Bethany Beach, here we come!

Every September, my Dad rents three condos at Bethany Beach, Delaware, for him and Mom, my 3 brothers and their families, and our family. It is wonderful. Everyone comes for the weekend, but last year Dad was able to rent one of the condos for the whole week at no extra cost. So my family was able to stay for a week. It was wonderful. This year we are also staying for almost a week. For those of you who have never heard of Bethany Beach, it is a few miles down the ocean from Ocean City, MD.

We always stay at the Sea Colony where we have been renting since the early '70s. The Sea Colony is made up of nine huge buildings. One of the buildings has an indoor pool year round. We've gone there in January and had fun swimming in the warm pool when it was freezing outside. Wonderful! In the summer they have 5 big olympic-size pools and kiddie pools.

The best part about going to the ocean in September is that we have the whole beach and even the indoor pool to ourselves!!

We will be staying in the building named Island House. So if you want to take a day trip and come visit us, we will be there this Friday to next Thursday. Bring your swimgear! (Let us know you are coming by email ~ I will be online lots.)

To see a list of all the amenities and services of Sea Colony, click here.

Tonight I made one of our favorite meals, pizza! I goofed badly (forgot the honey), but everyone still enjoyed it. This is my favorite crust recipe:

Pizza Crust

Put 2 cups flour in food processor (I use 1 cup all purpose flour, 1/3 cup semolina flour and 2/3 cup whole wheat flour). Add 1 tsp salt and pulse two or three times to mix.

Into 1 cup of warm water (105 degrees) add 1 tblp honey and 1 tblp oil. Pour this into the food processor quickly while pulsing, then let it run until the dough forms a ball. This will happen very quickly, like 5 seconds or so.

Take dough out, knead into a ball for a minute until smooth, then let it rest for 10 minutes.

After resting, punch down dough and roll out. If you have a dough docker, run this across the surface. When your dough is shaped how you prefer, sprinkle some cornmeal on your work area and then lay your dough on top and press down. Place your dough on a greased or seasoned dark pizza pan, press down edges and brush with olive oil. I bought my Ateco (ATC-1357) dough docker on eBay and I think it is the best value for your money. (I spent an hour studying every brand on the internet!) I paid $7.45 and purchased it from Instawares.

Well, I need to go pack. We will be leaving at 9 am because Maggie has a gift certificate to go hang gliding in Ridgely, MD (emphasis on hang!). That should take an hour, then off to Bethany. I will have my laptop with me, so hopefully I will remember the cables and hookups to post here everyday.

My children are outside swimming. Now that the nights are cool, the pool has cooled off considerably. It will probably be time to put the pool away when we come home.

Have a nice week. Many blessings ~ Kathie

Sushi Night!

Our family enjoys eating vegetable sushi but it is so expensive. Usually when we buy a small container there are 9 little sushi, so only one person gets seconds. So we read about how to make sushi and tonight we made it. It turned out perfectly! Below is Lizzie's plate.

And here is Allen's plate. For veggies we used our favorites ~ avacado, carrots and cucumbers. It was really easy making julienne carrots and cucumbers using my julienne blade on my Cuisinart food processor. Sure cut down on cutting time!

Even though our sushi didn't look store bought, it was delicious.

This week I wore out my rotary cutter that I use to cut out all my quilt kits that I sell on eBay. Fortunately, Joann's Fabrics had them 40% off, so I bought one. I decided to try the bigger cutter to see if it was easier. What a difference! I highly recommend the bigger cutter (65mm as opposed to the 45mm) for cutting through 8 layers of fabric. So what if you have lots of 45mm blades ~ the large cutter uses both 45 and 65mm blades. This picture shows both my new and old cutters.

So while I was busy in my sewing room cutting out a quilt kit for a dear friend in California, Mike and the twins were off to the other side of town picking up free firewood that I saw advertised on our county's local website. It is all white and red oak wood. Won't we enjoy those wonderful evenings sitting in front of our fireplace playing our ukes! Thanks, guys, for a job well done.

Maggie and Anna called from VA and tried not to brag about catching 8 sharks and a bunch of other fish. I am thankful they are getting this time with their Grandfather. Hopefully they won't be exhausted:-)

Well, Mike just came in from splitting all the firewood. Time to sit and eat dinner (yes, it's late for a Saturday evening) and then start on our Saturday evening routine for getting ready for church tomorrow morning.

I hope you had a profitable Saturday also. Many blessings ~ Kathie

PS ~ I thought I'd show you what the damage from dinner was. I have to admit, I was expecting worse considering we let everyone make their own sushi.

Can you identify this bird?

We so rarely see squirrels around here, so it was big news when we saw this cutie eating out of our feeder. I have a dozen feeders hanging outside my window where my computer is set up, so I get to watch birds a lot.
Now that my hummingbirds are going south, my impatiens are recovering. The hummers like to land on the petals which knocks them off. I only see 4-5 hummingbirds these days. This summer I had to refill my 4 hummingbird feeders twice a day! Mike made this "log" planter for me. I love it!Maggie and Anna went to VA with my Dad for the weekend, so I found some time to sew for fun. What a rarity. I want to use up some of my solid color fabrics, so I chose the difficult and time-consuming Grandmother's Flower Garden. I am piecing it with my machine which means I need to trace all the stitching lines onto the pieces first. In order for the "flower" to lay flat, the cutting and stitching have to be perfect. Yes, this will be a long-term project!

The hexagons for this quilt pattern are tedious to cut out. I have only sold one kit of this kind, and it was bought by a woman in Thailand! She was going to hang the finished quilt on her living room wall since it never gets cold enough to need a quilt.

This evening we are going to a concert performed by a quartet in which Lizzie's violin teacher is going to play. I can hardly wait. My mother is going with us.

Maggie and Anna called from the boat this morning while they were fishing. They caught a bunch of croakers and a shark, but have decided to throw them back in since no one feels like cleaning the fish.

Have a nice weekend. Many blessings ~ Kathie

The Mixing Bowl Restaurant

In Lexington Park, Maryland, there is a restaurant called "The Mixing Bowl," that is located just outside the gates of the navy base. It has a wonderful selection of quality food. It is called the Mixing Bowl because it is a mix of many types of cuisines from a number of different cultures. My daughter, Sarah, worked here for a year (she stopped when they shut down for renovations).

The best thing about the food here is that the food is hand picked for quality and prepared when ordered. Nothing canned or boxed here.

The restaurant is owned and operated by two folks, Mike and Ya-ling. Ya-ling makes the best salad dressings around. Our two favorite dishes are the salads.

Here is the Cold Noodle Salad. The first time Sarah brought this home I thought it sounded awful ~ cold noodles?! It was so good that it was a long time before I could bring myself to try anything else. Yes, it's that good!

When The Mixing Bowl shut down for almost a year for renovations, I tried repeatedly to make this salad. The thing that makes it is Ya-ling's Lemongrass salad dressing. I used Lemon Grass Salad Splash from Thai Kitchen, but it is a far cry from Ya-ling's freshly made dressing.

My second favorite dish from this restaurant is the Oriental Chicken Salad seen below. For this salad Ya-ling makes a killer hoisin sauce that is unlike any I've tasted before.
For those of you who can't eat dairy or other foods, Ya-ling is very knowledgeable about food sensitivies/allergies and especially understands cross contamination of foods.

Before we understood the many ways dairy can be hidden, we used to enjoy the Italian Hero and the Cobb Salad. Sarah thinks Ya-ling's Curry Chicken is the best.

One of the "signature" dishes of this restaurant is called Crispy Mac. It is a huge slice of homemade Macaroni and Cheese dipped in batter and deep fried. Sarah was addicted to it!

So how about pricing? (I know, Dan, I know!) I think The Mixing Bowl is very reasonable. Most of their sandwiches are $6.50 and most of their salads are $7-10. The Crispy Mac is $4 and Sarah says it will fill you up. Remember, Dan, this is real food...not canned vienna sausages (yeah, I heard about your stash!).

They have wonderful desserts and daily specials. Today I noticed a special of homemade potato gnocchi and spinach sauce. Umm! And where else are you gonna find tiramasu?!

So plan to take a friend and head on over to The Mixing Bowl. Yes, the parking is tricky but doable (don't go during lunch hour). Let Ya-ling know we sent you. (Yes, Ya-ling comes around to visit everyone!)

Many blessings ~ Kathie

The Oriental Salad with Hoisin Sauce is really tasty but also has a lot of crunch. We made this salad here at home and used the same kind of rice sticks that are in the salad. Try it. A little bag of rice sticks makes a huge bowl and adds a lot of fun to a salad (but no nutrition!).

Thursday Special ~ Shots!

Every Thursday since April, Ruthie has been getting allergy shots. The shots are mainly to fight dustmites, but since she had to get the shots, the allergist went ahead and added a few of the other small allergies she has (cats, grass and a few trees). I have been so proud of the way Ruthie doesn't put up a fuss but willingly gets her shots.

Once in a long while, Ruthie will get a little panicky when she sees the needle, but then she remembers that it doesn't hurt as much as an immunization shot.

This is Mrs. Bev and Mrs. Regina, the nurses who give the shots. We have come to love these ladies! Mrs. Bev has been giving immunizations to our family since Sarah (now 20) was a baby. I forget when Mrs. Regina started giving shots, but it's been years.

We feel really blessed to have these two nurses as our friends. We also are thankful to be able to afford this medical care. I make sure my children know that we are privileged to be enjoy this benefit.

Thanks so much, Mrs. Regina and Mrs. Bev!

Many blessings ~ Kathie

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day. We went to my parents' home a mile away for a picnic. My three brothers and their families, and two sets of aunts and uncles came. I gave my camera to my daughters and said, "Be sure to take lots of pictures!" Ha! So now I have dozens of pictures of Grandad's new pier and some happy children, but no pictures up at the house of the happy folks at the picnic. Chelsea played her cello and Uncle Ron played his violin. Then Mom and Uncle Ron played two pianos together. It was such beautiful weather outside, so Uncle Gene played his trombone in the front yard.

We could not have asked for more beautiful weather. Low 80s with low humidity. It's still very dry, but hey, hurricane season is just warming up! Besides, September is when our family goes to the ocean, and you can always count on either a hurricane or the imminent threat of one!

Here in Maryland, Dad is still, "King of the Pier," just like he is in Virginia.

This pier is on the pond on 235. This pond was made in the 1960s when the earth was moved to build the highway. It is fed by 4 springs. I enjoy looking down and seeing folks canoeing. Below is the view from the highway. In the winter you can see Mom and Dad's home through the trees.

This is Maggie's "attitude" bunny named Twitch. When Maggie goes out to feed her bunnies, she has to feed Twitch first or else he gets offended. Twitch was breathing erratically, so we brought him up to the porch for some TLC. By the time Sarah got home from work the next morning, he was completely recovered and king of the castle, set up as he was in a big cage by himself, with his own fan and box to hide in. He'd forgotten he was supposed to be "sick". Isn't he a cutie?

Every Thanksgiving Day, the adults in my family (10 of us) draw names to exhange Christmas gifts. Last year my sister-in-law, Natalie, drew my name and gave me a huge gift certificate to to a wonderful store called Apple Basket. All year I have enjoyed the feeling of owning this gift certificate, but last week my children and I went to have a look-see. I was hoping to find handmade Christmas plates for giving plates of cookies as gifts, but the place was filled with Halloween plates. But I did find this tiny little picture that I splurged on (under $3!) because I just love it! It says, "Always Kiss Me Goodnight." How perfect! It is only 1-1/2 x 5" so it is tiny. Have a good week. Ours has been too busy, but it's our first week back to homeschooling, so I guess it's to be expected.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Visit to Virginia

On Friday morning we left to go down to my parents' weekend home in Virginia. We had a lot of fun, as you can see. The weather was perfect, breezy and in the high 70s with low humidity. Mom and Dad were there as well as my brother and his wife, Simba and Natalie. It takes 2 hrs and 15 minutes to get here from our home.

Maggie and Anna enjoyed the jet skis while Allen enjoyed fishing. It was hard to fish with the breeze but that didn't dampen Allen's enthusiasm. He loves to fish! Ruthie enjoyed everything, especially kyaking. See this kayak? Five of my children piled onto it at one time. My brother took a picture and says he'll email it to me when he gets home.

The joke for Friday was that breakfast starts at 5 am and fishing at 6. Well, I think breakfast was do-it-yourself around 8 or 9, and it was easily 10 am before they took off for boating. Mom and I did bike riding, not boating. Last year my fishermen brought home 4 large sharks that were delicious but this year they thought about going to the local supermarket to buy some fish to put on their hooks:-)
This is my Dad on his bench on the pier where he spent most of the day. Dad has back "issues", so he spends a lot of time sitting these days. This is very hard for me to see since my Dad has always been a very busy, task-oriented person. Even when he was on vacation, he was always busy fishing, camping, travelling, etc. He still gets a lot done! Maggie and Anna took their books out on the boat and read while their fishing lines were dangling. Well, it must work because Anna caught the one and only fish on the trip! This was my favorite place to be ~ the kitchen. My mom kept feeling badly about me being in the kitchen, but it wasn't work! Dad stocked this kitchen with the best of everything, Henckels knives, Calphalon pots and pans, etc., so it is wonderful to cook here. As usual, Dad fed us like royalty ~ steamed shrimp and crabs, and BBQ sandwiches. We brought home leftover crabs for lunch today.
Simba was a real champ and swam with my children. The children had fun swimming with him and his dog, cousin Sidney.

We came home Saturday evening because of commitments at church this morning. I was looking forward to a quiet, relaxed ride home, knowing how exhausted the children would be from their day. Not so! My children laughed and sang the whole time. Several times I thought I would pass out from laughing so hard.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, and Simba and Natalie (and Sydney) for such a memorable weekend. Many blessings ~ Kathie