Favorite Things: October 2006 Archives

I have a new favorite apple. I like it better than the apples in my orchard. It is a Virginia Stayman. The stayman is the perfect all purpose apple I have ever cooked with. Virginia Stayman The photo just cannot show you the detail in the color. This apple is not one grown commercially for grocery stores and the like. The skin it not perfect and has a bit of texture. The skin is also prone to splitting. Gorgeous yellowish white flesh The flesh is beautiful. I picked these up yesterday from a grower down in Nelson County. These are so very juicey. I can't begin to even relate the beauty of the yellowish white flesh. Nor can I even begin to describe the perfect tartness when you bite into it. I have never been much of an apple lover. I like apples and do cook with them but I am not much of a pick an apple to eat kind of person. These have made me change my ways. They are an awesome vintage apple developed from an 1866 winesap from Kansas (I think). Simply delicious. I am thinking about making a batch of applesauce for the baby and maybe some applebutter to have at Christmas. Yummy! Last night I cooked pork chops for supper. As a side dish I sauteed a few apples in butter and sprinkled with cinnamon. It was a perfect addition to the meal. Time to mash the pumpkin I went yesterday and purchased two more cushaw pumpkins like Steve asked. The guy was so very nice and gave me a third one at no charge. I baked one last night and one this morning. Mini bread loaves and a quart of soup I made a batch of pumpkin bread and pumpkin soup. I took him down a quart of soup and a few loaves as a thank you. The cushaw pumpkin soup recipe is very similar to thePumpkin and Potato Soup I made last fall. The cushaw pumpkin bread recipe is also posted over on the recipe journal. Now you know what has taken me so long to get this post published this morning ... errr.. afternoon. Look! A sweet baby pumpkin. Well, that and trying to type with a baby banging on my keyboard. Or pulling my mouse cord. Or wanting to nurse. Or learning how to open the cabinet doors and pulling out a gazzion things. I do mean sweet. But he was so darn cute while doing it I couldn't resist smothering him with kisses and making him giggle. I have to go get ready for the trick or treating tonight. I'll have plenty of photos tomorrow. Happy Hallowe'en to you all.

My very most favorite television series of all time is The Waltons. I can identify with the Walton family as it is very similar to my own. You can't even begin to understand how similar it was growing up. My love for the Waltons has followed me from childhood to adulthood. It is probably one of those things about me I have never really let you all in on. I don't even really know where this rambling is going other than to tell you what I did this past weekend. I had remembered reading that the anniversary of the Walton's Museum was coming up. I took a minute to check the website. Yes! It was and so with a word to Steve we found ourselves dressed and headed down highway 29 going south. The Waltons is a television series that I have been trying to get my children to watch with me. Colby loves it and always has. Gracie not so much right now. The series was written by Earl Hamner and the characters are based somewhat on his own family members. The real Waltons Mountain is in a tiny little cross in the road in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, about an hour south of my house. The real Waltons Mountain is the village of Schuyler in Nelson County. Charlottesville, Covesville, Rockfish and the river, is all real. So saturday we went to the museum. We stopped here and took in what there was too see. This happened to be one of the more interesting exhibits. We even got a copy of the Balwin Sister's recipe. It is made with apricots, don't you know. Not the standard apples. As happy as I was to visit and see everything there was to see I was also a bit disappointed. The museum is the old elementary school turned community center/museum that houses memorabilia and stage sets and props from the series. We saw John-boy's room, the family room, the kitchen and the real radio on loan from the Smithsonian. But something was missing. Amidst all the celebrating and bluegrass/gospel singers it just didn't feel right. We made our way through all the rooms and the exhibits. We read everything and looked at it all. Perhaps the very most entertaining was the room dedicated to the Balwin ladies and The Recipe. There was plenty to see and read in that room. My photos do not do it justice. We took a walk down the road and stopped at the Walton's Mountain Country Store which really wasn't much of a store. It was a small building that supposedly is a country inn with rooms for rent and the store part was a tiny room not much bigger than a closet filled with a few postcards, Earl's books, a few tapes and cd's and some overpriced t-shirts for sale. Not a country store at all. Down below the store the church is beautiful. The Hamner home is in need of some TLC. The little store that is like Ike Godsey's is further down the road. I tried to take a photo of the Rockfish road sign but it came out blurry. The house across the way, in a village that thrives on the tourism that it can draw, was big and yellow and sat on the corner. As you turned the corner the back of the house and yard was visible. In the back, up against the house, was rotten furniture, the stuffing of which was laid out in a pile and left the main intersection looking like a slummy junk yard. Maybe my expectations were too high. I really don't know. I felt so lost and let down with the exhibition. I could still now almost cry over it. I walked into that museum and felt like I had walked into a room full of elementary bulletin boards put together by children. There were so many displays and the walls covered with things but it wasn't presented very well in my opinion. Knowing what I know now, should I ever return (which I will) I will not be going to the museum (I use the term loosley). The normal admission is $6 per person and children under 6 are free. It is over priced. In good faith I cannot send you and let you spend your money to walk into that building. It is not a $6 per person show. From what I understand the cast of the tv show and Mr. Hamner himself have very little to do with the place. They have made appearances in the past but now not so much. Perhaps they too are a bit shamed by it all. I am nearly in tears now. I was heart broken by the experience. On a brighter note the trip down our mountain and up to their mountain was breathtaking. I wanted to show you the amazing blaze of color from the mountains from where I live but the camera and my skill just could not capture the sheer magnificance of it all. Instead here is a rose in my orchard. October and roses are blooming. How lucky I am to live here where I do. And this tree in my front yard out shines all of the mountain views for miles and miles around. It is the first one to deck itself in glorious color. It is often said you can never go home. This I know to be true. Georgia for me no longer is home. Virginia and the Blue Ridge Mountains is now home. The ideals I learned growing up and shared by watching a television show with the rest of the nation are the same ones I teach my own children. The innocence of that time in America is long past and nearly forgotten by many. At my house it is still living and thriving.

When Steven was born we were blessed with so many gifts. At the age of 6 months we were still recieving gifts. People were very kind to us. Hi, Auntie Hope! So many of the clothes were just the cutest things. So many of the clothes were purchased out of season I feared we would not get use them. I love my schoolbus sleeper! Stevens growth is right on track. At 8+ months age he is wearing 9 months sized clothing. Which is most excellent because fall has come with blustery temperatures of winter. Frost has been on the pumpkins two mornings in a row. Living in a 98 year old farm house you can see how long sleeved, footed, one piece pajamas are very important with a baby who kicks off the covers all night long. How cute am I? The sleeper in these photos is one Hope sent when Steven was born. I kept it folded in the drawer by my bed hoping that he wouldn't outgrow it before he even got to wear it. This is one of my favorites because of the school bus motif and the plush little red car that came with it. The End Thank you again, Hope. We love this sleeper. It is soft and comfy and keeps a baby with sweaty toes the perfect temperature to sleep well. BTW, notice anything wrong with these photos? Steven hates playing inside the play yard. He wants to be outside of it. What a major waste of $65. The only reason we bought it was to be able to keep him away from the fireplace. Which we have had no problems doing. I am beginning to think we are looking at the most expensive Christmas tree barrier to keep small hands away from delicate ornaments. Other than corralling his toys I can think of no other use for it. :-/