Thursday, April 11, 2013

Spores N More Festival

Spores N More Morel Mushroom Festival: 
April 19-20, 2013

Come and enjoy the thrill of the hunt for the elusive morel mushroom or come and bid at the auction. Friday night kicks off the event with a welcome dinner, reception in Windsor featuring our incredible mushroom soup with guest speaker Marge Evans, author of the book "Morelling" and mushroom expert.  This will all happen at the American Legion Building.  The dinner starts at 5:30 and includes mushroom soup, spaghetti, baked potato, drinks, and desserts and there will also be hotdogs for kids.  The cost of your dinner is a donation. 
    
 

 Saturday morning, come to Forest Park in Shelbyville with registration for the hunt from 6:30-8:30 in the morning.  The busses leave for the hunt at 8:30 and lasts about 2 1/2 hours.  If you can't or don't like to hunt but love morels, the auction starts at 1:30 on Saturday with registration for it from 6:30 am - 1 pm in Forest Park. 

     Findlay will have a Biscuit and Gravy breakfast at the Christian Church basement from 7-9:30 Saturday morning. 

     Events in Windsor on Saturday will include an antique car & tractor show from 10-2.  There will be vendors at the Red Barn from 10 am - 4 pm selling food, crafts, and more.  From 12:30 to 4 there will be wine tasting at the Red Barn and from 10 am - ?, the Methodist Youth will be selling perennial plants and baked goods.  And, TBA Bessie Bingo, and W.H.A.T. will be selling Portabella Mushroom Sandwiches and Shiskabobs. 

     Other events Saturday in Shelbyville include Blessing of the Bikes at the Best Wedding Chapel at noon.  The Horseshow Pitchers will be selling their famous Sausage sandwiches on Friday and Saturday from 9 am - 5:30 pm at the West Courthouse Parking Lot.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Shelbyville will be having an Earth Day Celebration on Saturday from 9 am-Noon at their visitor center.   Groups or individuals can come out and help beautify the Butterfly house, garden, and landscaping beds and they will serve refreshments. 

For a complete listing of events, hunt & auction registration forms and more, you can go to Spores N More page on the Lake Shelbyville website. 

Be sure to visit the official Lake Shelbyville Website @ www.lakeshelbyville.com
Are you on Facebook?  Like us @ Lake Shelbyville Area CVB



Thursday, February 14, 2013

Sweets for Your Sweeties, Happy Valentine's Day!



What is Valentine's Day without something sweet?  As promised we saved Greg's delicious dessert recipes as our Valentine gift to you!

Enjoy.......

AMARETTO CHEESECAKE

3-8 oz pkgs cream cheese
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
⅓ cup Amaretto
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
6 T butter, melted
8 oz sour cream
1 T + 1 tsp sugar
1 T amaretto
Garnish: sliced almonds and whipped cream

CRUST
Mix graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, sugar and butter. Pat mixture in bottom of a 9” spring-form pan.

Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Beat in ⅓ cup Amaretto. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Pour into and bake in a pre-heated 375ºF oven for 45-50 minutes. Mix the sour cream, sugar and 1 T Amaretto. Spoon the mixture over the cheesecake when done and return to oven for 5 minutes at 500ºF. Garnish before serving.

 
PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

2 cup gingersnaps (about 40 cookies), crushed
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar, divided
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
3 8 oz pkgs cream cheese, softened
2 T all-purpose flour
15 oz can pumpkin
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 large eggs
1 T vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground allspice
1½ cup sour cream

Combine cookie crumbs, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, and butter. Press on bottom of a 9” spring-form pan. Set aside. Beat cream cheese and flour until creamy. Add pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and allspice and next 5 ingredients. Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 225˚F and bake 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes. Combine sour cream and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Spread over cheesecake. Bake 5 more minutes. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill overnight.
 
LEMON MERINGUE PIE

3 T cornstarch
2 tsp lemon rind
1 cup sugar
1¼ cup warm water
1 lemon, juice
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
9” pie shell

Separate eggs. Grate lemon rind. Cook first 5 ingredients and 3 egg yolks until mixture thickens, stirring occasionally. Cool before putting into cooked 9” pie shell. Beat egg whites, add vanilla, and ½ the powdered sugar.  Spread this mixture over pie and cover edges. Put in oven at 350˚F for 8 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.
 
PASTRY FOR 9” ONE CRUST PIE

⅓ cup shortening or lard
½ tsp salt
3 T cold water
1 cup all-purpose flour

Cut shortening into flour and salt until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle in water,
1 T at a time. Cut with a pastry cutter. Additional 1 to 2 tsp water can be added. Form
dough into ball and shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Roll pastry
2” larger than inverted pie plate, 9x1¼”. Place in plate. Press firmly against bottom and side.
Trim edge of pastry 1” from rim of plate. Flute the edges.

 
COCA COLA CAKE

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup cola
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1½ cups marshmallows
3 T cocoa

Heat the oven to 350ºF. Stir the flour and sugar together. Heat the butter, cocoa and cola until hot and mixed well. Stir this mixture into flour and sugar. In separate bowl, mix buttermilk, eggs, soda, vanilla, and marshmallows. Add this mixture to the batter.  The batter will be thin. Spray a 13”x9” pan with nonstick spray. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Spread icing on while hot.

ICING

1 cup butter
6 T cola
3 T cocoa
1 pkg powdered sugar
3 T cocoa
1 cup nuts, chopped

Heat the butter, cocoa and cola to a boil. Stir into the sugar and mix well. Add the nuts. Ice the cake while both cake and icing are hot.

About the Author:  Gregory Heal

Went to college at Eastern Illinois University.  Graduated from Disney College Program in Orlando, FL.  Attended Culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI.  Graduated with honors from Parkland College in Champaign, IL with a degree in Restaurant Management; a member of the National Deans List and Phi Theta Kappa.  He has worked for various restaurants and hotels, including Levy Restaurants and America's Convention Center, Cracker Barrel, Marriot, Renaissance, Renaissance Grand Hotel, Thelma Keller Convention Center, Fat City Saloon, Pie-Full Delight, Walt Disney World and his own, Grilling and Go Catering.

He has published two cookbooks, "Give Thanks, a Collection of Heartland Recipes," and "Harvest Time, Favorite Fall Foods."  They are available through Lulu.com.

Currently working on a Grilling and BBQ book, developing resources for Heartland Cooking and Living, and Catering at Grilling to Go Catering!
  
Greg's Facebook Pages:

For Grilling to Go, Catering Grilling and more:

For Heartland Cooking and Living, Recipes, Heartland Cities and Towns, Special Events:

Greg will be back soon - hopefully the weather will be nicer and we'll be ready to do some outdoor cooking!

For all the info all the time:  www.lakeshelbyville.com
.

 

Friday, February 8, 2013

A Recipe for Blogging!

Back to Blogging!  It can be hard to keep up with everything we want to get done, and fortunately a thought came to me, to enlist guest bloggers!  We have a few people that have graciously offered to share some thoughts and skills with us, starting with Gregory Heal.  Greg had been posting some great looking recipes, and information on the two cookbooks he has published; and he grew up in Shelbyville, thankfully he is willing to share!  So while one of these roasts of tenderloin is in the oven - download our new Lake Shelbyville guide and plan your next visit!  Like us on Facebook  
BEEF RIB EYE ROAST
4 lb beef rib eye roast
3 closes garlic, crushed
1 T salt
1T cracked black pepper
1 T dried thyme leaves

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme.
Press evenly into surface of roast. Place roast on rack in roasting pan.
Roast 18 to 22 minutes per pound for rare to medium. Remove the roast
from oven when meat thermometer register 135 degrees for rare,
155 degrees for medium. Let stand 15 minutes before carving.
(The temperature will continue to rise to 140ºF for rare, 160ºF for medium.)

RIB ROAST OF BEEF AND WILD MUSHROOMS

BEEF

2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ± 9 lbs rib roast of beef

MUSHROOMS

1 oz dried wild mushrooms, any kind
2 cups warm water
1 cup beef broth
2 leeks, white parts only, washed, finely chopped
2 T butter
¾ lb fresh wild mushrooms, any kind, trimmed, cleaned, sliced
1 tsp dried rosemary leaves
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
4 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Soak the dried mushrooms in the warm water until they are soft about 15 minutes. Squeeze liquid from mushrooms. Rinse well. Strain the soaking liquid. Combine the strained soaking liquid and the beef broth in a saucepan, place over high heat and reduce to 1 cup. Sauté the leeks in butter. Add fresh wild mushrooms, white mushrooms, soaked wild mushrooms, rosemary and parsley. Add the tomatoes and the reduced soaking liquid. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 475ºF. Mix together salt, pepper and garlic, Rub into the surface of the beef. Place the beef in a roasting pan, with fat side up. Roast for 1 hour. Reduce the oven temperature
to 400ºF and continue roasting for about 1½ hours. A thermometer inserted in the center of the
meat will register 130ºF for medium-rare or 140ºF for medium. Remove beef from the oven.
Allow it to rest 20 minutes before slicing. Serve the meat with mushroom sauce.

ROAST BEEF TENDERLOIN WITH HORSERADISH-CHIVE SAUCE

2 3 lb beef tenderloins
2 T dried rosemary, crumbled
3 T cracked black pepper
2 T granulated garlic
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

Rub beef with rosemary pepper and garlic. Place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Take out and rub with butter and soy sauce. Let set for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 500ºF. Place beef on roasting rack in pan. Roast for 15 minutes to seal in flavor. Reduce oven to 400ºF, and cook until thickest part registers 120ºF for rare, about 40 minutes. Let beef stand for about 20 minutes before slicing.

HORSERADISH CHIVE SAUCE

1½ cups mayonnaise
1½ cups sour cream
½ cups chopped fresh chives
¼ cup prepared horseradish
Fresh ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season the sauce with fresh ground pepper.






About the Author:  Gregory Heal

Went to college at Eastern Illinois University.  Graduated from Disney College Program in Orlando, FL.  Attended Culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI.  Graduated with honors from Parkland College in Champaign, IL with a degree in Restaurant Management; a member of the National Deans List and Phi Theta Kappa.  He has worked for various restaurants and hotels, including Levy Restaurants and America's Convention Center, Cracker Barrel, Marriot, Renaissance, Renaissance Grand Hotel, Thelma Keller Convention Center, Fat City Saloon, Pie-Full Delight, Walt Disney World and his own, Grilling and Go Catering.

He has published two cookbooks, "Give Thanks, a Collection of Heartland Recipes," and "Harvest Time, Favorite Fall Foods."  They are available through Lulu.com.

Currently working on a Grilling and BBQ book, developing resources for Heartland Cooking and Living, and Catering at Grilling to Go Catering!
  
Greg's Facebook Pages:

For Grilling to Go, Catering Grilling and more:

For Heartland Cooking and Living, Recipes, Heartland Cities and Towns, Special Events:

Next week, more from Greg-Sweets for Your Sweeties, special treats for Valentine's Day!



 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Holiday Happenings

Cool weather has finally come after the long, hot dry summer.  The leaves have changed and are vacating their summer homes for us to rake up and if your a kid, jump into. 

Time to start thinking about your holiday plans.  We have been busy, calling or e-mailing to bring our list up to date.  If you have an event that you would like for us to publish, please e-mail it to info@lakeshelbyville.com and we will post on our special page http://www.lakeshelbyville.com/events/hometownholiday.htm.  There are already plenty of activities posted and more to follow. 

Just to name a few, there is Christmas on Main in Moweaqua, Holiday in Herrick-both happening December 1st, The Shelbyville Festival of Lights-November 16th-December 30th, Free Movies every Saturday morning at ten at The Roxy Theatre and much more.   Shelbyville will also be hosting a spectacular shopping day on December 1st.  There's even more shopping opportunies with different craft shows, Toy auctions, a Christmas Store, and Holiday Open Houses throughout Shelby County.  There is also Christmas music concerts at schools, churches, and The Barn. 

Santa will be visiting several towns before his global trip on Christmas Eve.  His first stop in the area will be at Christmas in the Park in Strasburg on November 10th from Noon till 3 pm.  Check out the Hometown Holiday page for updates for further visits. 

We are also gathering dates for our 2013 Lake Shelbyville Visitor Guide.  These events/dates will  be placed on our website as well.  Qualifying events and businesses will also be placed on the EnjoyIllinois website.

Again if you know of an activitity or would like yours posted, please let us know at info@lakeshelbyville.com or give us a call at 217-774-2244. 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Fall...Still a Busy Time in the Office

It's been a while since we posted last, Stephen has went back to school and we've been busy in the office.

This Friday and Saturday, September 14th and 15th, we are helping with a fundraiser for Balloon Fest by being grocery baggers at County Market from 4-8 Friday evening and 10a-2p on Saturday.  Come out and see who else is helping to make The Touchstone Energy Balloon Fest a success. 

September 14-16 is the Tower Hill Fall Festival.  Event listings are at http://www.lakeshelbyville.com/events/towerhill.htm. Come and check out the Hypnotist on Friday and Saturday, the PRODUCE 500 on Saturday, a scavenger hunt, and much more along with the Demolition Derby that's Sunday afternoon.

Wednesday, September 19th is another fundraiser for the Balloon Fest.  All day at Monical's Pizza, they will donate 20% of your meal to the Balloon Fest as long as you have the flyer.  Flyers can be picked up at Monical's Pizza, The Shelby County Office of Tourism, and they will be distributed in the Grocery bagging fundraiser.

September 20-22 is the Bassmaster Elite Series All-Star Week.  Pro Fishermen fish two days on Lake Shelbyville and two days on Lake Decatur.  You can visit http://www.bassmaster.com/attend-all-star-championship for details.  We will be in Decatur showcasing the Lake Shelbyville/Shelby County area and everything we have to offer.

September 21-23 is the 1st Annual Kaskaskia River Pow Wow at the Dam East Recreational Area.  You can visit http://www.lakeshelbyville.com/events/riverpowwow.htm for the listing of events and times.  There will be vendors, dancing, a hand drum competition, an auction and more.  Come and learn about native American Indians with representatives from Cherokee, Lakota, Balckfoot, Sac-Fox, Oneida, and Haliwa-Saponi present.  This event is free and so is parking.  Please bring your lawnchairs. 

October 5-7 is the Touchstone Energy Balloon Fest.  Visit http://www.lakeshelbyville.com/events/balloon.htm for a listing of events and to see what balloons are coming visit http://www.lakeshelbyville.com/events/Balloonpics.html.  Balloons will take to the sky Friday night from the soccer fields at Forest Park.  Saturday morning they will take flight from various areas to try to hit a target at the soccer fields and Saturday night the balloons will be at the Dam East Spillway to light up the night sky as well as food vendors, music, raffle sales, tethered balloon rides and much more.  Sunday morning they will take flight again and try to hit a target that will be at the Dam West Recreation Area.  As always with hot air balloons-weather permitting.  Lawn chairs and blankets are welcome.

October 5-7 is also the weekend for Scarecrow Daze Festival with the theme of "Back to the Future".  New to event this year is Pumpkin Chucking on Friday night at the soccer fields from 4:30-7.  Events Friday night will take place in Forest Park except for the Quilt Show at the First United Methodist Church Basement.  The festival will still have vendors, art, kids games, entertainment and much more on Saturday.....all happening downtown.  There will even be special showings of the movie "Back to the Future" Friday and Saturday at 9pm.  If you would like to enter the Scarecrow contest, entry forms must be returned to the Chamber of Commerce by September 28th at 3pm and they will be judged on September 30th.  Sorry, but only scarecrows located within city limits will be judged.  For a listing of events go to http://www.shelbyvillechamberofcommerce.com/ScareCrowDaze.php or http://www.lakeshelbyville.com/events/daze.htm



Monday, July 30, 2012

The Mailman, He Cometh

Even the camera failed to keep up with my swift packing!
Actually, that title is a big, fat lie.  The mailman was nowhere to be seen.  I suspect he may have been hiding.  As a result, I had the opportunity -- nay, the honor -- of loading over 2,500 Lake Shelbyville Visitor Guides for bulk mailing.

I suppose the moral of the story would be "don't smile and agree to do something without actually understanding what the task entails."  With that said, I was glad to help.  It wasn't really all that horrible.

It was, however, very surprising.  I wasn't aware of the sheer amount of mailing that needed to be done.  And anyone who has ever needed to move any great distance knows one of the worst things to pack: books.  A magazine is just a really thin, glossy book, and let's be honest, a book is just thinly-sliced bits of tree.  Trees are heavy ... writing interns are wimpy.

Still, there's something to be said about this very practical, mundane task.  Thus far, most of the work I've done has been electronic. It's involved communication, social networking, or writing.  It's been communication, contacts, and e-mail.  This was a nice wake-up call, to be honest.  Sure, the point of the internship is to help develop professional communication skills, but it's easy to forget that the physical, mundane aspect of mailing is still just as important as its electronic component.  Tweeting, Facebooking, and e-mailing is well and good, but it doesn't help much when you have a couple thousand mini-tree slices to send all over the place.  And yes, while many publishers are opting for wholly electronic publication, there are still plenty of people (myself included) who prefer something to hold.  Until we develop molecular teleportation, that means bulk mailing.

I didn't actually fall asleep, but it was a fun photo to take
There's always going to be something surprising in any given job.  If the purpose of an internship is to prepare one for the professional world, I think it's equally important to learn to prepare for the unexpected.  Well, that and to develop a spontaneous case of the flu when mailing day rolls around.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Lake Shelbyville Photo Contest

2011 Grand Prize Winner
I'm terrible with a camera.  I'm surprised most of the pictures I take don't cause the lens to shatter in protest.  Fortunately, there are a lot of people in the community who are capable of taking some pretty gorgeous photos.  And even if you're not, why not give it a try?  The Lake Shelbyville photo contest is rapidly coming to an end, and I always find it fascinating to see the kinds of surprising moments that people can capture.

Don't wait until it's too late!  The last day to submit your pictures is August 3, 2012.  Online voting will begin pretty shortly thereafter, so it's important that you get these to us as soon as possible. 

I know I'm looking forward to seeing all the entries, and I also know that many people tend to be too hard on themselves.  Don't be!  Perhaps I'm being a bit of a hypocrite, especially considering the first five words of this post, but that doesn't change the fact that I want to see your pictures.  Yes, you, John Aldridge.

(Okay, I admit, I don't know anyone named John Aldridge.  But it would have been really awesome if someone with that name had read this post.)


Even if you're not named John Aldridge, be sure to get your pictures in ASAP.  Don't make the new intern cry.  That would just be a shame.


To download the contest submission form, click here. 
To see previous winners (along with other great Lake Shelbyville pics) click here.