Punkin Carvin' with the sistahood and their homies!

We had the first ever punkin carvin' contest of the sistahood. We don't know who won but it was fun while it lasted. After we carved our punkins we ate food. This is a normal occurrence when the sistahood is all together. We ate a delicious meal of Corn Chowder and Butternut Bisque, blue corn-corn muffins, veggies, apple cider, punkin roll and ice cream (we always have ice cream for dessert). Thanks sistas for traveling the distance to see me!

Eliana stole the show at her 1st punkin carvin'

Does that punkin really look like Ellie? Oh wait, yes I believe there is a slight resemblance.

Are they really using power tools to carve punkins? Yes, yes they are!

Neil, we really were thinkin' about you!

So which one wins the prize?

7th Annual Washington Boro Tractor Pull

It was a beautiful day in the Boro for a tractor pull. Neil had a lot of fun organizing and planning the event along with his helpers of the Manor FFA and other local community members. However, he was happier when the day was actually here and he could "play" on the Farmall Super MTA. Marci had the job of doing all the announcing for the day. I was pretty much frozen by the time they released me to walk across the field to my nice warm home. Actually they didn't hold me hostage, but it was quite a chilly day. Fun was had by all who attended the days events. Enjoy the pictures of Neil working and playing on his favorite red mule. And if you weren't there, be sure to join us next year!
Neil pulling the Farmall i.e. playing!

Neil working hard at playing!

West Lampeter Community Fair

The fair was actually a couple of weeks ago now (Sept. 24-26 to be exact). This year I had the chance to do something I always thought would be fun, but never really had the means to do it. My current employer, Eve's Garden, entered floral arrangements in the professional florist category at the fair this year. It is good advertising and you do win a little bit of money. Anyway, my co-worker Jenifer (she is the real floral designer) asked me to help her with the arrangements that we entered at the fair. So we sat down a week before the fair and planned what arrangements we were going to do and what flowers we needed. Our goal was to do things that weren't "ordinary", and I think we succeeded. We entered 6 different arrangements at the fair and were very pleased with how we did. I was very surprised to find out that the arrangement that I worked on mainly by myself got a big blue "Best of Show" ribbon on it. I have to give a lot of credit to Jenifer because she has taught me most of what I know and I wouldn't have gotten that ribbon without her help. Enjoy the pictures below and if you ever need fresh flowers for any occasion, come see me at work.

Fall Favorites

Everyone has a favorite season of the year. Over the years mine has changed. When I was growing up I always said winter was my favorite season. This was mainly because it was the time of year when my family went on vacation...snowmobiling in the "mountains" of Pennsylvania. I still love winter for a number of reasons. I also love spring because it means I can go out and work in my garden. However, my favorite food season is Fall! There are many wonderful things about fall...like campfires on cool evenings, the leaves on the trees changing colors, local fairs with yummy food, tractor pulls, cool evenings and sunny warm days, and the foods you can make with homegrown produce! We have been blessed to still be able to harvest things from our garden this year and we are loving it. Last week we picked the last of our delicious sweet corn, we still have broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, lettuce and peppers. Yum! My favorite food of fall is anything with pumpkin, but right now we are enjoying some hearty broccoli soup. I think it is absolutely delicious and Neil gives it 3 1/2 stars (out of 5)... his absolute favorite soup is my sausage chowder. Lately, when I make new recipes I ask Neil to give it a rating, this lets me know how much he likes it in a quantitative manner. So, just in case you want to try this delicious soup, I am including the recipe for you. If you try it let me know what you think.

Hearty Broccoli Soup
from Simply in Season
2 c. potatoes (diced)
1 c. onion (chopped)
1/2 c. carrots (thinly sliced)
1/4 c. celery (minced)
1 c. water
*cook together for 5 minutes

2 c. broccoli (chopped)
1 c. cauliflower (chopped)
*add and continue to cook an additional 5-10 minutes

3 c. milk
2 chicken or vegetable boullion cubes
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
*add and heat to boiling

1 c. milk
1/3 c. flour
*blend until smooth in a small bowl, stir into the soup and cook just until thickened, turn off heat

1 c. shredded swiss or sharp cheddar cheese
*add and stir until melted

**this would also be great with bacon or ham added to it.

ENJOY!!

My First Entry

Well, I must say I really don't know why I started a blog, but I think it will be fun. So stay posted as I figure out how all this works!!