A few of the MANY great things about New Hampshire

1. First stop on the political campaign trail: our town!! (Yeehaw!)
2. The WOLF - 93.3 FM
3. Crazy big-draw events like Bike Week and Nascar Races
4. Multiple yoga studios to choose from in Concord

5. Shaker Village, Canterbury
6. Great children's museums in Meredith and Concord, plus the cool old-timey store for kids in the NH History Museum
7. The Krista McAuliffe Museum
8. Waterfalls, rivers, and hiking trails everywhere!

9. Franconia Notch
10. Trains that go up mountains in fall

11. Pine barrens and Karner Blue Butterflies
12. Eighteen miles of prime coastline with great swimming, rock hunting, AND surfing beaches
13. Polly's Pancakes and maple syrup making farms
14. Castle in the Clouds, Moultonborough
15. Lupine Festival every June in Sugar Hill
16. Mount Monadnock, our highest peak, that can be climbed by children and old people and experienced rock climbers
17. Mount Wantastiquet, Hinsdale

18. Pisgah State Park and Bear Brook State Park
19. Madame Sherri Forrest and castle ruins in Chesterfield
20. Spofford Lake
21. Winnisquam Lake
22. Pittsfield Balloon Rally
23. Sled dog races! Supposedly there's even a sled dog run you can pay to join for the day.
24. Snow, glorious snow
25. Concord's Audubon Society trails and nature center
26. Winnipesaukee!
27. Laconia, small town home of the greatest fireworks! (Though the Pittsfield Balloon Rally this year did the biggest, most dramatic show we have ever seen, second only to the sesquicentennial blowout in Lancaster, PA several years ago.)
28. The Flume Gorge
29. Mount Washington
30. Borders on Canada, Vermont, and Maine - what more could you want?

31. The capital is a mere hour from beaches, mountains, and Boston! And only 35 minutes from a great regional airport in Manchester.
32. Carter's Apple Orchard and country store
33. We live here.


I could go on and on. The Curious George Museum, a tram ride up Cannon Mountain, the Androscoggin River, fantastic and affordable antiquing, cottage industries of every sort, farms, great fishing and hunting, Harman's Cheese, camping, diners, Beech Hill Farm, outlet shopping, sacred Native American land (like Kearsarge Mountain and the wonderful Native Indian Museum), New England's Stonehenge in Salem, gemstone mining, moose! Come for a visit! There's something for everyone.

~Ally

Laurel & Ally's Sleep In Cafe: Sausage Quiche #1

(photo by Scott Snyder)

L&A's Sausage Quiche #1

Ingredients:

1 Pillsbury pie crust shell
1/2 lb chicken apple sausage
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 1/2 cps grated cheddar cheese
2 T flour
2 t parsley flakes, or 1 T chopped fresh parsley if possible
3 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cps milk
1/4 tsp salt
coarse grated black pepper to taste
dash ground nutmeg
red and green pepper, chopped
olive oil

Directions:

Prepare pie crust: Line the unpricked pastry shell with double thickness of aluminum foil. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 4-5 minutes more until pastry is set and dry. Remove from oven.

Turn oven down to 350 degrees. Put in a cookie sheet on the middle rack to preheat.

Cook sausage, onion, and green and red peppers in pan in a bit of olive oil. Drain excess grease if any.

In large bowl, combine sausage mixture with cheese, flour and parsley. Mix well. Spread into pie crust.

Mix together in separate bowl eggs, milk, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg. Pour over sausage mixture.

Bake on a preheated cookie sheet for 30-40 minutes, uncovered at 350 degrees, or until eggs are set and top is golden.

Serving suggestions:

Breakfast - serve with toast and jam, orange juice, and fresh fruit like watermelon or berries.
Lunch/Dinner - serve with green tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette, champagne or white wine, and crusty French bread with butter.

Enjoy!

And remember: Always cook with love and good music!

~Ally

"Just cut the moldy parts off...that cheese is fine!"

Ever wondered how long you can leave that mystery meat in the fridge, or whether you should eat the week old pumpkin pie (I wondered both of these things just today!)...

Well check out Still Tasty.com a great website my faithful mom just sent me.

Thanks Ma!

~Ally

I'm sorry - it's just not fair!

The pregnant woman gets pregnant...again!

Check out http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/

-9/25/09 Today's Brew
-"Expecting two but not twins"

These are the things that get my goat. Baaa.

~Ally

An old friend

Sometimes a visit from an old friend is just what I need to get back on track, gain some perspective, laugh it off, and turn my cobwebbed heart around.

My oldest friend Dave came for a visit this weekend. In my mind, he is Dave from Texas, but it has been eight years now...he's really Davy from New York City. He is all Manhattan now and I love seeing the many transformations. We stayed up late each night talking about everything and anything. We told stories, secrets, hopes and dreams, troubles, sorrows, and ideas. We talked faith, sex, politics, grief, and relationships. We remembered events together back in church youth group and talks we had in college, visits in other states. We remembered the ways we had hurt each other over time, the falling out and coming back together.

He got along so well with Scott and also my mom, who came for dinner on Saturday night. It was just a wonderful time and I really needed that.

Ready to start fresh, make some good choices, share some love, and have my birthday.

How are you?

~Al

I love my phone but seriously, yes!

Chile Chews tells it like it is in her post "Hang Up Your Phone Already!"

Yes, yes, yes.

Worst sin of all: taking unnecessary calls and texts while we are talking, eating together, or supposed to be catching up. NOT OKAY people.

~Ally

This is so true

TEN THINGS YOUR CHILD WILL LEARN IN THE FIRST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE:
by Stephen (of Shoeboxblog)

• Beer before liquor, never sicker.
• Guidance counselors don’t care if you graduate in four years.
• R.A.’s are pointless authority figures.
• Those 7:30 classes totally blow.
• That the government lies about everything, man.
• The really friendly people in the student union are part of a Christian group.
• The star basketball player didn’t pay for his $50,000 SUV.
• Ramen noodles + stolen cafeteria silverware = Dinner Party!
• The Human Sexuality course has a long waiting list, and so does the class on the Lord of The Rings trilogy.
• All the music you liked in high school actually sucks.
• That it’s never, ever too late to change majors.

-~-~-~-~
Make sure to read down Shoeboxblog and catch "Links That Amuse Us" from September 2 - tightie whities...Handerpants! ha ha ha Hysterical stuff!

~Al