Another great 4th!

First of all.....do you know what this is???

Tom came back from bush-hogging and made me walk out to the field to look at it. He thought it looked like some sort of WWII bomb. So what's your guess? Answer is at the bottom of this entry!On Saturday, Tom and I went geocaching in the Mount Rogers Recreational Area - what a wonderful spot! We took 16 up to Troutdale, the 603 over to Damascus. Then we got a wild hair, and took 91 down to Mountain City, TN, and 88 back to Laurel Springs. Great scenery, and we saw some really remote parts of Ashe county.
On Sunday, our neighbors, Donna and Raymond, came up with some friends of theirs from Texas. Don got right into the spirit of relaxation by giving Ellen a shoulder rub.

And Ellen found the chair that seems to make everyone smile and relax as soon as they sit down...

We took on some really intense activities like jigsaw puzzles.

And of course, we got it finished before we left. It was a real bear! (GROAN...)

And now, the answer you've all been waiting for.....
It was one of the tractor lights that had fallen off while he was bush-hogging!!!!

It was COLD!!!

The first annual "Cut Loose at the Roost" was a huge success - thanks to every one for braving the weather to come! It was about 40 degrees with a 20 mph steady wind, but Jackie was prepared....

The circle around the porch heater was popular spot - notice there's nobody out on the deck!

There was much more activity inside around the food table!
My hospitality assistants did a fantastic job!

The grillmaster had the grill "full" of chicken breasts....

A few brave souls atually ate outside on the porch...

Jackie and Kat grabbed the "warm corner"

After the crowd left, Glenda decided to try a little yoga...

That apparently didn't work, so she tried this....(don't ask)

Jackie and Kat brought a nice housewarming present - some gorgeous sounding wind chimes with a "guard rooster"!

And, as promised, here are the recipes passed on by the attendees:

• Deviled Eggs (from Donna)
  
  6 hard-cooked eggs
  ¼ cup mayonnaise
  1 teaspoon white vinegar
  1 teaspoon prepared mustard (I use Grey Poupon Dijon mustard)
  1/8 teaspoon salt
  Paprika
  
  Boil the eggs until they are hard-cooked.
  Halve hard-cooked eggs length-wise, remove yolks and mash with a fork.
  Stir in mayonnaise, white vinegar, mustard and salt.
  Stuff egg whites with yolk mixture (I use my cake decorator with the widest fancy end I have for this)
  Garnish with parika.
  Makes 12 servings
  
  If I am doing more than 6 eggs, I use my food processor to “mash” the egg yolks and mix the other stuff in. It makes the filling smoother, but mostly it is just easier on the arms and I am all about easy!!!

• Ribbon Cheese Slices (Provided by Janie Marshall, brought by Donna)
  (Slightly altered from Taste of Home Appetizer book)
  
  8 oz cream cheese slightly softened
  1/3 cup chopped pecans
  1/3 cup dried cranberries diced
  10 (3 in. x 3 in.) slices deli-type sharp cheddar cheese slices
  
  Combine cream cheese, pecans and cranberries.
  On aluminum foil, place 2 slices of cheddar cheese side by side.
  Spread 3 rounded tablespoons cream cheese mixture over cheese slices.
  Repeat layers ending with cheddar cheese slices.
  Fold foil tightly around layered cheese.
  Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
  Remove from foil.
  Cut lengthwise three ways.
  Slice across making 1/4 inch slices.
  Serve with crackers.
  
  
• Marbled Chocolate Treats (from Ginger)
  
  8 1/2 graham crackers cut in half (17 squares)
  6 squares semi sweet chocolate
  1/2 cup peanut butter
  3 squares white chocolate
  
  Line a 13x9 pan with aluminum foil leaving enough hanging off to use as handles
  Arrange graham crackers in bottom of panmicrowave semi sweet chocolate and peanut butter for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until chocolate is completely melted when stirred. I stirred every 30 seconds until melted.
  Pour over graham crackers; spread evenly repeat melting time for white chocolate and then pour over dark chocolate/peanut butter mixture; then take knive and swirl chocolates together.
  Refrigerate for at least an hour or until firm. Remove dessert from pan and peel off aluminum foil and cut dessert into bars.
  Store in covered container in refrigerator.
  
  
• Honey Bee’s Rice (from Leza)
  
  1 chopped onion
  ½ stick butter
  2-oz. bag of slivered or sliced almonds
  3 ounces raisins
  1 cup white rice (uncooked)
  2 cans beef consommé
  
  Saute the top 5 ingredients. Place in casserole dish. Pour consommé over the ingredients and bake (covered) at 375 degrees for 50 min. – 1 hour.
  
  
• Brownies (from Glenda)
  
  1 walnut brownie mix
  3 Symphony Bars (with toffee and almonds)
  
  Prepare brownie mix according to instructions on the box.
  Pour 1/2 of the mix into a 9x12 pan, then place the 3 Symphony bars over the brownie mix. Pour remaining mix on top and bake according to mix.
  
  
• Oriental Cabbage Salad (from Paula)
  
  1 pkg cole slaw mix
  1 package slivered almonds
  2 tablespoons sesame seeds
  1/3 cup sugar
  1/4 cup vinegar (apple cider or red wine)
  3/4 cup oil (olive, canola or vegetable)
  2 tablespoons soy sauce
  1 teaspoon pepper
  1 pkg ramen noodles (do not use the seasoning packet)
  
  Brown almonds and sesame seeds in a small amount of butter and combine with cole slaw mix in a bowl.
  Combine sugar, vinegar, oil, soy sauce and pepper in a shaker (or some kind of container) – shake it up and pour over cole slaw mixture
  Break up ramen noodles and add them to the mixture just before serving (so they are crunchy, when you eat it!)
  
  
• Betty’s Famous Mexican Wontons (not brought this year, but usually a staple!)
  
  Wonton Wrappers (approx 50/pkg)
  1 lb sausage, cooked & drained
  2 cups monterrey jack cheese, grated
  2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
  ½ cup green pepper chopped (I use green chili peppers)
  1 cup ranch dressing
  1 cup black olives, sliced
  
  Mix all ingredients except for wonton wrappers
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray muffin tins with non-stick spray.
  Mold wontons in tin. Bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven and put a heaping tablespoon of mixture in each wonton. Bake 5 more minutes.
  
  
• Chicken Braid (from Marian)
  
  2 8oz. crescent rolls (generic brand works better)
  1/2 - 1 cup cooked, chopped chicken (approx. 3 boneless breasts)
  1 c. chopped broccoli (fresh or frozen, if frozen drain well)
  1/2 c. chopped red pepper
  4 oz. grated sharp Cheddar cheese
  1 cup mayonnaise
  2 tsp. Dill mix
  ¼ tsp. salt
  1/2 can water chestnuts (chopped)
  1 garlic clove
  *****************
  to prepare braid for baking use 1 egg white & some slivered almonds
  
  Preheat oven to 350.
  Separate crescent rolls into triangles and lay them out to form a rectangle on a baking stone or greased cookie sheet. Use rolling pin to seal triangle seams. With a paring knife, cut strips approximately 1 - 2 inches apart across rectangle leaving 3 – 4 inches uncut in center. Mix remaining ingredients in order until creamy. Spoon and mound mixture lengthwise down center of crescent roll rectangle. Starting at top of rectangle, pull strips of dough from each side toward center over chicken mixture, twist and join them. Continue until all strips have been done. Brush top and sides of braid with egg white and sprinkle with slivered almonds. Bake at 350, 25-30 minutes or until dough is golden brown.

Happy Belated Fourth of July!

We had a LOVELY Fourth of July weekend - hope you did too!

My friend, Donna, made this patriotic (and delicious!) dessert for our dinner.

But before the Fourth, Rilla came up and we headed up on Thursday. On Friday, we took a drive down a new gravel road and saw some neat sites...

A really cool old tree!
And this grasshopper came along for the ride on our windshield for a little while..

We also saw two sets of mother and baby deer while out driving - the babies were very small with lots of spots - unfortunately, no pictures!
Meanwhile, Tom washed and compounded his tractor, hoping for great results...

My cousin gave me her old dishes with roosters on them, so Rilla helped me reorganize my cabinets - it's so good to have someone tall around besides Tom!

Our neighbor, Donna and Raymond drove up on Friday to join us. Raymond settled right in...

Donna, Rilla and I took a short walk to gather some wildflowers for our table

On Saturday, the boys played golf, and we headed over to West Jefferson for Christmas in July. It was really crowded, but we managed to find a couple of fun things for the house. First, this rooster for the porch (he's much less scary looking in person!)

And this cute sketch of roosters called "The Boys" by a local artist...

After we all got back home, we had the traditional chicken barbecue. Raymond insisted that the grill be FULL and it was - 12 leg quarters and a half dozen breasts!

and here's out dinner table and view for the Fourth - pretty nice, huh?

And here are the group shots - first, the girls....
And the boys...

Old friends...

We had a nice surprise a couple of weeks ago. Some old friends came up from Florida to visit us at the Roost. Kerry and Jeanna moved to Florida several years ago. Kerry worked with us at RJ Reynolds, and also helped Tom build the deck and do many other repairs at the old house. It was really good to see them. We went up to Doughton Park for a picnic on Saturday.....

Jeanna

Tom and Kerry

and the boys played with a glider...

On a different note, we finally found a sofa for the den - a sleeper from World Market.