Amish County Day

The morning of our second day in Pennsylvania Dutch Country I took some photos of the quilts hanging in the hotel. Sundays are known for most things being closed, so we didn't have a lot of choices of things to do.

We decided to hit the outlet mall to start the day and I picked up these two purses for about $5 each from a shop called Ten Thousand Villages.

I also picked up some necklaces on clearance, and we bought some goldfish snacks.

We then hit the "links" at The Village Greens miniature golf. We hit 24 holes of putt-putt. My husband won the game, but I did get a hole-in-one on the last hole and earned us a free game. Since we couldn't use it again on our trip, we passed it off to a uniformed soldier we knew probably lived in the area.

We stopped off at an ice cream parlor in Strasburg and had a snack.

There was also a winery next door, so we stopped for a bit of wine tasting.

We saw buggies and carts pulled by horses.

And we ended the evening eating at the Plain and Fancy Farm restaurant.

Yum, buttered noodles!

Carolyn "Care Bear" King

We are NOT an Amish Family

On June 11, 2011, our family took a short vacation to Lancaster County Pennsylvania. We picked a lovely hotel called Amish View Inn which was just slightly off the beaten path. The hotel had lovely rooms, a delicious hot breakfast every morning with a chef who made egg dishes to order, and a nice pool for the kids.

The view from our hotel room was of a quite farm.

The hotel was adjacent to The Plain and Fancy Farm restaurant and gift shop. They had adorable little Amish figurines and lots of novelties including the deck of cards labeled with all the strange city names like Intercourse. Blue Ball, and Virginville. It was fun to peruse the aisles.

While our daughter swam, the rest of the family caught up on our electronic technological devices. We are definitely NOT Amish.

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In the evening we took a murder mystery dinner train ride on the The Strasburg Railroad.

The ticket stub (above) had some funny "rules" of the ride. The meal was delicious, but the train drove down the tracks at a pretty slow speed and only went about 9 miles up and back. I had prime rib, while others had chicken cordon bleu and crab meat stuffed flounder.

We saw farmland including this place that was planted for a future corn maze. The path for the maze (yellow patches) was killed with some form of Round-up to prevent it from growing all summer long.

 My son won the prize for "solving" the murder mystery. It was pretty arbitrary, but nevertheless we walked away with a package of old fashioned candies for our efforts.

Carolyn "Care Bear" King

Fresh Baked Bread

I can't eat much of it on my current diet, but it sure smells wonderful. (I did take a small bite). I found this recipe on another blog I follow and just had to try it. Delicious. Feel free to try it out.

Dough in the pan before cooking.

Just taken out of the oven and a small pat of butter rubbed on the top crust.

Cooling on the rack...Can hardly wait.

And here is a yummy slice ready for butter and jam. My house smells wonderful!!!!!!

To make the bread you will need:

1 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place all the ingredients in a bread machine and use a basic bread setting.

I don't care for how my bread tastes when it's baked in the bread machine itself, so I set mine on the dough setting. After the dough is done, I place it in a greased bread pan, let it rise in the pan until the dough is about an inch over the sides of the pan. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

{I actually started my yeast in a bowl of warm water and sugar and let it get foamy, then I kneaded the dough in my food processor. I let it rise until double its size, punched it down and placed in a loaf pan, let it rise a second time and baked according to the about directions}

Carolyn "Care Bear" King

Green Smoothies

I started a new diet 9 days ago using the nutritional shakes purchased from Body by Vi. Information can be found on my website  https://carolynrking.bodybyvi.com/. I've lost 4 pounds in that time drinking two smoothies a day and eating 2 sensible snacks and one sensible meal. I've heard about people drinking "green" smoothies in the past and always thought it was a gross concept. But the other day I made my first green smoothie using a handful of kale and it was delicious in my Vi-Shape shake. I enjoyed it so much I made another for lunch and also for breakfast the next day. It mentally feels good to know I'm putting so many good vitamins in my body. This morning I made another, and here is the recipe for my creation.

My new KitchenAid blender from Bed Bath and Beyond works wonderfully. I'd highly recommend it, but it is noisy. (So was my last one, so no big deal for me). I started with a handful of kale and 1/2 frozen banana and about 1/2 cup of 1% milk.

Here my blender is pulverizing the kale into little pieces on the "liquefy" speed. After the kale is in very tiny pieces I add another 1/2 cup of 1% milk, 26g of my shake mix, and about 1/2 cup of crushed ice.

Pouring into the glass. I love the bright green color. It reminds me of Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds, but doesn't have that minty flavor.

Trying to get out every last drop from the blender pitcher. Calories: shake mix 90; 1 c 1% milk 110; 1/2 banana 45; 1/2 c kale 20; total calorie count 265.

And here is the final product. It's thick and foamy and yields about 18 oz. of smoothie. My husband says it tastes like freshly mown grass, but I don't think it's bad at all. One thing to mention is, what goes in green also comes out pretty green too. That was a surprise the next morning!

Let me know if you'd like any more information about Body by Vi

Carolyn "Care Bear" King

Calvin and Hobbes

Just felt like reading through a few Calvin and Hobbes quotes today and they were too fun not to pass on. Hope you enjoy.

"Why isn't my life like a situation comedy? Why don't I have a bunch of friends with nothing better to do but drop by and instigate wacky adventures? Why aren't my conversations peppered with spontaneous witticisms? Why don't my friends demonstrate heartfelt concern for my well being when I have problems? ...I gotta get my life some writers."

It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.

"I've been visualizing the conceptualization process. That's the hard part."

"Are you crazy? This is a stupid, boring, time-wasting forced assignment! This isn't fun!"

"Are you suggesting that this appliance didn't aggravate me with malice aforethought?"

"Well, it just seemed wrong to cheat on an ethics test."

"When you get something, it's new and exciting. When you have something, you take it for granted and it's boring."

"Do the words 'complete pandemonium' strike terror in your heart?"

"If warped values are the price of a vicarious thrill, so be it!"

"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in and overpopulated planet, raised to an alarming extent by Madison Avenue and Hollywood, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak."

"I try to make everyone's day a little more surreal."

"I used to make original snowmen, but it was time consuming, hard work. So I said, heck, this is crazy! Now I crank out crude imitations of what's already popular! It takes no time or thought, and most people don't care about the difference, anyway! And what good is originality if you can't crank it out?"

"Now, a lifetime of experience has left me bitter and cynical."

"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

"Did you know that's one of the ten warning signs of hopeless dweebism?"

"Nobody asks me how things oughta be! I've got tons of ideas!"

"I say, when life gives you a lemon, wing it right back and add some lemons of your own!"

"These are interesting times. We don't trust the government, we don't trust the legal system, we don't trust the media, and we don't trust each other! We've undermined all authority, and with it, the basis for replacing it! It's like a six-year-old's dream come true!"

"If it was completely different, school would be great."

"My time is valuable. I can't go on thinking about one subject for minutes on end. I'm a busy man."

"Why should I have to WORK for everything?! It's like saying I don't deserve it!"

"If you do the job badly enough, sometimes you don't get asked to do it again."

"Childhood is short, maturity is forever."

"Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?"

"You know how people are. They only recognize greatness when some authority confirms it."

"As far as I'm concerned, if something is so complicated that you can't explain it in 10 seconds, then it's probably not worth knowing anyway."

"True friends are hard to come by ... I need more money."

"There's an inverse relationship between how good something is for you, and how much fun it is."

"(During a test) A gas mask, a smoke grenade, and a helicopter, thats all I ask."

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

"You know how Einstein got bad grades as a kid? Well, mine are even worse!"

"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

"Some people are pragmatists, taking things as they come and making the best of the choices available. Some people are idealists, standing for principle and refusing to compromise. And some people just act on any whim that enters their heads. I pragmatically turn my whims into principles."

"The purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure pure reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little pratice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!"

"Well, remember what you said, because in a day or two, I'll have a witty and blistering retort! You'll be devastated THEN!"

"From now on, I'll connect the dots my own way."

"Nothing spoils fun like finding out it builds character."

"Aww mom, you act like I'm not even wearing a bungie cord!"

"It's hard to conceal a water balloon."

"When birds burp, it must taste like bugs."

"Reality continues to ruin my life."

"Susie if you want to see your doll again, leave $100 in this envelope by the tree out front. Do not call the police you CANNOT trace us, you CANNOT find us. Sincerely, Calvin"

"I wanted to be a neo-deconstructivist but Mom wouldn't let me."

"That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!"

"I like maxims that don't encourage behavior modification.

"Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless."

"A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day."

"It's psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I'll get a saw."

"I understand my tests are popular reading in the teachers' lounge."

"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words."

"Where do we keep all our chainsaws, Mom?"

"To make a bad day worse, spend it wishing for the impossible."

"So the secret to good self-esteem is to lower your expectations to the point where they're already met?"

"It's only work if somebody makes you do it."

"In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks."

"You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help."

"Its no use! Everybody gets good enemies except me."

"What's the point of wearing your favorite rocketship underpants if nobody ever asks to see 'em?"

"As a math atheist, I should be excused from this."

"This one's tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen ..."

"I'm learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life ... Procrastinating and rationalizing."

"I have a hammer! I can put things together! I can knock things apart! I can alter my environment at will and make an incredible din all the while! Ah, it's great to be male!"

"I'm not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information."

"I go to school, but I never learn what I want to know."

Carolyn "Care Bear" King