One Local Summer, Meal 6

We wanted to do some Filipino food for one of our local summer meals, just for something different. This is adobo, the unofficial national dish of the Philippines. Every family in the Philippines has an adobo recipe with some variations, but the basics are always the same. The meat is usually pork or chicken, but I've also seen it with goat. It's made with soy sauce and vinegar, and you would think that would make it sour, which it does, but it mellows out a lot while cooking. Add to that garlic, onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, and a spoonful of brown sugar to cut the sourness, and you've got one good dish. We all love it, including the kids. I even made it when my dad was over once, and he loved it, too.

I made this in the crockpot this past weekend. We ate it with rice and drank more cantaloupe juice, a Filipino drink. I got a request for the recipe and procedure to make cantaloupe juice, but I don't have pictures of that with me today so I'll post that in my next local meal post.

Most of the ingredients in this dish aren't local, but that's fine with me. I'm not going to eliminate dishes from our meal rotation because we don't grow rice or black pepper or harvest salt in Lancaster county. I like finding ways of making our usual meals from as many local ingredients as I can and will continue to do that, even after this summer is over. If I have a choice between buying something produced locally and something produced from further away, I'll buy the local product. It's really changed the way we eat and the way we look at our food.





Chicken - Sensenig Poultry, Lititz (7 miles)

Onion - Nolts Produce, Manheim (2 miles)

Garlic - Hilltop Grocery, Manheim (2 miles)

Cantaloupe - Nolts Produce, Manheim (2 miles)

Non-local ingredients - Cider vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, bay leaf, peppercorns, jasmine rice

Call It Amy and the Dream of Horses

Dream of horses, ba da dum bop, you dream of horses, ba da dum bop....

Even though it's three weeks since the 4th of July, I still wanted to post about our activities for that week. There are a lot of pictures to slog through so I asked Onil to make a movie and I'll post it here. I asked a week and a half ago, though, so who knows when we'll get that. :o\

While we're waiting, I wanted to share some pictures of Amy riding. Amy's been taking horsemanship lessons for close to a year now. Her usual day is Wednesday which means that because I work in NYC I can't go to see her ride unless I have the week off from work. The bright side of not seeing her ride every week is that I got to see how much she has improved. And boy, has she improved a lot. She started riding last fall and I saw her in December. She was good but very much a beginner -- she needed to learn a lot. I just saw her ride again on July 4th, and she has definitely come a long way. I love her posting form and the cool way she handles the rails and jumps. It helps that the horse she rides is pretty calm and easy-going (she just doesn't like other horses, which, sister, I can relate -- there are plenty of times I don't like my species either). The horse's name is Duchess and she's big and sometimes grumpy but she's a good horse overall.

This weekend Amy and Anna are going to overnight camp in the Poconos (the same one I went to as a kid) and Amy will be a corral-aide for the first time. This involves getting up at 5 in the morning, mucking out stalls, feeding and brushing the horses, cleaning the tack, and generally anything that needs to be done in the stable. For girls who love horses, this is a dream come true. Hopefully Amy will enjoy herself as well.

Here are some pictures of Amy and Duchy:

One Local Summer, Meal 5

Our local meal this week was maybe one of the best we've had so far, and I sincerely mean that in spite of the fact that I say this every week. We ate out on our new picnic table in the yard, which was great except for the annoying little gnats all over the place. Onil, Amy and I dealt with it, but the Littlest Lord of All was so completely grossed out that she didn't finish all of her corn and went stomping in the house while the rest of us finished up. She is definitely a teen-ager, and truly the Little Lord.

When Onil and I bought our Daisy flour a couple of weeks ago (and how many times have I typed "Daisy flower" and had to correct it? Oh, like a billion) we noticed a bag of cornmeal on the shelf next to it. We bought it because:

1) We like cornbread,
2) It's produced by Haldeman Mills in Manheim, and
3) The packaging totally cracked us up.

Take a look:



I mean, really. Who wouldn't want to buy a product with a picture of their granddad on the front?





BBQ Chicken - Chicken breasts and legs, Pennfield Farms, Lancaster (8 miles) by way of Sensenig Poultry, Lititz (7 miles). Believe it or not, this was the first time I made bone-in chicken on the grill because I am deathly afraid of undercooking chicken. This time I decided to be brave and give it a try. It turned out great. Rubbed with dry herbs and spices (probably none of it local but mixed up by me) and slathered with my homemade BBQ sauce.

Turkey Apple Sausage - Sensenig Poultry, Lititz (7 miles). This is the reappearance of the turkey apple sausage we had on July 4th. You will probably see this again as it is only $2.99 a pound and outrageously delicious.

Corn on the Cob - Nolt's farm stand, Manheim (2 miles).

Quick Pickled Cucumbers - Produce from Millersville (13 miles) by way of Eastern Farmer's Market, Lancaster city.

Cornbread - Cornmeal from Haldeman Mills, Manheim (7 miles), wheat flour from Daisy Flour, Annville (16 miles), egg from Meadow Run Farm, Lititz (12 miles), milk from Kreider Dairies, Manheim (2 miles), honey from Stockins Apiary, Strasburg (21 miles). I was thinking it was going to be like the Jiffy cornbread mix, but it was a little heavier than I'm used to. Maybe because of the wheat flour? It was delicious anyway.

Cantaloupe Juice - Nolt's farm stand, Manheim (2 miles), honey from Stockins Apiary, Strasburg (21 miles) by way of Eastern Farmer's Market, Lancaster city. This is a Filipino specialty. Using this tool...



... Onil scraped out a cantaloupe to make strings. He then mixed the juice, the strings and a few spoonfuls of honey in a pitcher, then filled to the top with ice water and mixed well. Perfect for a summer day.

Finally, dessert!



We stopped off at Central Market in Lancaster city as well and picked up a couple of individual cherry cheesecakes. I'm not sure if the ingredients were local and I don't remember exactly where they were made, but it was definitely Lancaster county. I also got a springerle cookie at Central Market. It was made by The Springerle House in Strasburg (21 miles) and I just couldn't resist. Look at the detail on this cookie:



Just exquisite, and so yummy. All washed down with a glass of Kreider milk, Manheim (2 miles).

Fun at Blobfest!

This past weekend we didn't have the girls with us so we decided to take advantage and meet one of our heroes. We went to the 8th annual Blobfest which is a celebration of the "classic" scifi movie held in Phoenixville, PA. That's where the Colonial Theatre is located. The Colonial was featured prominently in The Blob.



It was basically a block party in front of the theatre with a Blob theme. There was a costume parade but we missed that because we got lost on the way there. :( There was a band playing '50s rock n roll music that all the kids seem to love. A bunch of food stands and various vendors selling horror and scifi goodies.



The Colonial Theatre itself was a beautiful old building. It was great seeing a movie theatre with a real balcony and a real marquee again. It may have been a little worn down but I think it added to the charm. We got to see the projection booth also but I didn't get any pictures of that.







After seeing all the booths and vendors we sat down to watch the actual Blob movie. That was fun experience watching a bad movie with a theatre full of like-minded fans. There was plenty of clapping and whooping and hollering especially when it got the part with the Blob invading the Colonial.







Anyways. Here's the important part. The only reason we went to Blobfest was to meet Mary Jo Pehl. Being loyal MSTies, we try to support all the Brains in their post-MST endeavours. Mary Jo was very gracious. We got her autograph on a postcard. We spoke a little bit about how she had already signed our copy of The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide. We told her about Mike Nelson's autograph and note and she got a chuckle out of that. Faith is upset cause she got all frazzled and forgot to ask Mary Jo if she take a picture with us. I didn't think to ask cause Faith usually doesn't like to take pictures. Still though it was great to meet someone who was a part of something so special to the two of us.

After we left the theatre, we went to an ice cream store around the corner. I had a tasty tasty Blobwich. It was a big scoop of whatever flavor ice cream you wanted in between two chocolate cookie wafer thingies. I chose raspberry sorbet cause it was the only flavor they had that was red. Faith just got a small cup of ice cream. I forget which flavor.





All in all, it was a fun day. And if Blobfest ever has any other of the Brains as a guest, we'll certainly be there!

One Local Summer, Meal 4

I am totally stealing from Meredith at Edge Effect again this week and having breakfast for Meal #4. Onil and I had been talking about doing a breakfast meal last week and Meredith's yummy breakfast from last week inspired me to actually do it.

Also, we had a special guest this weekend: the illustrious Captain John Sniff!



Captain John Sniff (aka Cappy, Johnny, Cap'n John, Rotten Boy) is my dog but is staying with Amy and Anna at their dad's house for a while because we're not allowed to have pets at our apartment (the landlord doesn't know about Kitty or Nutmeg). Amy and Anna were with their dad and stepmom at Knoebel's this weekend, so rather than see Cappy go to a kennel I said we'd take him. He was very well-behaved and my best friend all weekend. I'd like to take him for the weekend more often.

Anyway, our local meal. We had bacon and eggs with blueberry pancakes:





Bacon - Meadow Run Farm, Lititz (12 miles)

Eggs - Meadow Run Farm, Lititz (12 miles). This was the first time since I was a little kid that I had fresh eggs. I mean, just-laid-that-morning fresh eggs. Oh my heck, Onil and I were blown away by how good they tasted! You people with your own chickens and a steady supply of fresh eggs are so lucky! We made scrambled eggs with Kreider's milk in Manheim (2 miles).

Blueberry Pancakes - Whole Wheat Flour from Daisy Flour, Annville (16 miles), Milk from Kreider Dairies, Manheim (2 miles), Egg from Meadow Run Farm, Lititz (12 miles), blueberries from NJ (not local).

Blueberry Syrup - Masonic Homes Orchards, Elizabethtown (15 miles). I melted down Wild Blueberry jam and added some water to thin it out and a little bit of lemon zest for flavor.

Milk - Kreider Dairies, Manheim (2 miles)

One thing I have to add that has been amusing in this whole eating locally thing, is how old-fashioned it all tends to be. For example, I read about Meadow Run and decided to check out their farm market, because there are vegetable stands everywhere in Lancaster county but you have to really suss out your meats. Well.... calling it a "farm market" is being very generous. It amounted to a small shed with two freezers for meats and a refrigerator for eggs. You take your meat and eggs (which are marked with the price), write down on a steno pad what you're taking, how much it weighs and how much it costs, and put your money in an open cash box. I can't tell you how much I love that we're supporting this kind of economy, where honesty is given a chance and the cash goes to the farmer and not to a corporation. And damn if the food doesn't taste a billion times better, too.

Why the Little Lord is the Little Lord

Or, How Two People Put Together a Picnic Table While the Little Lord Looked On.

I had wanted to do a post about our Fourth of July activities, but I'll spare you the long story and just tell you that our camera disk is acting up so I won't have the pictures for you until next week.

So, in the meantime, I'm going to show you one of our activities this past week: building a picnic table. We've been wanting to get one for a while but just never had the funds. We finally bit the bullet and went to Home Depot and got this table, unassembled, for $70. We thought we were going to have to rent a van or a truck to get it home, but we took all of the pieces of wood out of the packaging and managed to make it fit in our tiny Nissan Sentra. (I regret that I didn't take a picture of the car all packed up before we unloaded it.) Man, the things we've been able to fit into that little car.... two wicker chairs.... a desk.... seven people on a 1½ hour car trip. Now we can add a picnic table to the list.

Anyway, we unloaded the wood and started working. I helped put stuff together in between taking pictures. Amy and Onil got right to work...





The Little Lord did nothing.



Amy and Onil continued to work...





The Little Lord continued to be of no help whatsoever.



This is why we call Anna the Little Lord. Onil and I watch the Sopranos (or used to watch it, anyway), and in one episode, Christopher refers to the son of a late mob boss as "Little Lord F---pants". Onil and I heard that and thought, Boy, if that doesn't sound like Anna, we don't know what does. She sits around with a sense of entitlement, waiting for others to serve her. She's perfectly happy playing her guitar while the rest of us build a picnic table for her. We love her very much, but come on. She is the Little Lord.

Notice she had no problem posing for the picture of the nearly finished (sans benches) product, like she actually had anything to do with it herself:

One Local Summer, Meal 3

I made our local meal early this week because it's back to NYC for me until Friday afternoon. This week's meal consists of pork ribs in the crockpot with rice, broccoli and green tea with mint.



Ribs - Leidy's in Souderton (91 miles). Cooked in the crockpot with my homemade barbecue sauce.

Rice - Thailand (so not local!)

Broccoli - Manheim (2 miles)

Green tea with mint - Green tea bags from Trader Joe's, mint from Schaefferstown (17 miles)

One Local Summer, Meal 2: Independence Day Edition

I made our Fourth of July cookout our second local summer meal, and this one turned out really great! Onil and I went to Roots farmer's market on Tuesday and picked up a bunch of stuff, but I also found a few meat producers there with their own stores. That way, I can pick up locally-produced meat at their stores without having to take a day off from work to go to Roots. I had originally intended to use just Lancaster county products, but I'm making it easier on myself and extending my range to within 100 miles. I'm also going to steal from my friend Meresy_G at Edge Effect and include the range in miles for each item.



Pork Chops - Hatfield (89 miles). Rubbed with a dry rub of herbs and spices and grilled. Basted with a mixture of brown sugar and vinegar while grilling.

Turkey Apple Sausage - Lititz (7 miles). Grilled. This was really delicious. I don't like sausage but I had a taste of this and I loved it. We're going to have the leftover sausage tonight for dinner.

Potatoes with Sugar Snap Peas and Basil - Potatoes from Bird In Hand (23 miles), Peas from the Masonic Home farm market in Elizabethtown (15 miles), and Basil from Schaefferstown (17 miles). Potatoes were cubed and boiled until tender and the peas were thrown in the last few minutes until tender, then drained and mixed with olive oil, salt & pepper and chopped fresh basil. Then I put it all in a foil packet and cooked it on the grill while the meat cooked.

Corn - Manheim, Nolt's farm stand (2 miles down the road). Boiled until tender, grilled for five minutes.

Homemade Root Beer - Strasburg (26 miles). Onil kept calling it Rutts beer.

Strawberry Smoothies for dessert - Strawberries from a u-pick farm in Lititz (7 miles) and milk from Kreider dairies in Manheim (2 miles). Strawberries are frozen and blended with fat-free milk. Onil also had an apple dumpling that he bought at Roots, but was made here in Manheim.

More Than Half a Cup

Hi peoples! It's Amy again with the news again.

Anywho, Transformers! We saw it monday night, it rocked! So much better than dumb Spider Man 3 or Pirates 3. It was great! It had the original Autobots and Decepticons, not the ones I had to watch growing up with different characters. I even won a dumb shirt! It has the Autobot symbol on it, and it says: "Their war, Our world." On the back it says: "Transformers 7-4-7" even though we saw it on the 2nd. The people that were giving them out were such losers! You had to answer these dumb questions and stuff, and the dude asked the same questions over and over again! He was looking at his dumb notes the whole time too. The question I had to answer was "A few years ago, what station was the cartoon "Transformers" on?" I havn't watched it in years so I barely remembered. I thought it might have been ABC Family, so I said, "29." He had to double check that it was ABC Family. I got it right, so I got a really smelly shirt. It stunk! It smells better now that I've worn it though.



The dude was sexist too! Either that or I'm the only girl who actually tried. Of course, he had to call me, I was practically jumping out of my seat. No other girl was called. At the end, the guy called three dudes to try and win an Optimus Prime toy, which you could probably buy in a store somewhere for $20. The first guy was some teenage kid and his questions were simple! The kid answered them in about a total of 5 seconds. The next dude was asked another easy question even though he got it wrong. Dummy. Then the last dude, who was a total dork, answered correctly. Then they had to sing the best to try and get the toy. The first kid refused so he got some sweet looking poster, then the next guy sang like, one line while shaking his hand, and then he gave up. So he got some poster too. The last dude then sang a bunch of the song and he was into it and he sang it like opera or something. Mom was the only one who stood for the guy as she clapped. The loser.

So, the movie was great and when they transformed was pretty awesome too. The only I really hated was the fact that Shia LaBuff was the lead role. I think they should've gotten a different person. I can't stand him.

Anywho, here's a poster from the movie. I wish I could get rid of the Hasbro logo on it cause it looks really lame with the poster, but oh well. What're you gonna do? Huh?



Out of all of the summer movies so far, it is far by the best. It could be better, but all in all, it's a good movie. Well worth the money you spend on it, but not the money on the snacks!