I had trouble getting my post out last night, (actually early this morning, but now it’s back on…) so you get TWO posts today!
Sunday night our church had our annual hayride and western night to kick off the cooler weather…although it was pretty nice that night… no coats were needed!! We always try to have a fun night for the International students from the University in town and let them experience a “Taste of America” with different foods other than what they are accustomed to and have fun just doing other things they’ve most likely never done before.
Besides all the food that was brought for dinner, we usually have “stations” set up around the yard of different things for the students to try.
I was SO busy with my station that I never got to go around and take any pictures of the other ones…
* We had hobo apple pies…(little apple pie tarts wrapped up in foil that could be tossed at the side of a fire to warm up the pies and then there was whipped cream to add on top if they wanted.)
* We had a big kettle of chili cooking in a big iron kettle over an open fire. (We had lots of ladies bring a crock pot of chili and then we dumped them all in the one big pot.) I snapped this picture when everything was over. (This is chili… trust me.)
* We had a copper kettle of hot apple cider simmering over an open fire.
* There were S’Mores set up on a table for them to try.
* We had hot chocolate with marshmallows too.
* We had a caramel apple station and I was helping with that one… It was VERY popular and I’m guessing the MOST popular. Some of the students had NEVER had the combination of apples and caramel together and they LOVED it!
It’s such an easy thing to do… I’ll tell you how I did it…
This picture is of the table “after” all the caramel was gone.. no before shots taken…
Take a bag of caramels… 14 oz. I think. (You can also use the Caramel Bits that are already unwrapped and look like little balls.) Unwrap them and place them in a glass bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons of water to the bowl. Microwave for 1 minute then stir. It will be stiff but move them around a little bit. Then microwave it for another minute and take it out and stir until it’s all smooth. If it’s not all melted, microwave it for 30 more seconds. Then I placed that bowl into my crock pot which had about an inch of water in it.. It’s kind of like a double boiler effect. It had been heating up for a little bit before I added the caramels. It stays nice and soft and ready for dipping your apples in.
Now for your apples, make sure you wash them in warm water to get the wax off of them or the caramel won’t stick. We just used a rough wash cloth and washed and dried them. We actually cut our apples in quarters and used cut off wooden skewers about 7″ long to poke in them. We weren’t sure how many people were going to come so we erred on the side of caution and did quarters. We had red and green apples and let them choose. I dipped the apples in the caramel and handed it to them and let them roll the sticky caramel into the toppings.
We had sprinkles, mini chocolate chips and chopped up peanuts laid out in glass pie plates. The peanuts were the most popular by far. It was SO much fun to see them taste the apples and some came back for seconds. We went through 100 skewers and then when we ran out we started slicing the apples and put them on a paper plate and drizzled the caramel over the apples and let them sprinkle the toppings on the apples.
Here are a couple of my “satisfied customers!”
* We had square dancing in the barn and that’s always a lot of fun… some of the students barely speak English so trying to get them to understand what they were supposed to do was a riot!
* There was a “best dressed cowgirl and cowboy” contest. I wasn’t in there to take a picture of the winners,(Still dipping apples!)
but I think they had a tie so they had to give their best “Ye haw” shout!
* We had a tractor pulling a wagon filled with hay and the students loved that.
* We had a huge bonfire toward the end… it always seems like it’s not going to be that big when you see the pile of brush stacked up, but they light it and SWOOSH… it makes a boom that just about knocks your teeth out!
Before…
…and after…
It’s always just a fun way to meet new students and help them have a fun time. Some of them really get homesick being away from their families and their countries.
So that’s what I did Sunday night… I’m a little late getting this to you, but wanted to share it anyway.
We will probably do the Slip Sew-a-long beginning on Monday. I mailed out the goodies to my reader and it’s supposed to get there Friday. I don’t want to start on the weekend, so I’m hoping to get it going on Monday.
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Not sure where everyone is this morning?? But, here I am.
What a great fall party. Nothing forgotten in the theme. I’m sure the students really enjoyed it.
Have a Happy Halloween! 🙂
HI Joy,
Well, my satellite was knocked out by the weather last night just as I was ready to hit the publish button. So I wrote a small post on my phone to let everyone know to come and check back sometime today.
This “Taste of America” post didn’t go on until 9:00 this morning. I think you must have caught it just as it had been on for a little while.
I think the students really did… and we did too! It was a lot of fun!
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
I was here earlier, but there was no blog, so I’m here now! What a wonderful time you all must have had, both the students and the people who gave the party! You are showing the students the best of middle America, and I’m sure they thoroughly enjoyed it!
That good looking guy in the blue plaid shirt looks just great! Such a fun post, Jeanne, and so glad the weather was nice for the party. Not so today, but hey, it’s Halloween, and supposed to be spooky!
Happy Halloween everyone!
HI Linda.
I think I can sum up the evening like this… “A good time was had by all!”
Doesn’t he look great? I think so too!
Yes, the weather is quite different today… a bit on the dreary side here.
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
How wonderful for your church to share the real America with the students from other countries. My daughters-in-laws both came here as teenagers, one Indian from Kenya and one Chinese from Taiwan. They would have loved this event and would still be talking about it every Halloween. What wonderful memories you’ve made with everything about Fall and our traditions. Thanks to all who made it possible.
HI Susette,
We hope that the students have nothing but good things to say of the evening to their friends and family. We want them to know they are being cared for and have “family” so far away from home. I do think your daughter’s in law would have had a great time!
Thanks Susette,
Blessings, Jeanne
That’s strange. Where is everyone? This was a great entry. I feel almost like I was there, with all those people and all those foods to sample. Did everyone make the same chili recipe or did everyone make a favorite recipe and you all combined them? Did you let some experienced square dancers demonstrate at some point?
A bonfire was the best way to end a party like that, and that’s a great picture of George. Altogether that was a great party.
The sun has come out here, but it will still be cold for trick-or-treaters. It nearly always is. They’ll have a good time anyway.
HI Marilyn,
There are a few comments now… I’m sure it’s because of my satellite being off line.
Everyone made their own chili and we combined them all for one great tasting batch. We did have a Vegetarian chili that we kept separate.
The man who called the square dance gave some instructions at the beginning but it’s still always funny to see it happening. A few from years past kind of demonstrate how to do things. A man from our church who gives violin lessons had some of his students come and they played some “square dancing” tunes. It was quite lively! :o)
Our sunny day of yesterday has disappeared and we have rain and lots of it. The beautiful leaves that were on the trees have now been knocked on the ground from the rain. I should have taken pictures yesterday… now there’s just a carpet of wet leaves underneath the trees.
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, thanks for sharing. I had fun just reading your commentary.
Maybe one day your dollies will have a square dance. Now, that would be something to see (chuckle).
HI Dorothy,
Yes, that WOULD be something to see… because most dolls would be in their birthday suits with one lucky girl getting a western outfit.
Thanks Dorothy,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a fun event and so thoughtful for the young people. I bet they had a wonderful time and you gave them a chance to see what we Americans do and our traditions for the holidays. What a great way to make them welcome and help alleviate the homesickness. Looks like it was a fun festival for your whole community. I am looking forward to the sew along–it’s kind of fun to eagerly await the event.
Thank you Carole,
It was a fun evening to put on and to be a part of. You just never know who is lonely and this was such a fun way to touch the students hearts!
I’m glad you are excited about the sew a long… Me too!
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
What fun for everyone involved! I think it was pretty ingenious to just combine all the batches of chili–that way no one had to make a huge amount by him/herself!
And now I’m hungry for caramel apples! Our local fairs sell them as standard caramel apples, or you can get an apple cut in wedges and a cup of caramel sauce to dip them in–much neater for eating! But my favorite of all is Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s Cashew Bear apple–a caramel apple then dipped in milk chocolate, rolled in cashews, and drizzles with white chocolate. I cut a slice or wedge off at a time to eat it, keeping the cut part covered with plastic. I can make it last about 3 days (it’s HUGE!). Good thing the nearest one to me is about 30 miles away, or I’d be as round as the apple by now! LOL
Loved the post and being able to see EVERYONE. Great idea with the apples for the students. They love trying new things . I really wish I could have seen the square dancing. Just imagining it brings a smile to my face.
If giving them a taste of the USA in the fall you certainly did an awesome job! How fun and I’m sure some thought strange but wonderful! Any ole American would have really enjoyed it too! your church does such fun activities!
Looking forward to the slip lesson!