Pinewood Derby 2007 – Trophy Time!

The trophy for the 2007 Pinewood Derby finally came in. It is a traveling department trophy. Of course this year it will go to Engineering because they took all 5 places in the speed category. The trophy is 5 years old. They did the Egg Drop for 3 years and then the Pinewood Derby for the past two years. I am trying to talk ‘em into one more year before they change the contest.

Without giving away anyone’s identity I will notate the place and category from left to right in the images below:

 

1. 3rd Place – Speed Category – 2.6007
2. 4th Place – Speed Category – 2.60170
3. 4th Place – Theme Category – General Lee
4. 3rd Place – Theme Category – Magical Mystery Tour Bus

1. 1st Place – Theme Category – Christine
2. 2nd Place – Speed Category – 2.6005
3. 1st Place – Speed Category – 2.6000

1. 5th Place – Speed Category – 2.607
2. 5th Place – Theme Category – Knight Rider

In the photo above you can easily see how the wheels on the speed category vehicles were grinded down to a pencil thin width. If we do it again I’d like to see a modified and unmodified category. That would allow for more winners. Otherwise if you don’t grind your wheels down then I wouldn’t bother entering the speed category.

 

The above cars were just done for fun. I’d have to ask but I don’t think they were made with the supplied kits. There is no way. All we were given was a wood block, two axels, four wheels and our wits to work with. 

Christine, the 1st Place Theme Category is a thing of beauty. They did such a good job on it. Very impressive. The other cars looked really good too. But supposedly the voting is done by outside parties and they go on creativity and how close it represented the vehicle in the show/movie. My bus and a couple of others had pictures of the real deal and I was told that seemed to help.

You may or may not have noticed that Blue Truck who got 2nd place in the Theme Category is not in the line up. Rumor has it he gave the PWD car to his kids and it is no longer in “display” condition. I did find out for sure that he did not designate his car to a TV show or movie so I did “officially” get robbed. But as I said before he did do a better job on his PWD car. He had the proper tools at his disposal and that makes a lot of difference. As does experience. It was my first time.

I really like how they mounted our cars for us on a plaque. They turned out really nice. I’m glad I didn’t let my fear get in the way. Had I known how good the competition was going to be I never would have done it. My cousin tried to tell me. But I never listen.

UPDATE:  the cars on top of the trophy were supplied by Woodland Scenics. That is the company that loans us the track to race the cars on. I knew they weren’t made from the “supplied” kits.

Related: Pinewood Derby 2007 Third Place Winner

Quote of the Day

“If my muscles hurt, it just means I’ve used them. If it hurts to walk up the stairs, it’s just cause I’ve done it a hundred times to lay down next to a man who loved me. My face may have wrinkles, but I have laid under hundreds of skies on sunny days. I look like this, well, because I drank and I smoked and I lived and I loved, danced, sang, sweat and screwed my way through a pretty damn good life. Getting old isn’t bad. It’s earned.” 
  – Bonnie Bramlitt
     (as Maggie McGlone in The Guardian)

Comfort Food

Corn Fritters

2 c. corn, (a 15 or 16 oz. can, drained, works fine)
1 well beaten egg
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/3 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. melted butter
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Combine corn, egg, sugar, salt, pepper and butter. Add flour and baking powder. Mix thoroughly. Drop batter from spoon into a little fat in frying pan. Brown both sides.

You can omit the fat by using a teflon (non-stick) frying pan. But they don’t taste as good. Obviously lard in a seasoned cast iron pan is best but no one cooks like that anymore. I usually make them using a little non-stick cooking spray on a seasoned cast iron griddle. 

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Spaghetti Sauce

1 qt. tomatoes
2 small cans of tomato sauce
2 small cans of tomato paste
2 fairly good size toes of garlic
1 tsp. basil leaves
Ground beef or meatballs

Mince one toe of garlic in tomatoes and cook until dry. Add water and continue cooking. Fry meat in grease until brown, when meat is done set aside. To the tomatoes add sauce and paste and keep simmering. Heat grease and mince another toe of garlic. Saute garlic toe and then add to tomatoe sauce. Add enough water to make sauce a little watery. Cook down sauce for a couple of hours. Add meat and cook about an hour. Meatballs take less (about a 1/2 hour).

These recipes were passed down by my grandmother. She used Del Monte canned corn for her fritters and Progresso brand tomato sauce and tomato paste in her spaghetti sauce.

Fall Is My Favorite Season

Fall is my favorite time of the year to jump in the car and hit the road. I love how everything looks this time of year and the weather is so nice.

Dirty Dancing UK – Julia and James First Dance

 This couple is too cute! How fun!