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One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2015 – Week 8

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MORE PORK!  Yes, we’re big fans of the pig meat, but this meal was so filling that I only managed to make it through about half of that chunk of meat on the plate.  It’s probably the fault of the overflowing salad bowl, but that’s the way I like it!  I’m always doing  salad prep while husband is out running the grill, so sometimes I get a little overzealous, today being no exception.  In the salad bowl is lettuce, turnips, radishes, mushrooms, cucumbers, and carrots along with the same not-local-but-homemade dressing we’ve been using.  It’s just olive oil, homemade vinegar, and a little bit of red wine, but it works great and is simple enough to not overpower the awesome vegetables in the bowl.  Going around the plate we have a Ham Steak which was really really great – cooked up nicely on the grill, rubbed with pepper, salt, and a little maple sugar.  Then there are steamed green beens with sea salt, and a cucumber salad made by soaking the cucumbers in vinegar, red wine, and a little crushed pepper.  We cracked open a bottle of our homebrewed PA Maple Reserve which is actually all local except for the yeast – local cider, local maple syrup, all fermented into a really delicious wine.

Ingredients:
String Beans – Jack’s Farm
Carrots – Jack’s Farm
Radishes – Full Circle CSA
Turnips – Full Circle CSA
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Lettuce – Full Circle CSA
Cucumber – Clover Hill Farm
Ham Steak –  M&M Creek Valley Farm
Maple Sugar –  Miller’s Maple
Wine – Homebrewed PA Maple Reserve with Maple syrup from Miller’s Maple and cider from Linvilla Orchards
Non Local – Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil, homemade vinegar

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 284: Typewriters, Writing, Words

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Another Sepia Saturday gets written, or typed, into the books!  It took me a few seconds to think of a photo that might have typewriters in it, and in case it wasn’t obvious at first, the photo above fits the bill.  The photo is of a classroom, presumably at the Beccaria-Coalport-Irvona High School in 1951.  On the desks?  Typewriters in their dust covers!  There are a series of photos presumably taken around the time my grandpa, Leon Kitko, graduated high school, and this fits the size/theme of the others.  I can’t be 100% positive since there’s no date or label, but I’d call it 99.9% likely.  Grandpa happened to save his high school yearbook, so I took a peek through to see if I could identify the student.  He appears to be  John Finch.  The class was pretty small – they graduated only 50 in 1951 – so it’s pretty easy to pick out who’s who.  I have no information about him and it’s too common of a name to sort out what’s he’s up to now.  All I can find is a census record that has him living in Gulich, Clearfield County, PA in 1940 which fits with the John Finch who’s in this photo as far as location goes.  Beyond that, I can’t find anything in newspaper searches or anything else.  Perhaps though, one of his descendants may stumble upon this page and find the photo.

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One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2015 – Week 7

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Don’t tell anyone, but we’re actually a week ahead due to husband’s love of cooking local food.  Really though, that’s fine, because at some point, we’ll end up being away or too busy or something and we’ll fall behind a week, so I figure this will all come out in the wash, as Willy Wonka might say.  Husband is a big fan of the basics – meat, vegetable, and a salad makes a meal.  However, it’s the prep and spices and whatnot that bring it far beyond that level.  I’ve never had a complaint about any dinner, and how could I – my basic policy is that any meal I don’t have to cook is a good one!  Enough babbling, onto the plate!  First up, in the salad bowl, we have lettuce, turnips, radishes, and some carrots with a non local but homemade dressing.  On the plate is a slice of a Pork Loin  Roast on the rotisserie after being rubbed with pepper, maple sugar, and salt, glazed with red wine and maple syrup while being cooked.  Then we have carrots drizzled with maple syrup, and grilled zucchini (a personal favorite).  Topped the whole thing off with a glass of red wine and we had a lovely dinner.

Ingredients:
Pork Loin  Roast – M&M Creek Valley Farm
Zucchini – Clover Hill Farm
Carrots – Clover Hill Farm
Lettuce –  Full Circle CSA
Turnips – Full Circle CSA
Radishes – Full Circle CSA
Maple Sugar/Syrup – Miller’s Maple
Wine – Paradocx, Barn Red
Non Local – Olive Oil, homemade vinegar, salt, pepper

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 283: Tunnel, Construction, Dates

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I’m keeping Sepia Saturday short and sweet this week.  Things this summer have been so incredibly busy, and I’ve been just barely getting these posts up every week – I’m still getting it done, but it’s typically last minute!  Here we have a photo of Earl Powis and his second son standing in front of the entrance to the Blue Mountain Tunnel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  At the time, probably around 1955, it was one of seven tunnels on the turnpike that worked their way under the mountains of Pennsylvania.  The photo looks just about exactly like this postcard and a better history of the turnpike and its tunnels can be found online here.  Not long after these gents took this photo, three of the tunnels were bypassed and closed.  A little later on, this tunnel as well as the remaining tunnels in the system were “twinned” which added a second tunnel and set of roadways making two lanes of travel in each direction.  I know I’ve been through this particular tunnel in recent history, and it’s the eastern-most tunnel on the system.  While it’s not quite as old as the tunnel in the prompt photo, this was the first one I thought of when I saw the image for this week.

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One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2015 – Week 6

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Well I really have no reason to cook since the husband enjoys it so much and I find it such a chore.  That said, I did help out this week by making the spaetzle!  We had bought a spaetzle maker (basically a slotted metal plate like a cheese grater with an open-bottomed container that slides across the plate) but hadn’t tried it out yet, and this week seemed like a great opportunity to use it and fill in some space on the plate!  We followed the recipe on the spaetzle maker package which gave us a really thin batter, but I’ve tried it once now and know what sort of consistency to shoot for.  Also on the plate is a pork rib roast, cooked on the rotisserie on the grill, covered in maple sugar, salt, and crushed pepper and brushed with homebrew amber ale, vinegar, salt, and pepper while on the rotisserie.  Then we have bacon wrapped asparagus, a bowl of cucumbers with salt and pepper and vinegar, and a nice glass of Blaufrankich from Chaddsford Winery.  Everything came out AMAZING and made for a really nice dinner.

Ingredients:
Pork Rib Roast – M&M Creek Valley Farm
Asparagus – Clover Hill Farm
Spaetzle – Whole Wheat Pastry Flour from the Mill at Anselma and butter from Handmade by Abby
Bacon – Countrytime Farm
Cucumber – Clover Hill Farm
Maple Sugar – Miller’s Maple
Wine – Chaddsford Winery
Non Local – homemade vinegar, salt, pepper, homebrew amber beer

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 282: Chess, Games, Musicians

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This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt image brought us Mischa Elman, a famous violinist, playing chess which opened up a variety of theme ideas from chess to games and musicians.  Sadly, I have no family photos of chess being played, but we have plenty of musicians!  On the left in the photo above is my grandfather, John Rachocki (1914-1984).  It’s a rare chance that I get to showcase a photo from my maternal side of the family since we have so few, so I jumped at the opportunity  to include this one.  Grandpa John, the son of Polish immigrants, stood nearly 6 feet tall, and everyone who’s spoken about him (he died when I was just four years old), has said he was a gentle giant with a quiet demeanor.  He served in World War II, worked in the coal mines, and even worked for a while as a nurse and security guard at a local mental hospital in Pennsylvania.  A living family member spoke about him recently and said that he played the mandolin brilliantly, but with such large hands, it was a wonder how he managed to play such a delicate instrument so well.  I’m not sure who the other two men are, but the hats are certainly interesting for central Pennsylvania.  As far as a date, I’d probably say around 1945 or so.  It’s really a treasured photo, one of I think only two  we have of Grandpa John with his mandolin, and I’m happy to have had the chance to show it off for Sepia Saturday.

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One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2015 – Week 5

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Husband took the cooking reins again and grilled up a delicious dinner.  The veal tenderloin was marinaded in red wine, salt, vinegar, and freshly ground pepper and then cooked on the grill.  The spinach was steamed and seasoned with salt and a touch of vinegar.  The last thing on the main plate is a chunk of blue cheese that rounded out the palate of flavors on the plate.  In the salad bowl are mushrooms and snap peas over a bed of mixed greens, dressed with a mix of red wine, vinegar, and olive oil.  The wine is from Seven Mountains Winery and isn’t exactly local since it’s about 2.5 hours away, but it’s on the way out to my grandma’s house, so we consider it local since it’s a trip we would’ve made anyway, not a special trip just to pick up the wine.  It’s absolutely delicious with hints of honey and a nice, crisp dry finish.

Ingredients:
Cheese – Birchrun Hills, Blue
Veal Tenderloin – Birchrun Hills
Spinach – Jack’s Farm
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Snap Peas – Jack’s Farm
Mixed Greens – Jack’s Farm
Wine Marinade – Paradocx, Barn Red
Wine – Seven Mountains, Dry Riesling
Non Local – Salt, Pepper, Homemade Vinegar, Olive Oil,

Subscription Boxes

Goodebox June 2015

 

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Another month, another Goodebox!  It arrived within the first week of the month (yesterday, June 3rd if we’re keeping count) which is great.  It feels like a pretty substantial box this month at first glance – 5 products, three of which  full-size.   I’m really rather happy with this one!  No pink nail polish, but a lovely nude color along with some really fabulous basics instead of bizarre niche products.  They nailed the selection for the MyChelle product, and it’s a company I’ve come to love through Goodebox.  Anyway, before I go on too much, on to the contents!

  • Lillian Eve Nail Polish – .5 oz / $12 – (Sample is full size)  I received the color, “Nothing But Nude,” which is this really lovely basic neutral tan color.  I’d been wanting a nude/neutral for a while, and somehow Goodebox nailed it!  For a five-free polish, it’s on the more affordable end of the spectrum (for the same size, Butter is $15, Lauren B is $18, Aila is $17).  For being such a light color, it really did cover in two coats, while three made it super opaque, and is enough to look like there’s polish there without being some crazy wild color (I dig crazy wild colors, but not all the time).  It dries quickly and feels durable which I’m surely going to put to the test this week while digging in the garden.  Big fan of this  nail polish, so glad it was included!
  • MyChelle Clear Skin Serum – 1 oz / $33 – (Sample is full size)  The formula is for Oily skin and Blemish Control which, while my skin my not be all that oily, I still get pimples, so it works for me.  The ingredient list includes a base of Witch Hazel with plant extracts, clay, tea tree oil, and all kinds of vitamins.  It pumps out as a clear gel that has a bit of an alcohol smell.  Goes on smooth, but feels a little sticky when dry.  This is probably something I’d put on before bed on a clean face for maximum effect.
  • Red Flower Wanderlust Hand + Face Towelettes – Pack of 7 / $5 – (Sample is full size)  I’m not super huge into these type of towelettes, but with it being summer, I can see these being useful for a quick freshen-up on my face to clear off sweat ick if I’m out in the sun all day.  The scent is AMAZING and so totally me – it’s woodsy and warm, with a neat balance between resiny and musky.  The towelette is thick and doesn’t fall apart, nor does the liquid feel sticky or drying.  I couldn’t find a full ingredient list though, not even on the company website which is a little bothersome, especially if I’m going to be using it near my eyes.  In fact, I couldn’t even find this specific product on the website at all, but they do have a Blood Orange scent which is in my top three favorite scents.  These are probably going into my everyday bag to keep on hand for hot and humid summer days.
  • Odacité Intensive Hand + Heel Treatment – 4 oz / $39 – (Sample is .5 oz, value of $4.88)  The product card says this is good for severely dry, cracked, and coarse skin.  That fairly accurately describes my hands and feet during the summer.  I go barefoot most of the summer (unless I have to wear shoes), and am digging in the garden, doing yard work, projects outdoors, etc all summer long, so this is the perfect timing to include a product like this!  It squeezes out of the sample container easily as a thick cream and smells a little citrusy and minty.  A little bit goes a long way, and just a pea sized amount massaged cleanly into my heel.  My calloused heels immediately felt softer.  While it’s a pretty pricey product, it does work and a little bit goes a good long way, so I could see that 4oz full sized tub lasting a LONG time.
  • Vapour Clarity Makeup Remover – .98 oz / $32 – (Sample is .21 oz, value of $6.86)  I don’t currently have any makeup on, so I’ll have to give this a try and report back later.  Price-wise, it’s a pretty good sized sample for something that’s kind of expensive.  The ingredient list includes only oils, so it’s completely safe to use around eyes.  I suppose it’s a lot like the Meraki sample from last month’s box, but at just over 3  times the price.  I’ll have to update this review once I get a chance to use it, but I’ll admit here that I loved the Meraki oil so much that I placed an order for a replacement already!

Overall value of this box is $61.74 which is INCREDIBLE for Goodebox.  The majority of the value comes from that MyChelle serum, so I’m a really happy  gal this month.  Looking forward to trying out the Vapour Makeup Remover sample hopefully later this week and will post an update here once I’ve given it a go.  Looking forward to next month already!