Choo choo!

At the bottom of my street, there are tracks that run a freight line.

When we were little and heard the whistle, my sister and I would grab pennies, nickels and even quarters if we were desperate enough, and run down the street at top speed, hoping to place them on the tracks before the train came by. I loved the feeling of the smooth, warm, flattened metal on my fingers.

Today, I still have the urge to run down and check out the gigantic machines as the roll by. Only now, I bring my son instead of my sister.



The sound and size of these trains are truly unreal.

It's also nice to get a little graffiti fix. Of course, there are the usual throw ups, but occasionally, I'll see something that catches my eye -- a little something clever, creative, different or just really good. This time, we saw some sweet death skulls. Rawk.

When my family first moved here over 20 years ago, they ran SEPTA on these lines, too. Now the train station is a little restaurant called The Caboose Grille. At least weekly, I wish they'd bring the R5 back. What the world need now, is more public transportation, right? :)

Bakers on Broad open hizouse

After sending off Awesome Miss L, Jason and I bummed around, straightening up a bit here and there until it was time to go to the baker's open house. Linda and Rafael of Bakers on Broad celebrated their first anniversary in business by inviting everyone in for a tour, conversation and snacks. It was a brilliant way to spend a Sunday afternoon after a busy weekend. Even better? Well, the wine of course.





























Jase and I sat at the front window bar (a refinished slice of a very large tree), chatted with some fantastic people (bottom right), drank wine and nibbled on bread (duh) and local cheese from Hendrick's Farm in Telford before we went down a set of spiral stairs to check out the kitchen. I don't know what exactly we were expecting, but the kitchen is huge. There are three rooms, the most impressive one housing a gigantic oven (top left). Rafael went through the baking process, though, to be honest, I was half in the bag by the time we left and can't remember the delicate details of baking through which he walked us.

I do know however, that we were quite impressed.

Jase and I joked about how we pictured Rafael awaking at the break of dawn to shuffle downstairs into their regular ol' kitchen to bake bread in their oven. Then, as the sun rose, Linda would take over, moving the goods to the front room and working with the customers. Apparently, we aren't the only ones with this impression and that is precisely why they had this open house.

Their operation is quite impressive, and it made me realize just how much they must have scrimped and saved and researched and constructed in order to open a bakery of their very own. The tour also explained why it took them so long to open once they took ownership of the building - which happens to be their home, as well. Those two clearly worked very hard.

Jason and I were lucky enough to meet some of Linda and Rafael's super nice and very proud family (middle right). I'm pretty sure they were only being super nice so that we would finally go home. And yes, we were the last to leave.

We've begun our campaign to convince Baker's to have an event like this every Sunday. Hey, it could happen...

Join the campaign!
Bakers on Broad
503 East Broad Street
Souderton, PA 18964
215.703.0518
http://www.bakersonbroad.com/contact.html

;)

Benedict Arnold

Look, ma! No party mix! :D

My girl, Miss L visited us last weekend. In addition to feeding our brains and spirits with wisdom from don Miguel Ruiz, we fed out bellies with some fantastic spicy green curry at a Thai-French place in Lansdale called Nadia, some to-die-for vegan treats at... er, Vegan Treats in Bethlehem, and some Strongbow at our local pub, the Reliance in Telford. Miss J was along for most of the ride, too :)

And, I cooked! Woot! That's L's bon voyage breakfast: chopped kale, collards, green tomatoes, sweet red peppers, leeks and onion (all Blooming Glen) stir fried/steamed in a bit of olive oil and crushed red pepper, on top of a Food for Life organic 7-grain sprouted wheat english muffin, and drizzled with Knorr hollandaise sauce (the powder mix is not vegan, but we did make it with soy milk and Earth Balance). Jase was on "keep the kitchen clean" duty, I did the veggies and L took care of the sauce (Mr. Avery was with his pops). Yummm!

The weekend was incredible :) I'll post more on my other blog, but feel free to check out the evidence here: http://photography.frekur.com/gallery/awesome.

Montgomery Theater date night

Being the clever and wonderful and sweet girlfriend that I am, I naturally gave Jason an equally clever and wonderful and sweet gift for his birthday last year. I would like to note that the gift is even extra super special because his birthday is on 31 December. As in, NEW YEARS EVE. Had I known this before I fell in love with him (I should have requested a thorough inspection), I would have made him change it. But, whatever. We're here now, AREN'T WE?

So anyway. This year, I bought a season subscription to our local playhouse, the Montgomery Theater in Souderton. This, in and of itself, is an awesome gift. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The theater just rocks. The building is gorgeous, the staff is dedicated and passionate, the programs are inclusive, the shows seem to be handpicked and parts singularly crafted for the actors that play them, it has a perfect, central location and every seat in the house is good. It's a great, local establishment.

For Jason's birthday, I bought the season subscription, but made it sweeter by actually picking the dates out on the calendar, and creating five Date Night packages. Each package is really a bottle of wine (Pinot Noir, Red Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon) that has a handmade tag listing the date, time and show tied around top, a certificate good for a dinner (homemade or at a restaurant, his pick), and a description of the play from the theater's program.

See, it's the birthday gift that gives all year. And, it's insanely caring and thoughtful. I know, I know, I'm just good like that.

[Please, don't mind that nagging thought in your head. The one that's saying something like, "Heeey... wait a minute. Mikaela's the one who likes the theater so much...she's going to the plays, too...hrmmm." I am selfless and goddess-like. I did it for Jason. It's all for him!]

We've enjoyed three shows so far: Psychopathia Sexualis, The Drawer Boy, and Butterflies are Free, We went to our fourth show, The Last Five Years (by Jason Robert Brown), over the weekend. Jason's dinner choice was sushi from Kira and the wine was Ravenswood Red Zinfandel.


After dinner, we walked to the theater. Luckily we got there a little early and had time to visit the Sharon Moore Gallery across the street. Sharon just moved her gallery from a crowded store front on Broad Street, to this newly renovated, high-ceiling space in one of Souderton's famous old cigar factories. You must visit!

I purposefully don't read the descriptions of the plays. A fun effect of this, is that there's always something that surprises me. Like The Drawer Boy is a drawer, like with markers and pens, not like, his parents couldn't afford and didn't have the room for a crib, so he slept in the dresser drawer as an infant. It was an honest misunderstanding, people! One can imagine my surprise - In my mind, I had built a gritty story about a down-on-their-luck, young couple living in Brooklyn, who had a baby, but no money and little space in their one room apartment.

The Last Five years, was surprising as well, but not quite in the same way. I knew it was a love story (by seeing the logo), and was surprised when it turned out to be un-sappy, and rather brave. And also when I realized it was a musical. I'm not a big fan of musicals. It was hard for me not to groan and tell myself that we could leave at intermission. Which, of course, we didn't. Because the play was fantastic.

The format was brilliant for this story of unfortunate timing and missed opportunities for understanding. The woman's point of view (Jessica Edwards) starts in the present and works back to the couple's first meeting, while the man's (Michael Philip O'Brien) begins at their first meeting and progresses to the present. The couple's stories intersect only at the mid-point of their relationship, the wedding.

Date Four was definitely a winner :) Our next and final date is The Desk Set and a bottle of Barefoot Reserves Pinot Noir (our favorite). Stay tuned - or better yet, go see the show!

Univest Grand Prix

(Check out that rainbow!)

Yes, the Univest Grand Prix is a world renowned bicycle race. Yes, it happens right here, in our front yard (well, a half block away from the front yard). Yes, it's sponsored by many local community-minded businesses. Yes, international professional cycling teams compete right next to beloved locals in the race each year. And yes, this gem of a race was born from the spirit of local Merrill Moyer, and has continued to grow larger, more exciting, and more challenging each of its nine years.

But really? The honest-to-goodness reason why people flock from all corners of earth to visit little Souderton each year? Yeah, it's is for the kids race. You know it :)

Avery ran into his super friend Alex during the sign up and line up for the race.


The kids race is separated into age groups, and takes place on part of the real race course (on Main Street).


I don't know if they declare an actual "winner," but I don't know that the kids even notice :)



The competitors gathered for a group photograph post race.



Avery also ran into super friends Danny and Benjamin at the race; here they're getting ready to be interviewed by a local television station (WFMZ).



Check out some links for this awesome race:

• http://ramblings10.blogspot.com/2006/09/univest-grand-prix-2006-bike-race-in.html
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/oryl/239445760/
• http://www.univest.net/univestInTheNews_082206.asp
• http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/47-09112006-710572.html
• http://www.stmainst.org/grandprix2006.html

Then, mark your calendar and ready your cow bell for the Univest Grand Prix 2007 - we'll meet you there!

Univest Grand Prix:
http://univestgrandprix.com/

Montgomery Theater's new website!

Support your local theater!

The fantastic Montgomery Theater, located on Main Street in Souderton, just launched a brand new website. And it rocks :) There are a bunch of new features including photographs, audition announcements and a super-cool Director's Notes section. The best part though, is that you can now buy tickets and season subscriptions online. Woot!

If you haven't seen a show at the theater yet, you really must. In fact, we think that a season subscription is on your best interest :) The theater is housed in the beautifully remodeled old Souderton firehouse and, as they say, there is not a bad seat in the house.

In addition to fantastic performances of plays, the theater also runs a Young Actors Workshop program for kids from second though twelfth grade. Experienced instructors and actors, Frannie Calter and Jess Conda, have taught, amazed and inspired many children through the workshops, including Avery. That is to say, they are quite patient as well :)

Go visit the new website and take a look around - if you aren't already involved with the theater, I'm sure the site will convince you to become so: http://www.montgomerytheater.org/index.html

Hope to see you at the upcoming show, The Last Five Years. And at The Desk Set. And at a Young Actors Workshop... :D

Farm crawl

We've probably all done a pub crawl before, but how about a farm crawl? There were a few local farms that we've been meaning to check out, so I decide to head over to Rand McNally to put together a road trip where they have a very handy "Plan a Road Trip" menu option.

First stop
Blooming Glen Farm in Perkasie, where we made our payment for this season's community supported agriculture (CSA) share. For $710 for the entire season (from next week until Thanksgiving), my sister (Brookie), my dad (Dan) and JAM will pick up fresh, locally and organically grown produce. There are also monthly member potlucks and pick-your-own wildflowers. Of course, we'll be monitoring our share every week here. In fact, joining the CSA is what prompted us to start this webpage!

Second stop
Hendricks Farm and Dairy in Telford, where owner Trent Hendricks let us try about a gazillion different types of cheese. Hendricks is famously known for their raw milk, but we skipped the milk this time and instead bought three cheeses and some nitrate free uncured bacon. My sister also picked up some cottage cheese.

Third stop
Country Creek Winery in Telford, where we picked up some sweet wine to make Sangria. We also got to see the barn that they rent out - it's very cool!

And speaking of cool... Brookie put together an incredibly cool gift for Jason and me this winter. She collected a bunch of sangria recipes, typed them up with a personal message at the top of each one ("this one's spicy like Kayla" or "This one uses the pink wine Jason's mom likes") mounted them onto different colored card stock and decorated the book. Then, she collected common ingredients (apples, oranges, cinnamon sticks, red hots, wine, liquor, etc.) and a pretty glass pitcher and put everything in a big basket. How freaking awesome is my seester?! :-D

Jason had a couple friends over that night so, we used one of Brookie's recipes and the pitcher to make a simple sangria (apples, oranges, lime juice, orange juice, sugar) with the Country Creek wine, which we served with slices of Hendricks cheese, apple slivers and crackers.

The farm crawl was fun and it felt great to serve guests local treats! I'm working on our next crawl - stay tuned!