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This recipe is a favorite in my house and I am proud to say, it is totally my creation. If you ask me to bring a dessert, especially if there are kids there, you can almost always be assured this is what I will bring. I think the key in the recipe, like most others, is good ingredients. I use real butter, good quality vanilla (I like Nielsan-Massey and I just got organic Nielsan-Massey at Marshalls!), Reese’s peanut butter chips and, of course, good chocolate. Oh yes, No, the whole wheat flour is not an attempt to make these healthy, there’s way to much butter for that! The whole wheat flour seams to make them stand up better to cutting into squares. I also like to add chopped pecans, but that almost always insures kids won’t like them.

Jolly Brownies

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (4 squares)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup all-purpose white flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
10 ounces peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350, 325 for convection ovens. In a 4-quart saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate carefully over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat very lightly, just until combined, by hand. Stir in both flours. Spread batter into greased 9X13 pan.  Top with peanut butter chips.  Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes in a standard oven or bake at 325 for 30 minutes in a convection oven.

I went with my extended family May 13th-15th to the annual reenactment of the Raid on Martin’s Station. There are similar events at the park all summer long and almost every month throughout the year, but the this is the biggest. Wilderness Road State Park is in far southwest Virginia. The park is 310 acres that lie beside the Wilderness Road, a route carved by Daniel Boone in 1775 that followed a buffalo migration trail and opened America’s first western frontier. Martin’s Station is a replica of a colonial frontier fort that was on this site in 1775. Park officials brag that it is the most authentically reconstructed fort in the United States. The three-day event has more than 500 re-enactors, including Shawnee and Cherokee warriors (who were my kid’s favorite) and men, women and children (who were adorable) settlers.

I had never been to a reenactment and I wasn’t sure what I would think, but I knew my kids would love it. I think there is something for everyone. My father has a sincere appreciation for the authenticity the reactors strive for in everything they do and really enjoyed sharing that with us. Other than the other visitors to the site and the cars in the parking lot, there is nothing modern to be seen. It was a wonderful step back in time that brings history alive. Even the coffee shops and vendors in the 18th century Market Fair, serve on tin and there is no plastic anywhere.

My children and my nephew absolutely loved the Indians, their camp and watching them creep through the woods and across the field during the raid. They even told my dad, whom I think would enjoy being a re-enactor, they would dress up and come along to more of these if he would join the Indians. But, I don’t think he’s ready to join sides with the Indians just yet.

My mom, sister and I loved seeing how the re-enactors authentically prepare their meals in their camps. I think it’s a secret contest amongst them to see who can have the best food. A group of about 9 men had ribs, pies, greens, stuffing and salad. They were the winners in the secret contest that day! Although, I think there wives must have helped with a lot of prep before they got there.

I could also appreciate how authentic the camps were. There were no air mattresses, mosquito netting, or coolers anywhere. I have since found out that the coolers are hidden in crates. The men in the first picture below have an actual birch bark canoe they made.  One of the re-enactors told us how the night before that had to get cosy under a lean-to belonging to two people they had never met before during a sudden rain storm. I think I would only be happy camping in the actual fort, maybe!

The two reenactments of raids of the fort were enjoyed by everyone. You see the Indians sneak through the fields, capture the women caught outside the fort (of course!), fire original muskets and a cannon, burn down sections of the fort, and negotiate the return of the women.

I know there are reenactments in many places but the beauty of Wilderness Road State Park and Cumberland Gap is amazing. The town of Cumberland Gap is also very charming. There is only one restaurant, Webb’s Country Kitchen,  that serves great country cooked meals (we ate there 4 times that weekend) and it is quite funny to see the groups of re-enactors there having dinner. Early one morning, my four year-old nephew peeked out the window of our hotel only to see an Indian in the parking lot!

The iris comes with a lot of history.  The flower dates all the way back to Greek mythology.  It was believed that the Greek goddess Iris was the messenger of the gods and the link between heaven and earth.  The word iris itself is the Greek word for a rainbow.

And, irises really do come in almost every color possible.  There are different shapes and types, as well.   You’ll find bearded iris, Siberian iris and my new favorite the Japanese iris. They are very easy to grow and typically bloom in the spring.  Take a drive around town or out into the country and you’ll see them growing.  Blue irises are the most common, but they also come in white, yellow, maroon, orange and black.  Look for plants to add to your garden at your local nursery or farmers’ market.

Near Sumter, SC is the beautiful Swan Lake Iris Garden.  The lake is home to all eight types of the world’s swans including swans from Asia, Australia, England and South America.   Every Memorial Day Weekend they celebrate the Sumter Iris Festival.  The 3-day festival includes concerts, an art and craft show, a golf tournament, a flower show, a food tasting, the crowning of the Iris Festival king and queen, and a number of contests and kids activities.

Last weekend I trekked with my entire family down to Cumberland Gap, TN to see a reenactment of the Raid at Martin’s Station. I will write about the raid in a few days, I need to sort through the 500 pictures I took! While we were at the ranger station, one of the park rangers told me about a great hike with kids a few miles up the road to a large cave with a 1 meter round skylight in the top of the cave. My son overheard him and was dying to check it out, unfortunately I only had my Dansko clogs with me. The trail was beautiful leading up to the cave and except for having to be very careful not to roll my ankle, not a bad hike in clogs.  I loved seeing the running cedar growing all along the trail.

I was shocked when we got to the cave how big it was. It was great to listen to a school group of kids who were thrilled to crawl around in the dark. I would have been fine to have hiked up there in clogs, had I had not decided to crawl around in the dark cave. I managed to step into two feet of very cold water in a lake in the cave. I had a very squishy shoe for the rest of the weekend.

It was a great hike in beautiful weather that I am so glad we decided to take, even if one of us didn’t have the right shoes.

Tip- if you want to hike on top of the cave and crawl in through the skylight, as you are looking at the cave from the outside, hike up from the left side and it is a very easy hike.  My kids loved it!

What ride threatens to make you sick at the fair?  Is it the Tilt-a-Whirl?  Maybe it is the Flying Pirate Ship that may at any moment dump you out of your seat.  For me it is the cute green dragons.

Those dragons seem innocent enough with their pretty colors and smiling faces, but beware!  Unknown to me was the fact that they each spin individually, while simultaneously being hurled around in a circle.  Really, I can’t think of any carnival ride more torturous for an adult.  Of course, my two small children thought it was the best ride they have ever been on.  They grabbed the wheel in the middle of the dragon and spun it around and around making us go faster and faster.  To survive, I had to look out the door and try and focus on a light or building, anything to keep my dizzy head from getting the best of me.

When the ride was finally over, I stumbled outside and safely away from the grinning dragon.  The kids handed the man two more tickets and jumped back on.  My lesson…. let the kids ride the spinning dragons.  I’m happy to wait by the fence with some kettle corn.

Dogwood Festival,   Coshocton, OH

April 30th – May 8th

Vashon Island Strawberry Festival,  Vashon, WA

July 17th - July 18th

Virginia Beach Neptune Festival, Virginia Beach, VA

September 24th - 26th

Norfolk Harborfest, Norfolk, VA

July 3rd - 5th

When you are visiting farmers’ markets this year keep an eye out for fresh eggs.  Once you have tried an egg from a hen that has roamed around a field foraging on fresh grass and bugs, you’ll never want to eat a grocery store egg again.

We added a chicken coop and hen house to our yard two years ago. I purchased an assortment of chicks from McMurray Hatchery, but my favorite ones are the Polish hens with the top hat feathers.  I raised the chicks in my office, which you might think is insane and you would be right. The chicks make a huge mess so I have to clean their cage twice daily. I know folks who have raised the chicks in their garage and this works, but keep in mind the smell can move through the house if you are not really careful. After the chicks’ feathers have come in, which takes about four weeks, they can be moved to their permanent residence outside. It takes another six months or so for the hens to start laying eggs.  It’s quite a process to go from chick to hen to eggs.

I now have a new batch of chicks in my office. These little ones will grow to be beautiful hens. Some will stay with me and others will go to friends who are excited about fresh eggs for their family and friends. If you want to try fresh eggs, look for a farmers’ market near you. Once you try eggs from happy and healthy hens, you may want to raise some yourself. Maybe not in your office, but you never know.  Here’s a video to give you an idea of what is going on inside my office right now!

I wanted to highlight three more amazing artists from the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. I have a brochure from the show on my desk and I love picking it up again and again remembering what amazing talent there was at the show. Again, the variety of art in the show makes it a great trip to take with friends and the restaurants in Philadelphia are some of the best in the country.

Genevieve Yang – Genevieve is a third generation goldsmith and she creates individually handcrafted jewelry from various karats and colors of gold and silver. She then carefully selects each stone that goes into her pieces. She incorporates colorless diamonds, fancy diamonds and precious stones. She was also a delight to talk to during the show, her own enthusiasm and confidence in her work really shines through.

Martha Fieber – Martha is a former engineer and you can see her background in the intense attention to detail and planning in her work. She creates amazing landscape pieces that from a distance look as though they could be an oil painting. Only as you begin to walk up closer to them do you realize that her pieces are comprised of thousands of intricate stitches that allow for incredible depth and perspective. She works with only four types of stitches using single strand silk, rayon, metallic and/or hand dyed cotton threads on linen and silk backgrounds.

Jerry & Deborah Kermode – Jerry and Deborah have a love affair with trees and its shows in their wood turned creations. I made a small purchase from them and bought a beautiful pepper grinder that proudly sits on my kitchen island. Jerry hand carves each piece on a lathe, using the grain of the wood and its character traits as his guides. The vessel is rough turned to 1/2″ thick, allowed to dry for many months and then finish turned to a thickness appropriate to the design. Finally it is sanded to a 1200 grit finish and Danish oiled. Deborah administers the final finish: the piece is steel wooled and waxed. Jerry also offers classes at his studio in beautiful Sebastopol, CA and will share his gift with you.

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Grab a pencil and a pad of paper and get involved in the Great Backyard Bird Count from February 12 –15, 2010. The Great Backyard Bird Count is organized by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  It is a way to take a snapshot of the kinds of birds spotted during February and to compare this information to bird populations from past years.

Whether you are an avid bird watcher or not, it is easy to participate in this free event and help track birds across America.  All you have to do is record the birds you see for 15 minutes on any of the four days on a tally sheet and then log the birds you saw online. You can also submit photos you take in your backyard. It’s up to you. At The Great American Bird Count you’ll find instructions on what to do and helpful tips on identifying birds.  So, mark it on your calendar and have fun!

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My family made some last minute presents for the holidays.  I had seen photographs of gourmet caramel apples and thought we could try and make them.  The apples I had seen in catalogs were $26 a piece and were coated in caramel, chocolate, nuts, and various other toppings. We gave it a try, learned a few things along the way and made some yummy treats.

First, we used a caramel recipe from Epicurious.com that was amazing. While the recipe said it covered 12 apples, we really had enough caramel for 18 apples.  Since we had only prepared for 12 apples, we also dipped marshmallows into the caramel that we stuck with a toothpick.  The kids loved these, but they were so unbelievably sweet that I think only children would find these marshmallows appealing.  After the marshmallows, we poured the remaining caramel into a butter dish and then sprinkled the top with a bit of sea salt.  Once the caramel set, we turned the caramel out onto a plate and cut it into bite-sized pieces.  Yummy!

Once we had our apples covered in caramel and they had chilled, our second step was to dip them into milk chocolate that we had melted in a double boiler. This wasn’t part of the recipe, but something extra we did.  From the chocolate bath, we rolled the tops of the apples in chopped up peanuts (for adults) or multi-colored candy jimmies (for kids).

As for the caramel apples, we followed the recipe exactly.  Hope you enjoy!

Caramel Apples - Originally from Epicurious.com

1 1-pound box dark brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon robust-flavored (dark) molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 sturdy lollipop sticks or chopsticks
12 medium apples
Assorted decorations (such as chopped nuts, chopped raisins, mini M&Ms and candy sprinkles)

Equipment needed - one accurate candy thermometer.

1-Combine sugar, butter, condensed milk, corn syrup, maple syrup, vanilla, molasses and salt in a thick-bottomed 2 1/2 or 3 quart saucepan. Stir with a wooden spoon on medium-low heat until all the sugar dissolves. There should be no grittiness (sugar crystals) when you test by rubbing a little of the caramel between your fingers. Brush down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to dissolve any sugar crystals that might form on the pan sides.
2-Attach a clip-on candy thermometer to the pan and cook caramel at a rolling boil until the thermometer reaches 236°F, stirring constantly and slowly with a wooden spatula. Continue to occasionally brush the sides down with a pastry brush. Carefully pour caramel into a metal bowl. Cool until the temperature lowers to 200°F, at which point you are ready to dip the apples.
3-While the caramel is cooking/cooling, prepare a large baking sheet, covering it either with buttered aluminum foil or silpat. Insert a chopstick or sturdy lollipop stick into each apple, about 2 inches, top down, into the apple core.
4-When the caramel has cooled enough for dipping, dip the apples in, one by one, by holding on to the stick, and vertically lowering the apple into the caramel, submerging all but the very top of the apple. Pull the apple up from the caramel and let the excess caramel drip off from the bottom back into the pan. Then place on the silpat or prepared foil. The caramel will pool a little at the bottom of each apple. Place into the refrigerator to chill for at least 15 minutes.
5-Once the caramel has chilled a bit, remove from the refrigerator and use your fingers to press the caramel that has dripped to the bottom of the apples, back on to the apples. Then take whatever coatings you want and press them into the apples for decoration. Return to the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour.

I went to visit the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA.  No, it is not where torpedos are being made, but they used to be.  Now it is an art center that showcases the work of regional, national and international artists on three floors in a great old building down on the waterfront.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center really offers something for everyone’s taste and price range.  There are galleries showcasing huge oil painting of landscapes and a fiber gallery with felted hats and woven scarves.  We left with two beautiful clay ornaments for next year’s Christmas tree.  There are dozens of galleries in the art center, so there is a lot to do. And, if you really do want to see a torpedo and learn a bit about their history, look for a display of a torpedo on the first floor.

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