Thanksgiving 2019

Again this year I went to my sister house in Harrisburg for Thanksgiving! As always, the entire family came with the exception of two people...

My brother was in Japan for work (his wife still came though and brought the kids)
and my niece Jessica was in Texas (her boyfriend was to be deployed to Poland on Dec 9th and they wanted to spend time together before he left). Now, after the fact, we have also learned that they had decided to be married at the Justice of the Peace and no one knew. So, there is that...as long as she is happy - I am happy!

So, as you can imagine - minus only two - it was an awesome time spent with family, counting our blessings and doing the ritual two days of Christmas cookie baking!

This is a very picture heavy post so get prepared...LOL!!!

This is our first Thanksgiving dinner at my sisters house. This is her husbands family on Thanksgiving day.

 

We had our side of the families Thanksgiving the day after Thanksgiving. I made everyone a turkey as a place setting marker with their initials. I saw the idea from an old friend of mines Facebook! Super cute, right?!?!

 
The morning after Thanksgiving. my sister had a Pop Up in Athleta for Barre. She is opening a Barre studio in Harrisburg if you are interested!!!

 

 
And then the baking fun begins...here is shift one...both of my sisters, my mom and dad and my little sisters kids...

 
Here are the aprons we wear- they have been going strong for many years now!!!

 
Action shots...we have two ovens going and three mixers at a time...

 
It was great to have my sisters kids help this year! Usually they unwrap candy for us but this year they were a huge help and did EVERYTHING!

 
More action shots...that tablecloth on the floor helps a tiny bit with spills, LOL!

 
 Ball rolling...

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
These older kids got up a little later than any of us - they are in college so they can really sleep!!! This is my nephew Matthew and his girlfriend Lidia. Once they ate breakfast; they joined in a little too.

 
 Sister Susan cutting cherries...

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
We recruited these cuties as soon as they arrived on Friday!!!

 

 

 

 

 
Gross but a necessary step...ball rolling...

 

 

 
This is my sisters husband...as you can see he is not into Cookie baking with us....LOL!

 

 
So this is the finished table! In the end ...this year we made 195 dozen, 19 varieties for a total of 2342 cookies!

 
The kids started a game and wanted to finish later in the night but this wonderful kitty Max (my niece Jessica's cat) had other plans! LOL!!!!

 
Here is my cookie storage at home! I do not have room in my refrigerator for my share of the cookies so they are in a tub outside on my patio! Thank goodness I am on the second floor...do not want to attract bears!!!

 
Love this picture!!! Everyone was ready for a chill night after cookie baking was completed!

I truly hope you all had a Thanksgiving as blessed as mine! HUGS!

Will you please share with me your Thanksgiving memories from this year!!??!?!?!

Hardtack - Check!

So again this year I made my hardtack to pass out with my gifts. It reminds me so much of when I was a kid because my mother used to make it every year. I use the strong mint flavors from Lorann Oils and they work great!

Here is the recipe if you want to try it! It really is easy once you get the hang of the timing.

Also, this year I added the use of molds which made everything SO SIMPLE it is crazy!!!

Here is the recipe...RECIPE

Here is step one...boil the water, sugar and corn syrup...

These molds were amazing!!!! They helped so very much!!! A double batch filed all six molds...

 
And after it cooled, it is so easy to break it up with the molds...here is cinnamon!

 
Little closer view!

 
And here is the four double batches! I made a double batch of four different flavors this year (Cinnamon=red, Clove=blue, Wintergreen=green and Anise=yellow).

 
I put it in little Tupperware containers to give to family and friends.

I think I love hard tack because nothing says Christmas to me more than hard tack!

Do you like hard tack candy? Have you ever tried to make it? Do you make any special candy or cookies over the holidays?

Sugarcreek Ohio Trip

A few weeks ago my friend and myself rented a house on VRBO in Sugarcreek, Ohio for the weekend. My friend Laura had never been there and is intrigued by the Amish lifestyle. 

 

This is a picture of the road trip there. It is only about two hours from my house.  Laura had to work Friday so she worked while I drove! LOL!

 

 

Here is the kitchen of the cabin we stayed at. It was called "Slice of Heaven" in Sugarcreek, Ohio if anyone is looking for a place to rent. We got one side of the cabin for ourselves and there was another couple in the other side. It was clean and comfy for the weekend. 

 

Here is a look through the main area of the cabin back through the bathroom and bedroom. The couch pulled out so we took turns - each had one night on the bed and then one night on the couch. LOL!  

 

This is Day one of shopping in town... 

 

This was a cute little shop-things you will never find anywhere else!!!

 

This was in the museum we toured...it is a sewing chair!!! They should still make these - how handy is this!?!??!?!

 

This is a town near where my parents grew up!!!

 

Here is a plate from the museum.  I love this town because this is my heritage. I am Swiss and my Great grandmother came here from Switzerland and settled a few towns away from Sugarcreek.

 

A goofy picture...

 

This is the world's largest cuckoo clock!!! 

 

Here we are at dinner! This is why I always take pictures of the menu. I can not remember the name of this restaurant to save my life! The girl at the museum recommended it and it was GREAT!  

 

Fried cheese curds - there is NOTHING better! 

 

My dinner - fish and sweet potato fries - also a side of cauliflower!!! 

 

We got to dine with Amish families!  Outside of the restaurant there were so many horse buggies. A lot of Amish people eat in the town and it was really cool to see them out to dinner as a family. 

 

 

This is the view in the back of the cabin. It was early in the morning and the sun rise looked so pretty!!!

 

 

Shopping, shopping and more shopping! We bought soo much stuff!! We bought cheeses, meats, chocolate and antiques galore!

 

 

On Saturday night Laura did not feel well so she took some medicine and went to bed at 6PM. I booked a ticket online for the Amish theater. It was hilarious!! Since I was only one person; I got the best seat last minute. It was the last seat in the third row! SCORE! 

 

This was the moon when I got back home to the cabin Saturday night! So beautiful out there with no street lights...just God and us!

Here is a shot of the cabin at night from our car. Very cozy and quaint!!!

 

We spent the next day shopping some more in the morning and then headed for home.

 

I highly recommend this cozy cabin "Slice of Heaven" if you are looking to stay somewhere in Sugarcreek Ohio. It is far enough away from Sugarcreek to not be in the middle of crowds and  close enough that it is very convenient for going back and forth!

 

Hugs to you all!

 

What trips have you taken lately? Ever been to Amish country? Do you enjoy a weekend away shopping (NYC, etc.) or no?  Ever ridden in horse and buggy? HUGS!!!