A visit from CA

So, Gary and Vivian arrived on Monday evening. The kids spotted them before they were even on our street. They RAN out the door to greet them. Papa was still parking. So, we talked for a bit and started with a tour of our barn/carriage house and yard while it was still somewhat light out. Then we gave them a tour of the house and clinic. This all took a while because it's a big farmhouse. It was so fun to show it to them in person!! And we're pretty proud of the work we do here. :)

We had grabbed a bunch of veggies from our garden and made this with some pasta:



Mmm-mmmm. And remember, with us? It's all about the food. So, we enjoyed a relaxing evening and stayed up late talking. We decided to hang out at home the next day, figuring on some jet lag for them and a nice day on the farm. :) If you're paying attention, you'll know that food is important, so here was our menu that day (and anything that could come from our garden, did):

We greeted our guests with a farmhouse breakfast the next morning:

Dutch Babies/German pancakes (Di-VINE--one of my all-time favorite foods)
Breakfast Sausage
K's Blueberry Muffins
Baked Oatmeal with berries and walnuts (a local, Amish treat)
Several juices

It was quite the spread. Yum. Something about living in a farmhouse makes us really crave and enjoy breakfasts like this from time to time.

Lunch was, hmmmm, I don't recall . . . that pasta and homemade garden sauce, I believe. And probably garden salad as well. Whatever it was, it was good.

Dinner was a REAL treat. We ate outside (surrounded by fireflies and the sound of cicadas and a bat overhead--the bat lives in our attic/loft on the 3rd floor) and made:

Oven-baked Butternut Squash with butter and a touch of brown sugar
Fresh Corn on the Cob with butter and sea salt
Afghani Chicken (one of our favorite recipes and an oft-requested recipe of ours--we discovered it when we made this as theme food for our book club meeting on The Kite Runner).
Grilled Na'an (S-C-R-U-M-P-T-I-O-U-S)
Fresh Garden Salad
Homemade Cookies and Cream Ice Cream for Dessert

YUM!

We also played and relaxed all day--inside and out. Other highlights include our really good and wonderful friends from down the street stopping by to play. Grandma and Papa playing games and reading with the kids. Playing Catch outside. And Papa giving M a black eye (the pictures on the swing--Papa's trying to make up for it while M ices his eye). "Good one, Gary." ;)

The next day we enjoyed a GREAT day in New York City. But that deserves a post of its own . . .