6:01 AM
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Summertime Fun Recipes
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When I was a little kid, one of the most fun memories I have of my grandparents, was going over to their house for homemade ice cream. It was such a cool family gathering and it seems like everyone was always happy when it was time to eat! My parents carried on that tradition, and when I had kids of my own I decided to do the same. I however, have always used the little bags of mix that you just add milk to and called it good.....Over the holiday weekend we wanted to make some ice cream, so we searched all over town for the mix - NONE to be found anywhere. I got all kinds of desperate and starting rummaging through my moms little cookbook she made for me. Voila! It was so simple I could have kicked myself for not doing it this way sooner. It tastes better by far, though you will definitely need a good Kettlebell workout after eating it! I will share...8 egg yolks2 cups sugar1 quart of half and halfMix these together and set aside in a large bowl.1 quart of half and half1 cup of sugar4 tbls real vanilla (I didn't have enough so I tossed in some butterscotch snaaps!)dash of saltHeat these ingredients in a saucepan until it sticks to the back of a metal spoon.Mix this SLOWLY into the cold ingredients in the bowl. Pour it all into the freezer bucket that comes with your ice cream maker, and chill for 4 hours.When you are ready to freeze the cream mix, you can add almost anything you want to. Chocolate chips are a favorite around here! Put everything together, add ice, then a layer of rock salt, then ice, then salt ect until it is at the top. My ice cream maker just stops when it is done, but you may have to check on yours after about an hour or so. This is a soft ice cream and is so easy to put into cones - just watch the bottom or you will get leaked on!Enjoy!!
5:49 AM
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The Green Fairy Is Calling Me....
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We got some new kind of absinthe at work a few weeks ago. I want it. It comes in a box with a cafe glass and a spoon just for drinking it with and they look so very groovy. I got to looking through one of our distributors' magazines though, and there are like tons of different kinds of absinthe, all with different ingredients and the like. It used to be illegal here in the states until a while back when I guess the powers that be decided it was ok again. People ask me every day if it is "the real thing" or just a flavor. It's real alright! The problem for me is that it is $65 big bucks a bottle, and I just can't justify spending that much for booze at this point in my life! The money, and the fact that if I drink it I may end up needing a San Jose motorcycle accident attorney by the time the night is over is just a little bit frightening. I just really really want to experience the same thing as so many artists did back in the day - ok and maybe see a little green fairy!!
6:11 PM
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Share It If You Want To
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I am so much more than happy to report that I have begun harvesting CORN!!! I picked a pretty good sized bowl of it this morning, and I am cooking it up right now as I type this. Since we try our very best NOT to use pesticides, a few of the tops of the corns had a little worm eating away at them. I just snap off that part and eat the rest!
Not a bad haul eh? Tonight I decided to give the corn a good boil on top of the stove, but sometimes we like to wrap it up in tin foil and cook it on the grill. So good!!
Look at all the pretty colors in my steel sink! (I so wish I had a stainless steel backsplash to go with it! Halie and her dad spent the better part of today cleaning up water that had leaked down the back wall from the overzealous washing of the vegetables. So NOT fun!)
We have been eating a lot of vegies out of the garden this week, and we have also had to give them away by the bag full! I am sure we should have set up a stand on the corner, but I just haven't had the time this year. Giving it away to folks who appreciate it is just a whole lot more fun anyways. Some how through all the storms and winds and bugs, we have still been blessed with more than we could eat. I suppose it's natures way of telling us to share!
12:31 PM
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Next Trip: Heading East
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Ahhhh we are home from our camping trip at Scott Lake! The excursion made me realize some things, and was a little bit lonelier on the road than I had imagined. If you are venturing out west from Hutchinson, be prepared for a lot of open - deserted - road. You will see a lot of beautiful scenery, but that's about it. Not a whole lot of places to stop and find relief really....
The lake itself was gorgeous, though much smaller than I had anticipated. The kids' only complaints were that it had no skateboard ramps and that the bathrooms were full of bugs at night. Whaddya do? I was a little shocked at the cost of worms and ice at the marina store. I knew it would be higher, but wow those folks are making a killing! I do think the bathrooms needed to be maintained a little better, but really they were not so bad and the park staff did a nice job keeping the place free of trash. If only the people that camped would clean up after themselves too....
They have a little museum of a claim house, but it was all closed up. Kind of sad, but I can totally see why they couldn't just leave it all open. Seems there are a lot of folks out that way that don't care what damage they leave behind. 
This was our little camp site for the time we were there - such an awesome view. Most people think that Kansas is flat - but that is just not the case.
We saw a lot of snakes. Very scary. I know that is something you run across more when you are enjoying nature and all - but we saw way too many. EEEK!
I did get to thinkin about just how lucky I am to have so many great things right in my reach. Stuff other people take for granted like a good big clean grocery store, a wal-mart, gas stations ect... I could not believe the costs of things out that way. Seemed like the smaller the town - the more expensive things got. Gas is a good 20 cents cheaper in my town compared to all the smaller towns. We thought we would save a little by waiting to get groceries until we got to a town close to the lake - but oh no. We did finally find a nice market that was clean and had food that didn't look spoiled, but it was way pricey on the goods. Driving out that way I did notice how friendly the folks were. Seemed like every car that passed had a driver in it that waved hello to us. We aren't so used to that here. All in all - the trip was pretty nice. We went fishing, went swimming, and cooked hotdogs on our little grill. A nice storm rolled by to the north of us and gave us a bit of a scare, but we waited it out in the truck and eventually went to bed. Hopefully a few memories were made for the kids!
9:37 AM
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Vacation Time
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We are headed off into the wild wild west!! My life insurance policy is all updated and I am ready to roll! I am taking the kids out to the lake near Scott City to explore all that it has to offer. I have never been there before, but it is supposed to be a very historical place with lots of natural beauty to be seen. Hopefully when we return, I will be able to share lots of photos! I know most people tend to do these things on the weekends, but with my schedule - this is one of the last opportunities I will have to get out of here with the kids before school starts. I can't believe it's almost that time again. Ugh.Now to finish the packing - ewwwwwww!! Have a great week ya'll!!
7:39 PM
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Getting The Hell Out Of Dodge
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Now that we have a kitty, every time we go to the store, we have to stop and look in the pet section to see if we can bring her home some presents, or pick up a bag of food or litter. Since I have been shopping, I have noticed that there are tons and tons of dog supplies out there, but hardly anything for the kitty kind. What's up with that? What about the poor kitteh kittehs?? Maybe our little Lilly would like to have liver flavored treats too! We found a cute little photo frame set just for puppies - not one for kitties. So unfair!I think tomorrow we are going to try and go to the lake for a while. It is ungodly hot here and I just feel like I need to get away from this town for a bit. Ya ever feel like that?
