Here's To A Long Life!

Want to know how long you will live? I just hope however long I stick around, my life is well lived and I leave people around me with the feeling that I tried to make the world a better place. Given that, I still hope this quiz is right and I will live to the ripe old age of 89!

The Eons site does require that you provide a name and email address to take the quiz. But if you are like me, you just make up any old information and give them a yahoo addy you don't use often.

To take the quiz, click on the link then go to "lifepaths" near the top under the Explore heading. Then scroll down to Eons Longevity Calculator on the left hand side.

Let me know how you do!

http://www.eons.com/

Escape To Virginia

Welcome to Virginia! That has to be one of my favorite sights. I'm home again....ahhhhh. As you've probably guessed, we took a little trip this past weekend to visit Virginia. Just an overnight thing, though I wish it could have been longer. We had been thinking about going to Luray, but we just don't know enough about the area so we chose Winchester again. Even though Winchester is part of northern VA and some people don't feel it's very southern, I just love it there. It's so different from where I live now that it feels like a real getaway.

If you know Winchester at all, you know it's the capital of the Apple. They make apple juice, applesauce, apple anything at the White House factory in town. And the town loves to show it off. Although this is not a very good picture, I hope you can tell it's an apple with a stethoscope. It's located, of course, in front of a medical center. Whoever thought of it has a great sense of humor!

Here is some of the scenery on our drive. Pictures really don't show how beautiful the colors where around Virginia and West Virginia. I always forget how high those mountains can get. I think the highest we were was around 3,000 feet. It's some view from that high!

One of the main reasons we visit Winchester is the Virginia Farm Market. Here in PA, I don't live near anything like this. The closest farm market is about 20 minutes away and doesn't have things like fresh apple cider, ham hocks, country hams and bacon, fresh apples or play areas for the kids. So the Virginia farm market alone is worth the trip to me. I can't even drink store bought apple cider after being so spoiled by the farm market's fresh cider. You get to pick an empty gallon jug and fill it with cider right from the cider tank yourself. They also provide labels and caps. We usually buy about 3 or 4 gallons and bring it home in a big cooler. The cider is gone within a week after we get home.

The front of the farm market as you turn in coming from Winchester.

Part of the fun of getting away is finding a hotel that the kids love. Because of how much room we need now, we had to reserve two connecting rooms this time. And of course, the indoor pool is a big deal. I think the kids would be happy if we just stayed in the hotel all day and swam!

Another cringe inducing jump into the pool. I was designated photographer and trying to get the kids to look like more than a blur was not easy!

On the way home, we tried to make it as less depressing as possible, especially since it was only one night we were away. We took in as many pretty sights as we could, including the lovely lake above at Deep Creek in Maryland. We had loaded up on muffins and other goodies at the farm market before we left, hoping the food helped the disappointment of having to leave VA. Hopefully, we'll be back very soon, and for more than one night!

"Up men to your posts! Don't forget today that you are from old Virginia."
-George Edward Pickett

"We have everything here a scarecrow could want, the fall harvest, the beauty of the changing colors, apple cider, pumpkins and cornstalks."
-Mary Martin

Autumn In Red

"A few days ago I walked along the edge of the lake and was treated to the crunch and rustle of leaves with each step I made. The acoustics of this season are different and all sounds, no matter how hushed, are as crisp as autumn air."

-Eric Sloane

"A solitary maple on a woodside flames in single scarlet, recalls nothing so much as the daughter of a noble housedressed for a fancy ball, with the whole family gatheredaround to admire her before she goes."

-Henry James

"Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees."

-David Letterman

Little Known Facts About The Human Body

This stuff really fascinates me. Interesting little tidbits on how our bodies work. I was particularly interested in the bone density since I'm getting to the age I need to start worrying about those kinds of things. Ugh.

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100216806&imageindex=1

Slow Cooker Red Cabbage And Apples

I don't know about you, but this time of year makes me start craving food that is slow cooked. Food that makes you warm inside and makes the house smell wonderful all day. Not many people agree that cabbage is that food :) But when it's mixed with apples, cloves and bacon, the scent is reminiscent of the holidays. I never had red cabbage until I met my husband. His mother's family is from Germany and red cabbage was part of their regular meals. I never did get my husband's mother's recipe, but this is very close. Red cabbage reminds me of chow chow and other foods I've eaten in the south. Plus this is so easy to make it's not funny! It's a great side dish with chicken or beef.

Red Cabbage And Apples

1 small red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

2 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped small

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 red wine vinegar

1 tsp. whole cloves

1 cup cooked crumbled bacon (optional)

Combine red cabbage, apples, sugar, red wine vinegar and cloves in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours (stir after about 3 hours). Before serving, sprinkle cabbage with bacon.

Makes about 6 servings

“I want death to find me planting my cabbage."
-Michel de Montaigne

"Cabbage: a familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head."
-Ambrose Bierce

Chocolate Bundt Cake

This cake is one of the easiest I've ever made. I actually discovered the recipe earlier last month but didn't have time to make it. But when my friend Monica's father died this week, I was thinking of ways to help her out, when I thought of making a meal and a dessert for her and her family. I made her a large pan of pasta along with a salad, Italian bread and this cake. To make it a little easier on me, I made double of the meal so I could save time and feed my family as well. Monica said her family loved the meal but the cake was the big hit. Our family had to agree. We really liked our cake too!

Chocolate Bundt Cake

1 (18 oz) box fudge cake mix (no pudding version, moist is fine)

1 (3.5 oz) instant chocolate pudding

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil (you can substitute applesauce for lower fat/calories)

1/2 cup water

1 cup sour cream (I used low fat)

1 (9 oz) package semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients, except chocolate chips, very well. When well blended, add chips and blend. Pour mix into well greased/sprayed bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Turn out cake on serving platter. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with chocolate syrup or ice cream, if desired.

"Page one is a diet, page two is a chocolate cake. It's a no-win situation." -Kim Williams

"To be in one's own heart in kindly sympathy with all things; this is the nature of righteousness."
-Confucius

Apple Cake

Who can beat the crunch of a crisp, sweet apple on a Fall day? I know I can't. My eldest daughter decided to make good use of the abundance of apples to make an Apple Cake. She has progressed in her baking to the point that she now can pick a recipe and make it all herself with only a question or two for me. This recipe is one she picked out of her Usbourne Cooking School cookbook. It had just the right amount of apple and spice together. It's great by itself or with a big scoop of ice cream. Well done, sweetheart!

Apple Cake

1 1/3 cup flour (can use wheat)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

3 eggs

3/4 cup soft margarine

1 rounded tsp. ground cinnamon

2 oz. chopped nuts

1 cooking apple, approx. 8 oz.

brown sugar for sprinkling on top

Grease and flour an 8 inch round pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sift flour into a large bowl. Add sugar and baking powder. Add eggs to flour mixture then add margarine, cinnamon, and half the nuts. Use a wooden spoon to mix everything together well. Spoon into the pan and smooth top.

Peel apple and cut into thin wedges. Lay slices in a circle on top, overlapping if needed. Sprinkle the apples with remaining nuts and brown sugar, as desired.

Bake for 1 hour or until cake springs back if touched. Cool then serve.

"Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed."
-Robert H. Schuller