Update and Chili Cook-Off

What have I been doing lately you ask? Just messing with this.

Oh, and last Sunday was the 6th (or was it 5th?) annual Chili Cook-Off up at the Painted Pony. You can check out the pictures by clicking on "pics" under my profile picture. (FYI - that's Dottie, the caller in Fortune Bingo on Pogo.com.) I've also sent up the pictures from 2005 and 2006. Jeannie wasn't in it this year so she kept off the floor.

I used Alanna's Chocolate Chili recipe and I must say it garnered a LOT of interest. But not the judges' nod. Sorry Alanna. It was really good, but I guess it was just too...I don't know..strange (?) for the local taste buds.

Oh, and we've been up to our asses in snow this winter. Bleh. That combined with 30 below wind chills and it makes it impossible to do anything even remotely useful. But I've been making some killer soups and roasted chicken, so it's not a complete loss.

That's it. Me and my angel just hanging out in the snow. Stay safe peoples. Stay warm!

Cookie Rules

I made five batches of cookies over Christmas this year. That may not seem like much baking to you foodies out there, but for me (and the family) it was quite the feat. I'll bet I haven't made homemade cookies in, like, ten years. So this divergence into nostalgia was met with much glee, especially from DH.

Of the five batches, three were good, one was edible (barely - see below) and one I dumped in the garbage it was such a failure. I can hear you gasping out there - believe me when I say that this cookie was un-salvageable. It was supposed to be one of those little, round, confectioner's sugar-covered job-ies. The kind that melt in your mouth. Well, these melted all over my cookie sheet. What a mess!

Unlike riding a bicycle, baking is not one of those activities that you never forget once you've learned how. It was like I was 12 years old again and didn't know how to turn on the oven! I did learn several things though and I'm going to list them here so I NEVER MAKE THESE MISTAKES AGAIN!!!

1. Not all butter is created equal. I know some of you have written about how wonderful European butter is compared to ours (something about the fat ratio, or was it cream ratio.. whatever) and you should only use the best in your baking. But, hey - I'm Scots-Irish. I go for the cheap stuff. And what I learned is that one of the cheap brands (Fareway's or Hy-Vee's - not sure which) tastes greasy. It's just yuck! That was the first cookie I made and it was scarfed down almost immediately despite it's greasy taste. I think for cooking it probably doesn't matter, but it definitely does in baking. So, the lesson here - get Land O' Lakes butter for baking!

2. I know our mothers always used Crisco for baking. My girlfriend uses the butter flavored Crisco in all her cookies. But I've learned that I should never use Crisco for cookies. Use butter - the good stuff.

3. Don't bother soaking your raisins in brandy for making oatmeal cookies. The flavor gets lost and you just waste the liquor. Save that little trick for your bread pudding!

4. Even though the recipe might not specify it, when it calls for oatmeal they mean the quick cooking kind. The other just gets chewy. And hard.

So that's it. That's my list of how NOT to bake cookies. I know, I know. I've been told all of this stuff in the past. I just forgot - so sue me!

Disaster Averted

I think... I hope anyway. And I hope that, unlike a pie crust (which is what it acted like), these don't get tough with handling. They look pretty good anyway. And they're all ready for the grandson's artistic touch. Better him than me. I think I'll save the last stick of Crisco for my Christmas pie making.

Cookie Help!

All right all you excellent bakers out there... what the hell is going wrong with my cookies?! This is an old family recipe and I've made it hundreds of times. But it won't roll out! Here's the recipe:

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies
4 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; set aside. Cream butter, sugar and egg till light and fluffy. Beat in sour cream and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well combined. Form dough into a ball, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Divide dough into 4 parts and roll out one quarter at a time, keeping the rest refrigerated. Roll dough on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Decorate with sprinkled sugar, almonds, raisins, candy or whatever.

Pretty straight forward - right? Granted, I haven't baked any cookies in, oh, say 15 years. (My butt and DH's belly doesn't need the extra expansion boost.) But, come on! The only reason why I'm doing this now is that Quinten asked if Grandma would bake some Christmas cookies for him to decorate when he comes up. How could I say no?

The only thing I did differently this time is use butter flavored Crisco instead of real butter. Is that what's going on? Usually you have to leave it in the refrigerator or it gets too soft to roll. This time the dough is like...I don't know...pie dough? It rolls much better warm. Did I screw up?

Any suggestions?

He's Back!

He's back!! Gasp! (Damn camera...)

Cardinal Envy

A few days ago, while letting the dogs outside, I was blown away by the sight of a cardinal feeding on the ground under my bird feeders. I know that cardinals are indigenous to Iowa and can be found all over the state. Heck, mom used to have a ton of cardinals at her bird feeder in Turin. But, in the eighteen years we have lived in West Bend, I have NEVER, EVER seen a cardinal. Even during our crop rides. We've seen eagles, hawks, orioles, woodpeckers, goldfinches, scarlet tanagers, tons of red-wing blackbirds and even yellow-breasted blackbirds. The strangest bird we saw once was an American bittern. But I've never spotted a cardinal - until four days ago. I was so shocked I just stood there, mouth and door wide open, my heart racing a hundred miles an hour.

As I ran back into the house I kept praying "Please, please! Tell your family and friends that you found some good food. Maybe they'll come too!" Soon, as I watched from my kitchen window, a female flew down and joined her mate. I was in heaven! I watched those two birds all that day and the next. And they haven't been back since.

I'm just crushed! I've even dreamed about them - cherry red against the white snow. They were so beautiful. Now, don't get me wrong, we have a ton of birds at our feeders. Finches (purple, house and gold), a little nuthatch, dark-eyed juncos, an occasional blue jay and, of course zillions of sparrows. The strangest birds we ever got was a merlin which had killed and was eating a sparrow under the tree, and a hawk that stopped in for a drink of water and to preen his feathers on a branch of a tree right outside our window. But never cardinals. Damn.

I'm pist that I didn't get a picture of them. I love my point and shoot camera, but it just isn't good for taking pictures of skittish critters - like birds. If ever I get an SLR, it will be to take these kinds of pictures.

I'm so hoping they remember the good food and easy water found in my back yard and come back to make my day bright once more. Cardinals just make the world seem happier.

(Note: I was going to link to each bird so you could see a picture of them, but that's too many links. Instead, just go to enature and you can see and hear them for yourself. It's a great website that I use regularly. Enjoy!)

Blog Thoughts

As I was taking a break yesterday, thinking about my posts, the strangest thought occured to me: Someone, somewhere in the world, was right now reading one of my posts.

I know this becase of my Site Meter report I get every Sunday. It told me I had an average of 55 hits this past week, with an average time spent at the page around a minute and a half. Since I don't post very often (ahem) that means that they're reading old posts. Probably found on some search for something and they decided to read what I'd written. That just blows my mind!

HEY, PEOPLE! How ya doin'? Um... you can comment if you like. See, I moderate my comments. Which means when you write something I get an email asking me to accept or reject the comment. So, if you read something you like, tell me about it! Doesn't matter how old the post is, I'll know if you say something.

(Meanwhile, the 3 or 4 people who read my pitiful attempts at writing whenever it pops up on their RSS readers are going, "Holy crap! Two posts in one day!!" Yep. I'm going for a record here.)

Putting Up The Tree

I'll admit it - I hate the holidays. From Halloween until January 30th I walk around in a black cloud of Scrooge-ness, scowling at children and snapping at my husband. Christmas music makes me grind my teeth as I hurry past the stores lighted with Christmas trees and plastic Santas. And the decorating! Oh boy, do I hate decorating! I put off putting up the Christmas tree until the last possible minute. Each year I vow I'm not going to do it. But, of course, I do.

Two years ago, in an effort to lighten my misery, I bought a pre-lighted Christmas tree. It was only about $20 bucks from Amazon, so I thought I'd give it a try. Needless to say, I didn't put it up last year because that sucker weighs about 10 TONS and there was NO way I was dragging that up from the basement! DH and I debated just decorating it where it stood and putting the presents under it down there. (If you could see our basement - and you will - you'd know what a joke that is.) So, up went our little 3' fiber optic tree once again.

But this year! This year was different. First of all my daughter and grandson were with us for Thanksgiving - for the first time ever. (It actually felt like Thanksgiving this year.) Since she knows how much I hate decorating, she volunteered to bring up the tree, set it up and decorate it. Yea!

Of course, it came with no instructions so I called Bettina and she sent over Dani and Dustin to help her get it put together. Naturally, I took pictures. They kinda suck, but oh well.



The kids had fun and I didn't have to do a thing. Sounds like a good thing to me! Of course, all the rest of the decorations are still in their boxes so I really do have to get in gear and decorate the rest of the house. (grumble grumble)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Jay's Omlets

No - not that Jay. Jay Bargman! Like most men in rural America, Jay wears many hats: Husband, son, father, farmer, trucker, auctioneer. But in his soul Jay is a chef. And a damn good one too! Our local Lions club definitely benefited the day Jay joined. Instead of dry pork patties served at the annual summer barbeque we now get a spread fit for a king. One year he even served Bananas Foster (he decided not to flambe them for fear of burning down the shelter house).

His abilities and skill know no bounds. Take this omlet breakfast we went to today. I don't know where he got the idea, but Jay has come up with a way to cook as many as four omlets at once. He thought up and made most of the tools you'll see in the slide show himself. Maybe I should list "inventor" as one of his hats.

Of course, he doesn't do this alone. He'll probably serve close to 200 people in four hours this morning. As this is a fundraiser for Larry Hough (Larry lost everything in a house fire a few weeks ago), Larry's family and friends are working in the kitchen - cutting up the ham and vegetables, whipping up the eggs (secret recipe there - sorry), melting butter and cooking the sausages. Just like in a real kitchen, Jay has his line chefs working hard. But the master is out front, working his magic.



Thanks Jay!

Take Me Back to the 60's

I found this the other day and thought there might be a few people out there who could relate.

Enjoy!

November Rose

I have roses blooming in November! I guess this "global warming" ain't all bad.

My Summer at Hogwarts

Like millions of others around the world, I eagerly awaited the final book in J. K. Rowling's amazing Harry Potter series. When it hit the shelves in July I snapped it up and devoured it in a day and a half. The Queen of Blue Balls had made me wait two years between fixes and the suspense was killing me. When I was done it was like "Huh? What? I don't remember... How did he... What the hell!!" I knew there was nothing for it but to re-read the entire series in order. Which I did. The entire month of August. I barely went on-line except to read my emails and complete my Pogo challenges. I wanted nothing to distract me from my immersion into Rowling's world of witchcraft and wizardry. I came through the other end feeling drained and forlorn. It was over. I would no longer have this wonderful world in which I could escape and I was lost.

It pisses me off when I hear people dissing the Harry Potter books. Rowling's genius lay in her ability to pull the reader into an entirely believable world. She could have set it up as a group of kids on a sheep ranch in Montana and it would have been just as interesting. The theme is an old one - Good Kids vs. Bad Adults; Extraordinary vs. Ordinary; Good vs. Evil. By setting her book in a magical world, one that existed along side our very ordinary one, she made sure her books had a universal appeal. Kids and adults from Bangladesh to Bangor, Maine could read and understand the trials and tribulations of little Harry Potter.

J. K. Rowling is also directly responsible for my return to the written word. When I was younger I would often have two or three books going at the same time - one at school, another one or two at home. That stopped in 1997 when my mother and brother died within weeks of each other. I found that I could not read more than two sentences at a time without my mind wandering. This makes it very hard to follow a story, so I quit trying. Until Harry Potter came along that is. Rowling's writing focused my mind, drawing me out of myself and into her world with a clarity that had been absent for too long.

I've read that Rowling said the idea for Harry Potter came to her all at once and that the books practically wrote themselves. You wonder if the muse will ever strike her again. And if it does, will she be able to pull it off like she did with this series. Is there another story burning in the back of her brain, eager to be set free? I wonder. In one way, I hope so. In another, not so much. Maybe she shot her wad with this book and her next will be a disappointment. But whatever happens - Thank You J. K. Rowling for setting me free!

Listen! Can You Smell That?

They say that writing is a habit. The more you write, the better you get. The more you write, the easier it becomes. Since I seem to have gotten out of the habit of writing this summer, let's start off with something easy - like a memory:

When I was young I could smell the change of seasons weeks before they actually arrived. In January I could smell the damp earth of spring and the air held the promise of warmth in its molecules. By April I could smell the heat of a July summer day, and in late August it was the smell of leaf litter and burning leaves that clung to the wind. But winter was the most notable. As early as September I could smell and sometimes taste the biting winter wind all crisp and clean long before it swept down upon the plains from the frigid north.

I kept this ability to smell changes in the air into my teens, with the bitter winter air being the last to leave my senses. But I remember this strange power and wonder if others had the same experience.

It wasn't just seasons that assaulted my senses either, it was people as well. I don't mean this in the bad body odor way. I mean that every person - every family - had it's own, unique odor. I could smell it the minute I walked into their homes or if two or more family members were together. My family included.

Sadly, (or maybe not...) I lost this ability early on in childhood and frankly never thought about it. Until one day I was rummaging around in a junk store, looking at the old dresses and hankies, when I smelled Aunt Della. The smell of her hit me so hard and the memories came so suddenly that I looked around fully expecting to see her standing there, smiling at me like she did when I was little and was digging through her drawers looking for dress-up clothes. I was so shaken I could only stand there, clutching that dress to my face while her memory filled me with longing.

I did not buy the dress because I knew that it could not be her's. She had died in Iowa and I was in Pennsylvania. Maybe my memory was off. I was an adult, after all. But Aunt Della had come from Pennsylvania, along with her sisters (my Grandma Moss and Aunt Emma) when they were just little girls. Their parents had driven them out in a covered wagon with all their worldly possessions. Could this dress belong to a distant relative whose family still had this same smell? Who knows. I certainly don't. But it's fun to think it might be so.

Age (and cigarettes) have taken this heightened sense of smell away from me. But the memories of the change of seasons lingers. And for that I am truly grateful.

Congratulations Dani and Kyle!

September 7, 2007

While eating lunch on Friday I got a phone call from my best friend, Bettina.

"Kyle got his orders. He leaves on Monday. The wedding is at 2:30."

This was not unexpected. He's known for weeks that it was possible he would have to go to Iraq. You see - he's a Marine. But they were prepared for this eventuality so when he got the call on Friday morning, Kyle called the courthouse to arrange for the judge to marry them. He'd asked Dani's parents weeks ago for permission to marry their daughter, then they got their license and rings and waited to find out if they would be able to have a "normal" wedding. Both Dani and Kyle are college students at Iowa Lakes. Kyle is in the officer training program there and we had hoped that he could postpone his deployment until he had finished his courses. It was not to be.

It was my honor and privledge to witness the marriage of Danielle Forsythe and Kyle Egland on September 7, 2007. Our thoughts and prayers are with Kyle and Dani as they start their new lives together, and we wish them all the love and happiness their hearts can hold.

Edit: Kyle's orders were changed late yesterday (9/10/07). He and the other officer candidates will be allowed to finish college! He'll be back home by the end of the week. We are all very happy to hear this.

Corn Defense!

My good friend Joe Pastry is back from vacation and has written a series of post in defense of corn. After Michael Pollen's book Omnivore's Dilemma came out last year, the blogosphere has been vilifying corn, the people who grow it and the companies that manufacture products made from it. Now they're all weepy because the price of corn has finally caught up to the price farmers pay to produce it and that has driven up the price of corn-based products. And don't give me shit about the subsidy of Ethanol. Farm subsidies have been in place for years (thankfully) and are what allows a farmer to make a living growing something that costs $10.00 a bushel to grow and the market pays $3.00 a bushel to buy.

I'm not a very smart woman and can't really put into words what my heart knows is true. If you've ever read Joe you know that his knowledgeable and prolific posts on any subject that catches his fancy will guarantee that you will understand that subject when he gets through with it. His use of humor and science make it a pleasure to learn. And, boy, have I learned! Everything from MSG (naturally occurring) to the molecular make-up of starch.

I can't tell you how happy I am that this week he's taking on the "corn devil" and I urge you to check him out immediately. (Caveat: scroll to the bottom for the first post and work your way up.) Way to go Joe! And, thank you!

Jay's Chicken

I've told you before about Jay's Chicken. This amazing process was repeated last night at the American Legion's annual Chicken and Sweetcorn fundraiser. (I hope this slideshow thingy works!)

Putting Up the Corn

While sitting in the yard, watching the impending storm approaching, our neighbor stopped his truck by my gate. "You need corn?" "Ummm..well, yea!"

We'd begun to think that this drought had affected the sweetcorn harvest. Eastern Iowa has been getting deluged this month, but everything had passed right over us and we were dry. The farm where we usually pick sweetcorn had announced a failed harvest between the lack of rain and the coons. So any chance of getting corn was a welcome chance indeed.

True to his word, ten minutes later, with the rain coming down in great big buckets full, Chuck pulls into the driveway to deliver some corn. I ran out to meet him, greatful for the rain soaking me through. "Is this enough?" he asks, holding up a 5 gallon pail full of sweetcorn. "Plenty! Just put it here on the lawn" I tell him and then spend the next 20 minutes or so bagging it up in plastic grocery bags to bring into the back porch.

The next morning the sun broke through clean and bright without a hint of humidity. It was a perfect morning for shucking corn and putting it up in the freezer. And for taking pictures (naturally). The boys were very helpful as well. And a flexible cutting mat is a must! I did 43 ears of corn that day. Of course, now everyone has sweetcorn ready and DH went out yesterday and picked two dozen more. They went into the freezer as well. Sweetcorn and home-grown tomatoes - it doesn't get any better than this! I love summer!

RAGBRAI Time Again

If it's July and you're in Iowa, then it's time for RABRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa)! (Follow the link if you want to learn more about the event. ) It's the biggest party of the year with upwards to 15,000 cyclists from all over the world participating. Even Lance Armstrong is going to ride the whole way this year (or so the rumors say).

They start off dipping their back tires in the Missouri River and ride the week across Iowa until they hit the Mississippi River where they dip their front tires. It's totally fun for everyone (not to mention a HUGE economic boost to the small towns they go through). Registration is limited to 8,000, but many bikers join to ride along for a few days and never register. There are many, many support people who follow along as well. So, not only the towns that they stay in, but the towns that they pass through, are included in their party.

As we were sitting in the Painted Pony yesterday, twelve very wet and very nervous cyclists burst into the bar about six o'clock shouting "There's a tornado out there!!!". Another thing about Iowa in July is that horrific storms and tornadoes can blow up in a heartbeat in this heat and humidity. Luckily there was no tornado but these poor folks had been caught in the torrential rain and straight-line winds (I heard reports later of 70 mph winds). They'd ridden in from Iowa City and had stayed the night before in Humboldt. They got caught in the downpour about 3 miles south of town and hid out in a machine shed.

A lot of people will ride from their homes out to the start of the trip. Iowa City is a LOT closer to the Mississippi than it is to the Missouri, so they'd already been on the road for two days. The group had men and women every age (20-somethings to 50-somethings) and, in spite of their frightening experience, they came in good spirits.

After eating supper they got back on their bikes to ride to Mallard (where I'm sure they would stop and party some more) and finally on to Emmetsburg where they would spend the night. By this time it had started to pour again and even though we tried to get them to stay in West Bend for the night, they started off on their next leg of the trip. Well - most of them anyway. Two women with more sense than the rest asked if we could take them to their motel in Emmetsburg. They'd had their fill of riding in the rain and were tired after eating. So we loaded their bikes in the back of the truck and headed west to Emmetsburg.

This is just something that Iowans do for RAGBRAIers. When we lived in Onawa, RAGBRAI started off from there two times. Both times we opened our home to those bikers who were not lucky enough to get a motel room or who didn't feel like pitching a tent for the night. It was quite a sight I must say. Bodies and bikes everywhere! Since living in West Bend, RAGBRAI has come through twice as well. It takes quite a while for 8-10,000 bicycles to ride through your town, especially when half of them stop to party for a while. (Man! Those people can drink!!) We've met some really nice people, just like last night. It was a blast.


Oh - and this picture? I took this of my neighbor's house yesterday. See that spout thingy on the edge of her house? It was raining so hard and the wind was blowing so strong that the rain was blown out of her downspout. Imagine trying to ride a bike in this.

Catch-up

Q and his mom went home after the 4th of July and I've been hitting it hard at the office, trying to regain some control. I've mentioned before that our office is the Chamber of Commerce Treasurer and it took two days just to wade through all the deposits and paperwork from the Fireworks Golf Tournament and the 4th of July. I love having Quinten for a whole month, but we definitely need to work something different for next year. From mid-June on, Chamber is in overdrive with it's fundraising and July 4th celebration preparation. I really need to be available for check writing and other duties.

Things are getting back to normal here at home and at the office. I still haven't read all my blog friends' posts, but I've learned that I don't need to. I know you all are fabulous writers/cookers/photographers/etc. so I'll just jump in where I can. When my mind stops whirring I'll start posting again, too.

I hope all your summers are going swimmingly. Have a cool drink, watch your gardens grow, see a ball game, go to the races, eat some barbeque and in general enjoy!

Definition of Summer

The definition of summer. Period.