Taking a breather

Pumpkin, mincemeat and apple pies made. Preparing dinner for 14 people. Two last minute trips to the grocery store. One done by me, other done by Dad. Mom is sick in bed with a bad cold and horrible cough. Table set. Silver polished. Serving dishes and serving utensils prepped. Cider purchased and iced. Stuffing ingredients ready to rock and roll in the morning. Busy day. All the more reason to take a moment and find a quiet moment to say "Thank you, God, for the incredible world you've created. How blessed we are, indeed."

Field Trip to Woolrich!

Today, Mom, Dad and I went for a field trip. We drove out to Woolrich, PA and visited the original company store. It was a wonderful store - not a huge box store at all. Kinda like LL Bean used to be in Freeport, ME. Not that that store isn't a great place to go visit - but it has lost the quaint charm it had until it remodeled and expanded sometime in the 1980s. This store has obviously done remodeling since it was founded 180 years ago. They don't have the factory store they used have on the premises when my grandparents used to stop here, but its stuck with what made it famous - wool products and buffalo plaids for home and outdoor use. We did some Christmas shopping, some personal shopping and found some deals we were very impressed with. During lunch at the little cafe adjoining the store, we discussed our bargains and decided to return and make another purchase or two for dad. Though we filled up the trunk with bags of treasures and bargains, I did leave the little sheep that symbolizes the store on the shelf when we were ready to leave and explore the little town.
The whole town is centered around the store and I think there are some historical markers describing the significance of the cabin - but we were tired from shopping and ready to head for home that I didn't take the extra time as we left to go read the markers.

We were interested enough to drive around the town and see how much John Rich influenced the area with his little mule cart that he used to peddle his woolen goods he manufactured at a mill in Plum Run before relocating to this spot where he had a steadier supply of water. If you know your 19th C American History and anything about the spread of evangelical denominations across the country, it will come as little surprise to you that a circuit rider made his way to the settlement that resided around the mill to bring religion to its inhabitants.

And today it is known as the Woolrich Community Methodist Church!

I just loved the little pine trees in the porch fence.

The road into town is lined with 2 miles of pine trees just on the road's edge. Don't know who took the initiative to plant all those trees years ago - but it made an impressive procession on the way in and out of town.


Mom managed to get this video from the front seat on our way out of town. Coming or going, it offers the same stately effect.

Oh yes, indeedy!

Mom and I were out doing the weekly grocery shopping this morning and low and behold, in the Shop-Rite grocery aisles we discovered that a 'pancake puff' pan - as seen on TV - is available for sale!

Why is it, I wondered, that my Danish ancestors (and Williams-Sonoma) insisted upon calling this an ebelskiver pan? Didn't they realize the real marketing secret was in alliteration?

Turns out that it comes with its own turning tool AND a recipe, too!

Really - this is the best stuff on earth

To say I like apple cider is an understatement. I simply love the stuff. And, as with other things, I have a discriminating taste and won't drink just any old cider on the market. I'm pretty devoted to Melick's Town Farm Cider and have been for more than 15 years. Melick's orchards are adjacent to Oldwick United Methodist Church, the congregation I attended before I went to seminary in '98. This stuff is wonderful. It's made without preservatives and is cold pasteurized. It's delicious and the only way cider can be better is to have it as it comes off the press....which you can do over at Melick's Farm Stand in Oldwick on the other end of Hunterdon County from where I live now.

Over the last decade, other people have discovered how good this stuff is. In response, Melick's stepped up production and started distributing their fabulous cider to grocery stores in western Central Jersey. That's a nice thing because Oldwick UMC merged with another congregation and I don't go to church in that area or even drive that way except on special occasions these days. And this stuff is so superior to other ciders that I would drive out of my way to have some - but I am glad I don't have to go further than the local grocery store and now there is the convenient little pint container if you can't manage to wait till you get home to have some of this wonderful stuff so you can chug it down on your drive home....whetting your appetite for more when you get there. It's just that good!
And for all those years I lived out of NJ? My mom would do me the great favor of buying the cider and freezing it till I could get home to enjoy it. We still do that with a few gallons so there will be some available in the middle of the winter. Yeah, I know I've said it before, but really - it is just that good.

Tomato Soup Cake and Cream Cheese Icing

Yes, you read that right - and I baked one early this evening for my mother's birthday tomorrow. She has loved it since childhood and as long as anyone in the family can remember its been her birthday cake. When people go "Whaaaaat?" I usually describe it as a depression era spice cake - I wasn't around in the depression and technically my parents were born at the end of the Great Depression, but its what I remember her mother saying one time and it just works for me. It is a good cake, but after today's performance in a Wilton cake pan, I suggest you stick with a 9x12" pan and don't try and get fancy.

Tomato Soup Cake

3/4 C Crisco
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C tomato soup (canned, condensed, classically Campbell's)
3/4 C water
1 tsp. soda
3 C flour
3/4 tsp salt
3 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 C raisens
1 1/2 C chopped walnuts (not usually in the b-day cake)

Blend Crisco and sugar. Combine tomato soup with water and soda. Add to Crisco mixture alternately with all the sifted dry ingredients. Stir in raisins and nuts. Pour into 9" greased tube pan or 9x12" cake pan. Bake in moderate oven of 350 for 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. (yes, there is no egg in the recipe, it always fakes me out)

Cream Cheese Icing

Blend 2 8 oz. packages cream cheese with 1 egg yolk and 3 C confectioner's sugar. Add 1/8 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. vanilla.

Happy Birthday, Mom!