This is the first year of this event, so there are some fantastic incentives to participate. For one, any runner or walker who wears a costume will automatically get entered into a random drawing for a brand new iPad2 – not too shabby. And there are lots of other prizes as well, including hand carved decorative pieces from the communities that Forgotten Voices serves in Africa. The race kicks off at 9am, and any other detail you might want to know can be found at Forgotten5K.org. You can also see if you have any facebook friends attending by checking out their event page.

Personally, I plan to make an appearance with THE hottest costume possible, quite literally. Anyone have a good costume suggestion for the 5K or 1 Mile Mosey?

*Trip rocked.

Juicy detailed summary: We met up with our two local foodie experts, Lynn Goldman and Alan Brown at 10am on a bright and warm Saturday in July. After introductions, we piled into a rented van and began our adventure.

With Lynne at the wheel, we navigated a number of picturesque back roads around the greater Philadelphia suburbs in Bucks County. Our first stop – Birchwood Farms.

This all natural, all grass fed farm hosts a number of pigs and cows who live leisurely around 50 acres or so. We strapped on blue ‘booties’ and got up close and personal with the livestock. Being that the farm is all natural, the raw milk we tried was absolutely delicious and their passion for natural farming and farm products was over the top (in a good way!). The meats sold in their store are actually good for you, despite being red meat because of the natural lifestyle and feed of the cattle.

Fascinating tour, and wonderful local farm that I heartily recommend patronizing.

Soon after our farm tour, we landed at the Milk House Farm Market. The place was bustling with locals eager to try their immense variety of local produce. By my count, they had over 30 varieties of tomatoes alone!

Following this road side farm market, we rode the Bucks County Food Tours train (er, mini-van rather) to a long time Bucks County staple – Ely Farm. Let me just tell you, the meats at this family butchery are a cut above the rest! I’ve never had a better steak in my life than the one I bought here! They’ve got plenty of different cuts and meats, all to die for.

Now for something sweet, and what could be sweeter than local peaches in July! Manoff Market Gardens offers numerous varieties of peaches and nectarines among other fruits. Plenty of peach related products to buy as well, the cobbler was amazing!

At this point it was time for a lunch break, over to Lovin’ Oven! They were ready for our tour with a fantastic menu of sweet tea, fresh salad, tomato soup, and choice of an omelet or open faced sandwich. Let me just summarize our meal – I’ll be back! The omelet I had was laid over fresh peaches and goat cheese with arugula – outstanding combination of flavors! All ingredients were local, fresh, and creatively combined for a memorable meal.

Our final stop of the day was Stockton Farmers Market. Now I’ve been to a number of markets, and honestly this place was the most diverse indoor market I’ve ever seen! We’re talking produce, coffee, belgian waffles, bbq, olive oil, pickles, tamales, ice cream, and that’s just touching the surface! Needless to say, I left with a bag full of goodies and a huge grin on my face. This foodie got served!

All in all, my experience with Bucks County Food Tours was outstanding. I’d recommend the tours to anyone who enjoys good eats. Our guides were friendly and knowledgeable, and the trip was a relaxing and fun way to spend time with my wife and parents (the trip was a thank you gift to my parents from my wife and I).

The trip we went on was custom fit to what we wanted to do, but they’ve got a trip for any taste, and they’re just getting started. Find them on facebook to keep up the latest in Bucks County Food, or check out their website for specific tours currently available.

And remember, EAT LOCAL!

This find happens to be an awesome day trip for anyone living in the Harrisburg area, or within driving range of greater Philadelphia for that matter. The company is called Bucks County Food Tours, and the trip is foodie Shangri-la.

I’m talking a guided tour through greater Philly’s best local food gems. Including, but not limited to, small batch ice cream, pastured meats, locally roasted coffee, cheeses, baked goods and more. Oh yes there is more and I’ve already booked my tickets to tasty town.

Next weekend I’ll be taking my parents and wife (shameless gift idea really) on a 5 hours trip through numerous stops and enjoying every bite of it. I’ll make sure to post photos and notes from the trip, well, post trip of course. 

If you’d like to learn more about Bucks County Food Tours – fan their facebook page to stay in the loop.

Catch ya on the flip side!

Brian

Many orphan care related organizations and presenters will be in attendance at the conference, including local nonprofit Forgotten Voices, based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The work being done by this organization is changing the lives of hundreds of orphans and is both incredibly powerful and emotionally moving.

The Summit takes place the same weekend as Orphan Sunday, a worldwide awareness campaign with events taking place in countless locations on Sunday, Nov 7th.

Please consider attending this exciting summit and help spread the word to your friends and family. Over 145 million orphans around the world are in need of your help.

Most people have heard details about this popular program available to first time home buyers making that big decision at some point in 2009. That being said, I’m not so sure that people are really aware that this program is about to expire on December 1st, 2009. That doesn’t leave much time for interested home buyers to participate, as the closing process on a house can take well over a month from start to finish. What I’m really trying to say is; if you want to receive an $8,000 check from the government simply for buying your first house time is running out!

Sure there is strong emphasis on the free housing credit, (and for good reason) but how about historic low interest rates? I locked in my 30 year mortgage at 5%!

Just think about the numbers:

$100,000 home with 30 year 5% mortgage = about $500 monthly payment!

That should sound pretty affordable to most people, but add a roommate to that spare bedroom for $500 a month and buying a home never looked so enticing. It’s hard NOT to purchase a home right now.

Personally I was able to close on my condo with about $5,000 up front which was returned to me not a month after I closed and applied for the credit. And thanks to my realtor, the process was a breeze. Seriously, I know realtors depend on referrals and I’m happy to recommend mine, even if you’re just looking for some great resources and help getting started you can find a lot of fantastic tools on Keith Reilly’s homepage: KeithReillyRealEstate.com, check it out yourself sometime.

And for anyone even THINKING about buying their first place, don’t delay, this incentive is about to run out!

I attended this event myself last year and had to post about it because it’s really worth the trip, no matter how far away you think Hershey is.

Last year they had one garage filled out with amateur cooks and the other with professional chefs from local restaurants, probably about 30 or 40 different participants in all, many with multiple soups for you to sample. You might think the pro chefs would be hands down better but I’ve got to say both sides of the contest made really amazing soups. Just really impressive, not to mention creative!

I’m talking about cheesesteak soup, asparagus soup, lobster bisque, and oh so much more. They’ve also got a number of raffles going on, I believe last year they gave out a cruise as the main prize.

So how much to get into this incredible event?

$10 ! !

That’s it! Money well spent you will agree, see you there!

Harrisburg ranked 12th on the list. Personally I think making the list at all is really quite commendable, what do you think?

Check out the full article as well as Forbes ‘Most Miserable Cities’ list.

Forget driving 2 or more hours and paying $100 plus for a lousy seat at an NFL game, the Stampede play at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg and tickets sell as low as $7 ! Not to mention the entertainment value of a smaller field completely walled in to ensure bigger hits, higher scores, and plenty of cheap entertainment. So these games would probably sell out right?

Well, not exactly. I attended the Stampede’s first home game and despite all the promotion and hype about Harrisburg’s first pro indoor football team, the Farm Show Complex was less that half full. Even so, I didn’t suspect anyone left the game without feeling like they got their money’s worth- it was an exciting game! Big hits, loud music, lots of free giveaways, and plenty of scrapping between the two teams. Not to mention the game was a narrow win for the Stampede that had the entire crowd hyped to the final minutes of play!

So surely, future home games for the Stampede would be packed out right?

Well I returned to Farm Show Complex last night with a few friends to cheer on the Stampede and I must sadly say that there were probably less people in attendance then the first game I went to. A real pity! I’m not sure exactly why the Stampede haven’t ‘caught on’ quite yet in Harrisburg, but I do hope it happens soon. I don’t want to see the Stampede follow the way of the Harrisburg Heat.

Perhaps there are just too many alternatives in the greater Harrisburg area for sports fans? We’ve got roller hockey, roller derby, rugby, ice hockey, baseball, basketball, woman’s football, soccer and more! There’s plenty to choose from for sure, I just hope Harrisburg gets behind the Stampede. Take the kids, take your friends, family, or your boss. Support the investment that the owners of the Stampede have made in the city of Harrisburg. For the price you’ll pay to get in it’s an easy entertainment investment that I heartily suggest looking into.

You can find their schedule and all the usual team info at HarrisburgStampede.com, and don’t forget to show them some love on their facebook page as well.

Go Stampede!

It’s still very early stage but please feel free to leave your favorite shop in the comment section, I’ll be happy to add them.  I just wanted to build a place where people could learn about all the fantastic little niche shops we have in the greater Harrisburg region; from food and drink to home decor and clothing retailers. There’s just no reason to shop national stores with all that’s available to us here!

I’ve always been a sucker for water ice, and besides National Mustard Day, my second favorite holiday has always been that one day of the year when water ice is free for the masses- the first day of Spring.

Of course, you can pick up a delicious free ice from any local Rita’s on March 20th, they’re everywhere nowadays, but for a more local favorite make sure to stop by Maggie’s Italian Ice in Mechanicsburg as they too will doll out free water ice to mark this festive occasion. I like Maggie’s for the ever changing unique menu of creative flavors: peanut butter fudge, blueberries ‘n cream, and mint chocolate chip are just a few of my personal favs.

There’s no better way to celebrate the end of snow, slush, salt, and cold car seats than a free water ice- yum.