Cat in the Hat

 Friday morning we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday with green eggs and ham for breakfast, part of PBS' "Cat in the Hat-a-thon," and a dramatic reading of the Cat in the Hat by Kelsey Grammar.  It was nice to show the Cat some love again...  he's been patiently waiting in the crib for a resurgence of love for some weeks now.  :)

*and yes, Cat and Bunny joined us on our adventure to the river for pictures too.  

Watoga Part 4: Lunch at The Pretty Penny

For our first full day on the adventure, we had eaten breakfast and now (in usual family form) were preparing for lunch.  We decided to venture out into the world around us and find a fun restaurant.  And, boy, we did!  The Pretty Penny.

Our crew (I'm taking the picture)

We took the advice of a man we met at the park headquarters.  Evidently he and his wife stay at Watoga quite a bit.  He recommended the restaurant and told us that the woman that ran it also did the Park restaurant - when it was in season.  (This man is also the reason we learned to order kindling! Ah, yes!  Good call.)

The restaurant was one of the only things in the town - or so it seemed.  It was owned and operated by a lady that focused on fresh, local products.  The food was unique and tasty.  Keith ordered the bbq sandwich, I think?!  They boasted to having the best anywhere.  He agreed. Not being a barbecue fan, I'll take his word for it. 

I can't remember exactly what I ate.  It had goat cheese and chicken on it and was tasty!  The sandwich breads were made there too.  Yummmmy!

The building was a general store at one point, I believe.  There was also a small stage complete with upright piano!

 The front of the building was full of windows.  It was really cool.  The light was lovely.  I think these are some of my favorite photos - simply because of the clarity.  ah, natural light.  :)

Keith

Tracy.

Mama.

 After our leisurely lunch, we decided to walk a bit and see what we could find.  Right next door to The Pretty Penny was a little antique place that had...  Fiesta!

Yes, I found some Fiesta to bring home.  (And later on, my sweet sister picked up some MORE mugs at the outlet on her way home - since when Mom and I drove by it, it was closed.) 

I also picked up some old blue glass bottles for my bathroom.  Milk of Magnesia, I believe - though the labels were gone.  One still had a rusty metal lid and dried stuff inside. 

Cousins, knit hats, and a bench!

the side of The Pretty Penny - just for fun

From this point on...  we decided to drive on to Lewisburg.....

Graham Cracker as Gingerbread Housing!



Today, yes, today!!!  Zoey and I finally made our gingerbread house!  (Our first ever.)  We had a blast!!  

With an egg...  waiting for the eggs to reach "room temp" was the hardest part.  ;)

Loading up Grandma Joyce's sa-weet mixer!

My girl with the sensative ears.  This time she not only stayed in the room with the mixer but right there next to it! (small steps)  :)

Piping the walls.  Zoey really did a lot of the work!  She's quite the little baker/maker!

Our base house (and little snowmen that turned into trees!)

Concentration.  She really did work!  :)

Our stash of candy and things (all "found" items in the pantry)!

Candy on the roof.  (Yes, I piped it.)

Making our bushes and trees.  (Marshmallows covered in icing - pretty cool, IMHO.)

Presenting our very first Miller Manor Gingerbread House!!!



Our chimney is an out-of-date Kashi bar that I found in the back of the pantry.  ;)  Really, it is on straight - it just looks crooked. 

A close up.  One icing/marshmallow tree and a window.  She decorated the windows all by herself and then put the icing on the backs for me to put them on the wall.  :)

This is my first time making royal icing.  I learned quite a bit.  For one, it doesn't take a doubled recipe to ice a tiny house.  2) add vanilla for a better taste... As in, it IS really edible at all!!  and C) I'm interested to find out what happens with the massive amount left over in the fridge....  still usable/tasty?  And this recipe is easy!!  (Would it work on the upcoming wedding cookies?!?  Hmmmm.....) 

Hope you enjoy a timely look!  xo

Making cookies

Cookies in FIESTA!

I was in the mood to make cookies this week...  the day I finally decided to just do it was Wednesday.  Zoey doesn't like the mixer.  It's too loud for her, I think.  So I thought my dreams of making cookies might be over until...  Zoey said she's help me after we made brownies...Yep.  That's what I said...  Brownies first, then cookies. Hmmm...  OK!

 After the brownies were successfully delivered into the oven...  we started on the choco chip love.  I set Z up on the other side of the kitchen with her own bowl of batter/dough.  (Flour, water, salt, some baking soda - cuz that's what on the recipe, yo!)  HA!  ...It's "batter" to her most of the time because that's how we got started with pancake batter... she's learning the small details to what we call which.  :)

 The first set of cookies was sans chips, but plus red sugar sprinkles for Valentine's day (at least that was the plan).  *Note Fiesta ramekin!  :) 

Brownie batter face!!  YUM!

"Show me the spoon."  :)

Waiting for the cookies to bake.

More waiting...  see our smiling faces in the oven door?!?  :)

*Oh and yes, Zoey did well with the mixer on.  She made the noise like the mixer pretty much anytime it was on.  But she didn't cry or run into the other room.  When I was done she asked me to "put the mixer away?"  All in all a very very good experience!!  :)

Dad's 64th Birthday Celebration!

My Dad turned 64 on Monday.  Sunday afternoon we all gathered to celebrate our favorite guy!  My Dad loves white chocolate most anything...  my plan was to make white choco fudge.  I thought it would be sweet, but still easy to eat.  Tracy told me it probably wouldn't turn out very well if the chips I bought weren't made with real coco butter.  (She's the master baker. I'll take her word - without question.)  They weren't much more than sugar....  so rather than making a mess of it, I simply made a GIANT white choco chip cookie.  Delia helped me decorate it.  It was uber super sweet, but still tasty.  :) 

Delia, Grandpa, Zoey and Grandma

Delia blowing snow!

 In the afternoon, Zoey and Delia went out to play in the snow!  They are so cute.  Delia is such a wonderful big cousin.  I was a bit worried a year ago or so...  Zoey just wanted to be with her every second and (at that time) Delia just wanted to read.  It was hard.  NOW...  Zoey still wants to be with her every second and Delia is very nice and plays with her.  They are the cutest things!! 

HUG!!

Getting ready to venture outside.  SO stinkin' cute!

Zoey has taken to giving the "thumbs up" lately.  She was all about it this weekend!!  Everyone played along!

Delia putting some finishing touches on the cookie.  (Baked on Fiestaware, of course!!)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!  We love you so very much!! :)

Christmas 3: Sun Valley

Sunday after Christmas we piled into the little car and drove over the river and through the woods to Grandma Pat and Grandpa Stan's house.  Zoey was 100% better and we were ready to enjoy the holiday.  It had been a good six months since I'd seen my sister and her family.  (We missed Turkey day due to sickness...  we weren't going to let that happen again!  And Zoey was in good spirits to do it!)

Cousin cuties!!

John

My seeester.

Grandma and her fiesta!!!  ...and her hooch!  :)

Keith and his hooch! 

This next one isn't the best picture, but it features some of the best times of the day and since then.  My incredibly talented sister knitted a bunch of vegetables and a shopping bag for Zoey.  They are to compliment her new kitchen from Santa.  Tracy said she thought Z could use them to make healthy snacks.  And boy, howdy, she has!  I hope to take some better pictures of the cutest food ever...  here's hoping that will make it's own post.  In any case, they are probably my favorite thing of all Christmas gifts this year. 

Zoey and her veggies!



This picture is entitled "All pictures of Christmas"  simply because that was the joke...  Keith's head or someone else's (usually his) would end up in just about every photo my Mom took.  Not on purpose, mind you, it just happened.  THIS photo was kinda on purpose.  :) 

I'll end our Christmas saga with just a simple one of Zoey and a present.

We are all so blessed for ALL of our Christmas and Solstice bounties and time together!  Much love to all.  Here's hoping I can get back on the wagon of posting!  Happy New Year!

CSA in bloom

My new friend Caroline has a farm. I've never been there (although that should change come fall for a sweet mama*ology get-together - I hope!) In any case, she has been offering up her farm goodies all summer... I didn't realize this! What?! Yeah, I've missed most of the summer (bummer!) BUT... Once I figured it all out, I signed up for her weekly deliveries. (She's the best because she'll let us know what is about to be harvested and then we can decide if we want a big bag, small bag, or to skip the week - very cool.) For the past two weeks, the Miller Manor has had a small bag of fresh, local goodies!
I took pictures of the bounty the first week - I just never got anything up on the ol' blog. This past week, we ate lots before snapping any shots! ;) The best part of Caroline's bountiful bags - for me - is the flowers. Ok, I love the tomatoes too... the edamame, the blueberries, zucchini, peppers... oh, and this last week we had PEACHES!! The best peaches I have ever had - seriously. YUM! You can see some of those wonderful peaches (and a smidge of zuc) in the background - there next to my Fiesta mixing bowl set.

My initiation to the world of CSA involved sunflowers! I love sunfllowers. Here's one of my favorite photos that I have taken. (They look so much better here than in the first photo - because this was the fresh pic and the first was a week later.)

So many wonderful colors!!

Here are some of Caroline's fresh Ohio tomatoes and Black-eyed Susans from our yard. Zoey picked them and they sit just so beautifully in an Absinthe glass on the kitchen windowsill.

I have been eagerly anticipating autumn... but these fllowers and fresh goodies make me stop and smile at summer for a bit. :)