Spring Break

Last week was spring break and a lot of people went south.  We went north.  But there was sun (and lots of snow!)  The river is still frozen, although starting to break open in a few places.

We walked along the logging trail which smells heavenly!

En route from the river to the lake, we spent a day at the Paul Bunyan waterpark.  The hot tub has a little "doggy door" that you can swim through and sit outside in the snow surrounded hot tub - we liked that!  We sat at our favorite coffe shop near the lake to watch the Twins baseball game.

The lake still had 4 feet of ice on it so we were able to take a walk out to the island.  Mark and John tried a little ice fishing but everyone seemed most happy just laying in the warmth of the sun!

We had an extra day when we returned home and spent it at the MN Zoo.  My favorite exhibit is the Grizzly Bears - this one just sat and watched me take her picture.  Such a massive creature!

And then it felt good to be back home, ordering a pizza and watching movies together.

Happy Easter Monday

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  We had almost the whole crowd at our house - 43 at final count - so fun!  The date was a little early this year, though, and we still have snow and mud in the yard.  So, the egg hunt happened indoors and was limited to only the littlest kids - 6 and under.  As I filled the golden egg this, anticipating the competitive fight for it's location and the inevitable disappointment of those unlucky ones who don't find it, I wondered...why exactly did I start this golden egg thing to begin with?  But it was found, by a first time golden egg finder, and there were no tears.

Kate and John plant a tray of grass every year to use as a center piece on our Easter table.  I think my neice and nephew must have started their earlier than we did - look at the grass they brought me!:

My Total Undoing

My grandpa, then my uncle, now my cousin own(ed) a dairy farm and while I was growing up I used to love visiting.  I had five cousins who lived there.  They had a dog (I didn't).  There were always soft furry (dirty) kittens in the barn and sometimes fuzzy little chicks in the hen house.  And my grandpa was always around, giving us pink peppermints from his front flannel shirt pocket (fuzz and all).  Of course, I loved it.  But my undoing came with my aunt's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  There was a big (2 gallon, I think) tin ice cream tub in the fridge, filled with chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.  And it was always full.  She said I could take them when I wanted.  And I just couldn't stop.  Even my child brain knew that I'd had enough too many but I kept sneaking into the kitchen to have just one more.  Mark says that when he and his siblings spent the night at his grandma's house, she left the cookie jar open for them and he once ate so many cookies that he vomited. 
I have a recipe book that was compiled by the extended family of a friend of my aunt.  Everyone in that family submitted recipes, they sent them off to a printer and had books made.  There was a minimum order and, in the end, there were too many.  So, friends and family of friends received copies also.  My brother uses this cookbook alot.  I often ask him for a recipe and he tells me that I already have it -- in this cookbook.  Well, this week I was flipping through it and I found a recipe for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.  It''s nothing fancy, just oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips really.  But they've been in the fridge for two days and they're almost gone.  I just can't stop!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

2 cup oatmeal

1 tsp hot water

2 cups chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375.  Cream sugars, shortening and butter.  Add eggs, salt, soda, vanilla and mix well.  Add flour, oatmeal and water.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Bake at 375 for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Makes about 4 dozen.



My Grandmother Clock

When Kate was born, I listened to all the kiddie CDs, at home, in the car, everywhere.  One of my favorites (ca I even have a favorite?!) was My Grandfather's Clock.  Grandfather clocks weren't called grandfather clocks until about 1875 when a man named Henry Clay Work wrote the song My Grandfather's Clock.  According to legend/history, Work was staying in the George Hotel in England which was owned by two bachelor brothers.  Many longclocks (pre-grandfather clock) did not keep accurate time but the one which stood in the George Hotel kept remarkable time.  Until the first brother died.  The clock started to lose time.  And when, at age ninety,  the second brother died, the clock stopped altogether.  When Henry Clay Work commented on the stopped clock and was told the story, he wrote My Grandfather's Clock which became quite popular.  The name grandfather's clock stuck.

And then the grandmother clock.  There are many theories defining the difference between a grandfather clock and a grandmother clock.  Some say the grandfather operates because of a swinging pendulum while a grandmother is spring loaded.  Yeah.  Some describe the shape, more rigid vs. more curvy.  But all agree that the main difference is simply height.  The general guideline  is drawn at 80 inches; more than 80 is a grandfather and less is a grandmother.

I bought this non-pendulum, more curvy than rigid, 76-inch grandmother clock when the kids were very small.  Mark has never loved it and can't entirely blame him as it never looked it's best.  It first had a cheesy fake-glass door.  Then my dad made a nice wood door for it (which helped alot) but I never finished the door 'cause I knew eventually I wanted to paint it.  So, the door was just raw wood for a few years.  Now, I've finally (thanks to tips from Pinterest!) painted the whole clock and we both love it.

My grandfather's clock was to large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride.
But it stopped short, never to go again,
When the old man died...

In watching its pendulum swing to and fro,
Many hours had he spent while a boy;
And in childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know,
And to share both his grief and his joy.
For it struck twenty-four when he entered the door,
With a blooming and beautiful bride.
But it stopped short, never to go again,
When the old man died...

Ninety years without slumbering
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
His life seconds numbering,
Tick, tock, tick, tock
It stopped short, never to go again
When the old man died...

And it kept in its place, not a frown upon its face,
And its hands never hung by its side;
But it stopped short, never to go again,
When the old man died...

It rang an alarm in the dead of the night,
An alarm that for years had been dumb;
And we know that his spirit was pluming its flight,
That his hour of departure had come.
Still the clock kept the time, with a soft muffled chime,
As we silently stood by his side;
But it stopped short, never to go again,
When the old man died... 

-- Henry Clay Work

One Year Old

This is the very first picture I posted on the very first post of this blog, which was exactly one year ago today.  Except, after an excruciatingly long time agonizing over the writing of that post and finally hitting the "publish" button, I somehow deleted the whole post.  I didn't realize this until a few days later and then I couldn't remember all the brilliant things I'd written so I just kept moving on. 
But this picture is still here.  The tulips in the picture, however, are buried beneath a few feet of snow on this day, this year.  And it's not pretty snow.  I couldn't, or wouldn't, even take a picture of it - so dirty and tired looking.  Happy One Year Anniversary, My Cedar House!
My real live cedar house is starting to look normal again.  The floors are all in, the walls are all painted, the baseboards are almost finished.  And the beds and furniture are back in their proper places.  We added a new chair to John's room - a place where he can sit to practice guitar.  The Jammin' Chair is what we're calling it.  And he loves it.  He tucks up into it with his guitar and just plays and plays.

First to See the Sun

I'm still painting.  Well, actually, today I was caulking...and then painting the caulk.  Our furniture is all hunked together in the middle of the living room and everything....I mean EVERYTHING is covered with dust, sawdust, sheetrock dust...ewwww.  I put the mattresses back in our bedroom 'cause I'm tired of sleeping on couches but I haven't put my alarm clock back in yet so I've been setting the alarm on my phone instead.  The first time I used my phone as an alarm clock was when Mark and I were sleeping in a tent in Acadia National Park in Maine.  We were camping with friends who had a camper - with bunk beds - and they were hosting Kate and John for a sleepover in their camper. 

In the tent, my was alarm was set - and went off - at 4:00a.m.  On purpose.  From the top of Cadillac Mountain, you can be the very first person (or people if you're with others) to see the sun rise in the United States.  So, we woke at 4:00, drove to the top of the mountain with our doughnuts and coffee, blankets and jackets, and watched the sun rise.

So every morning now, with all this mess around me, I wake to my phone playing a guitar strum and I think of that beautiful sunrise in Maine.

Here's what that same spot looks like during the day when the sun burns off the fog:

Sweater Makeover

It's that time of year when I'm tired of winter clothes but it is still too darn cold for anything else.  I need a change.  I bought this super soft pearl colored cashmere turtleneck sweater a few years ago at a consignment shop.  It fit pretty well okay when I bought it.  It was just such a wonderful feeling sweater that I couldn't pass it up.
Well, now at the end of winter and months of not much exercise, I'm ready to admit that it really doesn't fit all that well.  As I wait in the car queue at school each day to pick up John and then Kate, I've been crocheting an extension for this sweater.  I cut the neck off and then cut up the front middle to make it into a cardigan, then sewed on the newly crocheted piece.  I like how it turned out.

The Elves and the Pulled Pork

We have family friends whose child was recently going through very serious surgical procedures with real risks and uncertain results.  Things went well and, as of right now, the diagnosis is very positive.  During the waiting, though, there were many of us who wanted to help in any way we could. 

A schedule was established and we took turns delivering an evening meal, depositing it in a cooler on the family's front step.  As I imagined, and hoped for, the feeling of blessings they might feel as they opened the door to find a full meal almost mysteriously materialize before them, I thought of a favorite fairytale (aren't they all my favorites?!) by the Brothers Grimm - The Elves and the Shoemaker.  It is a rare fairytale in that every character in it is good - there is no ending of the "bad guy/stepmother/witch..." having something horrible (which they deserve) happen to them.  It is a wonderful telling of kindness done for others, anonymously and with no expectation of recognition.  The tale goes even further in having the shoemaker continue in his work, never expecting his help to show up every night, but delighted every time they do.  Shouldn't we all live this way?

I still have Hawaii on my mind (it just will not stop snowing here in MN!!) and so the meal I prepared was our favorite Kalua Pulled Pork sandwiches with cole slaw and fresh fruit.  We first had these sandwiches in a brew pub in the Honolulu airport.  They were made in a sauce featuring a bottle Gordon Biersch Vienna- Style red lager.  We can't buy Gordon Biersch beer here in MN, it just isn't available.  So, I've used Leinenkugel's Vienna Style Red Lager and it turns out great.  Recipe below:

Kalua Pig with Marzen Barbeque Sauce

Ingredients:

1 (6 pound) pork butt roast

1 ½ Tbsp sea salt

1 Tbsp liquid smoke flavoring

4 cups of your favorite Barbeque sauce (find a smoky style)

1 bottle Gordon Biersch Marzen (I used Leinenkugel’s Red Lager; Vienna-Style Lager)

2 oz molasses

1 oz hot sauce

Directions:

1. Pierce pork all over with a carving fork.  Rub salt then liquid smoke over meat.  Place roast in slow cooker.

2. Cover, and cook on Low for 16-20 hours, turning once during cooking time.

3. Remove meat from slow cooker, and shred, adding drippings as needed to moisten.

4. Combine BBQ sauce, beer, molasses, and hot sauce in a saucepan and slowly bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes.

6. Remove, cool and store in refrigerator if not using right away.

7. Mix sauce into shredded pork until desired taste.

Stop and Smell the Flowers

I've been priming and painting the walls, non-stop, for the past week.  When Sunday afternoon rolled around, the upstairs hallway needed just one final coat of paint.  I knew it would feel really good to check it off my list but...

In our Christmas stocking, Santa left Mark and I tickets for a Buddy Guy/Jonny Lang concert.  The concert was this past Sunday evening at the State Theater in Minneapolis.  So, Sunday afternoon, we decided to leave the hallway, get ready early and head downtown for a few hours before the show.  We sat at a table near a window where we could see the traffic on Hennepin Avenue.  We had sushi and sake and then wine.  We had great seats for the show (thanks Santa!!) and the music...phenomenal.  Why is it so hard to remember to build in the "stop time"?

Jonny Lang started the show and did an awesome version of his song, Red Light.  The saying used to be stop to smell the roses (flowers) but it seems like the only time we really stop anymore is at a red light.

A chance to breathe

While sitting at a red light

You look around

Reflecting on your life

                                      -- Jonny Lang

Painting....Not White, but Light

When we bought our house over 10 years ago, we said we would replace the carpet - first thing.  But then we had to repour the driveway.  And then four big beautiful elm trees were diagnosed with the Elm Disease and...well...there went our carpet.  So, now, finally, we're replacing the carpet.  I want to paint everything fresh before the new floors are put in but it is so hard to visualize a color from one wall or one room to another without painting large swaches of color on the walls.  Here's what worked in the end:  I bought a few pieces of large poster board ad painted each of them a different color possibility.  Then we were able to move them around to different walls and different rooms to see the colors in various light conditions.  Will hopefully post "after" pictures soon - I'm so ready for the house to be put back in order.

And the Answer Is...

The last question on the trivia card yesterday was, "What color is most prevalent in a bag of plain M&Ms?"  And the answer is...

Brown at 30%!  What?! No way.  We didn't believe it.  Orange M&Ms are my favorite (of course) and I can't hardly eat the blue ones (blue M&Ms?  just not natural) and I know there are not 30% more brown than any other color.  So, we went to the market and bought a big bag of plain M&Ms, sorted them into bowls by color and then counted.  Here are results:

Orange - 103 (yay - this is MY bag of candy!)

Blue - 92 (what?! why?)

Red - 70

Yellow - 64

Green - 42

Brown - 42

So, according to our bag of candy, brown ties as the least prevalent color!  Maybe the game is really old - like, before they had those unnaturally blue colored M&Ms.  And, of course, Kate reminds me that this does not qualify as scientifically sound analysis as we should do the experiment MANY more times before coming to a conclusion.  Is she really good at scientific method or does she just want more chocolate?  Hmmmm.

For those of you Star Wars nerds, here are the answers to yesterday's Star Wars trivia card:

Family Table Conversation

We are constantly hearing how important it is for families to eat supper together.  And I don't think the squabbling, nagging, "I've told you a hundred times - stop dropping corn in your brother's milk!" is exactly what they (the "experts") are talking about.  I think we're supposed to be talking to each other - like real conversation.  But sometimes that's hard after, "how was your day". 

A few year's ago, I bought a couple used trivia games at a garage sale.  Kate needed a game board/game pieces for a project at school.  The trivia cards were shoved in a bowl and sit on our table at the river.  We love lingering at the table and asking each other trivia questions - it's an actually pleasurable table experience.  I decided we need that level of experience here at home also.  So I hit a couple thrift stores, found some fun trivia games for a buck or two each and popped the cards into a mini-loaf pan.  The questions aren't conversation in themselves but they often lead to very some interesting conversation!

I found American History trivia, Star Wars trivia, general junior trivia, and this Eat Me trivia card that quizzes your knowledge of sweets and snacks.  One of these questions led to a nummy experiment - I'll share the experiment and the answers to these two questions tomorrow - do you know the answers already?

 The top picture of the baby seal cracks us up - we think the swim wings kinda give away the answer!

Instead of Hawaii & February Brew

We aren't in Hawaii and the temperature reads in the single digits.  So, we went to the lake.  Every winter my brothers and I find sitters for the kids and we join mom and dad at the lake for a "no-kids" weekend.  It was cold but the sun was shining and with no wind, we spent most of the day outside.  There's a guy on the other side of the lake who, in years past, has groomed x-country ski trails around the ice.  He pulls a barrel on skis behind his ATV to make the tracks.  But, this year, he pursued another interest and we just weren't that motivated to ski without trails.  We toured a bit with the snowmobiles.  The rather steep driveway was packed with snow, making a perfect sledding hill.  We sat by a fire in the afternoon to dry out and then headed to a neighboring lake for dinner.

From the lakeside grill, we watched a snow golf tournement on the froze lake as the sun went down.

Back at the cabin, we sampled some Minnesota Beer of the Month while playing a few hands of Schmear.
(February brew = Fitger's, Smithwick's, and One-Eyed Pike.

Wish I Were in Hawaii

Mark used to travel alot more than he does now and about the only upside to his traveling was that he earned oodles of frequent flyer points.  His parents were spending the winter months in Hawaii at that time and every other year we had enough points to fly over and stay near them.  It's been three years since our last trip.  Mark is home more.  I wouldn't trade that.  But I am dreaming of the islands and all our wonderful adventures.

Kate and John fell right into a native Hawaiian lifestyle, boogie boards always ready and trekking wherever the paths leads to find the next beach.

This is where I drank my coffee every morning, watching the sun light up the near distant tips of Lanai (see it's slope on the far right) and Maui (barely visable behind clouds on the left).  In the afternoon, someone in this little village would blow on a conch shell to gather everyone for pupus (appetizers) and drinks.  John and Mark played baseball every evening on our front lawn.  Ahhhh.

Having long heard stories of the fabled "midnight bread run", we finally decided to check it out on our last trip.  It was said that, at midnight, the bakery in town sold, from its back doors, the first batch of Hawaiian bread baked for the following morning.  But, to get some, you had to walk down this dark alley and wait by these big red doors.  You wait by the big red doors and, right at midnight, the doors are flung open and you have to place your order fast, you have to know which topping you want and have your money ready but...it is sooooo worth it when you get that little loaf of still hot bread.  This story was told to us many times, very charismatically, with a lot of arm gesturing and always a chuckle when the red doors are mentioned.  So, when we woke the kids at 11:30pm, drove into town and scuffled down the dark alley, noticing figures against the walls and in corners, we were just a little nervous, wondering if this were a true story, an urban legend, or a trap. 
Turns out it was a true story.  The toasty little loaves of sweet bread were sliced in half horizontally and slathered in cream cheese, strawberry jam, butter, cinnamon or any combination of these.  Then, we learned, it is custom to take your bread down to the pier and eat it there.   Soooooo worth it!

13 Minutes

We have been out of homemade cookies for some time - this is a problem for my family.  They want homemade cookies.  Yes, they could make some themselves but, "Mom, but you make the best cookies!" or "But we love yours the best!", as manipulative as it may be, usually hits the mark with me and I will make cookies. 
It takes 13 minutes to bake in my oven (sometimes longer when I accidentally hit the "oven cancel" button instead of the "timer cancel" button).  As you know, I'm one of the worst procrastinators - especially with simple jobs that really won't take much time.  Just do it, right?  So, I decided to see how much I could accomplish in each 13 minutes of bake time:

1st pan into oven...remove all bags, backpacks, sweatshirts, shoes and boots from kitchen floor, sweep, vacuum and then scrub kitchen floor with Murphy's soap...

DING!

1st pan out, 2nd pan in...remove everything from butcher block counter, wipe down completely, wash breakfast dishes and cookie making bowls...

DING!

2nd pan out, 3rd pan in...find sandpaper in garage, lightly sand butcher block counter, rub with food-safe wood oil, put leftover Super Bowl crab dip in microwave, return armload of basement property to basement, grab a Coke from basement fridge (special treat - don't usually have in the house!), cut up an apple...

DING!

3rd pan out, 4th pan in...arrange dip, chips and apple on plate (take photo for blog), log onto laptop, read the latest posts on some of my favorite blogs while I eat...

DING!

4th pan out, cleaner kitchen, lunch done, and cookie supply replenished - a good hour!