Honest Abe Living, September/October 2013

Denton Awarded President Emeritus

Recipe by Lodge:Polish Pork And Cabbage Stew

Getting Crafty With The Smiths: Ribbon Wreath

September-October, 2013

Log Home Lake House

www.honestabe.com

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3 Cover Story: Log Home Lake House

Polish Pork And Cabbage Stew Recipe by Lodge Cast Iron


Getting Crafty With The Smiths: Ribbon Wreath

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www.honestabe.com September-October 2013 • Honest Abe Living • 3

Log Home Lake HouseOverlooking the waters of Center Hill sits a log home owned by Mike and

Christine Cornett. Life on the lake is different, it isn’t fast paced and there are great neighbors who are willing to help. To Mike and Christine who have been married for 34 years, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

This lake side home makes the eighth one the couple have owned, but only the second log home they have ever built. “I like log homes, they’re cozy and warm,” said Mike. “I’m not a sheet rock fan. One of the biggest reasons I like log homes is the quality of the product.”

Before their first log home was built, Mike and Christine thumbed through some log home maga-

zines. Mike heard that Honest Abe had a model in Algood so he headed over and talked to Greg Wat-son. The two looked at prices and Mike asked many

questions. In 1993 the Cornett’s first Honest Abe log home was built: a mod-ified Algood. After that, Mike referred several people to Honest Abe. Mike and Christine were pleased with their new

home. “Honest Abe has high quality products and you get more for your money. They have a great

“Build a house that will accommodate to how

you live.”

4 • Honest Abe Living • September-October 2013 www.honestabe.com

September-October 2013 • Honest Abe Living • 5www.honestabe.com

family atmosphere and also treat you like family,” commented Mike.

Many years passed and the couple decided it was time to downsize. They knew their next house was going to be an Honest Abe log home, but what style? Mike headed back to Algood and worked with Ed White on deciding what house would be best for him and his wife Christine. After about five months of research, the couple decided to go with a modified Madison.

Mike and Christine had the front of the house face away from the road so that it would look out towards the water. The couple was raised on a water view. The bedrooms and bathrooms were somewhat modified. They had the porch to nearly wrap all the way around the house. “We like porch-es. On one part of the porch there is a bed that we sleep in usually six months out of the year. We call it our sleep porch.” Mike laughed. He said it is the best house for him and his wife.

Logs for the couple’s new house were being stacked the second week of October, two years ago. Mike, with the help of his wife, did a lot of the interior work. It took about a month to get the Genesis interior siding done. Mike knows a thing or two about construction since he is a contractor. Ed from Honest Abe was blown away by the foun-dation. Joe Isenberg, the crew chief was impressed with the way things were done. Joe left on New Year’s eve night. Before leaving he asked what the time frame was for them moving into the house. Mike answered telling him two or three months. Most days he would work from 7:00 in the morn-ing to 8:30 that night. “You do what you have to do to get the job done,” says Mike. The happy cou-ple moved into their new home on the first day of March that next year.

Mike and Christine talked with Greg Sweets from Perma-Chink about stain options. Mike want-ed something as close to natural as they could get. Some of the choices they looked at were “dark nat-


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BEDROOM

KITCHENDINING

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GABLE PORCH

PORCH

PORCHPORCH

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GARAGE25'-4"X37'-4"

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ural” and “hazelnut” but these were too dark. They ended up choosing “wheat” as their official stain. Mike added, “A lot of our friends are going with the same stain color too.”

“We tell everyone that we have the best of both worlds,” said Mike. “We see farm lands and red barns, sunrises and sunsets and huge oak trees on the north side.” Their favorite spaces of the house are the porch and the great room.

When asked if he has any advice to give some-one about building a home Mike replied by say-ing; “My main rule is that if you’re going to build a two-story house the main floor needs to be func-tionable (able to live just on that one floor). Think about the future, what if you are in an accident or get older to where you can’t get up and down the stairs. Know your price, it all boils down to cost. Build a house that will accommodate to how you live and don’t shatter your dreams.”


Second Annual Blood Drive HeldHonest Abe Log Homes and its sister companies lo-

cated in Moss, held their second annual blood drive last week. The blood drive was a huge success, and April Smith Patterson, daughter of the late Doug Smith and Joint Operating Officer of Honest Abe, was quick to give credit to their employees. “We were blessed to have over fifty employees of Honest Abe, Barky Beaver Mulch and our other companies rally around this effort to donate blood. It has been two years since dad passed away, and this is our second annual blood drive held in his memory.”

Blood Assurance, a non-profit company, services more than fifty health facilities in the region and assisted by staging one of their collection teams on site. Blood Assurance operates a number of “blood mobiles” in the area. They consist of vans and buses that have been spe-cially equipped to allow donors to give blood in a clean and comfortable environment.

Speaking of her late father Doug, April recalled, “Over the eleven years that he fought cancer, dad re-quired multiple blood transfusions. Though we will nev-er match what was done for us, this has been a way to help meet the needs of others in our area. Our family is truly blessed to have employees that are so willing to take part in something like this, and we appreciate their generous donation.”

Donating blood is an important and easy way to pro-vide a service to your community. Each unit of blood has the ability to save up to three lives. For more information on opportunities to give, you may visit the Blood Assur-ance web site at www.bloodassurance.org or call Whit-ney Garvich at 423-756-8456.


We hope you enjoy this recipe from the new Lodge Cast

Iron Cookbook: A Treasury of Timeless Delicious Recipes. The cookbook can be

ordered from the Lodge web site or from Amazon.

For more information about Lodge and their cast iron

cookware, visit: www.lodgemfg.com

“The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook: A Treasury of Timeless, Delicious Recipes” - Oxmoor House. 2012

Polish Pork And Cabbage Stew

serves 6

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms1 cup warm water 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil5 ounces thick bacon slices, dried (about 1 cup)1 pound lean boneless pork stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes and patted dry3 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped1 small or 1/2 medium head green cabbage, cored and shredded3 garlic cloves, minced2 cups beef stock1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry red wine2 cups canned whole tomatoes, undrained, chopped1 pound sauerkraut, rinsed under cold water and squeezed dry1 cup pitted prunes, chopped12 juniper berries, bruised2 bay leaves1/4 pound cooked ham diced1/2 pound kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch-thick roundsSalt and freshly ground black pepperSour cream (optional)1 1/2 to 2 pounds small red potatoes, boiled, peeled and cut into chunks (opitonal)

1. Soak the mushrooms in the warm water untill softened, about 20 minutes. Drain the liquid through 2 layers of dampened paper towels into a container and set the liquid aside; rinse any grit from the mushrooms and set the mushrooms aside.

2. Heat a 10-inch cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat until just hot, about 3 minutes. Add the oil and bacon, and cook until the fat is rendered from the bacon. With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to paper towels to drain, reserving the drippings in the pan.

3. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the stew meat to the drippings and cook until browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes; using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a bowl, reserving the drippings in pan. Reduce the heat to medium; add the onions and cabbage, and cook, stirring often, until the onions are softened, 6-8 minutes.

4. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Stir the stock, reserved mushrooms and liquid, wine, tomatoes, sauerkraut, prunes, juniper berries and bay leaves; bring to a boil, scraping the pan to loosen any browned bits. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 2 hours.


5. Uncover, stir in the ham and kielbasa and cook 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste; remove and discard the bay leaves. Serve the stew in soup bowls with a dollop of sour cream, if desired, and a little bacon sprinkled on top. If you like, serve with boiled potatoes.


A special ceremony was recently held at Hon-est Abe Log Homes to honor Rick Denton. Rick re-tired from the company in 2007 after serving as its President since being founded in 1979 by owner Doug Smith. Under Rick’s leadership the company, located in our small rural community, became one of the nations most recognized log home brands. Though retired, Honest Abe continues to lean on Rick’s experience and insight as he assists with proj-ects and consulting.

In recognition of his dedicated past, combined with the continued positive impact Rick has made, Honest Abe Log Homes awarded him the honorary title of “President Emeritus.” “Rick will always be the founding president of Honest Abe, and his success has earned him the respect and attention from its current leaders and owners,” said Joshua Beasley. The idea to recognize Rick with the title originated with April Smith Patterson, the company’s Joint Op-erating Officer. April noted, “It just seemed like the natural next step to take. Rick may no longer be active in the day-to-day business of the company, but his input is greatly valued by us all. The emeri-tus title symbolizes not only our appreciation of his leadership in the past, but also our confidence in his contributions going forward.”



Hi and welcome to “Getting Crafty with the Smith’s”! Fall is our favorite time of year and what better craft to make than a “Fall Wreath” to show off our country charm in the spectacular fall colors!

Fall Ribbon Wreath

What you need:• Burlap Ribbon or Deco Mesh Ribbon• Wire Wreath Frame• Floral Wire• Fall Flowers or Embellishments• Chalk Board & Chalk

Step 1: Grab your wire wreath frame. I chose a rather large frame, but there are several differ-ent frames to choose from. I think the easiest way to decide on the size of your wreath is to look at the size of your door.

Step 2: Create a loop with your burlap rib-bon and use the floral wire to attach it on your frame. You can make these loops big or small, it just depends on how you want your wreath to look. We bunched our ribbon up every 5-6 inches or so. Do this all the way around the out-side rings of the wreath until you make it back to your starting point.

Getting Crafty

With The Smith’s

Make A Fall Ribbon WreathStep 3: Once you’ve gone all the way

around with your ribbon, you can start to move things around until you fill in all the gaps.

Step 4: Next, we added some Fall embellishments to our wreaths. We also got a chalkboard and wrote “Happy Fall Ya’ll” to hang in the center. You could add a letter or anything Finally, you’re ready to hang your wreath!

We hope you enjoyed this craft as much as we en-joyed making it! Tip: Have your family over for din-ner and spend your craft time with each other! That’s how we do each craft… together! There’s nothing like spending time with family.

Stay tuned for our next article… Cake decorating! Mom, Lesley and I (April) have been taking cake

decorating classes at night for a week. We can’t wait to show you what we have learned!

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Honest Abe Living, September/October 2013