The Search for Miss Direction: Ketching Up S'More

TGIF! It's been another full week at the Gatchel's and I am glad to have my whole crew home tonight because it looks like it'll be a full weekend as well. My Friday was full of friends, cleaning, errand running, hanging with the kiddos, some food prep for over the weekend - you know, the typical everyday life of this busy Mama. I enjoyed the sunshine by going to pick up the Bean in the wagon (with Tess and A which made it SO much better!) and this afternoon my house smelled fabulous as I cooked up the chicken for tomorrow's dinner. Plus I'm in an extra good mood because the Tigers won last night, they play all weekend, my Wolverines (who I refuse to give up on) play tomorrow, the Lions play on Sunday and tomorrow we're getting to go to one awesome birthday party AND the South Lyon Pumpkin Festival.

But that's tomorrow. Today, like I said, has been good. Noah seems to be out of his funk (and he came home with a legitimate green square. Still waiting to hear back from his teacher about exactly what went down yesterday. His story is that he was playing in the bathroom, trying to make a friend laugh instead of being in class, and the friend tattled. We'll see...) and the Bean is her usual talkative non-stop self.

Tonight for dinner I tried my hand at something I've never done before - making ketchup! (OK, so this recipe does start from tomato paste, but it was more than I've done before!) You may remember that Heinz was started and is based in Pennsylvania. So yesterday I used this recipe for Copy Cat Heinz Ketchup. Now, I will readily admit that I am NOT a ketchup fan (neither is the Bean - we're both mustard girls) but the gang tells me that this recipe does come pretty close to the real thing. I used what I had made to make these fun Hot Doggities. What a great Friday night dinner! I didn't skewer them (thought they were easier to roll without) but otherwise - simple, quick, a sure hit with the kiddos. I also made Amish Macaroni Salad (yes, I really am trying to see how many Pennsylvania Dutch recipes I can make this week) which has a sweeter taste than your average mac salad. I wanted an easy dinner tonight so we could all enjoy dessert because you can't celebrate Hershey's without...

S'MORES!

Debate away about how to make the perfect s'more, but the classic recipe, which originally appeared in Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts of 1927 called for a square of milk chocolate and since Hershey's 'invented' milk chocolate it's a must! We got plenty gooey and sticky here tonight. Thanks again to my parents for the AWESOME anniversary present of a fire pit. We broke it out, invited down our wonderful friends, and had some fun before it got too dark. These kids make me smile.

So like I said before, busy weekend ahead! Birthday parties, festivals, perhaps some apple picking, Church, homework for both kiddos, lots of sports - phew I'm tired just thinking about all of it! Plus a few more Pennsylvania recipes and I'm hoping another Crayola project with Noah if we can fit it in and Mikayla getting to finish up her other project as well. We'll get it all in somehow! So until then...

Pennsylvania Fun Fact of the Day: Pennsylvania's nickname, the Keystone State refers to the central stone in an arch which holds all of the other stones together. Pennsylvania was in the center of the original 13 colonies (6 above it and 6 below it), and was also central to much of the economic, social, and political development of the country.