Family Excursions Archives : Page 6 of 6 : TRAVEL/FOOD

SPEND FOUR DAYS IN THE ARCTIC ON A FREE VIRTUAL HOLIDAY, ONE DAY AT A TIME

Virtual travel experts have created the world’s first four-day holiday, that you can experience from the comfort of your own home.

The holiday has been designed by Virtually Visiting to be experienced through your own computer, tablet or phone.

The Arctic adventure puts you right in the center of the holiday with new experiences released each day over a four-day complete trip.

The first holiday will start on Saturday April 18. It has been designed to take guests on a wintery tour of the Arctic region of Swedish Lapland. “We wanted to put you right in the action, allowing you to experience tours as though you were there,” says Jonny Cooper, founder of Virtually Visiting. “This is about keeping the travel experience real; we meet some of the best local guides who walk us through local life to give guests the real-life experience – from their own homes.”

What’s more, this bucket-list four-day holiday is completely free for people to experience and will unfold one day at a time at https://virtuallyvisiting.com/360-journeys/.

Your Virtual Travel Itinerary

Guests will virtually arrive 144km north of the Arctic Circle into Kiruna. The first stop has been perfectly timed just as the ICEHOTEL closes the doors on ICEHOTEL 30 for the last time this year, before it is left to melt back into the river – and it is here that the adventure begins.

The first experience on Saturday April 18 sees our ICEHOTEL guide Matilda give a personal tour around four of the jaw-dropping, individually designed and carved ice rooms and explain how it all comes together – from the frozen water in the river flowing beside the hotel, to being transformed into these beautiful masterpieces you see before you.

The tour will not only allow you to hear from Matilda but also look around the amazing space created entirely from ice and snow – a breathtaking combination of an art-exhibition and a hotel in one. ICEHOTEL

Monday April 20 brings a more leisurely pace and a chance to join Kent Lindvall, the founder and visionary behind the world famous Treehotel. Today, Kent will take us on a personal tour of Treehotel where guests learn about the history of the hotel including a tour inside four of the seven amazing tree-top hotel rooms. Each room has its own theme which is showcased in the design of the exterior and interior.

The final day of the tour, Tuesday April 21, the adventure will take guests east 90km to the wilderness around Kroktask. Here we join Erik Hordijk from Yellow Snow Husky tours to learn how to harness a team of huskies in preparation for the journey across the frozen landscape, before setting of on our dogsled adventure.

Each day a new virtual experience and additional information will be released allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a journey through the region getting a real sense of the people and place as you travel through it.

The team behind Virtually Visiting will launch more experience and tours after this with the chance to visit Storforsen middle falls nature walk, join a tour of the new Arctic Bath, visit ICEHOTEL 365; meet the Moose and Reindeer, learn about the Sami culture, go Kayaking, and explore the Aurora Safari Camp.

Virtually Visiting founder, Jonny Cooper, added, “As well as our new virtual holiday, we’re also working hard to add further capabilities allowing us to run live VR tours in the future, adding even more real-time interaction with guides.”

To join the free four-day Virtual Arctic adventure from Saturday April 18 – Tuesday April 21, visit https://virtuallyvisiting.com/360-journeys/ (and don’t worry, if you miss one of the days, the video can be accessed at the same link).

For more information on virtual travel experiences visit www.virtuallyvisiting.com or email info@virtuallyvisiting.com

Spring Break Destination: Mackinaw City

Birds, Family Excursions, Regional & Ethnic, Round Barn Estates

Spring Break, Blossoms & Birds in the Straits of Mackinac Area

Lovely anytime of the year, don’t miss out on springtime in the Mackinaw City region. Call it a springtime fling because that’s when Mackinaw City businesses and hotels offer vacation specials and events such as the 4th Annual Mackinac Meltdown. Here’s some of what’s going on.

April 1-16 — Spring Break Splash at Pirate Cove Waterpark

Things are heating up inside…with $5 fun, April 1-16 at Pirate’s Adventure Waterpark inside the Crown Choice Inn & Suites Lakeview (720 S. Huron Avenue). Mackinaw’s largest indoor waterpark features a pirate head tipping bucket, three waterslides, bubbler jets, crawl tunnels, water guns, climbing nets, an oversized indoor pool and a whirlpool sauna. Call 231-436-5929 for details.

Saturday, April 6 (11am-2pm) — Taste of Mackinaw

Enjoy delicious foods from local restaurants as well as craft beer and wine at the Mackinac Island Brewhouse & Mackinaw Island Winery inside the Mackinac Bay Trading Company downtown on Huron Avenue, across from Conkling Heritage Park. Tickets are $10 per person.

Discover Birds of Prey at Raptor Fest!

Currently birding is the second fastest growing hobby in the United States after gardening, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. In Michigan we take our birding seriously with more than 2 million birdwatchers residing in the state. And this area of Michigan is a birdwatching hot spot. Every year thousands of hawks, eagles, vultures, and owls follow the curves of Lakes Michigan and Huron to the Straits of Mackinac. From there, to save energy, they use rising air drafts, rising high in the air and then gliding across the 5-mile expanse of the Straits.

Note that though they’re no longer protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act, the bald eagle remains protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch conducts scientific studies and takes inventory of hawks, owls and other raptors migrating through this region of northern Michigan, educating the public about the birds and their migratory patterns.

Raptor Fest, April 3-5, is their largest annual event, a three-day celebration of all things raptor including sightings of migrating birds and educational workshops.

For more information visit Mackinaw City.

Anne of Green Gables: Read the Book & Visit Prince Edward Island

Family Excursions, Garden Tours, Literary Recipes, PEI, Prince Edward Islands, Regional & Ethnic

I never read Anne of Green Gables, the 1908 novel by L. M. Montgomery about an orphan named Anne Shirley who is sent to live on a farm owned by a middle-aged brother and sister on Prince Edward Island (PEI). I’m not sure why since it’s considered a children’s classic, having been translated into 20 different languages and selling more than 50 million copies and my mother was all about me reading the classics. Besides that, starting around age eight, I worked at the local public library, helping my mother unpack boxes of books that had just been delivered by the binary. It was a strictly off the books payment for me and I’m not sure how much I made but it was fun helping my mom who by the time she retired had worked for the East Chicago Public Library for half a century. Until I graduated college I spent most summers working there and so I had easy access to whatever books I wanted to read and since Laura Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie novels were a favorite, so segueing into Anne and PEI, one eastern Canada’s Maritime Provinces, would seem a good fit.

I still haven’t read any of the Anne books, seen the movies or watched the TV series. But I was in Charlottetown, the charming Victorian-era capital of PEI and decided to take a tour of the Green Gables Heritage Place, part of L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish National Historic Site.

The drive from Charlottetown to Green Gables meanders past sandy beaches, red roofed lighthouses and cute little fishing hamlets all of which have at least one restaurant offering lobster rolls and mussels as well as a store or two selling jams made from locally grown fruits, wood lobster traps to take home and, of course, Anne paraphernalia. In the turn before we entered Green Gables, a sign for bicycle rentals was written in French, English and Japanese. I got the French part because the Maritimes are near Quebec and some islands are English and others French. As for the Japanese, our guide told me, the Montgomery books (which were translated into Japanese in 1952) are super popular there and many tourists come from Japan to visit the places mentioned in the book.

Fortifying ourselves with ice cream (dairy farms abound on PEI and they’re known for the richness of their milk and, hence, their ice cream) from the Butter Churn Cafe, we wandered through the 19th century gardens with their white picket fencing, arbors, seats and old fashioned blooms such as giant hollyhocks and delphiniums. Interpretative guides wearing early 20^th century country garb and, straw hats took us through the gabled home and then we followed the path way leading towards the Atlantic Ocean. Several times we passed Anne-wannabes, their hair spray colored red and crowned with, of course, straw hats.

In the gift shop, I looked at the prettily illustrated The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook, written by L. M. Montgomery’s granddaughter Kate Macdonald. Each of its recipes ties in with what Anne and her family, neighbors and friends ate in the book and I thought it would be fun to share a few.

The following recipes are from the Anne of Green Gables cookbook by Kate MacDonald.

Poetical Egg Salad Sandwiches

“The girls sat down by the roots and did full justice to Anne’s dainties, even the unpoetical sandwiches being greatly appreciated by hearty, unspoiled appetites sharpened by all the fresh air and exercise they had enjoyed.” —Anne of Avonlea (Chapter 13: A Golden Picnic)

4 eggs

1 stalk celery

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

Ground pepper, pinch

1⁄4 cup butter, softened

2 tablespoons dried mint or 2 tablespoons parsley

8 slices bread, fresh

In small saucepan cover the eggs with cold water – at least 1 inch above the eggs. Place the saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and cover it. Let the eggs stand in the hot water for 25 minutes. Uncover the saucepan and put it under cold running water for 10 minutes to cool the eggs.

Meanwhile wash the celery stalk under cold running water. Chop it into tiny pieces on the cutting board.

Peel the eggs. Add them with the chopped celery to the small mixing bowl and mash them together with the fork.

Stir the mayonnaise, salt, and pepper into the egg mixture. Set the egg salad in the refrigerator.

Mix the softened butter with the dried mint or parsley in the small bowl. Set aside.

Cut each slice of bread with a large cookie cutter. Save the bread scraps in a little plastic bag for bread crumbs.

Butter one side of each bread shape with the minted butter. On half of the bread shapes spread the egg salad. Place the other half of the bread shapes on top. Makes 4 poetical sandwiches.

Maritime Gingersnaps

“You’ll put down the old brown tea set. But you can open the little crock of cherry preserves. It’s time it was being used anyhow—I believe it’s beginning to work. Any you can cut some fruit-cake and have some of the cookies and snacks.” —Anne of Green Gables (Chapter 16: Diana is Invited to Tea with Tragic Results)

1/2 cup molasses

1⁄4 cup shortening

1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour

1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine molasses and shortening in a small pan; heat, stirring constantly, just to boiling over medium heat. Remove immediately from heat and allow to cool.

Meanwhile measure remaining ingredients into a large bowl. When molasses mixture has cooled, pour over flour mixture and mix well to combine. Chill dough for 10 minutes.

Shape into small (about quarter-sized) balls and arrange 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Flatten with bottom of a drinking glass or with fingers.

Bake until dry and crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Watch carefully as they may easily burn.

When done, place pan on cooling rack and cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to cooling rack and cool completely.

Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container.

Jane Ammeson can be contacted via email at janeammeson@gmail.com

Old Fashioned Fairs and Food

Fairs, Family, Family Excursions, Festivals, Food, Fruit, Home bakers, Home Town Fun, Michigan, Pies, Southwest Michigan, Uncategorized

I love going to food festivals and state and county fairs and seeing what great home cooks both young and adult are doing. One such favorite that I never miss is the Berrien County Youth Fair in Southwest Michigan which always hosts an annual Baked Fruit Pie Contest, an event highlighting the lush and lovely fruit of the region. The competition features threecategories—the Adult Division, the Youth Division and Most Eye Appealing which went to Brianna Anthony for her Peach Blueberry Pie. The winners in the Adult Division were 1st Place: Sandy Vorrath – Pineapple-Mango Crumb Pie, 2nd Place: Chris Dohm – Baked Fresh Cherry Pie, 3rd Place: Michelle Foxworthy – Blueberry Apple Pie, 4th Place: Ruth Vorrath – Fresh Red Raspberry Crumb Pie and 5th Place: Joyel Timmreck – Blueberry-Cherry Streusel Pie.

In the Youth Division 1st Place: Elise Barber – Strawberry Crumb Pie, 2nd Place: Brianna Anthony – Peach Blueberry Pie, 3rd Place: Clara Berry – Blueberry Pie, 4th Place: Brianna Anthony – Cherry Almond Pie and 5th Place: Adrianne Barber – Cherry Pie.

Sponsors were Kilwin’s, Lemon Creek Winery and the Eau Claire Fruit Exchange for donating the prizes for the baked fruit pie contest.

Sandy Vorrath’s Pineapple-Mango Crumb Pie

Filling Ingredients:

2 cored pineapples, chopped

1 cup chopped mango

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup pineapple juice

½ teaspoon lemon juice

3 drops coconut extract

½ cup flaked coconut

Crust Ingredients:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup butter flavored shortening

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon. powdered sugar

1 egg yolk

¼ cup iced pineapple juice

Topping Ingredients:

½ cup butter cut into pieces

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup chopped macadamia nuts

¼ cup flaked coconut

Crust:

Mix together all of the crust dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening to make little crumbs. Mix together the egg and pineapple juice. Add to crust ingredients a little at a time until the dough holds together. Roll dough out onto a floured counter top to about 1/8 inch thick and fit into a pie plate. Trim and flute the crust edges, put pie crust in the freezer until ready to use.

Filling:

Mix together the sugar and corn starch in a large cooking pot. Add the pineapple juice and lemon juice. Over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil. Add the pineapple and mango chunks and bring mixture back to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the coconut extract and coconut. Mix well. Let the mixture cool.

Topping:

Mix together the flour, sugars and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until crumbs form. Add the macadamia nuts and coconut. After filling has cooled, pour it in the frozen crust and top pie with crumb topping. Bake pie at 350⁰ for 40 minutes, or until pie is brown and filling bubbles.

Brianna Anthony’s Peach Blueberry Pie

Crust Ingredients:

¾ cup cake flour

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

4 tablespoons salted butter

5 tablespoons shortening

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoon white vinegar

3 ice cubes

½ cup cold water

Filling Ingredients:

¼ cup quick-cooking tapioca pearls

4 medium-sized peaches, pitted and thinly sliced

1½ cups fresh blueberries

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Lemon zest

1 egg white

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon white sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375⁰

To prepare crust:

Measure butter and shortening on a plate, put in freezer for 20 minutes.

While butter and shortening are in the freezer, measure both flours, sugar, and baking powder in a bowl. Mix until combined. Put ½ cold butter and ½ cold shortening in bowl with dry ingredients and mix until combined. Take remainder of the cold butter and shortening and cut into bowl very briefly, leaving visible pea-sized chunks. Do not over mix!

In measuring cup, mix egg yolk and vinegar and add ice cubes and water. Let chill 3- 4 minutes.

Sprinkle approximately 4-5 tablespoons of the egg/water mixture a little at a time and mix gently with fork. Do not over wet the dough or over mix. Place dough in plastic bag and chill in refrigerator for a few minutes. Remove and roll out for pie.

Filling:

Brush the egg white mixture on the inside of the crust. Finely grind the tapioca in a food processor for about 1 minute. Combine the blueberries, peaches, brown sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon zest, and tapioca in a large bowl. Add the mixed ingredients to the bottom crust. Place a lattice crust on top of the pie. Brush the top with egg yolk. Stir together 1 Tbsp. of white sugar and ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and sprinkle over the pie. Bake in a 375⁰preheated oven for 55 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Elise Barber’s Strawberry Crumb Pie

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon shortening

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 – 8 tablespoon ice cold water

2 pounds (about 4-4½ cups) strawberries, sliced

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

¼ teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup finely ground instant tapioca or tapioca flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

For Crumb Topping:

½ cup rolled oats

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon fine salt

5½ – 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Crust:

Cut shortening into flour and salt, using pastry blender, until particles are size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon. at a time, until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl. Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Brown Sugar Crumb Topping:

Put oats in food processor and pulse until oats are texture of coarse cornmeal. Pour in a bowl and add flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine. Add melted butter and blend with fork until butter is incorporated and mixture gathers into small clumps (you may not need to add all of the butter). Place bowl in the refrigerator and chill crumbs before topping pie.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 375⁰.

In a large bowl, stir strawberries with lemon juice, orange zest and vanilla extract. Stir well. Whisk sugar, ground tapioca, and cornstarch together in small bowl. Combine sugar mixture with strawberries.

Roll out pastry according to size of pie plate. Pour filling into pastry. Top pie with , spreading in even layer and covering all fruit.

Place on baking sheet and put in oven. Bake 25 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350⁰ and baked 25 to 30 minutes longer, or until juice bubbles up through crumb. Top with foil if overbrowning.

Place baking sheet on wire rack and let pie cool overnight, uncovered at room temperature.

Easter Train Rides on Vintage Trains

Easter, Family Excursions, Trains, Vintage Trains

Dancing bunnies, singing rabbits, a cotton-tail waving from the engine room and a Bunny Patch with over 4000 Easter eggs—it’s going to be that kind of Easter celebration for those taking a ride on the many Easter trains near and around Northwest Indiana. So go ahead and hop aboard.

Coopersville & Marne Railway: Easter Bunny Express, Coopersville, MI; (616) 997-7000; coopersvilleandmarne.org

Saturday, March 31 at 11am and 1:30pm; Boarding 20 minutes before departure

Easter Bunny is joined by Quack the Duck, Story-Telling Princess and Bo-Bo the Lamb on a 90-minute ride aboard a vintage train decorated for the holiday. Stories are told, by the princess of course, while bunny and his friends offer each child a chance to choose a toy from their baskets.

Easter Bunny Express: French Lick Scenic Railway, French Lick, IN; (812) 936-2405; indianarailwaymuseum.org

March 25 at 4pm

Board vintage railroad cars for a trip to Easter Egg Field. Here passengers disembark to hunt for more than 4000 eggs and have their photo taken with the Easter bunny. Proceeds from the Easter Bunny Express go to benefit Goody B’s Teen Center.

Easter Train: Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, North Judson, IN; (574) 896-3950; hoosiervalley.org

March 31 at 10am, 12:30pm, and 2:30pm

This hour-long excursion crosses the Kankakee River at English Lake and then returns to North Judson for a stop at a park to hunt eggs and meet the Easter bunny who will be handing out candy and a bag of toys to every child. The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum has one of the largest collections of working railroad signals so take time before or after the ride to stop by (admission is free). Visitors are invited to touch the museum’s C&O 2789 steam locomotive and take stroll through the museum’s grounds with its displays of rolling stock, engines and memorabilia of railroad history. Purchasing tickets online is recommended as trips have sold out in the past.

Cotton Tail Express: The Old Road Dinner Train Experience, Blissfield, MI; 888-GO-RAIL-1 (888-467-2451); murdermysterydinnertrain.com

Saturday, March 31 at 10am & 12:30pm; boarding is 15 minutes before departure.

Visit with bunny, color pictures and enjoy doughnuts and juice on a 90-minute ride on an antique train. Reservations are required.

Easter Bunny Train: Waterman & Western Railroad, Waterman, IL: events@petestrain.com; petestrain.com

Saturday, March 31 from 12:00-5:00pm

Mr. Bunny will be on hand to say hi, pose for photos and hand out candy filled eggs on a one-mile ride through Waterman’s Lions Community park.

Whitewater Valley Railroad, Connersville, IN; (765) 825-2054; whitewatervalleyrr.org

March 31 at 10am, 12pm, 2:30pm & 4:15pm.

Grab your basket and board the Indiana’s longest scenic railroad, for their 18^th annual Easter Bunny Express. Departing from Connersville Grand Central Station, enjoy the two-mile trip to the Easter Bunny Patch, meet the Easter bunny and search for his golden egg. Reservations are recommended. Train operates rain or shine. The egg hunt is open to ages 8 and under.

Bunny Trolley Hop: Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL: (815) 923-4000 or (800) BIG-RAIL; irm.org

Saturday, March 31; 10am to 5:00pm