In The Kitchen

Today in the kitchen I decided that something needed to be done with the tomatoes before they went south, if you know what I mean--so I made tomatoe sauce. This was made with the last of the cherry tomatoes. Really easy! Chop your tomatoes and cook down until sauce coats the back of the spoon. I did put a smidge of S&P on it but the recipe says to season when you cook. I should tell you that this recipe called for 15lbs. of tomatoes which equals about two Qts. of sauce. When mine cools I'll stick it in the fridge to use this weekend but it can be portioned out and frozen for later use. Season according to what you are making.

The same can be said for the peppers that we had, I can't

tell you how many bags we have in the freezer just from

this year AND we've given a lot away too! Anyway I

decided to try a new recipe. PEPPER RELISH.

Chop your peppers--we had jalapeno and sorreno

peppers. You can leave the seeds if you want, make a

fine mince, layer with salt and store in the fridge.

Good on anything that calls for hot peppers. If you want

a mild relish remove the seeds from some of the peppers.

I used a small food chopper to mince my peppers that way

I could limit my hand contact on the peppers. Much easier

than hand chopping.

I'm sure this will go on Mr. Ken's chili and tacos.

Both recipes are very easy and a good way to use up

the last of your garden produce. Enjoy!!!!

~Keep on Dreaming~

IT IS COMING!!!!!

In FIVE yes FIVE more days!!!!! WOOOOOHAAA!!!!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Snacktime

The word "snack" comes from the Dutch snacken, which means to bite. Americans love their snacks, eating an average of more than four per day and more than 65 lbs. of snack foods each year. DID YOU KNOW?--- The main contributor to the increase in the consumption of salty snacks was the end of Prohibition in 1933. The interest in salty snacks increased even more during WWII, as rationing caused a severe shortage in sugar. The average American eats nearly 70 qts of popcorn a year. Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola. It was sold at Jacobs' Pharmacy for .05 cents a glass as a fountain drink. More than one billion Coca-Cola products are consumed each day. October is National Pizza Month in the US, so designated in 1987-it's one of the most popular foods and pepperoni is the most popular topping in America. What do you like on your pizza? The most popular ice cream flavors are chocolate,vanilla, butter pecan and strawberry. Joseph Fry invented the candy bar in 1847-he created a paste that could be pressed into a mold. Milk chocolate is the most popular but those that like dark chocolate would disagree. The Hershey bar was invented in 1900. Candy corn was first made in the 1880's and it was only made from March to November. Tootsie Rolls debuted in 1896, introduced by Leo Hirshfied, who named them after his dughter's nickname, "Tootsie." The candy cane was a Christmas treat by the late 17th century. Popular tradition holds that the shape is meant to represent a shepherd's crook. Most are peppermint flavored but these days one can find them in many flavors. In a typical Valentine season, more than 36 million heart shaped boxes will be given and recieved. Approximately eight billion conversation hearts are produced in a typical year. The manufacturers of the hearts introduce at least 10 new sayings each year. As many as ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced every year, in the US. About 16 million jelly beans are produced every year in the US, for Easter. There are enough PEEPS made each year to circle the earth twice, Easter is not the only holiday today, that you can find these treats. Who likes PEEPS????? How's that for "food for thought?" ~Keep on Dreaming~

Spinach Anyone????

On Saturday , Nancy--Acorn Cottage and I headed out for the

25th Annual Lenexa Spinach Festival located in the beautiful

Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park. It was a beautiful day to wander the

park looking at crafts and antiques plus we enjoyed the

food at the food booths. The Spinach Festival celebrates

Lenexa's earliest claim to fame as the "Spinach Capitol of

World" during the 1930's. Belgian farmers grew spinach

and the shipped it out by rail. The festival rolls all of the

history into one big festival sporting "the world's largest

spinach salad, spinach dip, pizza, wraps and balls plus a

variety of other food for festival goers pleasure.

Here we find Popeye and Olive Oyl doing some old-fashioned

pole fishing at the "waterering hole." Wonder if they caught

any??

There are over 100 artand craft booths to look at and one

tent full of antiques!

One of our favorite booth is the one Nancy calls "the Hallo-

ween booth" it also has some Christmas stuff too. It is VERY

hard to make decisions in this delightful place! Can you see

the "pig-tailed pumpkin" on the black table--it's really a

halloween cat complete with a tail. She'a adorable.

Nancy is holding a sweater decorated with Yo-Yo's. NO, not the kind on a string and you walk the dog with it. The kind you make out of fabric. VERY VERY Cute! This booth was huge AND we found out they are opening a store locally! Could be trouble for Nan and me. :)

NOW--the mystery of the day. Is this man's hair real ?

We had a great time and are looking forward to next year!!

~Keep on Dreaming~