Weekend Basics

1 & 2. Tim planned an all day orchard trip on Saturday for us to go pick apples in the mountains of Virginia at Showalter's Orchard & Greenhouse. Not only was the scenery breathtaking, we got to spend some old fashioned family time together with both Stephanie and Brandon (Tim's children). We left tuckered and filled with fresh inspiration for fall apple recipes.


3. Basil, Mr. Separation Anxiety himself, came right along for the trip to the orchard and met a new little friend — the orchard's Brittany farm puppy. They became fast buddies, running all over the farm & orchard together.

4. On the way back from the apple orchard, we stopped off at a few antique malls on the back roads. I made out with some new treasures and oddities to incorporate into my jewelry line.

5. Almost 7 days after planting our fall garden, we are seeing sprouts from the Swiss chard and arugula plant varieties. Still crossing our fingers to see signs of the onions and garlic in the coming week.

6. While cultivating the new fall plants, we're still enjoying the bounty from some of our summer varieties hanging in there. Tim fried up some of the fresh okra continuing to grow as a snack for the Steelers game yesterday. While they were delicious, they didn't seem to bring any luck Tim's way on the outcome of the game...(shhhhhh). Find his simple recipe and secret ingredient for giving fried okra that extra kick over on E.A.T.

This also happened:

I'd heard of Tastee Freez before but had never actually been to one. We broke bad and stopped in for a couple of chocolate dipped cones. Why didn't we know how messy these are!? In any case, it was a total time warp and good fun.

In other news, our Blanchard's coffee giveaway came to a close this Saturday. We've updated the post announcing the lucky winner, Debbie, who says she likes her coffee with "just a bit of cream."

While there could only be one randomly drawn winner, we absolutely loved reading through each of the entries and just had to share some of our favorites from those of you who answered our question with how you like to take your coffee:

Diane52: "i like mine strong...men too."

Beth Elderton: "This time of year we drink our coffee on ice with a homemade flavored creamer. When it gets cooler we like very bold, strong coffee with sugar and cream."

Beki: "I've really been surprised in that my husband is the one who got me drinking coffee and now I can make a better cup than he. Although, he may be faking it just so I'll take over the coffee-making duties. ;) I also prefer a much bolder flavor to my coffee. Who knew!?! "

susitravi: "I like my coffee with flavorings and sugar - my DH shakes his head as he drinks his strong plain black coffee."

ky2here: "Give it to me black."

kmartyflys: "I am also a former starbucks regular. However, you can't beat a cup of dark as dark with 1 sugar and half&half. tasty!"

Thanks to all who participated and stay tuned for future giveaways coming soon.

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