Folk Music Festival (emphasis here on Music...)

I could seriously post photos of the folk festival for days because it's just a darn photogenic event filled with amazing photo-ops and lovely looking people. Here's a slice of the festival before the crowds descend. There's enough room at these tables for all of us!

Oh! Um. Did I forget to mention that, while we were setting up on Friday afternoon, when there was no one in the park except for a couple hundred volunteers, before the general public were allowed in, you know - when it was just us WORKERS...... a band casually wandered onto the evening stage for a sound check. And um. IT WAS THE WEAKERTHANS!!!! And I got to hear them play about 5 songs. Just for me. (Okay, really it was for Si and the other guy in the sound booth, but a girl can dream can't she?)  I didn't want to appear like a stalker or anything, so I didn't actually walk right up to the edge of the stage and attempt to take a bad photo of John Samson's nostrils... I was FAR more discreet and dignified and chose instead to lurk on the sidelines. 

The other group I have to talk about is The Reverend Peyton and his Big Damn Band featuring the washboard stylings of Breezy Peyton. I did say washboard (some might say WARSHboard), and you can't even imagine how sexy and dirty an instrument it can be until you've watched Breezy bitch-slap that baby into musical bliss! She even set it on fire! And I'm not even kidding. A whole crowd of us have Facebooked her so now I guess we're destined to be BFF's. Lookit her snarl!! She even autographed the chests of Wee Sarah and Ms. Tara!!

There were lots of other amazing musical highlights as well. Like Bellowhead from the U.K.. And Veda Hille and her band singing a cantata written by Bill Richardson and Veda featuring postings from Craig's List. (Hilarious and also quite beautiful). And Geoff Berner who plays the instrument of my people (the much maligned accordion), all the while dishing up the most hilarious and sarcastic banter. And in the midst of all of this music, here's what folks in the audience were doing:

Coordinating hula hoops with clothing. 

Avoiding third degree sunburn while managing to maintain a great fashion sense! 

Elegantly flow dancing while holding a parasol.

Having big rounds of non-gender-specific skip rope. (and yes, he is hula hooping as he jumps double dutch!)

Or just hanging out with 2 moms and their daughters.....

Lemon Sandwich Cookies

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival takes place this weekend, and that means 3 glorious days in a music-filled park, surrounded by mountains, the ocean and a most delightfully eclectic group of people.  

As I contemplated what I could bake to share with members of my volunteer committee, I began thinking about flavours that were synonymous with summer. I wanted to make something sweet and light.... and a bit special (natch). And I started to fixate on lemon: lovely, luscious, light, alliterative lemon. Then I started trawling the internets in search of something that inspired me.

When I found this recipe on marthastewart.com, it seemed to have everything I was looking for. I did kick up the lemon flavour a bit, and I didn't use a cookie cutter, choosing instead to make like a lazy slug and roll the dough into a log, chill it and then slice it. And I certainly didn't bake these puppies for 20 minutes. Nosiree - that just seemed like crazy talk to me! At the end of the day, I think the folks at the festival of the folk will like 'em. I know I enjoyed the one I had at the end of the baking!

For the Cookie

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups all purpose flour

Beat butter, sugar, lemon zest and salt until combined. With the mixer on low,  add flour bit by bit. The dough will be fairly thick so you will probably have to finish mixing with a spatula.

Put the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a log. Chill for at least an hour. Just before the next step, preheat your oven to 350 with the rack in the centre. Once your lemony log has been chilled, you can slice it. Aim for slices about 1/8 thick. (Please disregard my crooked slices pictured below. Clearly, I don't know how to drive a knife and really, it's a wonder I didn't take out my eye!!!) 

Place discs on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper and bake for 10-11 minutes or until they just barely begin to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

For the filling

1 8 ounce package cream cheese at room temperature

2 1/2 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest (from 2 or 3 lemons)

2 cups confectioners sugar

In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese and zest until smooth. (I used a fork, so you don't even need to haul out the big assed mixer!) Gradually add 1 cup confectioners sugar and mix until smooth. If you need to add a little more confectioners sugar to make it firm (but still spreadable), go for it! Make sure those cookies are nice and cool and spread a healthy dollop on one side of the cookie and make a sammich! 

If I don't see you at the festival, I'll see you back here over the weekend when I try to wedge in a couple of posts complete with images. Maybe we can stroll through the food fair together and see if anything inspires us! It's usually a pretty magical event. And tomorrow night one of my all time favourite Canadian bands is playing: The Weakerthans. I luff them.