Nineteen

Lauren's birthday fell on Labor Day this year. This was the weekend she was moving into her college housing so I did not think she would be home, but she made it!! I went to Dairy Queen and picked up a cake so we were able to do a small celebration. The Dairy Queen cake has been a pretty popular request over the years. Chelsea started it way back when and the only time we veer away from the ice cream cake is when we get a fresh strawberry cake from Golden Delight Bakery.

This is her college room. She worked all summer to save her money to buy the furniture! I only pitched in a little as a birthday present. I am proud that she did not waste her money and she bought some nice furniture that she will have for a long time. (There is a cute little nightstand on the other side of the bed.)

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Kiawah Island

In August we went to Kiawah Island South Carolina for our family vacation. It is a beautiful island with hard white beaches. We have been going to Kiawah, off and on, for 25 years and really enjoy every time we can get a beach vacation together.
The island has 30 miles of bike paths, a couple of look out towers, a park and a couple of golf courses. It is lush green with condos, houses and a 5 star hotel.

Since the ride from Ohio to South Carolina is around 12 to 13 hours, we decided this year to break up the ride and stop on the way there and the way back. Our first stop was Chimney Rock North Carolina. This was so neat. We stayed the night at the Mountain Lodge Conference Center in Flat Rock. I was extremely nice, we will stay there again.

Vista Rock was about halfway up the climb to Chimney Rock.

The views were fabulous.

This is TJ on Chimney Rock . We were in the Opera Box

and were able to take a picture across the mountain.

This was Lindsey, Baylee and myself in the Opera Box.

Hickory Nut Falls is about a 1 mile hike. It was pretty flat

and easy to walk.
When we arrived at Kiawah, this was our view. Terrible right?

We stayed at Windswept Villas

The beaches are hard so you can ride you bike on the beach!

This was in Charleston. The pineapple fountain was dry, but

we still had fun.

On our way back to the island we stopped at Angel Oak.

This is the oldest oak tree in the states.

This is one of the lookouts on the island. It looks out

over the marsh.

On our way home we stopped at the Biltmore Estates in Asheville North Carolina. It is a beautiful estate but it poured down rain non stop for 4 hours. We did not get to see everything and enjoy it as much as we should, but these lovely rain ponchos made the visit a little more bearable.

We waded in ankle deep water to the farm and enjoyed the animals.

We toured the estate and went through the museum.

The girls were amazed by all of the stories. We drove

through the gardens, it was too wet to walk.

The vacation was a really good time. We did get wet several times throughout the week,

but all in all, we did have more pretty days than rainy days so we did well!!

Pig Roast 2010

We had our 4th annual pig roast last weekend and we had great weather! The planning started over 2 months ago with us going through our stock of supplies left over from last year, planning the date, and making the flyer. We were lucky that our supply bins are pretty full since last year's roast was on a pretty popular vacation week so our attendance was down. This year the guys decided to go with a later date so we would be out of those popular vacation weeks. The attendance was about the same as last year so it may not matter what date we pick for next year.

The supplies in the garage the night before.
This is the pig during the second basting. He was on the

roaster by nine and done by four.

This was the tshirt design for this year.
The girls and I always make a piggy dessert!

These turned out great this year!

The carving, pulling and chopping of the pig lasted 1 hour

with 5-6 people working constantly.

The line started around 5:00 pm. There were so many good

dishes brought by neighbors and friends!

We had five tables and chairs setup in the shade.

There were three more tables up by my neighbor's house and

people sat on his deck. There were also several games

setup in the yard!

Additional seating on our patio. At one point we

counted 100 people.

Thanks to all the sponser families. This roast could not have been such a success without you. Your help with gathering supplies, food prep, setup, and clean up was much appreciated. A special thanks to Dave Mangas for making a great basting sauce and keeping that pig basted all day!

I hope everyone enjoyed the 2010 Pig Roast and will come back next year!!

Pepperoni Knots and Cowboy Salsa

Summertime is always a great time to try out recipes because there are always neighborhood picnics or holiday gatherings. A couple of weeks ago we were invited to a big pig roast. This is the second year we have attended this roast and it was a great time. We also have a pig roast every year, so it is fun to go to other pig roasts to compare or get ideas on what makes the roast great.

When we showed up, the couple's large property was covered with about 100 people. Their property is about 10 acres so it was not too crowded but it was amazing to see people spread out over the lawn with blankets, coolers, strollers, and bag chairs. There was plenty for everyone to do. There was a pond for fishing, kayaking, and swimming, a barn that housed the food, a basketball court, several bean bag toss games and some PVC pipes that people put beer bottles on and tried to knock them off with a frisbee. There were also several really nice sitting areas through out the property that included porch swings. Then to top off the evening, there was a large firework display at dark.

I decided to make two recipes to take with us. One was a new recipe and the other an old standby. I found a recipe in the Rachel Ray magazine that looked good but I did not have all of the ingredients. I made a few small changes and they turned out pretty good so I packed them up for the roast. They are a little savory roll that are quick to make and were gone in about 10 minutes. The other recipe is for a tomato, corn and black bean salsa that is addicting. I filled a tin loaf pan up to the rim with the salsa and it was also gone quickly. I like the addition of the corn and beans to salsa. It is refreshing and the flavors go well together along with looking pretty!






Pepperoni Knots
2 oz pepperoni, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic. finely chopped
1 13.8 oz tube refrigerated pizza dough
1 egg, beaten
Coarse salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.
In a small bowl, mix the pepperoni and garlic. Cut the dough by cutting the tube length in half, then cut each piece in half and continue to cut each piece in half until you have 16 pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a 7 inch long rope. Tie each piece into a knot and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush each knot with egg and sprinkle the pepperoni garlic mixture on top. Add it on thick because as they cook they will rise and the sprinkles will spread out. Top off each roll with coarse salt. Bake until golden, about 18 minutes. These can be served with a spicy mustard or pizza sauce.

Cowboy Salsa

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can shoe peg corn
1 28 oz can dices tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
3-4 green onions, chopped
1 pkg italian dressing mix

Mix together all ingredients.

Print Recipes

Enjoy!

Strawberry Marshmallows - Product Review

We were at Target when I saw strawberry marshmallows and immediately thought how yummy marshmallow treats would be if they were strawberry flavored. I made the treats that night and I was a little disappointed. There was not much flavor. Afterwards I was thinking that I should have cut up strawberries and stuck them in the bars, but then again I could do that using regular marshmallows. So I guess my suggestion would be to pass on the strawberry marshmallows, the cheaper store brand marshmallows do the trick just fine.

I am still thinking about the fruit mixed into marshmallow treats......that could be interesting.