State Fair Blue Ribbon Desserts

Click to enlarge or go here for the digital edition and source.

During the summer outdoor parties, pot lot dinners and barbecues give us many opportunities to try new recipes or taste what others bring. 

In summer my parents always took me to the State Fair, an activity I can’t get to living in Manhattan. New York’s State Fair is held near Syracuse, New York in the town of Geddes on the shores of Onondaga Lake. Many Manhattanites (including me) don’t own cars, and I wouldn’t rent a car to drive to an area I don’t know. Where would I park it?

Freddy

Nonetheless as a child, attending the State Fair in my hometown in summer holds fun memories for me. This city girl loved the opportunity to eat corn dogs and cotton candy; see and pet farm animals; check out exhibitor and vendor booths: and sometimes talk to local celebrities. Once my Mother surprised her 10 year old nephew and me (aged 8) by bidding on a Singer Sewing Machine. For the outdoor auction, children stood in the front of the crowd so we could see. We were oblivious to who won the sewing machine until my Mom cut through the crowd to claim it. This total surprise thrilled us both! 

BTW: Nowadays you’d never let kids step away from you. My Father used to let me go into the woman’s bathroom by myself as he waited outside the door! Much younger we went into a stall in the men’s bathroom. Thank God and good people, I never had a bad experience.😌

Back in the day, my Mom didn’t enter cake or pie baking contests but they are a big part of every State Fair. Above👆 are 3 Blue Ribbon Winners from Texas, South Dakota, and Indiana. Before the summer ends, I aim to make them all starting with the toasted coconut pecan pie. 

Have you ever attended a State Fair? Which dessert appeals to you the most?

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Authentic vs. Inauthetic Coq Au Vin

Photo and authentic recipe from Delish

Coq au Vin, the classic French dish, translates into rooster with wine. It was traditionally made with an old rooster tenderized by braising in red wine. Nowadays it’s made with chicken thighs and drumsticks.

I never make Coq Au Vin the true authentic French way. A friend of mine does, spending hours in her kitchen cooking it. 

Coq Au Vin is the fancy way of making chicken stew. I take several liberties: Below in black font are the authentic ingredients and in blue font are my tweaks. One thing that remains the same is using a 6-quart Dutch oven to cook then transfer the chicken stew into your oven to bake: 

Authentic vs. Inauthentic Coq Au Vin

Ingredients/Ingredients:

6 strips bacon, cut into 1” pieces - Usually I dice smoked deli ham but if I have bacon, I’ll use it.

3 lb. bone-in, combination of skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks - I’m guilty of a travesty by substituting 2 to 4

Lodge

(depending on size) chicken breasts, leaving the skin on.

8-oz. pearl onions, peeled - I keep it simple by dicing a large onion, any variety.

Kosher salt - In my home, it’s usually pink Himalayan salt.

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped - I toss in 1 carrot per person.

8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced - If I only have white snow cap mushrooms I don’t sweat over the difference. Into the pot they go!

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. tomato paste -  Tomato sauce if it's all I have.
2 cups red wine - Oh, yeah, this one stays, and I always have it.
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth - Never, always bouillon cubes with 1 cup of water.

1 Tbsp. brandy - Nope, substitute Kentucky bourbon or rum. Brandy? Sheesh! What am I, a liquor store?
Small bunch thyme - Dried thyme will do.

3 Tbsp. butter - Leave out, with chicken drippings, it won’t be missed.
Freshly chopped parsley for serving - Dried parsley works fine!

Directions:

1) Grill your bacon or smoked ham in your dutch oven. A pad of butter if your pan is too dry, otherwise nothing. Remove for later.

2) Next brown your chicken skin side down in the Dutch oven.  If I don’t have enough skin on my chicken breast pieces I’ll dip them in a little bit of flour before putting them into the pan. Salt and pepper as they cook. Remove for later.

3) Brown the vegetables: onions, carrots, mushrooms and garlic until they start to turn brown. Toss in some flour and stir to coat the vegetables.

Photo: Wikipedia

4) Add the tomato paste, wine, water, bouillon cube, bourbon, dried spices and return the grilled bacon or ham bits and chicken pieces into the Dutch oven. Save a little of the bacon/ham bits for garnish.

5) Bring to a boil then transfer it to a preheated 350 degree F oven to bake for 30 minutes. It should cook until the chicken is well done and the sauce reduces and thickens.

Plate and top the chicken with the saved bacon or ham bits and dried parsley. A side dish of mashed potatoes and broccoli or green beans completes the meal.

I know, I know, chefs swear chicken thighs are the tastiest rich in flavor chicken part, but we’re a white meat family ... Coq Au Vin, our way. Chère France, Désolé d'avoir changé la recette.🍷🇫🇷

I’ll end the week with 3 State Fair blue ribbon desserts. 

Thursday’s post.

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The Dog Woof Washer 360

The Dog Woof Washer 360 is a clever invention for people who have a hard time getting their furry best friends into the bathtub for baths. Our family was lucky! Our dog weighed about 50 pounds and as long as he didn’t hear the phrase, “need to give the dog a bath,” whereby he hid under the bed and growled warning us not to come near, we would trick him to come into the bathroom where we could lift him up into his bathwater for his weekly scrubb dub, dub. Once in the bathwater, he was fairly docile. Every dog has a different temperament!

Even for a docile dog, this is a practical device for summer mischief. If your dog jumps into a pond or rolls in mud, perhaps you’d like to clean him before he goes into the house.

The cylinder washer 360 attaches to a garden hose. You fill it with dog shampoo, where it mixes with the water and sprays out as subs over the entire body of your dog. It gets mostly 4 or 5 star reviews from customers who say the pressure is adequate, their dogs cooperate, and it’s a much faster way of giving their dogs baths. Adjustable for large and small dogs.

Although the Dog Woof Washer 360 folds up, some dog owners have had to tighten the screws to keep it from folding while in use, so I suggest not folding it if you have the space to store it. Perhaps folding and unfolding it time and again could loosen the screws since the device is quite inexpensive to buy ... as low as $10.49 at Walmart.

Our dog was lucky as he got a lovely warm bath in the bathtub instead of a cold water shower outside, but the Dog Woof Washer 360 is cheap enough to only use in the summer for the times you don’t want to let your dirty dog into the house. With it, you have the means to clean his dirty little butt, underbelly, legs and head before he enters your home.

Spraying our dog with a garden hose alone to him meant, “Let's play.” In his excitement he'd opened his mouth wide and run or jump into the stream of water. Not the ease or speed of pulling a circle spraying a mixture of soap and water over your dog’s body! Use only dog shampoo when giving your dog baths. A dog’s skin is too sensitive for human shampoo.

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Does Japanese Mounjaro Help You Lose Weight?

Photo: Tasty Mounjaro

The Japanese Mounjaro recipe is the latest craze circulating around TikTok and social media claiming to help with weight less the natural way ... but is there any science behind it? 

Call me a Google expert on this topic! Here is what AI has to say about it ... the following seems to be mainly summarized from Yale University’s self help education website as well as VeryWellHealth: 

"The individual ingredients often found in these "natural Mounjaro" recipes are supported by scientific research for their health benefits and potential contributions to weight loss.

Core ingredients commonly found in these recipes, such as matcha, ginger, apple cider vinegar, lemon/lime, kombu, and umeboshi, have some science-backed health benefits that may support weight management:

🌱Matcha: Contains catechins like EGCG which may aid metabolism and fat oxidation during exercise. L-theanine provides sustained energy.

🌱Ginger: Possesses thermogenic properties and may help reduce hunger and promote fullness. It also supports digestion.

🌱Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV): May help regulate blood sugar and increase feelings of fullness due to acetic acid content.

🌱Lemon/Lime: Encourages hydration and can contribute to feelings of fullness.

🌱Kombu: Contains fiber (alginate) that can promote fullness and iodine, important for thyroid function and metabolism.

🌱Umeboshi: Can act as a probiotic-rich digestive aid.

Important Considerations:

- Not a Mounjaro Replacement: It is crucial to understand that the "Japanese Mounjaro recipe" is a natural wellness drink and is not a substitute for the prescription drug Mounjaro (tirzepatide). Prescription Mounjaro works by activating specific hormonal pathways (GIP and GLP-1) for blood sugar and appetite regulation, which cannot be replicated by food.

- No Peer Reviewed Studies: There are no specific peer-reviewed studies directly validating the Japanese Mounjaro recipe as a weight loss solution. Its effects are likely due to the combined benefits of its individual ingredients rather than a unique magical property.

- Individual Results Vary: While many users report positive results, including weight loss and improved digestion, these effects are likely due to improved hydration, increased satiety, and potentially a slight metabolic boost, not the same mechanism as the prescription drug.

- Combine with Healthy Habits: The most effective approach for sustainable weight loss involves integrating these drinks with a balanced diet, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and stress management.

- Consult a Healthcare Professional: If you have any health conditions or are taking medications, it is recommended to consult with a healthcare provider before adding the Japanese Mounjaro recipe to your routine."

The ingredients in the recipe can vary slightly. Below is one recipe:

1 cup of warm water

1/2 teaspoon matcha powder

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
The juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon of honey (which is optional)
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt, or a small piece of Kombu edible kelp (also optional)

My thoughts are: Japanese Mounjaro contains healthy ingredients that benefit a diet, but there are tastier ways of consuming them. Fads rarely work. The drink isn’t sustainable. Without reducing your food intake, you won’t drop significant amounts of weight. Moreover, drinking ginger every morning may interfere with certain prescription drugs some people take to treat other health conditions. Check with your doctor to make sure the ingredients ingested daily play nice with other drugs.

This recipe is an unwavering no for me! How about you.🍕🧀🍷

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Why Don’t Senior Baby Walkers Exist?

 

A senior baby walker would need an opening, comfort, and sturdiness.

Taking care of my senior mom makes me think a lot about aging. Today I’ll discuss an elderly assistance device that doesn’t seem to exist. Calling all entrepreneurs!

An elderly person's ability to walk can change rapidly. My mom’s legs are strong, but her balance has gotten unsteady. If she loses her balance while walking she can't catch herself and will fall without the support of a fast thinking person walking with her.

Seniors lose strength, but I think often the loss of balance paired with not having a young person's strength is what leads to falls and injuries.

Every day I get my mother up on her walker to walk short distances inside the home so she maintains her strength, balance and the ability to walk for as long as possible. If a senior stops walking, she’ll lose her ability to walk ... and likely not regain it.

I wonder why manufacturers offer conventional walkers, transport wheelchairs and indoor wheelchairs for seniors but nothing similar to baby walkers that would let them walk while semi-standing plus lose their balance without harm? Wouldn’t seniors benefit from using their own legs in a baby type of walker made specifically for them over a wheelchair where they don’t use their legs? A senior baby walker would allow the elderly to safely walk, i.e., exercise their legs to maintain their strength, but when they stumble and lose their balance, it would stop them from falling, hitting the ground and sustaining injuries. Brilliant idea, no?

Also like indoor wheelchairs, mobility on a senior’s own steam would prolong their greater sense of independence. Without the fear of falling, they'd move more ... and be stationary less!

When the idea for a senior baby walker 1st popped into my head, I searched the web to try to buy one. Evidently they don’t exist anywhere. Does anyone know why?

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Discover Nude Envie Cosmetics

At every age I’ve gravitated towards nude colors in makeup. Personally I'd rather look like my best self over wild and crazy combinations of bold colors, not that there’s anything wrong with bold colors, or experimentation. 

However bold hues require more maintenance and often more products to reapply during the day. For example, red lipstick means trips to the powder room for touchups and often you need underlying products so the red lipstick wears longer and bleeds less past your lip line. With a nude lip you can get away with wearing and reapplying only the nude lipstick at your desk without a mirror.

If like me, you love a nude palette, Nude Evie is a line of nude-ranging cosmetics. The usual suspects of makeup include lipstick, lip gloss, lip liner, eyeshadow, cream and powder blush in beautiful shapes of nudes that are designed to enhance not conceal all complexions. This means, the line flatters all skin tones ranging from light to dark. Made of velvety textures to achieve a flawless natural look.

What’s more, all the make-up in the collection will work together in any combination. Some are matte, while others have a touch of frost for a little extra pizzazz.

The price point of this luxury line is higher than drugstore brands yet not as outlandish as other luxe brands such as Chanel or Tom Ford or Dior. Nordstrom carries it, opening up the chances for promotions and sales.

The more brand choices consumers have the better. Put Nude Evie on your radar if you lean nude!

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Heath Bar Cake

Photo: Alcove

If you like English toffee, you'll love a Heath Bar Cake! This one begins with flour and leavening agent, not a box of cake mix, but it’s as easy to make as emptying a box of cake mix. This cake, made from scratch, is simple, moist and fluffy.

Heath Bar Cake 

Ingredients:

4 ounces butter

2 cups dark brown sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 eggs
1 cup of buttermilk
½ cup of nuts, chopped (I use walnuts or pecans.)
Either an 8 ounce bag of Heath candy bar bits or you could crush 6 - 8 health bars to get 1 1/3 cups.

Directions:

1) Using a fork, mix the first 9 ingredients together in the listed order. 

2) Spread the batter in a buttered 9’’ by 13'' cake pan, or I prefer using 2 buttered 9" round cake pans to stack them.

3) Sprinkle 1 cup of heath candy bits (or the crushed health bars) evenly over the batter. Save the rest for garnish.

4) Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, until the center is done.

If you use crushed chocolate heath bars into the batter, icing the cake may be too much of a good thing -- unless you savor rich and very sweet cake, but if you use the bag of English toffee bits, you could melt chocolate chips on top of the cake for a ganache topping, then garnish the top and sides with the remaining toffee bits. Enjoy!🎂🎈🎉🍫

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Ground Beef and Cabbage

We’re all familiar with the dish stuffed cabbage, but the only person I know who makes it is my friend, Norma, who learned how from her grandmother. I’m too lazy of a cook to make it.

So when I stumbled across the following recipe from Zestplate, I, the Queen of one-pan dinners, said this dish is for me. A lazy cook need not be a bad or unhealthy cook! It means finding an easier way~

Cabbage and Ground Beef 

Ingredients 

ground beef, 1 lb

onions, 1 cup, chopped 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1 large bouillon, any flavor

½ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

cabbage small head, chopped 

diced tomatoes, 15 oz can

I add soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chopped red bell peppers, chopped celery, smoked paprika and substitute 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes instead of using cayenne pepper.

Directions: 

1) In a skillet brown the ground beef, onion and after a beat, garlic. Drain if needed.

2) Toss in chopped cabbage, any vegetables you’re adding, a can of diced tomatoes and spices. 

3) Simmer on your stove top, middle heat, for 15 - 20 minutes until the cabbage is tender and the liquid evaporates to the right amount. Eyeball it. Adding 1-2 tablespoons of flour to the liquid makes gravy if you wish to serve the dish over cooked noodles, rice or with a dollop of mashed potatoes. Delish!

You can make this one-pot meal your own by adding or subtracting vegetables and spices to your taste. Eat it spicy or not, plain or with a carbohydrate. When out of cabbage, I’ve used Brussels sprat and diced potatoes with 2 cans of diced tomatoes. 

All the goodness of stuffed cabbage without boiling, stuffing or rolling it. Bon Appetite!

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It takes a surprising amount of commodities to maintain ourselves! Doesn’t it?! Even a minimalist has to agree. From household germicides to skincare to haircare to personal care, we certainly need to buy a slew of solutions, soaps, lotions, and potions to clean, groom, and perfume our homes and physiques until the day we die!😳 Today and everyday, I mean, stop and what’s next? Germs? Bad smells? Dishevelment? Surely people in their right minds would never just let themselves go!

A reason I love T.J Maxx is the many botanical and organic finds including liquid soaps, moisturizing lotions, shampoos and hair conditioners that are also sold in huge 1 liter or 33 oz sizes for less. My practice is to buy one, plus one to keep on deck for when the first bottle turns into an empty.

I do the exact same thing when buying household cleaners like gallon sizes of distilled white vinegar, a 4 lb box of baking soda, Pinalen (pine oil), ammonia, and bleach from Walmart, Target, Key Food, or C-Town. (I’ve decided not to replace the ammonia because the others do the same jobs. I hardly reach for it anymore. Before switching to white vinegar to clean my floors and counters, I used ammonia to keep from ruining colored rugs with splatters while cleaning.)

Neither overbuying nor underbuying saves you money. Learn which products keep and which lose potency with the passage of time. Then the trick is to figure out what you need and will continue using. We might make a few mistakes before we figure it out, but eventually we do figure it out. 

After we figure it out, buying staples in big ole sizes not only saves time and money, but simplifies our lives. You make fewer trips to the store to restock and instead can do other tasks or pleasures.

Buying huge sizes of non-perishable household and personal care products is always the Savvy Shopper way to go. It’s well worth creating space for them!

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Charts: Apples From Tart to Sweet

The Bell Tree Forums

Recently I stood in the supermarket ready to buy a bag of apples for snacking. I prefer tart over sweet apples, so usually I know to grab Granny Smith or McIntash apples. But what’s on a supermarket shelf can change every time you go to buy them. Pink Lady apples were on sale the week I went so I pulled out my trusty phone to see where on the apple spectrum they fell. Tart! So into my shopping cart they went. 

Photo: go here

Unless you can buy the same apples time and again, it’s beneficial to have a chart to check. Each time you look at the charts, you might be able to keep the varieties straight, but probably not, and produce tends to change at the supermarket. Next time you go you’ll likely see a new unfamiliar variety. 

Although red delicious -- sweet apples -- are not my favorite, I will eat one if offered. Still when buying a bag of apples, I’d rather buy what I most enjoy snacking.

Apples are kind of fascinating because ancient, as well as, modern people ate them; they grow all over the planet; and there are 7,500 varieties of apples. I wrote all about apples in an earlier blog if you want to know more facts about them.

Photo: go here

A note about charts: I link them back to the source where I find them, however often they are posted on multiple websites so their true origins may be unknown. I’m prepared to relink or remove a photo if requested, and I don’t claim ownership which is why I link them to my source. Blogging is a hobby to share and exchange thoughts, tips and information with others, not to earn revenue. When I know better -- how to share -- I do better.

Back to apples ... there are many varieties I’ve never tasted! I’d like to try a Pacific Rose, a Jazz, and a Lady apple, which isn’t the same as Pink Lady. Which apples would you like to try?

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The Earth Is a Magical Place

I wait for it all year long! The first day of summer known as the summer solstice. It’s the start of my favorite season: Summer!!! I especially love summers in New York City. It’s so easy to get out and about, enjoying Happy Hours with good friends, good bar food, and good wine. Outside dinners under a canopy or sitting under the fountain at Lincoln Center before the ballet, or open air concerts and theater. 

How wondrous is the above image showing us the position of the Earth when the Western Hemisphere enters the summer solstice. 

Photo: Indian Times - go here

According to NASA the 2025 summer solstice falls on Friday, June 20th, at 10:42 p.m. ET. It marks the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere when the Earth’s tilt is closest to the Sun. Imagine if you were spacewalking gazing at the tilted Earth and the Sun from space yet at a safe distance!

Did you know the Earth’s axis is always tilted -- 23.5 degrees relative to its orbital plane around the sun? The tilt causes different hemispheres to get varying hits of direct sunlight throughout the year. The tilt is called obliquity and without it, there would be no seasons as we know them. When a hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun it experiences summer, while the opposite hemisphere experiences winter.

🌍🌎🌏 🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎

Have you heard of Pangaea? About 300 million years ago the Earth assembled into one supercontinent, Pangaea (from the Greek word pan meaning all, whole, or entire and gaea (meaning land, Earth, or Mother Earth). As Pangaea formed it became surrounded by a single gigantic ocean called Panthalassa, which means all the sea in Greek. While Panthalassa was the only ocean there was a smaller sea called the Tethys Ocean, an embayment within the coastline of Pangaea.

 

Photo: earth how - go here

Tectonic plate movement caused Pangaea to form, break up and is the reason continents continue to shift positions today. As the plates move, they cause landmasses to inch together, break apart, and transform. The plates are massive slabs of solid rock that are always moving and glide over the Earth’s mantle (the rocky middle layer above the Earth’s core). Fault lines are fractures or cracks within those plates or at their boundaries. Fault lines can exist on one plate or over two plates.

Animation here

Some 200 million years ago Pangaea the supercontinent comprising all the continental crust of the earth broke into pieces named Laurasia and Gondwana. 

There were 3 major phases in the breakup of Pangaea: 1) The opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean caused by the rifting (a major fault separating blocks of the earth's surface) between North America and northwestern Africa. 2) The breakup of Gondwana into Africa, South America, India, Antarctica, and Australia. 3) The opening of the Norwegian Sea. Australia and Antarctica broke up. Laurasia split into North America and Eurasia.

Evidence for the existence of Pangaea remains with us today: Like puzzle pieces: The eastern coast of South America closely fits the western coast of Africa. One of Australia’s coastlines fits a coastline of Antarctica, and certain coastlines of North and South America match up with certain coastlines of Europe and Africa. The Appalachian Mountain chain extends from the southeastern United States to the Scandinavian Caledonides of Europe. They are believed to have formed a single chain, the Central Pangaea Mountains. Moreover, fossils of identical species are present on continents that are now very far apart.

Today we have 7 continents. Isn’t it fascinating? What if when humans came along, geology had not separated us?

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At Land’s End The Classics Are Trending

Wow! Such winning style and comfort at Lands’ End. My picks for the summer are the silky soft Supima© cotton polos and shorts that are the perfect length to be classy and versatile. 

The breezy linen barrel leg trousers and linen peplum tops are a polished outfit for a summer evening out. Many people still spruce up a bit to go out to a restaurant or a shopping area. These would work very well!

The super cute boucle Johnny collar textured sweater with ribbed cuffs is 100% soft cotton. Great for breezy summer evenings in San Francisco and on beaches, and it will take you into the early fall. Pair the textured sweater with so many things, from skirts to jeans to longer shorts. 

Uh-Oh, I’ve done it again! My bias for 100% natural fabrics is showing. In summer clothes, cotton and linen rock. Lands’ End makes cotton and linen pieces that are machine washable. Usually I’d line dry the garments, but in a pinch you can toss them into the dryer too. Frequent machine drying tends to wear clothing out faster. So if there’s time, I machine wash then hang cotton and linen garments on a hanger to dry in the bathroom.

At Land’s End the classics are trending! Not only are they well made and well-priced but you can wear them for years to come.

✐✎✏✐✎✏✐✎✏✐✎✏✐✎✏✐✎✏✐✎✏✐✎✏✐✎✏✐✎✏

I’ll also review a linen tunic from the brand Bodhi that was promoted on The Today Show as a product deal. Here goes: I can’t imagine wearing yards of material in the summer. In hot boiling July or August, yikes! The sleeves have enough fabric to fit a monkey -- too bulky and long for human arms. The tunic's body shallows up the wearer. There’s no front zipper to step into the dress, so you have to ball it up to pull it over your head. High side slits can be problematic requiring an underneath layer. It’s also baggy and not versatile enough to step off a beach to have drinks or dinner with friends. IMHO, this one would be a regret purchase that you’d find too limiting to wear after you buy it even at its advertised bargain price. The linen fabric is spectacular, if only the cut of the tunic flattered a woman's silhouette. Contrast this frumpy tunic with Lands’ End's many stylish summer offerings at much better starting price points. Cute and bouncy routs baggy every time!

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