A couple of Saturdays ago... the Chili Cook-off

The day before Father's Day Erika and the boys took a trip to town to see the Tehachapi Chili Cook-off and Car Show. It was a small town-type fair with merchandise booths, a kids' play area and more chili than I've ever seen.

We charged Erika with making sure that Arden didn't get lost. She was on top of her job the entire time, and didn't let him straggle into the crowd one bit.

First stop for us was the car show. The locals gather their collective rides and show them off on the streets. We saw everything from '39 Mercs to a custom '76 Jet boat.

Arden showed Erika what a "Rumble seat" was in a car. Hopefully he'll be the only boy ever to do so. ;)

I also heard him say to her, as he walked toward the '55 Chevy, "Here's one from Grandpa's generation." Erika has a new respect for the age of that car. ;)

No word on who won the votes of the public, but Arden and I had our favorite, pictured here. It is a 1937 Oldsmobile and it was just neat to see. A daily driver, this car is unlike any that I've seen before, and I've been to a lot of shows. To me it was both elegant and futuristic for the time, a real treat.

No question which car was Erika's favorite. This pickup was PINK!

Next stop was to go taste chili. They fundraise by selling "tastes" for a buck per dixie cup serving of several different types of chili. It was interesting to try the different types and tastes side by side, and makes for a great way to raise money for the local causes.

Erika's favorite moment of the day was getting her snowcone from Grandpa. Erika chose Blue Bubblegum, and from the look of it enjoyed just about every bite - blue tongue and all.

Madelyn, Erika, little Victoria, how does your garden grow? With sun and water, then we transport 'er, fresh herbs do we now know.

OK, so its a little corny, but the girls have really enjoyed their gardendom. In early spring, after a home-school lesson on how plants grow, I came up with a concept that we could, in fact, still have a garden on the road. If it were contained, small enough to transport yet still had enough space, it could be done. So I concocted the box-garden you see here. It is basically two tupperware tubs, one short, one taller (inside the short one), and one lid with holes drilled in it (to act like a greenhouse, when we started the seeds). I put in some river rock (collected on-site) then put a bag of potting soil over that and viola - garden. It left enough room for the plants to get about 12 inches tall, and plenty of soil to not need watering twice a day.

We started the project in Morgan Hill, CA the first week of April. I bought 6 packages of commercial seed packets at Walmart and then gave each of the girls their own two plots, and their own two packets. We sat down and planted them together. They loved to see the different sizes and shapes of the seeds. We even got to chat about how seeds are made and what it takes to make a plant from a seed. It was all very educational. :)

Madelyn chose Chives (she liked the purple flowers on the picture) and Cilantro. Erika had Spearmint (she LOVES mint) and Italian Parsley. Victoria got Basil and Oregano, and was happy just to be involved in the whole thing. The variety was mostly so that the girls could learn about the different rates things grow and how different the leaves look. Here you can see some of them sprouting. The Cilantro came up first, and strangely, they all kinda looked the same in the first few days.

I can still see Madelyn running back to the front door to scream "Mommy, Mommy, my plants sprouted!" the first time we could see leaves.

The girls loved touching the soft leaves and tasting the different flavors. So far, Madelyn LOVES chives. In fact, just about every time she walks by the garden she snaps one off and eats it. At least she's getting greens somehow...

At some point we needed to thin things out, and honestly, if we completely followed the plan there would only be one plant per square, so I've let some of it be a little overgrown. Oregano is still especially tight on space.

When we move it rides along nicely in the backseat of the truck, and then we bring it out first thing and find it a nice, sunny spot on the ground. Personally, I've loved having the cilantro and Parsley right there so that I can make one of our new favorite things - chimichurri. Unfortunately, it only grows so fast, so harvests are few and far between.

Overall, I'll call it a success if for nothing else than giving the girls the experience of growing their own garden, tasting different flavors, and understanding why things taste different. I've been told that when this experiment runs its course we need to do a flower garden. I think that's a fine idea, and it'll make the truck smell especially nice when we're treking from place to place.

A Good Day…and Tourist Practice!

Jill's Journal: It was a good day. Rob is benefitting from me keeping the girls out of his hair and is making huge progress on his long list of projects. I’m thinking our “launch day” will be soon! Well, maybe – the circuit board for the washing machine finally arrived, two days behind schedule, and it has a whole different set of problems than the first. Perhaps if we married the two circuit boards, we might have one good washing machine? I’ve told Rob he’s been too nice in his calls to this maker-of-washing-machines-for-RVs-and-yachts…I’m ready to pounce of them. I’m a mother with three young children (translation: LOTS of laundry) who bought a way-too-expensive, especially-for-an-RV washing machine because no matter how hard I could try, I’m just not a Laundromat kind of gal. And I’m taking the inconvenience they’re causing very, very personally. Rob thinks it’s better he deal with them because one can catch more bees with honey than anger. I know he’s right, but here's my confession of the day: I am having a hard time restraining myself!

(As my dear Dad pointed out today on the phone, this delay in our plans is minor in the scheme of things. Better to have everything fixed and all the kinks worked out here rather than in some crazy little town where we can’t find a hardware store. I know, I know...)

So, while we’re still in Lexington, I decided to practice being a tourist right here at home today. I’ve always heard about a little side-of-the-road diner in Midway, Kentucky, called Wallace Station, but had never eaten there. Unsuspectingly, the girls and I headed there for lunch. Holy crap. Un-be-live-able. I had some chipotle/avacado/turkey/pepper jack creation and no other sandwich will ever measure up. Why have I never eaten there before? It’s so good that apparently Wallace Station will be featured on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” on the Food Network next Monday, the 28th. We have a t.v. but no television service, so I’m hoping to re-live the sandwich by catching the episode somewhere online. And I just may have to drag Rob to Wallace Station on our way out of town. Yum.

While still in a delicious food-induced euphoria, the girls and I then headed to Frankfort to take in some of the sights of the capitol. We went first to the quaint historic district and enjoyed the grounds of the Old Capitol building, in use since 1830 and now a museum. We happened to walk across the spot where Governor-elect William Goebel was shot on the way to his inauguration in 1900. Erika was fascinated because it happened on her birthday (albeit a little more than a century earlier) and I was fascinated because one of the first books I ever helped edit was strangely not about horses, but about Goebel’s assassination.

We then took a short jaunt over to the current Capitol with the intent of taking a tour, but either the heat or Father’s Day got the best of them and they had closed early. Beautiful grounds, however, and the girls especially enjoyed a giant floral clock with a surrounding fountain (shown in the top picture).

They were eager to get home and spend what was left of Father's Day with their Daddy, so we did just that. The happy little girl squeals from an impromptu running-thru-sprinklers session capped a super day. I think we're cut out for this tourist thing!

I did learn something very, very valuable today: when it’s 94 degrees Fahrenheit and so humid you can cut it with a knife, you can never have too much water along. The jug of water I brought wasn’t nearly enough and we stopped on the way back to Lexington to buy a couple more litters, which were quickly inhaled. These little girls play hard and one in particular definitely subscribes to the theory of “Why walk when you can run?”, so overheating could easily be an issue. I’ll be more careful to have a plentiful water supply in the future.

FOOD POST: Five Guys, a pilgrimage?

I'd heard so many good things, so much press and they posted so much "best burger in the world" in the window that even though we aren't on our trip yet, I had to start the tradition that I plan on running throughout the trip and visit those places that are "must's" (like Nathan's, Primanti Brothers', Rueben's, Katz Deli, etc.) Icons in their own right - places that Food Network devotes hours to telling you about what they do ;) I'd heard that Five Guys was an icon.

So - Five Guys... We have one here in Lexington, and while we'd heard good things, we hadn't had the opportunity to visit yet. Young kids can be problematic when it comes to food, and that place failed on a number of fronts. First, the kids don't like hamburgers really. Second, and most importantly - they seem to be all about the peanuts, and though you readers may not know it yet, peanuts are not for us. One of the kids is pretty allergic, and its something we stay away from. Unfortunately, while I knew they served them in the restaurant (in the shell, but I went in to get it to go), I had no idea that's what they fried with - and it was everywhere. But, once you order (and plan to eat at a different location - right next door) you do the best you can.

First impression - it was fiiine -nothing special really. Simple menu, straightforward options and they seemed nice enough. I made sure to only touch what I needed to and make sure that I knew what I was getting. Jill and I ordered our usual type of burger and I ordered fries... After I paid, I regretted that order immediately (fries, once I saw the peanut oil), but went with the flow, knowing I could keep safe as long as I only touched the bag with one hand. :)

While the menu is simple - I've done that before :: In'n'out has a menu that's simple, and I go there all the time - they just don't need more options. Five Guys does offer toppings, and there are a lot of them. Jill, as usual, went pretty plain. I chose to get what I liked (three or four things including onions and mushrooms. I knew I'd be able to judge the burger on that combination.

They don't ask anything about how you're eating. Everyone gets a sack. When I discovered the fries were fried in 100% peanut oil, and then watched them pour extras in over the top of the packaged burgers (and on the bag, and it swelled with oil from the fries), I knew I was in for a paranoid evening. You'd think that with so many allergies out there now the company would take a little different approach, especially being national. I guess they get around liability with small signs on the doors that say "Peanuts used inside. Do not take them out of the store."

Anyway - where all this is going. I took the burgers in my left hand, and we went to our other location next door, where the kids got meals of their own. I had to be very careful about what I touched, where M sat, and what Jill and I passed back and forth. Let me tell you this - none of that was worth it. If I touch M all peanutty, she reacts. If she reacts severely, I can't do anything about it until after I wash... BAD place to be - and I'll never be there again... but I digress, we were talking about taste.

TASTE Bottom line - they weren't worth it. In fact, to both Jill and I they weren't worth it if they were cooked in anything else and I could eat them everyday without worry. My opinion was simply that it was a good 'Booster Club' burger that you buy to support the team at the home games. Certainly not something I'd go out of my way for, nor something that I'd 'travel hours to eat', as the signs in their windows tout. Matter of fact - the fries were so bad (underdone and I didn't finish close to a quarter) that I'd have opted for McDonald's over these. I understand why some people might find the restaurant good, but I'll not be one of the followers. If there were any other choice in town - I'm seeking that out, and that probably includes Shell Station Hot Dogs... so, yeah... 'nuff said :)

Anyhow - after a lot of paying attention to the things I touched, tossing the offending greasy bag, making sure that I washed myself in all the ways I needed to (lips, hands, under the nails, etc.), my experience was over. Peanut Oil aside, bad fries aside, I'm not sure why people whoop and holler for this fare. Maybe my expectations are set too high? ;)