Horseback Riding & Apple Picking

It has officially been a year since Greg and I started dating. Therefore, to celebrate, Greg planned a wonderful day. It was all a surprise but I guessed immediately. Greg does this thing where he asks what I like and if he stops mentioning it immediately, I know something is brewing. I've been asked no less than 10 times if I have seen the movie Dune or read the book, this means I will have no Dune related surprises. I am a genius. Having guessed the surprise, did not however make the idea of a surprise less fun, and I even refrained from guessing so it couldn't be confirmed.



So, Saturday Greg and I got up at 7am to make it to the place we were going. He said wear comfortable clothes and tennis shoes, so I was pretty sure what we were doing. I did mention that it was "our" anniversary and that jumping out of a plane, was not my idea of fun. This was just to allay my fears because who knows what we could have been doing.





After two hours, we arrived at the Double D Ranch in north western New Jersey. They gave us each a horse and we took off for the trail. Amazingly, they paired us really well with our horses. Greg's horse was really competitive and wouldn't let any of the other horses, especially mine, walk in front of it. His horse was called Man On The Run. The horse they gave me was called Johnny Walker Black. He is about 10 years old and was the slowest. The guide said I had to be careful because he likes to stop and munch grass along the way. And this was exactly what he did, thus I got yelled at for letting him. Geeze horse! Also, he loved to walk really slow, behind everyone else, then once the gap got big enough, run to catch up with everyone. So I got the slow, hungry horse! Awesome.





The whole ride was a lot of fun. We got to see some turtles sun bathing on rocks in the river, ducks, and even a pair of dogs taking a walk by themselves. Despite slowy-speedy (as I came to call my horse), riding was great. I was quite confident even after all these years of not riding. Unlike when I took lessons, I could just get off the horse and be done, no cleaning or feeding, etc. Plus, the trail was beautiful. The leaves were just starting to turn and the weather was perfect. I wasn't even that sore the next day!



Afterwards, we decided to head down to Lee's Turkey Farm for some apple picking. It is a huge farm where they raise turkeys but also fruits and vegetables. I found the farm on the Internet and really wanted to go. I think pick-your-own farms are genius. You do the labor but it is so much fun. Greg and I wandered around the apple trees looking for the best apples. We got a whole bucket full with designs on making pies, cider, apple sauce, or whatever else we come up with.







Later, we wandered into the vegetable part of the farm and picked our own zucchini, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, hot peppers, red peppers, and corn. I was a little worried when we checked out because I was sure it was going to be expensive but it all came to around $40. That is amazing! I am sure we would have paid more in the store and it wouldn't have been as fresh or fun. Love it!





Now we are set with the task of finding recipes to make everything. I can't wait to cook the acorn squash and the zucchini. Last night, I made yellow squash soup. Delicious! Also, I've never made an apple pie or any pie for that matter where I wasn't helping someone else. So this should be a good learning experience with the apples.



It was a great day, making me one lucky girl!

Baking and Making

With lots of my time on my hands, I've decided to stop lying in bed all day and do something. What resulted this past Friday was baking. I like having muffins or granola around to munch on but most of the stuff at the supermarket has either things I don't like in them or too many chemicals. I have also been trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup which is in EVERYTHING nowadays. So I figured I would make all that stuff myself. I also decided to do it all in one day.

What I ended up making was granola bars, oatmeal cookies, and bread.

Granola Bars.

These were really easy to make. Greg found an Alton Brown recipe and we used it as our model but added the nuts and dried fruit we liked. It consisted of sunflowers, oatmeal, almonds, wheat germ, hazel nuts, honey, vanilla extract, brown sugar, dried mango, and dried pineapple. First you toast the nuts and wheat germ, then melt the sugar, butter, and honey together, and finally mix everything together and bake for 25 minutes. Wait for them to cool and then cut them up into bars.



Now, we have a snack that we take take anywhere and is much better than store bought granola bars.



Oatmeal Cookies.

On a book spending spree in Barnes and Nobles, Greg and I bought a Test Kitchen cookbook. So far it has not failed us. Each recipe we've made has come out really well, from crispy fried chicken to muffins. The book is great because it also teaches you about the ingredients and rates the cooking supplies.(Yes, I think the Test Kitchen should pay me too!)

So this time, I used the oatmeal cookie recipe. There is a delicate balance with oatmeal cookies. Too many oats and they come out dry and crumbly and too little and they are technically not oatmeal cookies. So, this recipe provided the perfect balance of both. Plus, it called for adding nutmeg instead of cinnamon which was a good move. Fresh ground nutmeg is very fragrant and is a good match for oatmeal cookies.



Bread.

It is a wonder that something we eat every day can be so time consuming and fickle to make. For those reasons, this was the first time I have attempted to make bread. I also used the Test Kitchen book for the recipe. What it involved was a lot of just letting it rise. I used white flour, some whole wheat flour, and toasted wheat germ. Then there were two parts to letting it rise. After that, you bake it with a water filled pan next to it (this makes the outside crunchy), and then take it out and let it cool.



I was so tempted to cut it open right away, but resisted because it would have ruined the shape. In the end, it turned out beautifully. It wasn't too dense and was very tasty. I was impressed. So next time I am going to add some nuts to it and try it again. I am also going to find some rapid rise yeast because that is what the recipe recommends and I think it could make a big difference.



Now that the first bread hurtle has been passed, there are so many opportunities for more! :)

It was a good day of making stuff. I was really glad that everything turned out well. There is something to be said for following the directions exactly, having all the right ingredients, and even the right tools. Here's to bakin'!

The Wild World of Weddings

There is nothing I like more than a party, especially parties that take years of planning and come with elaborate dinners and decorations. This has been a good summer for me. I've been a guest at 4 weddings.

I figured I would show my appreciation for all the food and fun by writing a blog about the weddings. But honestly, my descriptions and "awesome" comments don't really do justice to all the planning and thought that went into them. So I am going to give them a Leslie Award and let the pictures speak for themselves. :)

My cousin Sarah heads the list of weddings. She got married June 19th to Daniel Pritchard in Columbus, Ohio.





They get the special "you-got-all-the-Harker-siblings-in-one-room" award. Yay!



The next wedding was for Emily Watkins and Shaun Kirkpatrick. They got married in Philadelphia on July 24th. They get the special "did-it-in-less-time-than-anyone-else-who-didn't-elope" award.



It was a lot of fun because I got to reconnect with friends I hadn't seen in years. Not to mention the food was fantastic!



Ever been to Hershey, Pennsylvania? Neither had I till I went to Shawn Truppo and Hilary Rice's wedding on July 31.



They get the special "so-many-donuts-I-hurt-myself " award.



The last wedding of the summer was Janelle Jimenez and Hugh Prysten on August 20 on a rooftop in Tribeca.



It was by far one of the most enjoyable times I've had in New York. They get the "oh-shit!-there-is-caviar" award.