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"Without realizing it, we fill important places in each other's lives. It's that way with the guy at the corner grocery, the mechanic at the local garage, the family doctor, teachers, neighbors, co-workers. People who are always 'there,' who can be relied upon in small, important ways."
—Robert Fulghum
As you go about your day, please remember our service men and women. They're working hard for all of us. Thank you!
Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force.
Mitch and I went to the local Cider Days celebration last Sunday. It's a sort of street fair featuring food, music, street vendors and lots of dogs on historic Walnut Street here in Springfield. We had a ball. Thought I'd share a few pictures with you; they're a great introduction to Fall! Many thanks to Samuli for the gorgeous header.
TT#45: Cider Days 2008
1. I snapped this pic of Mitch in front of the first house we passed. They were selling mums.
2. Painters working.
3. Walnut Street is lined with historic homes in every style imaginable. I crawled behind some of the vendor tents and snapped pics of a few.
4. I spied a big display of cockscomb and pumpkins. Love these colors!
5. Seems everyone brings their pets to Cider Days. This little girls stopped to pose with her new puppy.
6. Gotta have food at a street fair! This is the very busy turkey leg booth.
7. Looks like fall!
8. Another gorgeous house.
9. Festive Fall Wreath.
10. Public Transit.
11. More dogs... thirsty pugs.
12. Peek-A-Boo. Between pics we did manage to get 2 ceramic mugs, some potpourri, a stone necklace and a glass of - what else - cider!
13. I spotted these on the way out and had to get a picture! No fair in an election year is complete without political pumpkins! Hope you enjoyed Cider Days!
While we're on the subject of chocolate, I thought I'd introduce you to a chocolate company you've probably never heard of. It happens to be based right here in Springfield. Askinosie Chocolate was founded 3 years ago by local defense attorney, Shawn Askinosie. He began making batches of chocolate in the kitchen of his law office, and things sort of snowballed from there.
I spied the Askinosie Chocolate booth Sunday at the local Cider Days celebration and ran right over to try it. I love dark chocolate and Askinosie makes some of the finest I've ever had. The packaging is cool too; he's got sort of a green, free-range chocolate thing going. (Okay, free-range applies to chickens, but you get the idea.) The booth was so interesting I snapped a picture (above) and decided to write a post.
I got a bunch of great pics at Cider Days; it was great fun and really set the mood for fall. I'll be sharing some of them tomorrow in a Thursday 13 post, so stop back by.
Can you believe it? My friend Jeanne asked me for the recipe to that mug cake I told you about. I don't think anyone has ever asked me for a recipe before. Here it is. If you try it, lmk if it's any good; I might try it, too!
5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake
You will need:
4 tablespoons cake flour (plain flour, not self-raising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil; mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if you're using them) and vanilla essence, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).
Autumn officially arrives today and I don't think I've ever been so excited about a new season as I am this year. We got a cold snap last week, so I grabbed Mitch and headed over to Wickman Gardens to find the perfect wreath for our front door. I think it looks great. I also found a mum. Mitch found a bee. It stung him, poor guy. He's such a good sport. I'm not big on decorating. My personal taste is sort of a collision of French Country meets Amish. A nice piece here and there is all I care for. This week, I think I'll buy a cider-scented candle. Woo hoo.
This past week, our friend, Cathy, sent a recipe she figured even I couldn't screw up. It's called Chocolate Mug Cake and I'm pretty sure I'm the last person on the planet to hear about it.
FYI: The picture above is NOT my work. I don't believe it is even chocolate. And I don't see handles on these mugs, so they probably aren't even mugs. But when I Googled Chocolate Mug Cake this image popped up and it was in blue mugs (which goes with my blog) and they looked yummy, so I used it. These mug cakes were made by professionals at the Food Network. I am quite certain that any chocolate mug concoction I created would not be photo worthy.
The recipe sounds deceptively simple, so there must be a catch, some culinary trick one must know to keep the whole mess from blowing up in the microwave.
I printed the recipe. It's laying on my kitchen counter. Been there for 3 days. Should I decide to give it a try, I'll let you know.
"It seems foolish to speak of control when so many forces, inner and outer, have the power to sweep away our plans and dreams, when earthquakes and ice storms and plagues and wars, both literal and psychic, can undermine our dearest, most urgent intentions. Yet most of us behave as if we're the authors of our own fate, as if the ground is steady beneath our feet, as if we can rise every morning and enter into a life that we will be able to shape by our needs, our choices, our actions, and our will."
- Judith Viorst
What are you doing today? These soldiers are distributing school supplies in Afghanistan. Please remember our military men and women, and wear something RED today!
Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force.
It's been a few weeks since I updated you on the new equestrian website, iHorseClub. I am happy to report it's going strong. We're adding more and more members every single day, and I'm up to my eyeballs in developing a line of horse fiction for the site.
If you haven't been there, I encourage you to pay it a visit. The home page is loaded with activites, puzzles, games, a daily video and quizzes. We also have a member forum, fiction blogs, and photo gallery. We quietly opened shop July 4th, so we're still very very young; I'll let you know when we have an "official" launch. In the meantime, if you know any young horse lovers, send them over!
Our first official contest is underway, too. It's called T's for Mustangs! We're calling for original t-shirt designs with the theme Wild Mustangs. The winner will receive a small cash prize and their design will be featured on a special edition iHorseClub T-shirt; part of the proceeds from the sale of these shirts will go to a very worth Mustang charity. Visit the contest page for details!
I am very proud of iHorseClub and I know it has a bright future. I promise to update you more regularly, now that it's up and running.
