Loving, Crafting, & Cooking in the Country: April 2014

So a favorite vacation spot of my and Tom's probably makes the list for most senior citizens...Lancaster, PA! We love visiting the Amish areas seeing the open farm land and a simpler, country way of life. Additionally, the food is absolutely amazing, so fresh and homemade. We usually stay at a place called the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn. It is great because in addition to cute country rooms, there is a restaurant attached that serves delicious Amish buffets for all three meals each day or you can order off of the regular menu. Tom and I usually get a package plan with our room that includes: 2 breakfasts, 1 dinner, a $10 shopping coupon, and 2 free bakery items (cookies or shoo-fly pie). Our room this time was really cool because we weren't in the main building, but instead a private area that only has two rooms. This was really nice because this time of year a lot of kids were there so it was nice to avoid that a bit. There is also a small theater on the premises that puts on Amish shows based on Amish novels. This time's show was called "Half-Stitched" and it was so funny! It was centered on a little Amish widow who is hosting a two day quilting class. Her students range from a couple trying to re-connect, a biker out on parole, a church member looking for "me time", and a bratty teenager who is attending because her grandmother signed her up for the class. We really loved the show and I would definitely recommend it. The place we stay also has 2 indoor pools, 1 outdoor pool, a lake to walk around, miniature golf, a petting zoo, basketball and tennis courts, and more. You can also take a free 2 hour Amish bus tour. Tom and I have taken it enough times that we know all our favorite "hot-spots" so we can drive to them ourselves. Overall, we loved having a few days to relax before Easter and we got some great new decor for our country house. Lastly, did I mention that Tom and I got our status increased to VIP plus because we have stayed over ten days and we earned $50 off our stay this time! Can't beat being VIP Plus at the Bird in Hand!

The Eagle Diner (a favorite of Tom's when he lived in PA) They have an amazing salad bar!

Our "private suite" at the Bird in Hand

Off to the show

Look at these giant fish you can feed!

Amish bench and shelf

Tom finished the chair rail in the dining room and we have some of our Amish country decor up!

Here are some links if you ever want to take a trip to our favorite place:

Bird In Hand Family Inn

Countryside Road-Stand: The absolute best soft pretzels in the world! It is the cutest little stand and shop owned by an Amish family

Countryside Road-Stand

Hayloft Candles: Really great country decor and a cute petting zoo

Hayloft Candles

After our trip, it was time for Easter! We had a great day at my father-in-law's house. I absolutely love spending the holidays with my nephews. We did a really cool egg hunt for them this year with "hard to find" eggs, that looked like grass, rocks, plants, and bugs. Tom and I also dyed eggs before our trip using a cool tie-dye kit.

My classic Easter bunny cake!

I have also been having some fun with my week off. Tom and I have been continuing to work on our house. I also had a great day with my younger nephew yesterday at the park with Stevi and her adorable kids Leo & Juliet. It was such a great day outside filled with running around the playground and a lot of bubbles! Today, I went with two friends to the Cooperage. We had a delicious lunch and even more delicious desserts! I was so happy to see them and show them the house that I am so proud of!

Juliet at the park!

3 desserts at the Cooperage!

Well, this weekend was a weekend filled with painting! I've resisted putting too many house pictures up because I want to document the transformation as best as I can. The structure of our house is great but I don't think it has been painted in 20 years since it was built. It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do! Tom could honestly be a professional painter. I am amazed at how talented my husband is with house projects (he will probably get mad at me for saying that, but it is my blog, so I can write whatever I want, lol). The way he repaired the nail pops, re-taped the ceilings and corners, not to mention the high ceiling in our entryway, he just continues to amaze me. The rooms we've repainted have completely transformed them. So far, we have repainted the loft, the living room, the dining room, and part of the hallway. We also replaced the carpet in the loft and on the stairs to the loft. So I will give you a preview of some of our updates so far! Honestly, I feel like this house is fulfilling all of our wishes and dreams together!

The Loft

Before

Look at that rough pink carpet!

Dirty walls

Tom's repair work

Ripping out that old carpet!

After (we are still decorating, but that is our new carpet and color scheme!)

The Stairs

Old carpet

No carpet

Ahh fresh carpet!

The Dining Room/Living Room

What color should we make that accent wall?

Before

Fresh paint

Dining room accent wall (it's hard to see the colors on here)

In terms of cooking, tonight I made the Pioneer Woman's chicken taco salad and olive loafs! Both were so good! The salad had a ton of yummy Mexican inspired ingredients with a salsa ranch dressing. And if you like olives, you have to try these loaves! I made a bit too much, so both dads will be sent a personal olive loaf, but they were really great. I think I am going to make them as an appetizer at our housewarming party.

Chicken Taco Salad

Olive Loafs

I also made PW's pizza's on french loafs. These were so easy and you can make any kind you want. Tom and I had so much fun each making our own. We made regular pizzas with sauce and cheese and then Greek salad pizzas that were so yummy! For salad pizzas, only heat up the sauce on the bread, keep the lettuce ingredients cool and then top your bread, otherwise it will get soggy. This was a really easy weeknight dinner!

Toppings Station

For dessert tonight, I made my mom's "Pineapple Nut Cake" with "Cream Cheese Icing." Licking the knife after frosting my cake, made me feel like I was a little girl again in the kitchen with my mom. She used this icing often, and it is by far my favorite icing in the whole wide world.

Pineapple Nut Cake
2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
20 oz can of crushed pineapple (un-drained)
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
2 cup of chopped walnuts

Beat all of the ingredients together. Pour into a greased 13 x 9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing
8 oz cream cheese block
1 stick of butter
1 1/3 cup of confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat until smooth and frost the cooled cake.

I also made 2 sets of muffins, chocolate chip and blueberry for a "secret meeting" to be disclosed at a later date. They were Betty Crocker cake mixes, but they came out really good and I loved how the extras looked in my cake stand.

Tom used to swim on this rock as a kid

Lastly, my North Fork visit today was to Reeve's Beach.

We brought Indy and we had so much fun! Indy is still living with Tom's dad even though Tom is eager for him to move in with us. The big problem is we need a fence which is so much more expensive than we had hoped! We could probably do it, but it would take like our entire security deposit and tax return that we just got back, which would use up all of our renovation money. Tom and his dad are ready for Indy to move, I've honestly been the hesitant one. Indy makes me nervous at times, even though Tom says he is just being playful, but I am a lot less afraid of him than when I first started dating Tom. My other "pet" peeve, literally lol, is how much he sheds! I just hate dog hair all over the couch and people's clothes, so Indy is going to need a lot of grooming once he joins us! Today though at the beach with him, was one of the first times where he almost felt like my pet. I asked to hold the leash a lot and I really enjoyed walking him out there. I told Tom, maybe we should get a second dog, one that will be mine and then I will become more of a "dog" person overall. It is hard to bond with an animal that you didn't raise as a puppy, but because Tom loves him so much, and I love Tom so much, I guess by default I am going to have to grow to love Indy.