Ghost Walk 2016

Have you ever been on a ghost walk?

If not, why?

Far from being morbid, ghost walks or cemetery walks are a wonderful way to get to know the history of the area in which you live. When I lived in Flint, MI, one of my girlfriends and I did one and I do believe there is probably one in Rochester. Most cities or towns may have them and I was finally able to do my local village's ghost walk this weekend.

The Ghost Walk is in it's eighth year and it is performed by students at the local Albion High School. They did a phenomenal job! Each year they select about 15 individuals from the community and with the help of some local historians, research their personal history. Apparently, it various every year who they present and they give you a overall insight into the history of Albion, NY.

In 2000, the students at Albion High School collected monies to construct a monument
to celebrate the black pioneers of Orleans County.

No actual animal is buried under this monument.
It was constructed to remember the love and dedication
the dog had to his departed owner.

The students dress up and present the individual's history right at the gravesite. This year we learned about the first millionaire in Albion, the only person to be executed in the county itself and the man who started Citizen's Bank.. all of them buried with the remaining 18,000 individuals in our little local village.

The cemetery itself is on the historic register and dates back to 1843. A building on site was constructed with local Medina sandstone and we learned that this was shipped all over the world and can be found in the Brooklyn Bridge as well as Buckingham Palace!

The cemetery was designed as both a cemetery and a park and the Victorians used to come to the park and enjoy a picnic lunch. It is so hard to imagine going to a cemetery to each lunch with tombstones all around you, although people jog in this cemetery all the time.

The history was amazing and so interesting. The students were very reverent in their presentations and threw themselves into the performance. I will definitely plan to attend next year.

If you like history or are just interested in the town you live in, I highly recommend searching out your local historical society and find out if there is a ghost walk or cemetery walk in your town.. more than likely there is. I urge you to attend and discover your local history for yourself! It's absolutely fascinating!

The Smell of Cider and Donuts

Cinnamon and Apples. Donuts and Cider. A slight Crispness in the Air.







Someone flipped the switch, it's fall!

I love, love, love fall!  Already the nights are getting a crispness about them that tells us the leaves are soon to be turning. Time to bunker down for warm and cozy mother nature seems to be saying.

Even Morning Glory the chicken is glad the summer is over!

Let me be the first to say I'm glad to see summer go this year. It was a hard summer to say the least. For almost three months we had no rain and for those of us still on wells, that means a very scary proportion. In the nineteen years we've been here, it has never been this dry and hot!  Water had to be conserved for animals and people so needless to say, the garden suffered horribly and we've only got a handful of tomatoes to show for it. I've lost two of my fruit trees and got very little in the realm of our raspberries and no grapes. At the peak of the drought, we were 9 inches below where we should have been! Thank goodness we have finally started to get rain. I don't feel 100% better yet but it's getting better.

So goodbye and good riddance to Summer 2016!

On to Fall!

This is the first year I really didn't can much due to the water situation. Typically I buy tomatoes to supplement my garden supply for canning anyway but with a bushel being $16 this year, I only canned once then wondered if it was even worth it at that price. I always feel better however knowing what my family is eating and I do have a serious canning addiction.

Today was our visit to Rob's Apple Orchard for a bushel of apples. Northern Spies are my apples of choice as my Great Grandmother S always said that they were the best for canning and baking but I found out today they will not be available for another two weeks and I want to can NOW! Needless to say I bought a bushel of 20 oz'er an proceeded to make and can the copycat recipe for a Famous Market Restaurant's Apples. I must have gotten this recipe of the internet at some point but needless to say, it's a keeper that I make every year and it's too good not to share. I've scaled this up to canning portions and while I was a tad exhausted, it was a good kind of exhausted... the kind that you know you accomplished something.

Famous Market Restaurant's
Copycat Dessert Apples

(Scaled up for Canning, Makes 5-6 Quarts)

24 apples
16 tsp butter
5 1/3 c water
4 Tbsp flour
3 cups brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
8 tsp cornstarch
dash of salt

For canning:

Fruit fresh
Lemon juice
Water

Peel all your apples and submerge them in water spiked with 1/4 lemon juice, enough to cover apples.

In a large pot, melt your butter. As it is melting, begin putting in your brown sugar. As that begins to melt together pour in your water with the remaining ingredients. Cook it for about five mins until it all starts coming together in a wonderful syrup. Once it does, put in your apples and stir until coated.

Fill clean and warmed canning jars. Put 1 tsp of Fruit Fresh in each canning jar. Use a kitchen knife around the edges to eliminate any bubbles in the jars. Wipe down the threads and top of the jars. Boil your canner lids in a separate saucepan and with tongs, place on the cleaned jars. Immediately screw down your canning lid and submerge them into your canner. I processed mine in a pressure canner for about 30 mins. Remove from canner and place on a room temperature surface (I usually put them on a towel on the counter. (I would not place them on a glass top range.) Check that all the lids have sealed the next day and proudly put them in your pantry to enjoy in lunches, as desserts or anytime the need arises! Enjoy!