Time out from cooking for a girl from Pumpkin Town....

Not really Pumpkin Town...my hometown is actually Circleville, Ohio....home of the Circleville Pumpkin Show. The oldest and largest fall festival in Ohio and also claimed to be (by Circleville natives and others) "The greatest free show on earth". Above is a photo of the "pumpkin" water tower visible from my parent's house (5 miles outside of the city).

The Circleville Pumpkin Show is a 4 day festival held in downtown Circleville the third week of October from Wednesday to Saturday. The streets of the city are closed to allow for booths, rides, displays, crafts, and over 300,000 visitors. For a city with a population of 12,000...that is a lot of visitors!

There is so much to see and do. In the center of the town is the pumpkin tower. It displays more than 100,000 pounds of pumpkins, squash, and gourds. There is a contest for the largest pumpkin. In 2007, there was a record winning pumpkin. This pumpkin weighed in at 1524.5 lbs! (See photo below)




My favorite display is the was once called “The World's Largest Pumpkin Pie”. (Rumor has it a group in California made one bigger, but we don't like to talk about that in Circleville. :) )
This huge pumpkin treat is baked annually for the Pumpkin Show by Lindsey’s Bakery on Main Street in Circleville, Ohio. This pie is 14 feet in diameter and weighs over 400 pounds. Want to try and make it at home? :)

According to the ladies at Lindsey’s, the recipe is as follows: 360 pounds of sugar, 795 lbs. of pumpkin, 60 lbs. powdered milk, 75 gallons of water, 60 doz. eggs, 1 lb. salt, 1 lb. spices, 400 lbs. flour.

15 people to mix
Bake 10 hours - cool 6 hours.



That is a lot of pie!! The first time we went to the pumpkin show my husband asked if they slice the pie and serve it. Yuck! I doubt it. The pie sits out for a couple weeks before it is feed to local live stock. Besides, I'm not sure I would want to eat a pie that has been sitting out for 300,000 people to hold their faces over :)


On the topic of pumpkin treats, there are a variety of interesting foods available at the Pumpkin Show that go beyond pumpkin pie. Such as....Pumpkin Burgers, Pumpkin Pizza, Pumpkin Chili, Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Donuts, and Pumpkin Ice Cream to name a few.

My favorite pumpkin treat is the Pumpkin Roll. This year my mom bought a whole frozen one for me to bring to my husband (who was working) and for us to enjoy for weeks after the Pumpkin Show. :) (Thanks, Mom!)




I have great memories from childhood to high school years at the Pumpkin Show. Now I enjoy seeing old friends who return to visit and running the Pumpkin Classic. A 5 mile run held on the Saturday morning of Pumpkin Show.

I encourage anyone who likes fall festivals to visit. :)

Our NEW Home and All the Fun!

It has been way too long since my last post. Life has been busy. :) At the end of June, Chris and I bought our first home :) This summer has been spent moving, organizing, painting and making the house our own. It has been a lot of work and a lot of fun.





Last weekend was perhaps the most fun had in our new home so far. Chris and I hosted a Housewarming Party with 50 family and friends. It was a blast! Over a dozen kids running around certainly helps break in a new home! :)

Keeping with the theme of the blog...here are a few very simple appetizer recipes I made that everyone seemed to really enjoy. I look forward to posting many more delicious dishes created in my NEW, very own kitchen! :)







Buffalo Chicken Dip My Way...The Make Ahead Way

4 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper (to taste)

1 8 oz. block cream cheese
8 oz. Hot Sauce
1 green onion, diced
shredded cheese blend (if desired)

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Season frozen chicken breasts with garlic, salt and pepper. Wrap chicken in foil and place on baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink). Remove from oven and unwrap foil. Allow chicken to cool inside foil packet (leaving chicken in all of its juices). Shred chicken with a fork.

Place chicken (and broth from foil), cream cheese, hot sauce, and green onion in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Two hours before party begins, place mix in a slow cooker and warm. Stir occasionally. Sprinkle with shredded chese if desired.

This recipe is so easy since it can be made the day before and you don't need to thaw the chicken. You can easily make this the day you plan to enjoy it and place the mix directly in a slow cooker to heat. Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!




Bacon Blue Cheese Ball

10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
10 ounces sour cream
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
2 green onions, diced
1/2 cup pecans

Combine crumbled bacon, sour cream, blue cheese, and onion in a bowl and mix to combine. Spoon mixture on to a piece of wax paper and form into a ball. Refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 2 hours (I refrigerated mine overnight). Just before serving, roll cheese ball in pecans to coat. Serve with assorted crackers and veggies.

*This was great with the new Roast Tomato Triscuits. But just as yummy when I ate the left over with Ritz crackers the next day ;)





Strawberry Cream Cheese Fruit Dip (By Grandma Ruby)

1 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened
1 single serving container Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk (a little less-to get desired consistency)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with hand mixer. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Serve with assorted fruit. Great with apples, bananas, cantaloupe, strawberries, and grapes.

*I've found adding a splash of lemon juice makes the flavor more intense. Yum!

Our 1st Anniversary!

I can't believe it has been an entire year since we said our "I do's"! It has been a whirlwind year to say the least! We had the wedding....moving in to our first home together...Chris' graduation....a couple of trips....2 new jobs....and a move to a new city to name a few major happenings. I am very much enjoying married life and my life with Chris. I can't wait to see what the future years will bring!

Our first anniversary was spent exchanging small gifts and spending a romantic evening together. We both exchanged cards. Chris also gave me a special photo album which contained just one photo. It was the first "photo record" of us together. It was taken 1 week after our first date. Chris said we would take a picture each anniversary and also write down what we did to celebrate our love. He is so amazing!
Next, we shared the top of our wedding cake...which was still very yummy. (My grandma makes the best wedding cakes..I had to include a picture from the wedding :))




We sat together on a blanket spread out on our tiny patio lined with candles. We roasted marshmallows to make Smores and listened to love songs. It was perfect. We took the 1st Anniversary picture for our album (not yet downloaded)and logged our first memory. This was truly a special evening.

Our Carnival Cruise!

Chris and I just returned from a week long cruise with Carnival. Our ship was called the Celebration. Chris has never cruised before; however, this was my third (second with Carnival). We had so much fun relaxing together, touring the ports of call, participating in shore excursions, dining, and watching the nightly shows on the ship. The Celebration is an older ship....we both decided we would like to try a newer ship next cruise.

Dining:
We had the most entertaining dining staff! Our Maitre 'd, Joseph, was quite a character. He made our dining experience so much fun. The service was excellent; however, the food was nothing to write home about. Chris and I DID fall in love with the Chocolate Melting Cake....we ordered one every night at dinner!

Ports of call:
Key West
We LOVE Key West. Both of us have been before, but never together. We went Snuba diving in the morning. This was so much fun! Like snorkeling, but you don't have to come up for air and you can dive up to 25 feet underwater! We also walked around and visited the shops. We also visited the southernmost point in Key West....it is just 90 miles from Cuba!

Nassau
This was an adventure. The Straw Market and downtown Nassau are full of character to say the least.(You will never have to hunt for someone to braid your hair or try and locate a taxi...TRUST me.)
We also went snorkeling here. The water was VERY rough and COLD, but Chris did get some great pictures with the underwater camera!
Our favorite part of Nassau was Atlantas. This is a BEAUTIFUL resort with a the largest salt water aquarium in the World. We had so much fun walking around and looking at the marine life and beautiful architecture. took tons of pictures!


Overall
We had a great time together. Our favorite parts of the cruise were definitely seeing Atlantas and Snuba! We also really liked Joseph and the Chocolate Melting cake :) We agree that we probably will not go on another Carnival cruise; however, we would LOVE to try another cruise line...maybe to Hawaii! :)