YAY!!!

The report from NJ:  Bud won GOLD in all of his events!!!!  First Form, three staff, and spear!!!  And the team did a great exhibition performance.

Mama and Bud, plus Ma and Gong, will stay the night and drive home tomorrow morning (early, to avoid the tropical storm.)

We're so proud of Bud!!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Memorable Memorial Day

We had our big family weekend over Memorial Day, with us split in two gorups for most of it. Mama and Bud headed to his annual kung fu tournament near Philly on Saturday morning. The competition was on Sunday, all day, so they spent Saturday at the aquarium in Camden, NJ with the penguins and hippos.  Pictures of Bud show just how happy he is around penguins--huge smile on his face.  They also enjoyed seeing the hippos fed--caretakers just chucked cantaloupe into the enclosure so dangerous are the animals.  There was even a tunnel of sharks that you could walk through.  They had cheesesteaks for lunch and dinner and settled in to rest before the big day.

Bud competed in Tong bei (a fist form) and straight sword.  In Tong bei, he received a bronze . . . at least until they realized they'd put him in the group with the 16 year-olds!!  When they put him in his age group, he got gold!  Though, the excitement was tempered because he was the only one in his age group; still, I'd say earning bronze against the really big kids (almost twice his age . . . and size!) is also an achievement!  He then got gold in straight sword, beating 10 other kids in his group.  We are very proud of him.  Mama said the whole team stayed together as best they could (i.e. when not waiting for their own events), rushing over to each area when a teammate was competing so they could cheer.  It was a great (but long) day.

Meanwhile, Sis and I lounged around the house; she was still under the weather with heavy allergies. We watched a lot of tv--mainly "Switched at Birth" and "Saddle Club."  We did rouse ourselves to make a delicious chocolate chip pie, which I got off FB.  It was excellent with ice cream.  Otherwise, we made crock pot chicken and had a few take-out meals.  I crocheted and tangled; she played some video games.  

At one point, we took ten of my crocheted afghans outside to photograph them.  Our neighbor, the soldier, came over and invited us for some brisket.  And what Texan can refuse brisket?  He was born in Texas and stationed there later, too, and made a great meal, smoking the brisket with a rub of salt, pepper, brown sugar, and garlic only, and then adding a sauce afterwards.  So good, best I've had up here, reminded me of home, which pleased him because he said I was the only one up here who could understand and appreciate it (and I'm not exactly a connoisseur, having not been to the best Texas bbq places.)  We both agreed we needed Mrs. Baird's white bread and some banana pudding. He invited us to stop by on Memorial Day and even said Sis could come over to eat anytime she saw him outside cooking.  He mentioned chickens, fried turkey, and even homemade french fries--she was in!

So yesterday, the kids and I wandered over to our neighbor's, taking my homemade banana pudding with us.  He was so excited to see the pudding, knew exactly what it was before I said because of the 'nilla wafers.  Though we didn't discuss it, it was interesting to spend time with a soldier on Memorial Day--he's the only active military soldier I've ever known.  On that note, he and his family ask to spread the word about courteous use of fireworks on all patriotic holidays; the loud bomb-like ones are really hard for many soldiers to take.  My neighbor has PTSD and hates how people celebrate what should be his day with such awful noises.  

 It was late in the day when we showed up and we missed the main meal, which was fine, but the kids had Klondike bars, pasta salad, potato salad with capers, hummus, tabbouleh, and that good old strawberry pretzel salad!  Then I hung out with the adults while they wandered around with the 2 1/2 year old, looking at their chickens.  And while it sort of felt like a gathering from my childhood, with beer and food and lawn chairs and curse words* and adult stories, there were major differences.  See, half of the people were Israeli and so a lot of conversation was in Hebrew; while I don't have any Hebrew, enough of it was translated that I got the gist. None of them had ever heard of much less had banana pudding--and they liked it (and compared it to an Israeli dessert, though not with bananas.)  And our neighbor wants to have more gatherings, introduce some Southern hospitality up here, he said (so he asked for my hush puppy and also barbecue chicken recipes.)  I told him I'd bring ramen salad to the next party!  By the time we left, there was no more banana pudding.  

The last activity of note:  I gave away my loom.  A local friend who weaves and is active in the historical society traded me basket, soap, and candle-making supplies and equipment for my 16-heddle loom and brand new warping board, plus all my weaving magazines.  I had come to the realization that I was just not a weaver, especially because it's hard on my back . . . and that's okay.  I know she will use and enjoy it--she's already planning a complicated 10 heddle colonial overshot pattern.  And I am looking forward to trying soap and candles.

All in all, a great weekend.

(*Ah the cursing!  How come they didn't curse in Hebrew??  When I curse, the kids get 15 minutes of extra screen time and so I laughing said they could have the same deal; they racked up an hour and 45 minutes really fast (and I stopped counting at that point.)  But that's fine. Hearing occasional cursing never hurt anyone--and they've never listened to adults chatter so quietly and intently!)

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie Recipe from Nestle

1 unbaked pie crust, homemade or store bought
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter softened
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325

Beat your eggs in a large mixer until foamy.  Add flours and sugars, then butter. Stir in chocolate. Pour into unbaked pie shell.  Bake 50-55 minutes.  Cool before eating.

Banana Pudding

 It’s not traditional banana pudding—with the cream cheese—but I like the not-so-sweet rich texture.

12 oz. vanilla wafers

tub of Cool Whip (large)--I used 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream, whipped

package of cream cheese (large)

package of Jello Instant Vanilla pudding (large)

5 bananas, sliced in rounds

milk

            Line the bottom of the dish with wafers

            Make the pudding. Make the whipped cream. Add cream cheese, beating with mixer, and fold in the whipped cream.  Add bananas and more wafers and stir very gently.

            Spoon pudding mixture on top of wafers.  Cover with remaining wafers.

            Refrigerate and serve.

Mommy Hungry

Strawberry Pretzel Jello Salad

2 c. crushed pretzel sticks

3/4 c. melted butter

3 tbsp. sugar

8 oz. cream cheese

1 c. sugar

8 oz. Cool Whip

1 (6 oz.) pkg. strawberry banana Jello

2 c. boiling water

2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen strawberries, partially thawed

Mix first three ingredients and press in bottom of a 9"x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees (metal pan) or 325 degrees (glass pan) 8 minutes. Let cool completely. Beat 1 cup sugar and cream cheese. Fold in Cool Whip. Spread over pretzels. Mix Jello and water until dissolved. Add strawberries. Stir into Jello, then set aside for 10 minutes. Pour over cheese mixture. Chill.

from Cooks.com

Aunt Janie’s Hush Puppies

A staple of bay fish fries!  And Aunt Janie’s are the best ever.

2 ½ cup cornmeal

2 cup flour

1 ½ tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoon sugar

1 cup grated onion

Add milk until stiff.  Fry.

Aunt Janie

Mr. Campbell’s Barbecue Sauce

Very tart but real BBQ sauce, from Grandad's good friend, Mr. Campbell.

I remember the green-handled wire brush and the bay leaf floating in the saucepan on the stove where Mom kept it warm between bastings at the old Weber kettle.

1 quart vinegar (apple cider)

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon Coleman mustard

2 tablespoon paprika

salt to taste

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 Bay leaf

1 lemon sliced

¼ cup worcestershire

red pepper

1 tablespoon black pepper

            Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add ¼ lb. butter or oleo; cook until melted.  Can be frozen. 

            Brush on chicken before and during barbecuing.

                                                                                                            Mr. Bill Campbell

Ramen Salad

2 packages ramen noodles, crumbled

1 large package broccoli slaw

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 cup sunflower kernels

1 cup toasted sliced almonds

½ cup oil

½ cup sugar

½ cup rice wine vinegar

seasoning packets

Combine noodles, slaw, green onions, seeds, and nuts. Mix oil, sugar, vinegar, and seasoning packet together. Pour over salad and toss. Note: this makes a ton; you can cut the recipe in half.

Mr. G

Memorial Day Memories

We did our annual pilgrimage to Philadelphia this weekend, both for sightseeing and Bud's kung fu tournament.  But it wasn't our usual trip--we didn't go to Ben Franklin's print shop or even the Visitor's Center.  And we never go to the Liberty Bell because the lines are too long.

Upon arrival, we did go to our favorite NPS Independence gift shop, which has moved but still has the soap I pick up every year.  Then we headed to our all-time favorite Philly eatery, and one of our favorites anywhere:  City Tavern, the real colonial American restaurant in the historic building run by Taste of History host Chef Walter Staib.  As usual, we loved it--raspberry shrub, sweet potato biscuits, anadama bread, Sally Lunn bread, pepperpot soup, salmagundi platter, chicken pot pie, lobster pot pie, mushroom toast.  YUM!!  And this year, our waitress was an historian and shared extra information about how the lobster pot pie was the most authentic period dish and was even served after the defeat of the Hessians at Trenton!

Better yet, we shared the meal and much of our afternoon with some longtime friends of ours from Philadelphia, whom we don't get to see often.  They met us at City Tavern and then strolled around downtown with us for awhile.  We visited two new-to-us locations--Shane Confectionery and Franklin Fountain, which I'd read about in the recent American Spirit magazine (thanks, Gommie!)  One is an old-fashioned candy store, with shelves of glistening, colored confections and jars of tasty offerings.  We chose chocolates, caramels, cherry sourballs, lychee candies, lavender lollipops, violet "mints," and teaberry gum.  Next door, and owned by the same people, is the old-fashioned soda fountain.  No ordinary historical remake of plain old milkshakes and sundaes, this place has homemade sodas syrups plus real phosphates and citric acids dispensed from droppers--you see the pharmacy connection right away.  We had black raspberry ice cream and then four fancy sodas:  a Ladies' Choice, with peach ice cream in raspberry soda, with cream; a War Admiral, with ginger, milk, and rose-flavorings (my favorite); the Japanese thirst killer, with Orgeat Almond syrup, grape soda, and angostura bitters (Bud and Mama's favorite); and finally, a fizzy Roman Punch, with lemon, orange, grapefruit, and bergamot.  Delicious!!  I know these will become permanent fixtures on our Philly tour.

After saying goodbye to our friends, we headed for a self-guided tour of the US Mint, at Sis's request.  She has been increasingly interested in coins but only seemed mildly interested in how they were made; it didn't help that the factory wasn't in production, it being a holiday and weekend.  Still, she got some official sleeves for her coins and was happy about that.

Then we went to play putt-putt.  Yep, it's becoming a family thing.  This one was the course at Franklin Square, complete with mini-symbols of Philadelphia, including the Liberty Bell, Elfret's Alley, Independence Hall, the Ben Franklin Bridge, various sports teams, the art museum, the LOVE sculpture, and the Chinatown gate.  So cute.  The course itself was pretty predictable, with no moving parts, and VERY crowded.  Still, a nice time.  And we liked riding the carousel, too.

That evening we had Philly cheesesteaks from Tony Luke's, which several people recommended.  I'm not a huge cheesesteak fan, unsurprisingly, but it was a good bite of local color.  We finished the evening with a swim in the hotel pool.

The next day was kung fu competition, Bud' fourth, I believe.  He competed in three forms--staff, broadsword, and tong bei, a kind of hand form (we previously called it "slappy form" because he slaps his legs repeatedly.)  And he won gold in all three!  We were very proud of him, but it was a long day.  He waited almost five hours for his first event, which was supposed to be in the morning, and then it was at the exact same time as his afternoon event.  Literally, as he stepped on to the mat for his hand form, they called him up for his staff form.  He did two forms in five minutes, running in between!  I don't know how he did it, pure adrenaline.  A very exciting five minutes, after a very long wait.  He's broadsword was an hour or so later, icing on the cake at that point.

We all celebrated with dinner at Iron Hill brewery, our traditional post-competition dinner.  (Can you tell we are creatures of habit?)  French fries with garlic-rosemary mayonnaise, mushroom soup, Caesar salad, fish and chips, more French fries, mussels, seafood stew, hamburgers, chicken pot pie with mashed potatoes,  apple crisp, maple pecan bourbon ice cream, and oatmeal cake.  WHEW!  We left well-fortified for the long drive home, choosing to wake up in our own beds the next morning.  We made good time, saw a beautiful sunset over the rest area near the Meadowlands, and were greeted noisily by some happy cats.

Lunch, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Saturday

• The new World Trade Center--we admire the tower from NJ
• Vince Lombardi rest stop--nothing like cinnamon buns for breakfast!
• Independence Visitor Center--big, new since we were there 10 years ago, and a great anchor for the site; kids pick up Junior Ranger booklet (and complete enough activities to earn their Independence ranger badge) and trading cards (which they earned by answering questions posed by rangers).
• Liberty Bell--but only from outside, as we wouldn't brave the lines
• Independence Hall, again just from the outside, but an up-close look at the "Great Essentials" documents--Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution
• City Tavern:  Sally Lunn bread, Anadama bread, sweet potato roll, shrub, mushroom toast, lobster pot pie, chicken pot pie, fried tofu a la Ben Franklin, all served by costumed interpreters in a reconstructed 18th-century building.  My favorite stop, both for the food and the atmosphere.  I got the chef's Taste of History DVDs for home.  
• Ben Franklin's Print Shop, complete with Amos the mouse from Ben and Me, which we read before our trip.  This was the kids' favorite stop in Philly.
• President's House archaeological site discovered during building of new Liberty Bell center, with outdoor exhibition on Washington's slaves.  My second favorite stop.
• Free Quaker Meeting House
• Ben Franklin's grave 
• Shopping--hammered dulcimer cd, magnets, Philly puzzle, soap, mob cap, NPS pins and patches, Junior Ranger vest, books 
• And all the while, I hum, "Open up a window . . . It's hot as hell in Philadelphia!" from 1776.  
• Dinner at Iron Hill Brewery: pomme frites with garlic rosemary aioli, quinoa salad, egg roll sampler, shrimp, cheeseburger, ice cream, oatmeal cake
• Sis and Bud shared a pullout sofa in our hotel suite, but Sis came to us in the night to complain.  "Mom, Bud feels my warmth and keeps scooting over.  He thinks it's you and he wants to cuddle.  So I keep pushing him back, 'Stay on your side!'  I even threw Mr. Big over to the other side, but he just keeps cuddling with me!"
  

Sunday

• Competition begins early, with Bud's first two forms back-to-back.
• Gold in broadsword!
• Gold in staff!
• Sis plays DS and chats with Ma and Gong.
• We have chicken and broccoli, fried rice, pork buns, and noodles for lunch.
• Masters' performances of various wushu-kung fu and tai chi
• Team competitions are fascinating, with whips, double swords, etc.
• Gold in nunchucks!
• I asked Bud if he heard people cheering for him when he was doing his kung fu forms.  "No, Mom," he explained, taking his first position and sweeping his arm around in the way he usually begins, "I think, 'I am the best!  I am the best!  I am the best!'"
• We take some pictures, talk to his master, watch several more divisions.
• Dinner at the brewery again with Ma and Gong, before they head home.  Bud practically falls asleep at the table.
• We chill in the hotel, but kids get second wind won't fall asleep.

Monday

• We "sleep in" and leave hotel by 8:30-something.
• We head to Animals & Acrobats at Van Cortlandt Manor in Hudson valley, essentially an old-fashioned circus
• Boston Circus Guild:  acrobats, trapeze artists, other aerialists, all to "Emperor Norton Stationary Marching Band," all dressed in steampunk.  Kids love woman with hoops, trapeze work, partner acrobatics, etc.  Sis wants to be an acrobat!
• Lunch of hot dogs, turkey sandwich, pasta salad, bean salad, lemonades
• Double servings of Blue Pig local ice cream in the high heat--"double the yum!" Sis says.
• Visit the Cabinet of Curiosities, with Fiji Mermaid, mastodon, and invisible woman in a box!  Bud declares, "There is no magic!"  I tease him about being a realist.  Then I ask about the Tooth Fairy.  He stands perplexed then answers, "The Tooth Fairy is different because she's not creepy!"
• Circus Arts hands-on.  Bud tries juggling; Sis excels at this big yo-yo.  Both walk on tight rope and try stilts.  
• Flight of Raptors display birds of prey and Two by Two have animals, including a huge, hot, brown rabbit reclining in the shade of its enclosure.  "He's a melting bunny," Sis declared.
•  Mama, Sis, and Bud conspire to buy me an adorable giant stuffed hedgehog.
• We head home around 2 pm, missing traffic almost completely!
• We get the AC on quickly and sit around the rest of the afternoon, reminiscing about our great weekend.