Walking Along The Whiskey Path

Farmer Georgia

2011-05-22T22:16:00.003-04:00

Georgia is ready to pot the plants she picked out.

WVU Soccer

2010-11-01T14:56:00.006-04:00

The family went yesterday to watch WVU's Women move to the next round of the Big East Soccer Finals. We had a blast and Georgia enjoyed watching the big win.

After the game Melissa and I thought it best to left Georgia get out all of her energy before going home. So she took a few laps around the track, but we were amazed how much energy she had when she finished.
Isn't she cute?

Georgia's First Halloween

2010-11-01T14:44:00.005-04:00

So, I wanted to go to D.C. to see Jon Stewart but Melissa and Georgia wanted to go to the Stewartstown Community Building for the Halloween Party.

They won the argument and we all had a blast!

Georgia made friends with Tinker Bell and they ran the show pretty much the entire night.

I Can't Stand the Paparazzi

2010-10-24T18:55:00.003-04:00

I told you one more picture and I would throw my plate of food at you! Now what are you sticking around for?

Dinner and a Show

2010-10-14T08:34:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was our 3rd wedding anniversary, boy does time fly. Of course for our anniversary we did the normal dinner (large mushroom pizza from Pizza Al's) and a show (WVU-Pitt soccer game), this year we had a guest for both, Georgia made sure that we were enjoying every minute.

The whole night was perfect! Melissa was smiling, Georgia had a blast like she always does at the soccer field and WVU beat Pitt.

Like I said PERFECT!

Eat *%#@ Pitt

G's First Soccer Game

2010-10-04T11:25:00.005-04:00

Melissa and I took Georgia to her first sporting event. There was a double-header that included the WVU Men's and Women's Soccer teams and for a bonus, it was Dollar Day.

Georgia hates to wear a hat and with the sun beating down we had to try something, so I tied a bandana on and surprisingly she liked it. Georgia danced to the music that came over the loudspeaker ate tons of popcorn. She only lasted till halftime of the women's game, but that was longer than we expected.

Get a New Email Address, Would ya?

2010-10-03T10:29:00.003-04:00

In 2002 I had to sit through a presentation by the WVDLC, needless to say I was somewhat pissed. Not only was it 1 hour of my life I will never get back, but when I feel asleep I drooled on my favorite shirt and left a stain.

If you are someone who wants to be taken seriously, mainly WVDLC and Monongalia County Commission, please get an email address that does not include "aol.com." If you do not think enough of your business to upgrade your email service everyone will think that you are either lazy or stupid, or both.

I would suggest google or hotmail, they are both free. However, since you have an AOL account I know you will never see this because you obliviously have no idea how to use the Internet.

Finally Front Facing!

2010-09-30T22:03:00.005-04:00

I cannot tell you how happy we were when G was finally facing forward in a car seat. Have you ever been on a trip and your kid hasn't made a sound for a long time? What did you do? I jammed my hand back and pinched her nose until she woke up, moved or started crying. Now I can just check the rear view and see her smiling face.

Mother Earth News Fair

2010-09-30T21:27:00.004-04:00

We went to the Mother Earth New Fair at Seven Springs Resort last weekend. It was a wild mix of hippies, back-to-landers and militia members learning more about sustainable living.

It was freakin' packed on Saturday. We talked to one of the vendors who claimed that Mother Earth News told them to plan for an event with five thousand people and ten thousand showed up.

Of course Georgia was on her best behavior and had a great time with the animals that were hanging about.

We are Back!

2010-09-30T21:17:00.003-04:00

The wife and I have decided to combine our blogs, since neither of us were really on top of posting both blogs fell into ruin. I gave up Facebook about a month or so ago and it is amazing how much free time I have.

Over the last year we have been pretty busy and Georgia is keeping us on the move. I started WVU over the summer and hope to be finished up by next summer. Then at 40 I will have to decide what I want to be when I grow up.

Hope everything has been well for everyone and we will be keeping this thing up more often, if you would like to see what is going on in our little slice of the world.

Mushrooms!

2010-09-30T21:10:00.002-04:00

We finally got fruit on our logs! What a difference a year makes. I am not sure what to do with only 5 shitake mushrooms but I bet they will be yummy.

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T16:28:00.001-05:00

Georgia is sending her love to everyone!

Have a great Turkey Day!

Which came first?

2009-09-21T11:13:00.003-04:00

Well, here at the Whiskey Path, the chickens came first. They are finally here and we are just waiting for the first egg.

Georgia

2009-09-21T11:02:00.003-04:00

7 weeks ago Melissa and I were graced with the birth of Georgia. It has been an absolute trip to finally have her here and to watch her grow. The happy parents and grandparents have been walking around with a smile on there faces and will more than likely keep the smile until she is 13 or 14 years old.

Whiskey Path Farms

2009-06-25T22:52:00.004-04:00

When we get to the point of having everything we (or I) want, the name will be Whiskey Path Farms. As you know we are getting the chickens, I am working on our organic Shitake mushroom logs, and now our garden.

Melissa comes out to lend support, but with her feet swelling due to the pregnancy, it is mostly moral support and I will take it!

We are looking to have organic tomatoes, peppers, lettuce mix, carrots, zucchini, summer squash, pumpkins, watermelons, cantaloupe, corn, onions and potatoes. If we have room I will plant peas and beans but it looks like the 25'x25' garden is a bit small for all of it.

Next year we hope to have a bigger garden, more mushrooms, a couple goats and two bee hives.

We will see how it goes with the new addition as to how fast we progress

Pregnancy

2009-06-25T22:42:00.002-04:00

It's contagious!!!

Chicken Update

2009-06-25T22:08:00.003-04:00

We are getting the chickens this weekend! We wanted to get them sooner but we also wanted to feed them organic food. Since there is not a feed store that carries (or will even order) organic food we went with a company out of Virginia. Countryside Natural Products shipped the feed to the house this week and now we are ready.

I am sure as soon as we get a chance we will post photos of the new members of The Whiskey Path family.

BELLY SCRATCH!!!

2009-06-10T21:55:00.002-04:00

The Pens and Some Paint

2009-06-10T21:20:00.009-04:00

Since the Pittsburgh Penguins started their Playoff run in April, I have been painting every room in the house. Seems not everyone (Melissa) is as drawn to beige as I am. I knew the Pens were going to the Cup since I still had the baby room yet to paint. I am just posting some before and after pictures so I don't pull a muscle patting myself on the back.

GO PENS!!!

I will post more after we finish rehabing some furniture and getting rooms fully decorated.

Tis' The Season

2009-06-10T20:58:00.009-04:00

I found and old cast iron Dutch Oven buy an outbuilding at my parents place. The thing looked like something that should been thrown away, but I decided to try my hand at seasoning the old thing.
I had read an article how easy it was to season cast iron. I in my novice state took a bit longer in doing so. I used 4 steel wool pads (and a couple beer) to get all the rust off. Then after doing so I poured Coke over the entire thing and let it dry. After it dried I rubbed it with Crisco while the oven preheated.

I preheated the oven to 425 and lined the racks with foil so the Crisco didn't create another thing for me to clean. Left in in there for about 3 hours (which is how long it took me to clean the kitchen).

After the time had expired I left it in the oven until the next day. I think it turned out better than expected and since we have more time than money it was well worth it.

Missing Sam's Uptown!

2009-06-10T20:42:00.003-04:00

As usual, I haven't posted in awhile, so tonight I am going to put a few on just to show what has been going on at the Whiskey Path.

Every now and again Melissa and I both miss Charleston in a bad way. Even though Melissa gets to Charleston for work we do not get to see our friends as much as we would like. We can keep up with everyone on Facebook, but it just isn't the same as sitting at Sam's have a beer and BBQ Fries (or as they are called now "PG Fries") catching up with everyone.

One day about a month ago I tried to create the tasty concoction here. I used BBQ Deer meat and organic frozen french fries. Topping it off with cheese, jalapeno peppers, tons of onion and an ice cold IC Light.

It was good just not the same, and can not wait to get back down to Charleston to see everyone and have the real thing.

Feelin Cooped Up?

2009-04-03T15:58:00.002-04:00

Within the next 2 weeks we will have the Chicken Coop finished and 10 residents. Fresh eggs every morning... can't wait.

Introducing Daisy Mae...

2009-03-16T15:31:00.008-04:00

On Friday evening Daisy was brought to the house. She is the sweetest dog and very well behaved. At 18 months old her growth is almost over and looks like she is going to stay the perfect lap dog size.

On Saturday, Melissa and I took Daisy to "Woof's", a local pet store to get her a new harness and some other doggie needs. She was able to make friends with a couple other customers and their owners.

Right now we have to trade time between Daisy and the cats. After 10 years of Zeke and Zoli living sans canine they are a lil' jumpy. Melissa now has a new best friend.

Daisy like to play ball and chew on her new raw hide bone. She love going outside to look around and to sniff around the property. This morning she barked a couple times at a deer that was standing on top the hill, then strutted around because she ran it off.
All in all we are happy with our new addition and as you can see my no animals on the furniture lasted about 6-seconds.

Daisy met my parents, Melissa's parents and Carlie. After all the excitement she drifted off to sleep without a sound. When you come to visit The Whiskey Path just remember we now have a protector.

New Addition

2009-03-12T14:47:00.008-04:00

As many of you may know Melissa and I are expecting a baby in July. We are both very excited and can not wait for the day.

What most of you do not know is that we are expecting a new arrival tomorrow.

We got a forwarded email from someone Melissa worked with needing help. A family from Fairmont had a dog that, due to circumstances beyond their control, they could not keep. After a couple emails and a phone call to the family we decided to take her.

Daisy is a 1 1/2 year old Lab mix. We are excited to introduce Daisy to Zeke and Zoli.

I will keep everyone updated on how everything goes and will post more photos of Daisy once she arrives at The Whiskey Path.

HERE WE GO!

2009-01-31T19:16:00.007-05:00

This afternoon Melissa and I met Dave Haas and his daughter Payton (named after Walter Payton, crazy Bears fans) at Apple Annie's for lunch. This was just not any lunch though, Apple Annie's has a special Super Bowl Menu and even though we have been eating off of this menu all through the playoffs today I took my camera.

We Started with the "Black and Gold" Chips. Melissa had a hamburger, Payton had the Chicken Fingers but Dave and I were more adventurous.

Dave had the "Steeler Stromboli" and when it arrived all he could say was "Great Googly Moogly" a months worth of grease in one sitting.

I chose to go with the "Blitz" Burger and the "Polamalu Curly Fries". I had the "Big Ben" a.k.a. "The Roethlisburger" last week and wanted to try something different.

What a great meal, and for a door prize I got a football shaped pace maker and a ride to the ER in an ambulance shaped like a Steeler helmet. :)

YUM YUM, YINZ JEALOUS?

Unexpected Gifts

2009-01-31T19:05:00.002-05:00

Melissa and I went to Charleston last week for some meetings. While we were there we left her car in Morgantown to get a new windshield. My friend (brother is more like it) Dave Haas works for/runs the local shop that replaced the windshield.

We left Charleston on Tuesday morning due to the snow and ice because all our meeting were canceled. When we got back to town Melissa dropped me off to pick up her car while she returned the rental.

To my surprise, after cleaning off 4 inches of snow, Dave had left a bottle of very nice Bourbon and a book for expecting fathers. It turns out that someone did this for him and he is passing along the tradition.

The gift was unexpected and a great gesture, just shows you could not buy a friend as good as Dave with a fist full of fifty dollar bills.

What Big Stones You Have There!

2008-11-05T15:54:00.009-05:00

I am happy that our front walk is now finished. I was able to keep large stones from the property and build a pretty nice walkway. Even though they were somewhat heavy it was well worth the wait. Can you tell I am so proud?

Long Time Gone...

2008-11-02T20:20:00.010-05:00

It has been awhile since I have posted anything, so let me catch you up on the goings on.
I was able to spend the weekend at Snowshoe with P.G. and Mark. We went to see a motorcycle race on the mountain and just to have the weekend to enjoy a few beer and cook.

We have added two decks out at The Whiskey Path. We could not have done it without a great group of friends and family.

I will add more at a later time after I get all the photos sorted out. It has been busy but fun out our way, how is it with you?

D.C.- Where the "Unwashed and Well-Read" meet the "Very Stylish and Well-Bred"

2008-09-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

We have returned to the Whiskey Path from Washington, D.C. The Gourds show at The State Theater was incredible. The energy was amazing and the crowd was as eclectic as the music.

The Gourds refer to themselves as "Unwashed and Well-Read" and the crowd at the show was more "Very Stylish and Well-Bred" , we were told that this was a typical D.C. crowd ,but it was fun all the same.

The accordion player from the band looked just like our friend "Red" from Sam's Uptown Cafe in Charleston, WV and Kev Russel shaved his head and beard. The set list was great, even though, we did not get to hear "Burn the Honeysuckle" it was well worth the trip and look forward to the Rodney Crowell show next month in Pittsburgh.

Unwashed And Well-Read

2008-09-05T11:12:00.000-04:00

Tonite we are leaving the Whiskey Path for Washington, D.C. to partake in the Unwashed and Well-Read music of The Gourds. This has been a show that Melissa and I have been waiting for and we are both very excited.

Hopefully we will have photos and a few stories to share when we return.

"No Knead" To Pay $7 For Bread

2008-09-04T15:26:00.000-04:00

Out here at the Whiskey Path we are about 20 minutes to the nearest grocery store and about an hour away from the nearest bakery so you are somewhat forced to become resourseful.

Melissa and I get a magazine, Mother Earth News, which is great. It covers everything from the best solar products to excelent recipes.

The following reciep is for a No Knead "Artisan" Bread, you know, hard crust soft center. I will admit the first few times I tried this I walked away covered in flour swearing I would never do it again. With a few changes I have made it work for me, and hope it will work for you.

All you need for this adventure is a cast iron dutch oven, glass bowl, flour, salt, yeast and water. It needs to "rise" for about 12 to 18 hours so, start it in the morning before you go to work or on the weekend.

A funny story before I go. I was making a two loaves of bread for an auction for the Fletcher Family Reunion. I mixed everything up and had it sitting outside to raise. Melissa and I were watching the X-Files DVD when we heard what sounded like a car door slamming. I got up and went to the door to see what was going on. I saw nothing, but thought that while I am up I might as well bring the bread in. I found one loaf in its bowl where I had left it, the other was pulled down onto the porch steps with a racoon paw print in it. I only had one loaf for auction, which my Mother bought.

NO KNEAD, DUTCH OVEN BREAD

1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the countertop.

1 1/2 tsp salt

Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting Dutch Oven

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add flour and salt stiring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at lease 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18 at about 70 degrees.

(I have two different size Dutch Ovens, for the larger I triple the recipe.)

2. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over onto itself twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

(Keep the plastic wrap from the bowl to cover it with. I say this because I never remember to do it myself.)

3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or your fingers, gently shape into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side down on the towel and dust with more flour bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it is ready, the dough will have almost doubled in size and not readily spring back when poked with finger.

4. Al least 20 minutes before the dough is ready heat oven to 475 degrees. Put heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully pull out the oven rack, remove the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process. Give the pan a firm shake to help distribute the dough evenly, but don't worry if it's not perfect; it will fix itself as it bakes.

(Sprinkle some cornmeal or wheat bran in the bottom of the cast iorn before heating.)

5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Remove bread from Dutch Oven and let cool on rack for at least an hour before slicing.

(With all cooking it will take longer for the bread to be done if cooking in glass or Pyrex)

This bread is so very good.

Bye for now.

A Trip To The Market

2008-08-30T12:25:00.000-04:00

This morning we loaded up the car and headed to the Farmer's Market. It is nothing like Capital Market in Charleston, but it is still better than the produce section at Kroger.

Melissa and I go here every Saturday to get fresh Peaches and Apples from Romney, WV. We get fresh pork and beef from Southwestern PA and Goat Cheese from McHenry, MD. The veggies are execlent and for the most part, just as cheap as Kroger.

We are now back at The Whiskey Path hiding from the traffic of the WVU Football Game.

LET'S GO...

A View From The Front Porch

2008-08-28T12:01:00.000-04:00

I walked outside this morning with a cup of coffee to survey the weather here at The Whiskey Path. To my suprise we had vistors. I thought that by the time I got inside to get the camera that our guest would have fled, however, as you can see they were more hungry than scared. What a way to start the day, a cup of coffee and some guest for breakfast.

The Whiskey Path

2008-08-27T22:17:00.000-04:00

In the time of Prohibition folks from around the surrounding area (West Virginia and Pennsylvania) would walk the "Whiskey Path" to come to the Stewartstown area distilleries. That path happens to be on the property that my wife and I own.

Melissa and I have been out here for going on two months now, and I am still waiting to see a ghost from those times. We are lucky enough to also have a Mason-Dixon Line Marker as well, even though we have not gone out to find it, we are still waiting to see a ghost from that time too.

We moved into a very history rich area. The property we have touches on Cheat Lake. Before the Lake Lynn Dam was built and the valley flooded my great grandparents farm touched on our boundaries.

I hope to keep this updated with the goings on in our lives, share stories, recipes and a photo or two. Until then...