Sunday, October 26, 2008

Paul Mitchell Hair Academy


Tony's father is a hairdresser - an excellent one at that! Before he retired two years ago, he was a partner in a group of beauty schools. After he retired, he was contacted by some executives who wanted to start another beauty school, and they wanted him to run it. He was reluctant, but they convinced him to return to work for another five years.

Well, this past Monday was the official opening of the school.
John Paul is the owner of the Paul Mitchell Beauty Industry. You may recognize the name of the Paul Mitchell hair products line. I didn't meet him(John Paul), but he was there that night.






Sunday, October 19, 2008

The New York Philharmonic

We are fortunate enough to live close to one of the world's greatest symphonic orchestras! We have a subscription to the Young People's concert series, which includes four Saturday matinee concerts. This is the first timewe have done this, and we had a blast! We drove into New York City yesterday and parked in one of the parking garages. Before we walked across the street to Lincoln Center, though,

we stopped in to the Manhattan Temple to visit some of the cleanest restrooms in the city.

There was a farmer's market in Lincoln Square Park, where we had lunch - soft pretzels, hot apple cider, and lemonade(and water).
Then we went to Lincoln Center to Avery Fisher Hall, where the concert was going to be held.
Before the concert began, there was Kidzone Live set up in all levels of the lobbies outside of the concert hall. If you're not sure what I mean, check it out for yourself at http://www.nyphilkids.org/ . It's really neat!




The boys tried out different instruments,




saw New York Philharmonic Musicians performing,

and participated in a quiz show.


They won some neat prizes, too!



Sunday, October 12, 2008

Block Party






We celebrated a block party yesterday. I'll post pictures tomorrow. We have a really long street(a mile all the way around, surrounding other streets with state names), but we limited our invitations to about 15 houses. There were people on the rest of our street coming to us and asking us to include them the next time we have a block party, because they live on the(as they put it)boring side of the street!

We had Karaoke in our front yard, Guitar Hero, a firepit in the street, lots of snacks, a BBQ, and lots of music. The children rode their bikes, scooters, played basketball, and stickball. It was interesting to notice that most of the families in our neighborhood have mostly boys.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Apple Pie Mix

Noelle asked what I would do with all of the apples we picked at the apple orchard. Well, here it is! It's apple time, and I have gotten some requests for the apple pie mix recipe. One of my visiting teachers gave it to me a long time ago, and we have canned apple pie mix every year since then. One batch makes about 8 jars of apple pie filling, and depending on how thick you like your apple pie, you can use one or two jars for each pie. It is absolutely delicious, and I hope you enjoy it!

Apple Pie Mix

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
10 cups water
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2-3 drops food coloring(optional)
5 1/2 - 6 lbs tart apples

Directions:
Mix all but lemon and food coloring. Cook and stir til thick. Add lemon juice and food coloring, if desired.
Pack peeled, cored, and sliced apples into clean 1 quart canning jars(about 8)(we have found that wide-mouth jars work best), leaving one inch of head space. Pour the thickened mixture into the jars. With a clean, damp cloth, wipe the outside rim of each jar, and place a sterilized lid and ring on it.
Place jars into a hot water bath, making sure the water is about an inch above the jars. Let water come to a boil, then time the bath for 27 minutes.
Carefully take jars out of water bath, and place on toweled surface. Allow to cool, then put in storage.

To make apple pie, place one jar of apple pie filling into a prepared pie shell, and bake for 50 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Basic Pie Crust
2 cups flour & 1 tsp salt(sifted together)
2/3 cup shortening & 2 Tbsp butter(combined)

Cut half of the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry blender until it has the consistency of cornmeal. Cut the remaining half coarsely into the dough until it is pea size. Sprinkle dough with 4 Tbsp water. Blend water in lightly, until dough can be formed into a ball. Bake according to pie recipe.

Hint: to keep the crust from burning, wrap foil over the edge of the crust. It will brown nicely, and will not overcook.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Nicholas' school portrait


We got Nicholas' school pictures yesterday along with a portrait CD so I could post it!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Fall Camping

This week is Rosh Hashannah, the Hebrew New Year. We had Tuesday and Wednesday off from school, so we went out to Eastern Long Island to go camping. The weather was beautiful and cool, and wonderfully relaxing! We went to an apple farm to pick apples



We got 18 pounds of apples - they are delicious!

One of Tony's friends lives in a gated community in Eastern Long Island. It is part of a horse farm that rescues battered thoroughbred horses. He invited us to come and see them. Someday we will have enough land for a horse for me, but for now, this was a great opportunity! We took our friend's daughter Amy with us - she loves horses just as much as I do.There were about seven horses altogether at this farm, but Tony took pictures of me with this horse, because I fell in love! We brought carrots to feed the horses, and this one was very communicative! He tapped his hoof on the gate of the corral, and I was told that I could go in. Well, I didn't need another invitation! I went into the corral, and the horse got so excited! He did everything he could to tell me that he wanted to take me for a ride. He butted up against me, walked next to me at the right angle for me to climb right on, and when I didn't get on him, he did it again at least three times. He was adorable! Unfortunately, I had foot surgery a month ago, so I couldn't even if I was given permission to.
We were told that these horses are up for adoption, so if/when the time ever comes that we get a plot of land large enough for a horse, I am definitely there!