Some here may remember when we had regular visits from forum friends. Some of us still get together occasionally, so I was ecstatic when Peppi called and asked if it would be a good time for her to visit, along with Sherry (sheshebop). I'll MAKE it a good time to visit, I always love to see them.

So, last Wednesday Peppi and her Dad and their dog, Her Highness Princess Emma came to visit, followed shortly thereafter by Sherry. Did I remember to take any pictures? Um.....no, but I got pictures of the food!

Thursday we got up and went to a local apple orchard where the owner kindly let Sherry sample a Honeycrisp to be sure it was crisp, she had just purchased a peck at her local farm market and they were not crisp, they were kind of soft and mushy. These were crisp, though, and so she bought some and Peppi bought apples to take home as well as some for her neighbor. I bought a half bushel of MacIntosh for $7 to make applesauce and another half bushel of mixed SunCrisp/Fuji/Golden Delicious/Jonagold and I think there were a couple of Ida Red in there too. I also got a 50 lb. bag of "juice apples", which are not drops, but are the seconds which are too small, have a spot, etc. I'd already gotten a half bushel of Empire for $5 from one of the neighbors, so I made this pie for Wednesday night's dessert:

Being a glutton for punishment, or else a bit crazy, I made a cinnamon roll type crust, rolling my pie crust up with cinnamon and sugar and slicing, like this:

After I did it, I realized that it would never be seen, LOL, and so was pretty much a big waste of time and energy. Ah well, it tasted good...

I also made some lemon bars, and there are still about half a pan left, no one ate any of those, but the molasses cookies were happily consumed:

After watching the Wednesday evening Presidential debates, we needed a substantial breakfast on Thursday. I made a quiche with potato crust, filled with fontina, feta and spinach, sliches of thick cut bacon and pumpkin muffins:

We visited the orchard and then the local Amish store, where I bought some pasta for supper that night. We had Caesar salad, pasta with Italian sausage and mushrooms in cream sauce and cheddar garlic biscuits, and agreed that dessert would be later.

When "later" came around, some of us ate cheddar thumbprints filled with the pineapple/mango/habanero jam that Makayla made for the fair last year:

Peppi's Dad opted for more of the pie, and being the sweet German gentleman he is, he had a beer with his!

Friday morning we had homemade corned beef hash, eggs, and toast made with some maple oatmeal bread, the world's biggest loaf. I should have made two small ones, but I just cut the slices in half so they'd fit in the toaster!

Sadly, everyone had places to go and people to see, and Peppi and her Dad were going to have to fight Friday traffic on the Dan Ryan besides. Sherry left with fresh eggs and the last of the bread. Peppi opened her cooler and took away those two beef tongues I've been saving for her since we slaughtered beef last February, LOL. Her Dad had some cookies for snacking on the way home.

She left me with some chocolate truffles and caramels, a new toy for Molly and a jar of her homecanned and extremely delicious German pickled red cabbage. Molly went right to work on the toy, of course.

Sherry thinks we should make this an annual "tradition", and I heartily agree. I'll cram as many people as I can get into the house and make Dave bring the camper over. If I still have too many people, I'll bet my neighbors across the street at the Bed and Breakfast would give me a good deal!

So, I was sad to see them have to go home, heck, I'm going to have to go visit them!

Annie