We had a great summer in Sycamore this year. We stayed quite a while and was very busy seeing friends and family. We always stay at Sycamore RV Resort. It is one of the better RV parks in northern Illinois and is convenient to the Naperville/Wheaton area so we can see the Poole’s!
Birthday Party and Fishing!
Forest had a birthday party here in Sycamore and everyone came out! It was a great time and a lot of Chris’ family was here as well! It was awesome to see everyone!
And of course, this RV resort has 2 lakes to fish in! Tori and Forest were determined to catch a fish. Hours went by…. I went back to the RV to have a beer…. Four hot dogs “bait” later … finally a bite … Tori wrangled it in (it was pretty big!) … Everyone was yelling (amateurs!) … It was pandemonium!
Patti can’t stand fish but she jumps in, de-hooks the fish and throws it back. Tori tells Forest to stand by “Grandma Spears” and have a picture taken. Smartly he asks everyone in attendance to sign a non-disclosure form so the picture cannot be published. Fortunately I left to have a beer so here we are! What a fun memory! We are still amazed at what a hot dog tied to the hook with seaweed could do!
Wisconsin!
Patti has a sister who lives in upper Wisconsin and we haven’t seen them in some time so we decided to take a weekend and go visit! We also saw our nephew Steven and his wife and stepson and had a great time! Randy created a gun range on his property so we shot some stuff up! I had a blast and he let me shoot one of his .45s and I was hitting everything. Love that gun and I plan to get it some day. They have several apple trees on their property and we went apple picking. They have a special pole so you can pick them from ground level. Patti had a great time!
They are special to us and we had a great visit! Especially watching the humming birds on their deck, very cool!
Friends!
So we were bound and determined to visit friends while we were in Sycamore!
- Noel and Dave Newhouse
- Cindy and Denny Ramer
- Peggy and Curt Willard
- Robin and Tom Schultz
- Cyndy and John Schoell
- Linda Heller
- Christine and Ron Purves
- Lynn and Dennis Renner
- Sandy and Steve Mazur
- Kathy and Bob Horton
- Debbie and Don Noens
- Pam and Kevin Seibold
- Patti had dinner/lunch with many other friends
- Friends from prior and current work (BP, the Fund and Awana)
I decided to try something new on the blackstone griddle. I saw this recipe on the Kent Rollins cooking site called “Cowboy Sloppy Joes”. It had different ingredients that you would never think of putting into sloppy joes so I gave it a try and invited our Sycamore friends for dinner. They thought the sloppy joes were amazing! Everyone wanted the recipe and Dave Newhouse did me a favor and typed it out for the world to see:
Spencer’s Cowboy Sloppy Joe’s
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 6
Ingredients
• 1 ½ lbs. ground beef 80/20
• 1 yellow onion diced
• ⅓ cup light brown sugar
• 1 10 ounce can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chilis
• 1 to 2 chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce from can
• ½ cup barbeque sauce
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• ¾ to 1 cup shredded cheese cheddar or pepperjack
• 6 Hamburger buns
• Pickles for topping
Instructions
- In a large cast iron skillet or BlackStone Griddle, cook the beef over
medium high heat until browned, drain the grease. - Stir in the onion, brown sugar, Ro-Tel, chipotle peppers, barbecue
sauce and mustard. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer
for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until heated through and
the flavors are combined. - Slowly mix in the cheese and let cook for a few more minutes, until
the cheese begins to melt. - Spoon the mixture onto the hamburger buns. Top with pickles, if
desired. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes - Patti cuts up the Chipotle Peppers and takes out half the seeds.
Otherwise it is sinus-clearing spicy. - I used mozzarella cheese. You could use cheddar or any other type of
cheese. - I mix the onions with the ground beef and brown together.
- Once the meat is brown, I mix in everything else, except the cheese, and simmer at a lower
heat. - When about ready I mix in the cheese thoroughly and serve!
Tori’s Birthday and Forest!
Chris and Forest had a birthday party for Tori, and it was a great time! Tori wants me to mention her age but I decided not to… She made cupcakes that are amazing!
Forest joined a park recreation event that featured soccer when we were there. Chris played soccer in college and he works with Forest on his soccer skills and it showed! Forest is extremely fast and was running circles around everyone! I did notice how courteous he was – when a smaller kid had the ball or was close to the ball Forest slowed down to ensure he didn’t run into them. Excellent!
Next Stop: Nashville!