More food and family

On Saturday we made pig stomach for the first time. What an experience. Definitely not one for a vegetarian!! I had to wash, inside and out, the stomach, then soak it in salt water. Then I had to sew the one end shut. Thankgoodness I had some really strong upholstry thread and a big needle. We had made a mixture of loose sausage, diced potatoes, celery, onions, apples, seasoned with salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme, and parsley. Then Dick held the stomach like a bag while I filled it from the top with the sausage mixture. I had to sew the other end shut, then cook it in enough water to cover it for two hours. On Sunday I took it along to church and put it in the oven and baked it for 1 1/2 hours at 400 degrees, basting it with it's juices every so often. It really was delicious, believe it or not. So there, if anyone ever wants to try it - now you know how!!

We had a great time with the Stauffers Sunday afternoon. I don't have any pictures to post yet, because we left our camera at Dad Stauffer's house. Steve and Faye had some pictures of newborn Natalia. Please keep praying for her and her parents, Pete and Krista. The heart surgery is tomorrow. They finally got to hold her for the first time on Saturday.

In the evening we had some of our kids here - Anthony and Lori came down from State College, Sam and Jess from West Chester, Frank came and brought Danielle and J'von along. Ray missed it. He called about 9 p.m. and had just woken up. Too much New Years Eve, I guess. I wasn't exactly delighted. I had made chili, and we had what we call Mexican Pile-up. Later we had chocolate fondue with all kinds of things to dip into it - strawberries, marochino cherries, bananas, pretzels, graham crackers, marshmallows... It was really yummy. I posted pictures below that Anthony took with his camera.

So this is our last day of vacation. Anthony and Lori are staying here until tomorrow, so we'll have a good day together.