Herb Harvest

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Since we are nearing the end of summer, it's time to preserve the bounty of my herb garden.

I used to leave racks and baking sheets full of cut herbs all over the house to dry during the week.  This year I've discovered the quickest and easiest way to dry herbs - a Sweda food dehydrator.

Oregano, thyme, rosemary and mint all dry in about 2 hours.  One extra bonus of this process is that the house smells like fresh herbs!

After they are dried, I painstakingly strip the dry leaves from the stems and place in glass jars.  After three weeks of this process, I've just filled a small spice jar.  I now understand why herbs cost so much. 



Bobber Hunting

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Dave and I created a new sport this past weekend - bobber hunting. Although Dave usually picks up one or two stray bobbers each weekend, we actually decided to spend the beautiful afternoon hunting for stray fishing bobbers along the shores of Buckeye Lake.

An example of a stray bobber.

Last weekend I sustained an injury attempting to retrieve one of these stray bobbers.  Dave felt bad and decided to provide me with a retrieval tool:

His best golf ball retriever!

It actually worked well for round bobbers. Not so great however for oblong bobbers as the tended to fall through the sides. Never the less, it was a great help for those instances when we couldn't get close enough to the bank.

We had a very fruitful afternoon netting a total of 7 bobbers:

The days booty!!

If you ever visit our house be sure to check out Dave's growing collection of Buckeye Lake bobbers!!

Labor Day Traditions

Saturday, September 4, 2010

We wait all summer for this one day to pig out on fair food.  Our day begins at 7 am with a trip to McDonald's on our way to Swapper's Day, an annual flea market in Johnstown.  After several hours of looking for bargains, I enjoy a corn dog and fries. (My arteries are hardening as I write this.)

After a mid-afternoon nap (bargaining hunting is very tiring) we make our way to the Millersport Sweet Corn Festival.  Since I LOVE to watch the antique tractor pull, we start there first.  This year I was very excited to see two women participate:

The best part of the Sweet Corn Festival is the food.  In true central Ohio style, all one does at the festival is eat and people watch. And then eat some more.

My two favorite food booths include 1.) the sweet corn and 2.) the homemade doughnuts. 

Corn is $1.25 an ear and we never buy enough.  However the line is so long that we don't go back - there is always the elephant ears, fried bologna sandwiches, tacos in a bag.....

The ultimate is the doughnuts.  

"Oh, what should we get?"

This year we stood in line for over 30 minutes:

Yes, all these people are waiting for doughnuts.

We did secure one dozen - 4 maple-glazed, 4 vanilla-glazed and, my favorite, 4 cinnamon sugar.  Sorry no picture - since they were still warm, Dave decided we need to sample a few.  A half a dozen later, he thought we should have purchased 2 dozen!!! Men....