Thursday, April 10, 2008

We can't stay away.....

Last fall the kids and I stopped at Danielle's farm during our mega road trip and we just didn't get enough so Eliza and I decided to fly out again this spring! Scotty and Chris held down the fort while we were gone.

Here she is on the plane. It was very exciting for her. She was a joy to travel with and we had so much fun.



We flew into Philadelphia and before heading to Maryland we stopped in Lancaster, PA to visit my grandmother. The drive from Philly to Lancaster was so nice, especially all the small farms everywhere. We passed a couple of horse-and-buggies and this really cool horse drawn trailer which I just had to pull over to photograph.



Here are four generations together! Try to ignore the terrible angle on me--I had to set the timer on the camera.



Eliza and the girls started playing the second we arrived at the farm and didn't stop for four days.





One of the highlights was getting to video chat with their friend Emma.



Another highlight was salsa dancing! It quickly became the evening ritual to put on some Celia Cruz and dance.




The salsa dancing quickly morphed into "salsa running," which was a wild sprint back and forth across the kitchen.



Speaking of the kitchen, I must say that Danielle and Jim are amazing chefs. They work together beautifully and they fed us like royalty.



Here are just a few of the amazing treats I indulged in that weekend. For more of their culinary creations, see Danielle's blog here, and in the index of her sidebar, select "farm to table." Most meals were accompanied by fresh greens from the garden, which had been growing in a hoop house all winter.



I was treated to eggs benedict with farm fresh eggs and their own bacon for Sunday brunch, complete with mimosas.



Jim made an amazing pulled pork shoulder roast on the grill, which was so good I ate way too much and didn't sleep well that night. Again, that was pork raised right there on the farm. And I tasted my first goose, which both Eli and I loved (upon returning home I immediately ordered a dozen geese to raise this spring). The braised goose was accompanied by pan roasted mixed potatoes and yummy Southern style turnip greens. I came home with a couple of extra pounds, but they were so worth it.






And to top off a perfect trip, you won't believe what I saw at the Philadelphia airport on the trip home:




Thanks again Danielle, Jim, and kids for a wonderful time. If it is at all possible, we will be back. We love you all!

5 comments:

Danielle said...

Awww, it's Ewan!

I was wishing you were here last night to enjoy an amazing meal with us. The asparagus is finally in, and OMG, it is to die for! I'm still chuckling over Chris's muskrat comment.

Geesh, you sure I can't convince you guys to move in down the road? I must admit that you guys trekking cross country to the land of water with Chris's guitar slung on his back a la peak oil meets The Sound of Music is a high-point in my post-apocalyptic imaginings. ;)

Danielle said...

Hi Jenny. I thought that was grate—by the way it is me Emily we had lots of fun.

Chris said...

For those of you who are curious, the muskrat comment was this: I called him and told him that the goose was delicious and that we need to raise geese. He said, "well from what I understand, Danielle could even make muskrat taste good--does that mean we need to raise muskrat too?"

I like how your post-apocalyptic imaginings don't take into account the fighting children--LOL. It sounds quite peaceful!

Hey Emily--we sure had fun too. Come out in the summer sometime and we'll go salsa dancing for REAL!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fantastic trip, Jen and Eli. And Eliza, you sure had a great time with the the kids. When I see you both next week, I hope you will tell me all about what you did and saw. And Scotty, I would love to hear what you and your dad did while the girls were across the country.

Love,
Nino

Robin said...

Awwww, that looks like so much fun!