Love this song!

Hills Alive 2011

Last weekend was the annual Hills Alive music festival in Rapid City, South Dakota. I went with Aunt Jacque and Uncle Bret last year, and it was so much fun I decided to go back this year.

It was really fun, but extremely HOT! Probably over 100 degrees both days, and only limited amounts of shade were available.

Here is Aunt Jacque, me, and mom before we melted.

I tried to take pictures of all the bands. Some of them didnt' turn out so great since we sat farther back to try to get some shade, but here is who we saw and heard.

The first day started out with Reilly, a band we saw last year. They are a fun, upbeat band from Philadelphia and are unique in that they have two violinists in the group.

Reilly

They were followed by a group called 33 Miles, who did their set acoustically. At first I didn't think I knew who they were, but realized I had heard a couple of their songs. We all really liked them.

33 Miles

They were followed by Chris August, who has a hit song on Christian radio right now about a starry night. We weren't very impressed with him, so we left to check into our hotel and to cool off for a little while.

Chris August

When we returned, it was time for The Afters. If you listen to Christian radio at all, you have heard their song about you light, light, light up the sky. I really liked them, and was pleased to find out that they knew more songs than the one I just mentioned.

 

The Afters

After The Afters was Hawk Nelson. I think I must be getting old, because they were pretty rocky and did some head banging which I did not find to be appealing at all. Hmmmm.

Hawk Nelson

Finally, the night ended with Kutless. They put on a fun, but worshipful show. I think all of us became fans.

Kutless

Sunday morning we were back at the park bright and early to claim a spot with some shade. It didn't work though, and we were in the sun till about 5 o'clock.

The music started with The Afters, again. They lead everyone in worship for about an hour. I liked them even more after that.

The Afters, day 2.

Then there was a group called School of Worship. We didn't pay a lot of attention to them, instead we went in search of lemonade and restrooms. They were followed by the group Abandon. I didn't think I knew them either, but I was familiar with two of their songs from the radio. 

Abandon



The next artist was Matt Maher. We were all really excited to see him, and Aunt Jacque and I went and stood down in front of the stage so we could bask in his coolness. He's great.

Matt Maher

Then we heard a really fun band called NEWWORLDSON. They were super entertaining and wow, could their drummer drum!

NEWWORLDSON

The last two bands of the night are both big names in Christian music. Matthew West was first. He was really fun, and I have a new favorite song by him: Strong Enough.  

Matthew West

The festival ended with Third Day. They were really fun to see live and have some neat songs right now. I've been listening to their album Move pretty much nonstop this past week.

Third Day

It took a day or two to recover from the heat, but it was well worth it. Yay for Christian music and the reason artists write and sing it.

Have you met the Penderwicks?

If not, I urge you to hurry to the young people's section of your local library or bookstore to become acquainted.  

So far there are three books in the Penderwicks series written by Jeanne Birdsall. The first is called The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. The second is The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, and the third is The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.

The Penderwicks are four sisters, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty, who live with their widowed, professor father and a dog named Hound. The books are simply about the adventures they have and the people they come into contact with in their everyday life, whether it be at home, spending the summer at a cottage on a wealthy estate, or a two week vacation in Maine

These are some of the most charming, modern books I have read. I can't wait to read about more of their adventures, and really hope more books in the series will be coming soon.

Happy Fourth of July!

What's For Breakfast?

Today at my house, breakfast was a nectarine crostata.

I love when summer fruit first becomes readily available but I guess I went a little crazy at the fruit stand the other day, buying way too many nectarines.

They were all getting ripe at once, so I decided to make something with them for breakfast and decided to try a nectarine crostata.

I didn't have a recipe, but a crostata is basically a free-form pie. I started by slicing the nectarines, leaving the skins on, and sprinkling them with a little sugar. I let them sit for a few minutes then drained off the liquid.

While they were sitting, I made a half recipe of pie crust and rolled it out into a large circle which I then transferred it to a large cookie sheet.

I added a little cornstarch, a splash of vanilla, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and freshly grated nutmeg to the nectarines and piled them in the middle of the pie crust. Then I folded the edges of the pastry over the nectarines. When it was all packaged up nicely, I brushed the edges with cream and sprinkled on some turbinado sugar for extra crunch.

The crostata baked at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, and I let it cool for about 30 minutes before I cut it.

I guess I'm going to brag a little and say it was really delicious. The crispy crust and not too sweet filling were a perfect combination. Try it with any kind of fruit filling or combination of different fruits. You won't be disappointed.