MartinPalooza.com

Feeling like sharing some yankee love in honor of Columbus Day………

Ok so I must add this initial disclaimer. If you are from the “north” this may not come as “variety” to you, I am pretty sure that narrows down the list to my sister-in-law, Michelle, our friends the Nelsons, and my immediate family.  But since most folk we know are of the mid-west or southern persuasion, we thought THIS would add some variety to your “side dish” at dinner time.

“Salt Potatoes”- an common dish eaten by salt miners in days past, now loved by many O’ New Yorkers!

Ingredients:

• one bag of “salt potatoes” (if you don’t live in new york, then your grocery store calls them “baby” potatoes- they used to call them “grade B” potatoes my first year I lived in MO, but then suddenly they we re-labeled with a new price tag as “baby potatoes” as if that made them sound fancier)
• 1 cup coarse salt
• 1 large pot boiling water
• melted butter

Add salt to water, boil, add potatoes, cook  until fork tender. Leave the potatoes whole- they should be about bite size.

Melt butter to dunk the potatoes in. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm a yummy yankee side dish! Seriously, I could eat this with fresh corn on the cob and be done!

Salt and Vinegar “chips”-  Since I spent most of my summer weekends pretending to be canadian with my friend Laura, I just LOVE vinegar on my “chips” which are really fried potatoes (any way you slice them is fine) Personally, I haven’t met a potato that I don’t like.

Ingredients:

• 1 large potato per person eating- sliced like very thick potato chips
• 2 cups vinegar (more if you are feelin’ really northern, eh)
• large pot boiling water
• salt and pepper
• olive or veggie oil

Add vinegar to water, par- boil potato slices- about 5 minutes.

Drain.  toss potatoes in oil- lightly

Lay out on greased cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with salt AND pepper

Broil on high 7-10 minutes (or more for extra crunchy)

Eat and enjoy. (oh, and to be more northern you can add additional malt vinegar before eating- but NOT ketchup)

Happy Belated Columbus Day!!!
 

The first weekend of October was FULL of blessings for our family!  Our friends the Johnsons came to visit.  They had family near by, so it was the perfect excuse to spend time together!  They are such a fun joyful, and faith-filled family.  We just LOVED getting to know them better! The guys worked together to build an extention on our goat barn to keep them dry in the wet fall and winter days!  What a HUGE blessing to have Mr Johnson and his experience in building!  We even had the goat vet stop in for a quick lesson in farming and vaccines- that went smoother than anticipated- phew!  As if the weekend wasn’t complete, God gave us James Staddon to enjoy as well!  He was “in town” so he spent a few nights here and brought blessings with him wherever he went. We took him sight seeing to get some “New England pics” and he blessed all the kids with a testimony of his recent time in Mexico at an orphanage.  To top the weekend off, the day after everyone left, Jacob celebrated his 12th birthday!

We all had a BLAST teaching the Johnsons how to play “gah-gah”  (don’t ask us where the name came from), but it is a FUN, simple game for all to play….here are the winners and a few “action” shots of the game!  We let it get down to two or three “winners” instead of one, that way a little person always won too! Note: that “light footed” Hope is in ALL of the winner shots…..she was FAST!

Then, James shared his testimony with the kids.  James hooked his laptop up to our flat screen (thank you Nauna for that gift a while back – it is soooo great for schooling)  James talked about the Big Vision of the Orphanage as well as the great importance of being faithful in all the daily living NOW as a kid.  He encouraged all our kids to work at being obedient, neat & orderly in household and school things, faithful and diligent workers, making the most of their schooling so they would be VERY prepared for ANYTHING that God gave them later in life.  Encouraging them that God would honor that and use it to bless their future!

Some great fun playing in the dark with glow sticks (a fun gift from the Johnsons)!!!

Some more great time just being together!

Jacob’s 12th birthday!  What a great day!  He even had a special visitor, Dr. Finn a dear friend from church, bring him hot cross buns as a birthday treat!!!  He’s a pic of Jacob in his new threads from his great Nana!  What a blessing for future music opportunities!

In the end,  each person had something to bless the other people with.  We all gave something to the other and THAT is a simple yet WONDERFUL way to MULTIPLY BLESSINGS!!!!

See Sophie’s blog to find out about her “new additions”

http://shadymaplegoatsfarm.blogspot.com/

Recently, our dear friends eldest son, Joshua, got married to Lisa.  Oh it was such a beautiful day!  Families gathering from all over to support, encourage, love, and sincerely welcome this beautiful union.  Joshua and Lisa patiently waited for God’s timing, even on the day of their wedding!  The rain started to come, but no one fussed.  We enjoyed each other while we waited for it to pass.  Then, at just the perfect time, the wedding began.  How beautiful to see young people wait patiently for each other.  To see them value purity and faithfulness!  What a testimony!

The pictures speak for themselves:

Of Course the kids (and adults) had a great time playing around and providing MUCH laughs as they “decorated” Josh and Lisa’s car  Of course, we won’t name names of who did what…..but a picture IS worth a 1000 words!!  And while most of the kids were “decorating” the car, Jacob found yet another instrument that he LOVES….the hammer dulcimer!

And last, but NOT least, we would like to THANK the Hollbach Family for the WONDERFUL hospitality!!!  What a Joy it was stay with them!  Everyone was so welcoming and hospitable.  Each child taking time to spend time with our kids.  Reading books, playing with chickens, playing piano, or just talking. We look forward to more times in the future. Just some of the Hollbachs are in the picture below- you can tell who they are from their HUGE, beautiful smiles…we really need to get better at taking group pictures!

Please see our friends, the Neely’s, blog.  A beautiful tribute to our nation in light of September 11 and our nations founding.  Please click here.

Availability=

making my own schedule and priorities secondary

to the wishes of those I am serving.

If we had to pick just one character quality to describe the VA FEW weekend, availability would be it.  The Staddons, Neelys, and Wilkes families all work together to provide a weekend of encouragement for other families.  It is a wonderful time of getting to know other like-minded families, learning wisdom from those who have gone before you, and immense encouragement for all family members to stay committed to the call God has placed on their lives.  Not to mention, it is just plain FUN!

This year was no exception.  So we have to send out a HUGE dose of gratefulness for thinking of others before themselves (which would bring “deference” in at a close second place for top character qualities)!

Here are a “FEW” things we learned about….Each lesson was really full of personal testimonies, which is a powerful way to share your life with others….

An excellent Civil War presentation by Matthew and Mark Wilkes

Learning by Analogies Chalk Drawing by Donald Staddon

Removing Bittereness by Don Staddon

Lessons on Passing the Baton from one generation to the next by Mark WIlkes

Godly Relationships by Don Staddon

Family Ministry by Patrick Neely

Family Entrepreneurship by David Stezel

We only have a “FEW” pictures because we spent too much time talking (OK- so clearly that means Jill had the camera in hand-no surprise there) But if you click above on the family names for FEW, their blogs are full of great pictures! Oh, and as you can see in a “FEW” pictures that we discovered our zoom button on our little pocket camera doesn’t work well…so some aren’t so clear.  Sorry, but you get the idea