night out

lovely outdoor dining at the Greek restaurant

I consider myself privileged to share a house with three amazing sisters-- it's really the next best thing to sharing a house with my own amazing sister/s.

Once each month we have a goal of "house dinner out," which means we find an evening that's open on all our calendars, choose a local restaurant, and spend some time together sharing a special meal. Not only is it a great time to catch up on each other's lives and discuss plans for the upcoming weeks, we also get to sample the area's restaurants. Plus, we can check in with each other to ensure all is well with the current sharing of household responsibilities.

Our most recent choice of cuisine was Greek (YUM.MY!). The restaurant is less than a mile away, and it was a perfect evening for a little stroll.

Previously we've sampled Italian, Indian, and Lebanese.

Wegmans

a few of my Wegmans purchases

I am a gal of favorite places to shop...

Examples include Pine Valley Bulk Foods, Choma Dairy Co-Op, Food Lover's (a South African chain), Dillsburg Farmers' Market, and now...

Wegmans.

I hear that Wegmans originated in New York. It's a unique grocery store, because it includes a massive take-away section and bakery... in addition to everything a "normal" grocery store would have PLUS everything an organic grocery store would have! 

On top of the impressive selection, the store's marketing is fresh and full of style.

The first time I stepped into Wegmans I couldn't believe such an establishment existed. After wandering the aisles for an hour and getting a sense of what the store might house, 

I put "visit Wegmans in detail" on my to-do-one-day list.

A couple weeks ago my roomies were out and rain clouds moved in for the entire day. So, I figured it was a perfect time to roll up and down and up and down the aisles of the massive Wegmans store.

i love.love.love choose-your-own bulk fruit/nut bins :)
this was a tasty trail mix that highlighted banana chips and dried strawberries

I made all sorts of wonderful discoveries (such as the ENTIRE aisle of teas!), carefully selected some items for purchase (including three boxes of tea), and eventually exited the store some 2 hours later. 

It was an excellent way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Last Year

to market

looking down from the second floor of West Shore Market

I have an infatuation with markets, especially outdoor farmers' markets.

I love watching the sun rise on the way to set up displays of fresh produce. I love the colorful stands of neighboring vendors. I love happy shoppers who bustle about with reusable bags brimming with garden goodness. I love providing customers with quality food...

With a little break in my usual extra-curricular activities recently, I made time to check out two more area markets: West Shore Farmers Market and Farmers On the Square. (I have a goal to visit local markets wherever I live.)

While it was interesting to visit these two new markets (ps- the mixed berry yoghurt drink I purchased from Gettysburg Creamery at the Farmers On the Square was absolutely amazing!), I'm still sticking with my favorite local produce points: Dillsburg Farmers Market, and a small farm stand on 641 between Carlisle and Mechanicsburg. (and I still love Midland's Farmers' Market back home.)

After stressing in the hectic traffic, hunting for a parking space, waiting for 5 minutes for the "walk" sign at the busy intersection where Farmers On the Square is held, browsing the gourmet, over-priced produce and specialty items, and gazing at the $1 each zinnia stems the other evening...

I stopped at "my" little farm stand on the way back to Mechanicsburg and purchased two butternut squash and a lovely bouquet of zinnias ($6 total). No crowds, great selection, reasonable prices, and fresh, local items. That's the kind of farm produce I like.

And tomorrow, I plan to visit Filey's Pride and a couple other favorite stalls in Dillsburg, where I can buy fresh, local produce directly from the farmers.

It still feels a bit silly that I'm the customer instead of the seller, but... that's how life is these days :)

Lace up those hikers

Grab your sunglasses, water, hat, and a jam bar...
(and snag a friend if at all possible)

It's time to hit the trail!

Sara and I hiked White Rocks Trail on Labor Day morning. It was a fun, relatively easy, very short hike (1 hour total). Made my day to get out of the office and clamber around in the great outdoors.

nshima... coming right up!

We prepared and shared our own Zambian/Malawian/American meal the other night.

• Zambian because we chose to cook three three Zambian staples. 
• Malawian because we were using (privately imported) Malawian "uffa" (maize flour) for the nshima. 
• American because, well, we're Americans... so we can't quite cook the truly authentic way... (even though I closed my eyes when Malinda dumped copious amounts of oil into the relish, it still didn't taste quite the same as when Zambian mamas make it...)

The table was surrounded by happy hearts, full bellies, and messy fingers when we finished. We're part of a strange American sub-group that can classify a meal like this as a sort of "comfort food." It's not that I love nshima meals above all others... it's that nshima meals represent so many happy, satisfied moments in life; Friday's meal was no exception.

hot diggity dog diggity... Hotchee Dog!

a good 'ol Hamilton Hotchee Dog

A few weeks ago during a staff meeting, Rick discovered that many of us at work had never before eaten a Hotchee Dog... 

In fact, some of us didn't even know Hotchee Dogs existed!

To increase our knowledge and experience in local culture, Rick planned an end-of-summer Hotchee Dog event at the Hamilton Restaurant in Carlisle. My workmates and I were all invited!

The Hamilton is legendary among locals. 

It's sort of a diner type restaurant, and while Hotchee Dogs and Hotchee Burgers are the classic fare, patrons can order from a generous variety of items on the menu (someone in our group ordered a gyro). 

Since it was my first time to the Hamilton, and since Hotchee Dogs are the specialty, 

I went classic and ordered a Hotchee Dog.

A Hotchee Dog is a hot dog wrapped in a bun that is lined with white American cheese and a squirt of mustard, and topped with a scoop of mild chili sauce (old family recipe) and a handful of shaved onion. 

All the flavors are basic (not spicy or bold), even the chili sauce and onion.

What's up with the name? you wonder...

I wondered that too.

They tell me it's a strung-together version of a "hot dog with cheese."

And... How was it? you ask...

Well, it was a great cultural experience to visit the Hamilton.

And it was wonderful to be in the company of all these amazing workmates...

but...

I think I'll leave Hotchee Dogs to the locals :)

ps- Our Hotchee Dog tasting reminded me of the time Dad bought us Beach Burritos (a local favorite) when we were in South Haven, Michigan for a few hours some years ago. A Beach Burrito is a hot dog and bun wrapped inside a tortilla! I never needed a second Beach Burrito either...