Pantry Trail Mix

The end of summer has arrived with the first day of school today so that means two things: #1 - time to clean out the pantry of all the partial snacks, crackers and goodies gathered over the course of t-ball games, fair and road trips, and #2 - time to celebrate the first day of school with a fun afternoon snack.  Put those two things together and we have Pantry Trail Mix.

Wisconsin Family Vacation Favorites

It's been one week since we returned from our Great Wisconsin Family Road Trip.  We traveled across the southern half of the state and up the peninsula over the course of six full days and I decided the best way to share about our trip is to share our family's favorite cheese, frozen custard, beer, meal, attraction and destination.

#Celebrate365 Farmers Market Inspiration

Did you know that this week is National Farmers Market Week?  My Celebrate 365 co-hosts (Carlee from Cooking with Carlee, Jan of The Tip Garden and Nicole of Tales of a Kansas Farm Mom) and I were so excited to find out about it that we decided to host a blog party full of garden fresh and farmers market inspired recipes!

Family Fun at the Franklin County Fair

***The 2022 Franklin County Fair is July 12-17.  Some activities may differ from the 2018 Fair.***

Today marks the official start to one of our family's favorite times of the year, our local Franklin County Fair in Hampton, Iowa.  Yesterday was entry day and last night we were in the parade, so to say that excitement and enthusiasm for the fair is high would be an understatement.

The kids and I all exhibited in the Open Show, our oldest Mr. K has some Clover Kid exhibits and Mr. K and Miss A are showing bottle lambs and feeder pigs this year.  Besides all of our projects at the fair, the kids are also excited for the fun family activities happening daily around the fair.

Celebrate 365 Ice Cream Social

My favorite, go-to dessert will always be ice cream.  I will eat it all year long but there is something fun about eating ice cream and frozen treats during the summer.  My family even goes on an Ice Cream Road Trip every summer!  So to celebrate summer time and National Ice Cream month, I've joined forces with my Celebrate 365 co-hosts (Carlee from Cooking with Carlee, Jan of The Tip Garden and Nicole of Tales of a Kansas Farm Mom) to throw an Ice Cream Social!

Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate our country's independence, show off your patriotism, spend time with family and friends, shoot off fireworks and check crops.  It's been tradition for decades that farmers check their crops, especially corn, to see if it is "Knee High by the 4th of July."  Now while knee high isn't the benchmark for farmers anymore due to hybridization and improved genetics, it is still a fun tradition for our family to benchmark our corn (and family's) growth every year (see 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

Grilling Bucket List

If you aren't new to this blog, you know I'm all about the Bucket Lists so I figured after being inspired by so many great recipes from the Celebrate 365's Grilling Time Blog Party that I'd make a Grilling Bucket List for this summer.  What a great way to try new things and to kick off the first day of Summer!

Listed below are a mix of main dishes, burgers, side dishes and even desserts to make on the grill.  Since first checking out these recipes on the Celebrate 365's Grilling Time Blog Party, I have already made a couple of these recipes: my family and I give the Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwiches and Grilled Sweet Potatoes a double thumbs up 👍👍