the turkey hill experience - part 2

we really enjoyed traveling out to columbia, pennsylvania on sunday for a little day trip date to check out the turkey hill experience.  in addition to sampling a ton of ice cream and iced tea, we checked out all of the exhibits.

i just loved seeing all of the old dairy equipment and containers, as well as the old ice cream packaging from years ago.  it was so neat.  i also have to say that i was really impressed by how skilled ryan was at milking a mechanical cow!  i couldn't seem to get it right at all, but he was a pro.  (add that to his resume!)  here are some more photos from our trip . . .

love, laurie

the turkey hill experience - part 1

sunday was one of those rare occasions when we actually had the entire day free.  we decided to make the most of it and hopped in the car for a little day trip date.  turkey hill is a huge company in our area, and for several years i have been wanting to see what the turkey hill experience is all about.

after breakfast on sunday morning, we took a little road trip out to columbia, pennsylvania.  even though the turkey hill experience is mainly geared for kids, we both really enjoyed it!  we got to learn about the history of turkey hill dairy, how ice cream is made, sit in an old-fashioned milk truck, milk a mechanical cow, and make our own virtual ice cream flavor and packaging.  one of the best parts was the unlimited ice cream and iced tea samples!  (out of all of the flavors that we sampled, my favorite ice cream flavor was the pistachio.)

we spent a good deal of time walking around the exhibits, sampling ice cream and tea, and sampling some more!  it was a neat trip and i'm glad we made the trek out to columbia to check it out.  here are a few photos from our time there . . .

love, laurie

fun links

we made it through the week, folks!  that deserves a high five for sure.  since it's friday, here are a few fun links that i found around the internet recently . . .

1. i would like to dive right into a slice of this cake

2. this city guide makes me want to visit new orleans

3. smitten kitchen now has a digital series on food network

4. financial tips to make the most out of 2017

5. everything you could possibly need to know about nyc pizza

6. what disney characters would look like in real life

7. this ballet costume is gorgeous, i want it in orange!

8. speaking of dance, this sweatshirt sums up my life

9. as soon as people hear i'm a vegetarian, i always get the same question about protein . . . here are several easy ways to get protein without eating meat

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

hover cat

i don't know what in tarnation is going on in our house, but this guy is still at it!  he is now completely obsessed with the sink colander and gets in it every chance he gets.  over the weekend i had several dishes draining in there.  leko jumped up on the sink, looked at the colander, looked at me, looked at the colander again, looked at me again . . . finally i said "what do you want me to do, clear it out for you?" to which he nodded his head "yes."

i give up.  the sink colander is now his and he loves it.  (i would like to reiterate that this stupid thing has been there for his entire life.)

every time he gets in the colander i just cannot stop laughing though because he seriously looks like he is hovering in mid air!  people wonder why we're exhausted all the time!

love, laurie

honey pistachio cashew cranberry granola

we like having granola on hand around the house to snack on and to put onto yogurt.  i threw together a batch of this granola over the weekend so that we would have it to snack on during the week.  i was originally intending to make this batch into granola bars, but they didn't want to stick together so it just became loose granola.  oh well, still tastes the same!

honey pistachio cashew cranberry granola
total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
yields: approximatley 3 cups
adapted from table for two

ingredients:
2 cups oats
1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted cashews, chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed meal
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

directions:
in a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, cranberries, chia seeds, and flaxseeds.  in a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter and the honey together until it comes to a boil.  remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  pour the hot mixture over the dry ingredients and stir together until all is evenly coated.  pour out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and allow to cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

enjoy!

love, laurie

in the words of the jersey boys . . . "oh, what a night!"

two years ago on valentine's day, we went to see the tour of jersey boys.  we are lucky to have a local theatre that pulls in the tours of many national broadway shows.  ryan works nearly all of them because he is part of the theatre stage hands union.  it's always so exciting to hear all of his stories when he comes home after working a show.

this past week/weekend the national tour of jersey boys was in town.  ryan worked the load in, the entire run of the show, and the load out.  i barely saw him all week long because he spent every waking hour at the theatre.  there's so much that goes into making these shows happen, and there were eight performances this week.

since this was such a big show, they needed all the help they could get, so i worked the load out with ryan on sunday night.  i always love getting a chance to be a part of ryan's backstage theatre world, and i really loved getting to work the load out with him.  it was especially fun because i knew a ton of people working that show too.

i snapped the picture above right before we started the load out.  there were seven tractor trailers like that one that we filled with lights, sound, video, automation, props, wardrobe, and miscellaneous equipment.  ryan snapped the two pictures below of all of the wardrobe gondolas lined up before the run of the show one day.  ryan has been working show calls for years, and he typically works tech positions such as: lights, video, automation, carpentry, or deck hand.  after all of his years doing theatre, this was his first time working a running position on wardrobe for a broadway show.  it certainly kept him on his toes since he was responsible for two actors with multiple quick changes throughout the run of the show.

even though we didn't get home until 3am after the load out, it was worth it.  now onto the next show!

love, laurie

lemony parsley spinach pesto (vegan)

we're pesto lovers in our house.  pesto is great because it is so forgiving.  you can really personalize it by throwing just about anything in a food processor and calling it pesto.

this weekend i had to throw together a really quick side dish to accompany dinner.  i knew that i had some fresh parsley and fresh spinach in the fridge that i wanted to use up, so i made some pesto to go on pasta.  the fresh parsley combined with the fresh lemon gives this pesto such a bright flavor.  it took a matter of minutes to throw together and it was so tasty!

lemony parsley spinach pesto
total time: 5 minutes
yields: approximately 1 cup

ingredients:
2 cups fresh parsley
2 cups fresh spinach
1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
salt and pepper to taste

directions:
in a food processor, blend all ingredients together until smooth.  add oil as needed to reach desired consistency.

enjoy!

love, laurie