was built on a “Little Rascals” theme.

This year is the ninth year that sculptor Jim Victor and his wife, Marie Pelton, of Pennsylvania will put together the design. It typically takes them about two weeks. The sculpture usually weighs in at around eight-hundred pounds.

Each year, there’s plenty of anticipation of what the sculpture will be.

"Why the anticipation? I think a lot of it has to do with the fact frankly that we keep it a secret. I think if we announced in May what the butter sculpture was going to be, no one would care all that much. But the fact that it's a well kept secret, I think that kind of adds to the anticipation and adds to the fun," said Beth Meyer, American Dairy Association Communications Director.

While the butter sculpture is always a great attraction at the fair, it also helps promote New York State's dairy industry. New York is the third largest dairy producing state in the country.

Finding My Happy Place – The Cool Kids' Table

Happy Friday, peeps! Today we have a guest post from one of my all-time favorite bloggers, Christi from My Tempered Tantrum . I’ve been reading her for awhile now and she’s super fab, ya’ll. When she’s not pouring awesomesauce all over her blog with her talented writing, she’s changing diapers and napping whenever possible. Clearly she deserves a seat at The Cool Kids’ Table .

My least favorite part of the week? Grocery shopping. I despise the bright, flickering overhead lights, the too-cold dairy aisle, and the too-crowded cereal aisle. It is a gauntlet of slow moving little old ladies, obnoxiously large display stands, happy twirling children, and angry flailing children.

I do my best to go to a happy place in my mind, seeking solace from the chaos. Sometimes, I imagine that I’m shopping in a market on a Caribbean isle, stocking our condo with fresh fruit and fish for our month-long beach vacation. Other times, I’m choosing fresh baguettes from a French bakery to serve to mes amis back at the chalet. However, my favorite distraction is to imagine that I am a contestant on Supermarket Sweep. Remember that? In this scenario, I have 10 minutes to throw as much as I can into my cart, before racing back to the entrance to leave victoriously with my mountain of free food. I plot my route through the store and imagine which items would be the most valuable to acquire. I’ve thought through every possible consideration: how to stack the items to maximize cart space, how much freezer space I have at home, the shelf life of various items, etc.

When I find my happy place, life is good. Squirt can ask for candy and I’ll say yes. The baby can point and laugh inexplicably at an artichoke, and I’ll laugh right along with her. I may even stop to help the slow moving little old lady reach an item from the top shelf.

But then…

… we reach the check out lines.

My happy place dissipates, as 99.

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