Don’t miss the Nappanee Apple Festival this weekend!

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Contests, Family Fun, Festival, Food, Fun, Music, Nappanee, Nappanee Apple Festival, Nappanee Chamber of Commerce, Rides

The Nappanee Apple Festival is proud of their family-friendly atmosphere and Midwestern hospitality that attracted over 85,000 people in 2012.

The festival has begun! Come to Nappanee and check out all the crafts, commercial exhibits and enjoy some great food! Today, Mike Hemmelgarn, comedy juggler and ventriloquist is on the Martin’s Entertainment Stage from 11:30-12:30 p.m. and Billy Dee (variety music) is on the CenturyLink Stage from 11:30-12:30 p.m. Senior Bingo starts at 1:00 p.m. in the Martin’s Super Market stage and Silly Safaris has a live animal show on the CenturyLink stage from 1:00-2:30 p.m.

Joe Knapp, from Goshen, IN on a downtown Nappanee sidewalk is about to play “Stairway to Heaven” at my husband’s request. There is so much going on in Nappanee today! Join in on the fun!

The Nappanee Apple Festival also features Indiana’s largest 7 foot baked apple pie. We serve approximately 750 slices of pie and many people travel across the United States to savor their annual piece of this pie. Other activities include a variety of entertainment on two stages, 100 craft vendors, 60 commercial vendors, carnival rides, parade with signature military aircraft fly-over, scholarship queen pageant, corn hole tournament, apple baking contest, garden tractor pull, kids and adult pedal pull contests, wings and wheels show at airport, apple peeling contest, 5K road run and half-marathon and a pie-eating contest.

In the spirit of the celebration, you will find crates of fresh apples dotting the downtown sidewalks and more than 25 food vendors including many local non-profit organizations serving all your favorites. There will be plenty of your favorite fresh apple products like apple pie, apple fritters, apple dumplings, apple turnovers, apple fry pies, apple bread, applesauce, apple cider and apple butter to enjoy during the festival or to take home to enjoy later.

The Nappanee Chamber of Commerce invites you to experience a truly unique hometown festival. After the fun and entertainment, you’ll be sure to mark your calendar to return for next year’s festival!

Click HERE for a schedule of events.

So far, Church Community Services’ ‘Seed to Feed” program has harvested 17,500 lbs. of food for Elkhart’s food pantries

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Caring, Church Community Services, Community, Community Services, Donations, Donors, Farmers, Food, Food bank, Food Pantry, Fresh Garden Vegetables, Gardening, Helping Neighbors, Hunger, Seed to Feed, Volunteers

‘Seed to feed’ is a program through Church Community Services where fresh produce is provided to local food pantries. The idea started two years ago and last year, 55 acres of corn and beans were planted to help fund the project and a one acre vegetable garden was planted. Shortly after its start, another garden was donated and a farmer donated 3 acres of potatoes.

Volunteers at Goshen’s garden work hard to harvest the last of summer produce. Volunteers are always needed to help pick vegetables from the programs many gardens. Donations of extra food from individual gardens are also accepted.

In its first year, 25,941 pounds of fresh produce was donated. This year the goal is the same and community involvement has increased. This summer six gardens were planted and so far, 17,000 pounds of produce has been harvested. Money from the cash crops has been used to go to the Wakarusa Produce Auction to purchase additional produce.

There are two fields of income crops being grown and this year a livestock component has been added as well.

More about ‘Seed to Feed’ HERE and HERE.

Jeremy Shue, Director of the Goshen Garden, with volunteers stand proudly behind vegetables they just harvested.

‘Seed to Feed’ thanks all the volunteers who give generously of their time and their muscles to help in the gardens. Listed below are all the gardens and scheduled work days.

PLEASE CALL IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE!

Goshen Garden: 14723 CR 36, Goshen. Mondays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Jeremy Shue: jeremyshue@gmail.com. 574-536-2010

Bullard Garden: 22104 CR 14, Elkhart. Tuesdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Kurt Bullard: Kurtbullard4444@gmail.com. 574-298-9059

CCS Garden: 902 Thomas St, Elkhart. Wed & Thurs @ 8:00am. Coordinator: Katie Jantzen: mailto:Kurtbullard4444@gmail.com. 574-295-3673 ext 122

Northwest Goshen: 538 S. Indiana Ave, Goshen. Wednesdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Andrea Milne andreajillmilne@gmail.com. 574-400-5858

Heart’s Desire Garden: 3030 Old US 20, Elkhart. Thursdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Dave Hochstetler Dhhooch@aol.com. 574-349-4905

See you at the gardens!

Growing Peaches in Elkhart County: the Challenges and Rewards

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cobbler, Cooking, Country, dessert, Dinner, Eat, farm life, Food, Fruit, Fruit Tree, Garden, Gardening, healthy, Insect, Japanese Beetles, Kitchen, Life, Memories, Nature, Organic, Peaches, Pests, Recipe, rural, Self-Sufficient

This was our best year ever for peaches.

Peaches! I am so excited!

Bad frosts and windstorms have taken our peaches before they reached marble size in previous years. But, this year our peaches are turning golden, pink and red. I’m dreaming of peach jams, cobblers, pies and crisps.

All summer I’ve been checking the fruit daily, feeling the peaches to see if they’ve softened. As the summer days lengthened, our tree, heavily laden with fruit, has become as gorgeous and fragrant as any flower.

I swear, I can smell the peaches ripening. Evidently so can Japanese Beetles.

Yesterday disaster struck.

Japanese beetles devouring a ‘ripe’ peach.

Some peaches were ripe.

BUT, every “ripe” peach was swarming with and being devoured by Japanese beetles. Only the ripe peaches, mind you. The hard peaches, they left alone

My husband and I grabbed ladders and sacks and began picking. We picked every peach we could. After soaking them to get rid of any insects I set them out on my counter as recommended HERE.

Some food experts recommend putting peaches into a paper bag to ripen. Others swear that the only way to have good ripe peaches is to only pick them at the moment of peak ripeness.

How to tell if peaches are ripe:

• Attached to the tree: Peaches are best picked when the fruit separates easily from the twigs. If it is hard to pull off the tree, it isn’t ripe!
• Color: Green is definitely unripe, but you can’t use red color as an indicator of how ripe a peach is. Different peach varieties have differing amounts of red blush in their natural coloring. Pick them when the ground color changes from green to yellow, orange, red (or a combination). The skin of yellow-fleshed varieties ripens to an orange tint, while the skin of white-fleshed varieties changes from greenish- to yellow-white.
• Softness: Unless you like your peaches very firm, pick your peaches with just a little “give” when gently pressed. Peaches at this stage are great for eating, freezing, and baking. Peaches won’t ripen very much after picking!
• Odor: The peaches should smell sweet and ripe

Old Fashioned Southern Peach Cobbler

After a couple of days covered on the counter, the peaches, saved from the beetles, are ripe and ready. I have enough to make a peach cobbler and a peach pie, plus some for the freezer.

I love pies and crisps, BUT nothing pairs up so well freshly ripened organic peaches as a homemade cobbler crust. This dessert is one of my favorites. Especially topped with vanilla ice cream.

   Getting ready to make peach cobbler.

SOUTHERN PEACH COBBLER FOR TWO

(Can be doubled)

FILLING:

2 cups peaches

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tsp. cornstarch

TOPPING:

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

1 tablespoon butter cut into pieces

2 tablespoons whipping cream

                 DIRECTIONS:

Grease small casserole dish with butter. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel & cut up peaches. Mix peaches and lemon juice. Mix cornstarch, brown sugar and cinnamon with peaches and put peaches into greased casserole dish.

In another bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add the cream and toss with flour mixture just until the dough is combined.

Turn the dough out onto a flour surface and knead a few times to smooth it. Then roll it out into the shape of the casserole dish. Place the dough over the filling and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. of sugar. Bake until the top is golden and the juices are bubbling. 25 to 30 minutes.

Warm cobbler…what a great reward for all the previous hard work.

What we can learn from our Amish neighbors about staying healthy.

You don’t have to give up rich homemade desserts, like peach pie or peach cobbler to stay slim and healthy. Studies have shown that although the Amish eat a diet that includes plenty of sugar and is fairly high in fat – including saturated fat – from sources such as meat and eggs, their obesity rate is low. As a group they are healthier than most Americans. I’m sure this can be attributed to the Amish people raising their own food and performing physical labor throughout much of their day. ….Growing your own, also, gets you out in the fresh air, with free vitamin D from the sunlight at no extra charge.

Best of all…home-grown fruit is yummy!

Could there Possibly be a Bigger Tree in New Paris than This One? Find out at the New Paris 2nd Friday Festival, August 9

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$100 Prize, 2nd Friday, Biggest Tree Contest, Bingo, Elkhart County, Festival, Food, Neighbors Country Market, New Paris, Norma Weaver, Pro Hardware, Sunnyside Park, Sunnyside Park Fundraiser, Tree

Could anyone in New Paris possibly know where a bigger tree than this one on Ronald Payette’s property?

If Ronald Payette’s Oak tree isn’t the biggest tree in New Paris, it certainly has to be the most famous tree. Payette, the owner of New Paris’s Neighbors Country Market on County Road 23, just south of New Paris, said the original home was built on his property in 1889. 35-years-ago the family that lived in the home at that time built a tree house in the oak tree for their son.

They built a REALLY sturdy tree house.

During the 2007 tornado that ripped through much of Elkhart County with 90-mile-per-hour winds, Payette said the wind was blowing so hard it was all he could do hold the door to his house shut. However, despite the strength of the 2007 storm, which destroyed barns, homes and businesses in Elkhart County, Payette’s oak tree, and the tree house it holds, suffered no damage what-so-ever.

There is still time to enter your tree in the New Paris Sunnyside Park tree contest. The entry rules are as follows. Find the biggest tree you can find, measure up to 54 inches from the ground level, make a mark, then measure the circumference of the tree at the mark. Take reading in inches and on a sheet of paper, write the species of the tree, location, and the inches of the circumference along with your name and the date of entry. Enclose a check or money order in an envelope for the amount of $10 payable to ‘Sunnyside Park’. Mail or drop off your entry at the New Paris Pro Hardware and submit it to Norma Weaver.

The borders of your search will be confined to the Elkhart River on the North, County Rd. 31 to the East, County Rd. 50 to the South and County Rd. 21 to the West. Contest ends on August 15 at dark. The winner will be announced at Sunnyside Park on August 9′s 2nd Friday Event after Bingo. Park Board Members are not eligible. 100% of the money collected will be given to the Sunnyside Park fund. You need not be present to win. The judge’s decision will be final with reference to any questions that arise.

If you find the biggest tree, you win a $100.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL! HAVE FUN HUNTING FOR YOUR BIGGEST TREE.

County Fair Dinner Rolls…and a Bad Dog

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4-H Fair, Bread, Dinner, Dinner Rolls, Dog, Eating, Food, Food toxic to dogs, Kitchen, Recipe, Yeast Bread, Yeast Roll

Dinner rolls minus one roll.

I love County fairs. I was a 4-H member from grade school until my first year in college and my whole year revolved around projects that culminated during fair week. Rides, fair food, grandstand shows, the Women’s club exhibits, the 4-H exhibits and the animals — I love the smells, the game barkers, the music coming from the rides and especially watching people.

One year was more special than most. With lots of coaching from my mom, I made my mother and grandmother’s traditional holiday rolls and entered them in the County 4-H Fair. They won ”Best in Show” in the yeast bread category. Unfortunately, I had to freeze the rolls before the State fair, and because I used real butter and no preservatives, they went rancid.  I didn’t fare very well at the state fair. But, I’ll always have the memories of the time in the kitchen with my mom. It must have meant something to her too. She still has my Best of Show ribbon from the County Fair up in her attic.

Anyway, after smelling all the yeasty fritters and fried dough at the fair, I became inspired. Last night I dug out my tattered original handwritten recipe. I scalded. I mixed and I kneaded. I left the dough in a covered bowl overnight. This morning I shaped and set the almost finished rolls out in the warmest part of the kitchen to rise.

Buster, my border collie mix, watched.

When I came back into the kitchen later to check on my rolls, the towel that had been covering  the rolls was on the floor. A roll was missing. Buster was innocently sleeping on the rug in front of the stove.

He didn’t so much as blink when he saw me checking the rolls to see if any of those remaining were “obviously” licked or sniffed.

“Roll? What roll?”

Here’s my recipe…

“Best in Show” Dinner Rolls

• Warm 1/4 lb. butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup milk until lukewarm (scald milk, turn heat off, let butter melt then add sugar)

Scalded Milk is milk that has come to a boil. There will be a skin on the top of scalded milk.

• Mix yeast in lukewarm 1/2 cup of water.
• Beat 3 eggs.
• Mix milk and eggs and add yeast.
• Gradually add 5 cups flour and 1 tsp. salt.
• Let rise overnight in a covered bowl.

The dough is ready to be rolled or shaped and set out to rise again.

• In the morning knead a little. Shape your rolls. Let rise until evening.
• Bake at 350-375 until golden brown.

These are foolproof and delicious. The smell of yeast rising always reminds me of holiday times when I was a child. I’m trying to create the same kind of memories for my grandchildren. I hope you enjoy the rolls.

NOTE: If Buster had managed to snatch more rolls, it could have been fatal. According to this article, a dog’s stomach is a nice warm, moist environment, so, unbaked dough can expand to many times its size when ingested. Next time you make bread, rolls, doughnuts or anything with yeast, keep in mind any four-legged family members, who might be watching for a good “opportunity”. Please don’t leave “people” food out the way I did.

The produce keeps rolling in!

Tags

Church Community Services, Fair Donations to Food Pantry, Farm Donations, Farming, Fellowship, Food, Gardens, Helping Others, Volunteering

Please spread the word that Church Community Gardens is always looking for volunteers for their gardens. My husband and I have been working at the Goshen Garden on Monday nights and the people are so friendly. It is a great way to make new friends and although I admit to feeling sore sometimes afterwards, I don’t mind because the conversation and fellowship are so fulfilling:

Goshen Garden: 14723 CR 36, Goshen. Mondays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Jeremy Shue: jeremyshue@gmail.com. 574-536-2010

Bullard Garden: 22104 CR 14, Elkhart. Tuesdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Kurt Bullard: Kurtbullard4444@gmail.com. 574-298-9059

CCS Garden: 902 Thomas St, Elkhart. Wed & Thurs @ 8:00am. Coordinator: Katie Jantzen: mailto:Kurtbullard4444@gmail.com. 574-295-3673 ext 122

Northwest Goshen: 538 S. Indiana Ave, Goshen. Wednesdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Andrea Milne andreajillmilne@gmail.com.574-400-5858

Heart’s Desire Garden: 3030 Old US 20, Elkhart. Thursdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Dave Hochstetler Dhhooch@aol.com. 574-349-4905

Church Community Services News

It’s fair week, and we’re pleased to report that the auction and tractor rides the Fair Board organized to benefit Seed to Feed brought in $1,620 dollars!  Thank you!

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Julie Miers, Family Nutrition Program Assistant, was at the pantry on Tuesday to provide samples of simple recipes, and this week she spent much of her time educating interested clients about basic nutrition.  Here she is speaking to a group of women about healthy meal planning.

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Here they are!  The first Seed to Feed tomatoes of the season!  These came from the Goshen garden on Monday.

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The CCS garden also had a few tomatoes ripe, as well as lots of yellow squash, patty pan squash, eggplants, yellow beans, purple beans, collards, kale, chard, hot peppers, and sweet peppers!

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Adding this to the zucchini and cucumbers from the River Oaks garden and the zucchini from the Heart’s Desire garden, we’ve really got a…

View original post 13 more words

TONIGHT: New Paris 2nd Friday Event

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2nd Friday Celebration, Car Show, Food, Games, Haystack Dinner, Ice Cream, New Paris

Also tonight:
6:00pm – Volleyball Tournament
6:30pm – Corn Hole Tournament – on the Basketball court

The weather couldn’t be better! Hope to see a lot of friends and members of the community in New Paris tonight for a festive Second Friday’s celebration.

I wonder…*

Tags

Biological, Food, Food Safety, Genetically Modified Food, GMO, GMO Food, Montsanto, Pesticide, Roundup

Because my mare was foundered last summer, my horses have to be on a dry lot and only fed hay. Which is sad considering that we have lots of grass they could be eating for FREE.

By Albert Lane,

I just got back from visiting with a new Amish friend over a major hay deal.

I was looking at his fields, one was hay, and the other soybeans.

He mentioned that a local fertilizer company was on it’s way out to spray the beans.

I asked him what they were spraying for; they looked pretty good to me.

He said that they were going to spray the field with Roundup.

I asked him if they were just spot spraying, or what, because they looked good, and I really didn’t see any weeds anywhere.

He said ‘No’, they were spraying the whole field with Roundup.

I asked him how they could do that and not kill all of the beans.

He said that they were ‘special’ soybeans that weren’t affected by Roundup.

So I asked him where the seeds came from, and he told me the name of the seed company.

I then asked him what kind of seeds they were, and if they came from Monsanto.

He said ‘Yep’, that they came from Monsanto, and they were the only seeds that he was allowed to buy anymore…but it was wonderful that they weren’t affected by Roundup, so he was happy.

I asked him if he knew that these type of soybeans were GMO, and that they weren’t safe to put into the food chain.

He said ‘Yep’, he knew it, and looked a little sheepish, and added that he didn’t use any of them for his family.

I wonder how he knows that none of those went into any of the products that he buys at the grocery store?

I wonder how much of that stuff went into feed for our local Amish beef producer where we buy our beef…trying to make sure that we buy only ‘organic beef?

I wonder why the EPA just upped the legal limits for the amount of Roundup residue allowed on our food?

I wonder………………….

*This article is my opinion only.

Indiana farmer vs Montsanto. SCOTUS sides with Montsanto.

Why I want food labels to include GMO information.

CHECK OUT: Church Community Service’s New Food Pantry

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Church, Church Community Service, Civic Engagement, Civic Service, Community Service, Elkhart County, Elkhart County Business Donations, Elkhart County Indiana, Food, Food bank, Friends, Good Deeds, Goshen Indiana, Helping, Helping Friends, Helping Hand, Labor of Love, Michiana Tea Party Coalition, Neighbors, Volunteering, We the People 912

Labor of Love, which included businesses from St. Joseph and Elkhart counties, as well as “We the People” 912 and  the Michiana Tea Party Coalition distributed 80 bins and were among the first contributors to the new pantry.

More and more Elkhart County families are struggling on a daily basis to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. It isn’t just the unemployed either. Parents are working multiple jobs and skipping meals just so they can make sure their children are fed.  They have tough decisions to make every day: whether to fill up the car or put food on the table; whether to pay the utilities or put food on the table; whether to pay the rent or put food on the table. All it takes is one illness, one dead car battery or one rent hike and they can no longer take care of their family without help.

For those without family or friends nearby, Church Community Services provides hope , in the form of food and education and finanacial assistance to families going through hard times in Elkhart County.  When families are living in poverty, they have to do without a lot of things – food should not be one of them.

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012 was a huge day for Church Community Services.

It was the grand opening of Church Community Services’ long awaited renovated food pantry and warehouse.  Church Community Services has been working towards making this transition for 4 years.  The new building will give them the resources, space, and opportunity to better serve needs in our growing community.  It will allow them to store and distribute more food. It  will be cleaner and more welcoming, and will give space to be more volunteer- and client- friendly. They will also be able to put more focus on education, such as providing handy recipes and nutritional facts.

The new pantry is 1,225 sq. ft. compared to the former 494 sq. ft.  The new warehouse is 2,910 sq. ft. compared to the current 1,680 sq. ft.  There is also a 864 sq. ft. welcome center complete with a children’s area, and a prayer room for anyone who feels a need to pray. Lots of love and labor was put into this project, and IT SHOWS!

This nutrician video, full of advice on meal planning, preparation and nutrition runs 24/7 in the waiting room.

Amazing things happen when we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit’s prayer. Church Community Service’s new pantry facility includes a chapel to assist client’s needs.

Here is part of the children’s play area where volunteers watch the children while their parents shop at the pantry.

The ‘Seed to Feed’ vegetables look so good! Fresh garden vegetables are ALWAYS so appreciated.

Mary Kneller, Food Director for Church Community Services, generously used up some of her very valuable time to show me the new facilities. It was a real pleasure.

‘Strong Woman’ from Soup of Success…because we need to hear MORE good news

Tags

Challenge, Church Community Services, Civic Engagement, Community, Community Service, Constitution, Education, Education Empowers, Elkhart County, Elkhart County Indiana, Ensuring Success, Family Fun, Food, Food Pantry, Freedom, Goshen, Indiana, Life Skills, Need, Soup of Success, Volunteer, Volunteering, Women, Work

Need some inspiration?

WEEKLY ‘SEED TO FEED’ UPDATE…IT IS ALL GOOD!

Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 7:45 AM
Subject: Seed to Feed Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

This past week we had two great harvests at both of our gardens. There
were 29 volunteers who showed up at the Bullard Garden on Monday and 25
volunteers at the Goshen Garden on Tuesday. Thank You all.

We are moving the time of the Bullard Garden picking to 6:00 p.m. We are moving the time of the Bullard Garden picking on Monday evenings. We still need 30 volunteers to pick green beans and sweet corn. Although we will pick on Monday evenings, if anyone wants to pull weeds between the rows, please do so at your own time schedule. If more weeds are pulled,that means more beans get picked. The Bullard Garden is
directly across from Sorg Jewelers, C.R. 17. With 30 volunteers, weeds pulled and fast pickers, we could pick a 1000# of green beans in 3 hrs—-we have lots of beans!!!!!

The Goshen Garden has tons of green tomatoes that should be ready
soon. We will pick every Tuesday at 6:00pm and it is located at 14723
C.R. 36. Last week with 25 volunteers, we picked 11 boxes of beans, tomatoes
and peppers in 1 1/2 hours.

This was a great week and thanks to ALL the volunteers that came and
helped pick. See you Monday and Tuesday at the gardens.

Blessings
Dave Hochstetler