Adirondack Family Time™

My family recently returned from a trip to Paris. While walking the streets and enjoying the atmosphere we meandered through an antique fair. One vendor was selling these delicious sugary waffles.  It has been a long time since I've had a Li è ge waffle. It brought back such amazing memories.  Here is how to make your own sugar-pearl waffles.  What is a Li è ge Waffle? Centuries ago, the Bishop-Prince of Liege,Belgium, grew tired of his breakfast brioche and asked his chef to prepare something new and different.  Just before baking, he put the sugars “pearls” that were normally on the outside of the finished brioche into the dough directly.  Instead of baking the dough patties in an oven, he baked them in a waffle iron.  His result was a fragrant, warm waffle coated with caramelized sugar.

Frozen Fresh Fruit Pops 3 cups watermelon puree (about 1/4 to 1/2 a watermelon) 1/2 cup fresh blueberries 1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries 1 kiwi, peeled and sliced 1 peach or nectarine, diced small handful fresh cherries, pitted and chopped Cut the watermelon into chunks and then puree it in a blender until smooth. Set aside. Set out about 1 dozen popsicle molds (amount needed will vary depending on size of molds). Fill each one with the chopped fresh fruit. Then pour in the watermelon puree until each mold is full to the top. Place a popsicle stick into each one. Place into your freezer and freeze for about 6 to 8 hours.

An exciting multi-media lecture series with scholar John Dileo will take place  on Sunday  afternoon July 14 th called “T. Williams and Company: His Essential Screen Actors” and  on Monday  evening July 15 th  entitled “Streetcar…is that you?: The On-Screen Imitators of William’s Masterwork”. Book signing will follow the lectures. John DiLeo  is the author of five books about classic movies: And You Thought You Knew Classic Movies!: 200 Quizzes for Golden Age Movie Lovers  (1999); 100 Great Film Performances You Should Remember But Probably Don’t  (2002);  Screen Savers: 40 Remarkable Movies Awaiting Rediscovery  (2007);  Tennessee Williams and Company: His Essential Screen Actors  (2010);  Screen Savers II: My Grab Bag of Classic Movies  (2012). John has presented his Tennessee Williams programs at the Williams festivals in Provincetown and New Orleans. You can follow him at his blog ( screensaversmovies.com ), website ( www.johndileo.com ), and on Twitter (@JOHNDiLEO).  

If you want to try Adirondack treasure hunting, here is the 2nd annual NYS Geocache Passport Challenge.  John Brown Farm  Historic Site in Lake Placid has one cache

Sunday - Thursday 11 am - 9 pm Friday - Saturday 11 am - 10 pm  © Diane Chase is the author of the Adirondack Family Activities™ guidebook series, Adirondack Family Time™, which is available online or bookstores/museums/sporting good stores. Diane is currently working on the third guidebook in the four-book series of Adirondack Family Activities™.

Adirondack Invasive Species Awareness Week Celebrated Annually the Second Week of July Adirondack communities and organizations will celebrate the 8th annual ISAW July 7 - July 13, 2013 . WHY*      Invasive plants and animals threaten Adirondack lakes, ponds, rivers, and forests, which are precious resources that underwrite the economy of many communities through recreation, tourism, forestry, and numerous other uses. WHAT*   Learn about the issues surrounding invasive species (both plant and animal, aquatic and terrestrial) and about the importance of native biodiversity in the Adirondacks by attending workshops, field trips, lectures, and control parties.  WHO*     Hundreds of citizens of all ages across the Adirondack region. WHERE*     Nature centers, natural areas, lakes, rivers, agricultural fields, parks, campgrounds, institutions of higher learning, natural history museums… WHEN*     The second week of July every year. HOW*    Plan an activity for

Since we all have an interest in keeping the toxic items aways from our kids, here is one product no family should do without. Baking soda!  Sodium Bicarbonate is not only cheap but can be used as a cleanser or beauty product. My kids love to make "volcanos" simply using a bottle, baking soda and vinegar. You can get a bit more complicated if you wish but I  like to keep things simple. To make a volcano: Materials: One short bottle (not too tall or the baking soda "lava" won't flow over the top), 2 tbs of baking soda, few drops dish detergent, vinegar, towels to clean up the mess Put a few drops of dish detergent at the bottom of the bottle Put in about two tablespoons of baking soda into the bo ttle S lowly pour in the vinegar and watch the volcano erupt! The baking soda and vinegar combine to produce carbonic acid which breaks apart (causing all the fizzing) into water and carbon dioxide. • If you wish to get fancy, papier-mâché the bottle with