Happy Halloween!

Here's a halloween tale for you straight from Hole's Anatomy and Physiology! I love this one because occasionally there will be something on the counter in our house that none of us knows where to put away. We shift it from counter to counter until it finds an unofficial home somewhere- and there it will be a year later. I can't help but think this story happened in much the same way.

John Dalton, a famous English Chemist, knew he saw things differently than most people. In a 1794 lecture, he described that sealing wax that appeared red to other people looked green to him. Pink wildflowers looked blue. Dalton knew he was colorblind but he didn't know why-at the time no one did.

He was so curious about the state of his vision that he made arrangements for his personal physician, Joseph Ransome, to dissect his eyes after he died. Ransome snipped open the eye and, looking through his freinds eyeball, deduced that the problem was not with the filter. Then Ransome stored the eyes in"dry air" - i.e left them out someplace- where they were relatively undamaged.

In 1994, London's institute of Opthalmology DNA tested Dalton's eyes and determined that the retina lacked one of three pigments. So, after 200 years of John Dalton's eyes being "stored" here or there - he finally has his answer about why he was color blind.

Here's looking at you!

Ropp Dairy Farm

Many of you may not know that Bloomington-Normal is home to a dairy farm that makes fine and organic cheeses. The kids were off of school today, so we decided to take a tour and try some samples. you can learn more about the farm itself at http://www.roppcheese.com/.

This little girl is a baby Jersey cow. According to the Ropps, Jersey cows are the best for cheese because their milk has a higher protien and calcium content.

Here's Madi feeding the calf which was part of the tour. They get really excited when they see the bottle coming. The ropps give away the boy babies and save the girls for milk.

It took the longest time to get Hannah to try to milk this cow. She thought it was gross. Madi tried it three times. It's not as easy as it looks.

Madi actually got some milk to come out on the third try.

This is the Ropps pet turkey- seriously. It's head is white-ish blue when it's relaxed but when it sees people coming it turns red. They say it's because he's happy. Well he definately liked to be handled and was very freindly. They head felt like warm chicken skin.

Best Fall Chili Recipe

This is a tried and true chili recipe that even the kids love. It is a mutation of several chili recipes I've tried over the years. Serve over rice or with some warm bread!

Gen's Pumpkin Chili

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can Hunt's Tomato Sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) Bush's chili beans (we use mild)
1 (14.5) can pumpkin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes, tomato sauce and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream if desired. Enjoy!

Fall Festival

This weekend was Fall Festival in Bloomington. Free face painting, balloon sculptures, hayrack rides, and the climbing wall etc. My pumpkins are ripe and the halloween decorations are out. Must be getting close to Haunting season. The obligatory cauldron of candy is already tempting me from our countertop.

I love the fall. The weather this year has been perfect. It was 75 today!

The rest of this month we will be getting costumes together, candy, making orange and black frosted sugar cookie cut outs, candy, carving pumpkins, candy, and lighting up the firepit for roasted hot dogs and s'mores-oh, and eating candy. I'm pretty sure I've already gained 5 pounds just thinking about it!