Apple Picking 07

Well! It's been a long time since any of us have updated! One Local Summer is done, and I bailed on the last meal. Onil's sister and her family came down to visit us for Labor Day and there was too much going on to make sure everything we ate was locally produced. We did have a Cowboy BBQ (much like our Luau BBQ) and most of what we ate was local anyway. We'll do pictures of that whenever we get through everything -- between the Cowboy BBQ, Knoebels, boat racing, and just general sitting around, we took like a billion pictures that weekend. It's going to be a lot to go through, is what I'm saying.

This past weekend, though, we went apple picking. We wound up with 37½ pounds of apples. What are we going to do with all of those apples? Make 37½ awesome pounds of apple sauce, that's what. And maybe a pie or two. We went to Cherry Hill Orchards, south of Lancaster city. Here are our pictures:





Onil and Anna, waiting for the fun to start:



Faith and Amy, walking around and picking apples:



Anna and Onil wanted me to do a perspective shot:



They also wanted to get some shots of apples in mid-flight, so they chucked apples up in the air and took like a billion pictures:



Onil Appleseed:



I'm not sure why, but there was a corn field in between two rows of trees...



So someone (probably Onil) got the bright idea that we should lay down and look like we got run over like the corn.



Children of the Corn:



We always get a picture of Amy crying by signs telling you that you're not allowed to do stuff. Here's the latest in a series. (We should make a photo album just of pictures of Amy crying at signs.)



And then we have Amy getting up and looking like she's farting:



This is the sign you see when you're leaving. Bye until next year, Cherry Hill Orchards!

One Local Summer, Meal 7

We had a pretty simple meal of just sandwiches this week. I have a confession to make. If you haven't already been able to tell, I really don't like vegetables, especially raw ones. They are always the last to be put on my plate and I can only stand them in limited quantities (except for lima beans, I could eat a truckload of those). The kids are worse than I am (except Amy loves lima beans as much as I do). Onil will eat more vegetables than me, but really, for us, it's all about the meat and starch (rice/bread/pasta/potatoes). I ate a piece of fresh raw tomato last week and nearly gagged on it. We will eat fresh fruit, though, so we've got that going for us.

Anyway, this week we just had Monte Christo sandwiches, and they were very yummy!



Ham - Kunzler Meats, Lancaster (10 miles)

Turkey - Sensenig Poultry, Lititz (7 miles)

Cheese - Guernsey's Gift, East Petersburg (5 miles)

Whole Wheat Potato Bread - Martins Bread, Chambersburg (86 miles)

Eggs - Meadow Run Farm, Lititz (12 miles)

Milk - Kreider Dairies, Manheim (2 miles)

Maple Syrup - Brennemans, Salisbury (188 miles - not within the 100 mile limit, but the closest-produced maple syrup I could find)

Potato Chips - Kay & Ray's, Chambersburg (86 miles)


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I've gotten several requests for the cantaloupe juice recipe, and one for the Filipino adobo from last week. I haven't taken pictures of the preparation process for either but I'll try to describe them. If you have any questions, just ask! :o)

Cantaloupe Juice
Ingredients:

1 Cantaloupe
2 tbsp. Sugar, Brown Sugar or Honey (we like honey the best)
Water
Ice

Cut cantaloupe in quarters and remove seeds. Scrape out the inside flesh with this tool (Onil says a fork works well, too). Do this all in a bowl to catch the juices. Put the the scrapings and the juice in a pitcher and add the sweetener; stir to dissolve. Top off with ice and water and stir. Refrigerate and serve cold with juice and scrapings (you may want to include a spoon or a wide straw).

The link for Market Manila also suggests adding a little lemon juice or fresh mint to your cantaloupe juice. I'm not so sure about the lemon juice, but the fresh mint sounds like a great addition and something we're going to have to try in the future. If you're not going to serve it to kids, a little white wine also might be interesting.


Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo
Ingredients:

Bone-in Chicken parts (I use 2 breasts & 2 thighs, and I remove the skin)
1 small Onion, sliced
8 cloves Garlic, chopped
3/4 c. low-sodium Soy Sauce
1/2 c. Cider Vinegar
1/2 c. Water
2 tbsp. Brown Sugar
1 tbsp. Peppercorns
1 Bay Leaf

Spray inside of slow cooker with nonstick spray and layer chicken pieces in slow cooker. Top with onion and garlic. Mix together soy sauce, vinegar, water and brown sugar until sugar dissolves; pour into slow cooker. Add peppercorns and bay leaf. Cook on high for one hour and turn down to low for five or six hours. Serve with rice.