We got home around 1:00 this afternoon. We had decided to head down to Newell, West Virginia, to the Fiesta Outlet (my everyday dishes are Fiesta). We stopped at Penzey Spice in Pittsburgh on the way down, so I could grab some spices. Spent Thursday night in West Virginia, then circled back through Ohio and spent two nights in Holmes County, Ohio to visit the Amish region and go to the Lehman's store before coming back home. I had posted about the Lehman's store a couple of months ago, when we first found out about it.
It was fun, but I'm so glad to be back. I really missed my furkids. I thought I'd sleep OK when it was just Rick and me in a king-sized bed with no cats, but, I was so wrong. I missed them and the bed seemed very large to us with no cats to share it with.
I did buy some pieces of Fiesta, but overall, I was a little disappointed with the selection. The prices at the store were out of this world expensive and there wasn't much in the way of pieces in the Outlet factory. Rick and I thought that, with sales and coupons, I might make out a little better at our local stores, so other than a few pieces, we didn't bother. We did get some Fiesta plates on seconds for the cats and I bought a couple serving bowls. I did find a gorgeous large mixing bowl in Cinnamon. It's beautiful and I will use it to raise bread doughs.
We pretty much ate our way through Amish country in Ohio. Lots of wonderful baked goods and cheeses. Did some wine-tasting at some of the wineries there and brought home a few bottles. Our ice chest was full of cheeses and some fudge, too. I found this hot, hot, hot Hungarian-type relish that is so good, even though it burns the whole way down. Rick tried a little of it on a cracker and his face got red and the tears came. He told me I was crazy. But it is quite good.
Lehman's is a neat store to visit. It has a little bit of everything! I bought a new rolling pin (no handles and the ends are not tapered....it's just a pin). I can't wait to try it out on pot pie some night this week. When a rolling pin hasn't been used yet, it has a new look. But after a while and with each use, it starts to develop a gorgeous patina from all the doughs and the butters and oils. A wooden pin is never washed; it's just carefully wiped off. They can be gorgeous and I'm looking forward to using my new one. I love rolling pins. (I have my great-grandmother's rolling pin and, a few years ago, a close GF bought me a beautiful new rolling pin that I've been using, too.) The store has a large selection of Legos (of all things for an Amish store to have!) and we found a few things for our grandchildren. Lots of interesting items there. Oh, and some old soft drinks. Rick and I each brought home a bottle of Kickapoo Joy Juice! And I brought home a bottle of Apple Beer (I used to drink that quite a bit when I was little) and Rick has a bottle of Nehri's Grape Soda to enjoy.
We stopped at Tis the Season, the largest Christmas shop in Ohio. It was just beautifully decorated and they had three floors of gorgeous Christmas ideas.
Another couple came with us; they're into flea markets and antiques. While I like looking in the old shops for a while, I get a little bored with it in time. And that' pretty much all they wanted to do yesterday. So Rick I would hit a bakery and then grab an apple fritter. Or a brownie. Or whatever else looked good. I had some sinfully delicious chocolate caramel fudge with sea salt. Our friends wanted to visit the Smuckers store, so while we were there, I bought a bag of White Lily flour......this is southern flour with less protein than our northern flours. It makes wonderful biscuits. And our dinners were at Amish-type restaurants. And at night, after everything closed down, we'd go back to the rooms and play cards while munching on snacks and enjoying a bottle of wine. I think we waddled back to Pennsylvania today.
Rick and I are playing another trip to Holmes County because there were some things that I really wanted to do, but not enough time to do everything. There's a huge bookstore that I really wanted to check out....over 100,000 new and used books. A Polish Pottery store. It's difficult when there's only a couple of days. So we'll go back, just the two of us, for another long weekend later on.
It was my first time away from the house since we went to Wisconsin back in September last year, so I was ready to hit the road. But it's good to be home, it's good to see the board again, and it's good to have a kitty in my lap. I really missed my kids.
A big Thank You! to Tammat for Friday's Question of the Day! Good job!
It was fun, but I'm so glad to be back. I really missed my furkids. I thought I'd sleep OK when it was just Rick and me in a king-sized bed with no cats, but, I was so wrong. I missed them and the bed seemed very large to us with no cats to share it with.
I did buy some pieces of Fiesta, but overall, I was a little disappointed with the selection. The prices at the store were out of this world expensive and there wasn't much in the way of pieces in the Outlet factory. Rick and I thought that, with sales and coupons, I might make out a little better at our local stores, so other than a few pieces, we didn't bother. We did get some Fiesta plates on seconds for the cats and I bought a couple serving bowls. I did find a gorgeous large mixing bowl in Cinnamon. It's beautiful and I will use it to raise bread doughs.
We pretty much ate our way through Amish country in Ohio. Lots of wonderful baked goods and cheeses. Did some wine-tasting at some of the wineries there and brought home a few bottles. Our ice chest was full of cheeses and some fudge, too. I found this hot, hot, hot Hungarian-type relish that is so good, even though it burns the whole way down. Rick tried a little of it on a cracker and his face got red and the tears came. He told me I was crazy. But it is quite good.
Lehman's is a neat store to visit. It has a little bit of everything! I bought a new rolling pin (no handles and the ends are not tapered....it's just a pin). I can't wait to try it out on pot pie some night this week. When a rolling pin hasn't been used yet, it has a new look. But after a while and with each use, it starts to develop a gorgeous patina from all the doughs and the butters and oils. A wooden pin is never washed; it's just carefully wiped off. They can be gorgeous and I'm looking forward to using my new one. I love rolling pins. (I have my great-grandmother's rolling pin and, a few years ago, a close GF bought me a beautiful new rolling pin that I've been using, too.) The store has a large selection of Legos (of all things for an Amish store to have!) and we found a few things for our grandchildren. Lots of interesting items there. Oh, and some old soft drinks. Rick and I each brought home a bottle of Kickapoo Joy Juice! And I brought home a bottle of Apple Beer (I used to drink that quite a bit when I was little) and Rick has a bottle of Nehri's Grape Soda to enjoy.
We stopped at Tis the Season, the largest Christmas shop in Ohio. It was just beautifully decorated and they had three floors of gorgeous Christmas ideas.
Another couple came with us; they're into flea markets and antiques. While I like looking in the old shops for a while, I get a little bored with it in time. And that' pretty much all they wanted to do yesterday. So Rick I would hit a bakery and then grab an apple fritter. Or a brownie. Or whatever else looked good. I had some sinfully delicious chocolate caramel fudge with sea salt. Our friends wanted to visit the Smuckers store, so while we were there, I bought a bag of White Lily flour......this is southern flour with less protein than our northern flours. It makes wonderful biscuits. And our dinners were at Amish-type restaurants. And at night, after everything closed down, we'd go back to the rooms and play cards while munching on snacks and enjoying a bottle of wine. I think we waddled back to Pennsylvania today.
Rick and I are playing another trip to Holmes County because there were some things that I really wanted to do, but not enough time to do everything. There's a huge bookstore that I really wanted to check out....over 100,000 new and used books. A Polish Pottery store. It's difficult when there's only a couple of days. So we'll go back, just the two of us, for another long weekend later on.
It was my first time away from the house since we went to Wisconsin back in September last year, so I was ready to hit the road. But it's good to be home, it's good to see the board again, and it's good to have a kitty in my lap. I really missed my kids.
A big Thank You! to Tammat for Friday's Question of the Day! Good job!
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