Category Archives: Family

2023, Family, Food, home, Seasons

Throw In Whatever You’ve Got Soup

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½ large white onion (or one medium), chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 macho nacho peppers (a smidge hot), chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 can sliced carrots (including liquid)
1 can yellow corn (including liquid)
¾ c. frozen peas
3 veggie bouillon cubes
3 brandywine tomatoes, chopped
Salt & pepper
1 tsp. Penzey’s Justice spice
½ tsp. chili pepper flakes
Chopped fresh basil
2 c. cooked rice
2 c. water (to make it soup)
2 veggie hot dogs (completely optional), sliced

I’ve told the story of the kitchen sink stew that I took to a church potluck – just threw in what I had and it was a big hit.  Well, I did it again!

On my to-do list Saturday was “cook something”.   YA and I are staring down the barrel of a large home-improvement project and have discussed some economizing so I decided to just use what I had on hand, from the pantry and the garden.   Cooked the onion, pepper and garlic in olive oil, then threw in everything else… finishing up at the last minute with a couple of veggie hot dogs.

Not to toot my own horn, but it is FABULOUS.  I mean, stand-in-front-of-the-fridge-with-a-spoon-eating-it-out-of-the-pan good.  Even better warmed up with a piece of cornbread.  Unfortunately YA agrees so it’s not lasting long.  Hopefully I’ll be able to re-produce it again some day.

What was the highlight of YOUR weekend?

2023, education, Family, gardening, Kids, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized, Weather

Fall

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Yesterday was the first day of fall, and it was cool and cloudy, I noticed this week that the leaves were just starting to change color. The garden is finally slowing down. I am done canning tomatoes.

Fall has always been my favorite season. Not too hot, not too cold. (We won’t talk about the Ocober 5, 2005 snowstorm that shut the area down for three days and broke off hundreds of tree limbs.) I like the cooler nights.

Things at work always pick up in the fall, especially for those of us who work with children. Bad news at parent-teacher conferences means the phones start ringing at my agency from calls from frantic parents wanting help for their ornery children. Fall is a time of truth and reckoning for some of us.

What are your favorite things about fall? Any favorite fall songs or poems? Did your parents ever get bad news at parent-teacher conferences?

2023, animals, Business, Family, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Seasons

There’s Always Hope?

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

Maybe the crops won’t be as bad as I feared. I was looking at the soybeans this past week and there are a fair number of pods higher up the plant. The plants are about knee high, and it looks like the weather will hold for a few weeks yet. We’re at 2845 growing degree units. 368 above normal for Rochester. Mind you, I’m not saying great crops, but not as bad as I thought. Ha, probably just be good enough not to trigger a payment from crop insurance, which is based on 70% of expected (average) yields. I did get a $700 credit on the premium for hail damage. So, I only owe $600 rather than $1300. Which is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp cornstalk.

I did plant some rye on Monday and more on Thursday evening. The rain predicted for Friday morning isn’t going to a mounted to much. We wait and see. I spotted a couple sandhill cranes while out planting on both days. They must like this field. It was interesting: On Monday I had gone around the field once, turned around at the end of the field and was coming back when I saw them in the middle of the field. Were they there on the first round? I was maybe 150’ from them and they didn’t pay me too much attention. But then as I came around the corner and got closer, they flew off. Sorry kids, you didn’t get much of a rest here. Thursday was the same thing; didn’t see them on the first pass and then there they were. I adjusted how I planted that field so they could hang out longer. When the time came and I had to go their way, they had flown off.

I was working at the college one day and I dropped a cable down a ventilation shaft. Course it wasn’t a plain old power cord, it was a special 4 pin data cable. I can see it down there and maybe with a long stick and a hook on the end, I’m thinking I can retrieve it. Stay tuned.

I’ve been scraping gravel from the machine shed approach.

Over the years I’ve added a lot of gravel to the road. Now with the cement pad being the same level as the shed interior, the driveway is 8” too high. I’ve mentioned before the water running in the shed door. So, I’ve been scraping. Man, it’s packed hard. Some rain would help that too. I’m not real good at being an excavator operator. And using the tractor loader isn’t ideal either, but it works. I can’t quite tell yet if there’s just dirt under there or still gravel. Dad must have had rock there when he built this shed in 1981. I may have to go an extra 4” deep and put gravel back on top. I’m using this rock to fill in some holes and the extra will go on the other end of the cement where it is more dirt.

Daughter likes to do her chores: whether it’s hauling out garbage, doing her laundry (I know, right??) collecting eggs, and last night she even threw out corn for the chickens and chicks. Mother-Clucker is down to 12, lost one. The kids are getting pretty independent, and mom is giving them their freedom too. It’s not unusual to see them running 20’ away from mom. They’re between robin and pigeon sized.

Ever had a cement pond at your house? How was that?

(Are you aware Irene Ryan ((Granny)) was a Tony nominated actress and has an acting scholarship in her name?)

2023, animals, Family, Nature

RIP Monorail

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I loved the Minnesota Zoo Monorail.  It was part of the zoo experience for me; whenever we visited the zoo, we almost always hopped on a car and took a spin.  We knew when the best time of day was to go (right around lunchtime) and which car was best (the first one right behind the driver/guide – it was the quiet car which most people avoided). 

The monorail was “retired” in 2013 – a nicer sounding word than “abandoned”, but that’s how it felt to me.  For the last 10 years the rail remained a sad reminder every time we went.  When the zoo announced that they were going to put up a walking trail on the old rail, I was skeptical.  And when the scuttlebutt was that they would charge extra unless you were zoo members, I was even more cynical.

The Treetop Trail turned about to be free for everybody, not just members (we’ll see how long that lasts) and is built over the original rail.  It’s lovely, especially all the places where it overlooks water; there is actually quite a few bodies of water at the zoo.  On a cool day like we had on Sunday, it’s a beautiful hike – about a mile and a half – took us about half an hour (I was very slow as my feet hadn’t quite forgiven me yet for the State Fair).  There isn’t much shade or cover so it might be a little less fun on a really hot day.  Like the monorail, seeing any animals was a little hit and miss, although there was at least constant narration on the monorail.  YA can’t always be counted on for scintillating conversation.  The trail is about 8 feet across so we didn’t encounter to many pedestrian traffic jams.  For those of us with a little acrophobia, the center feels safe and there are lots of spots that aren’t too terrifyingly high.

My final assessment is that the Treetop Trail is nice.  If we can’t have the monorail, I suppose the elevated trail will do.  I doubt that it will become a perennial favorite for me and it will be interesting to see how well maintained it is during the winter months (if it’s even open during the winter months).  But I will recommend it at least once for anybody visiting the zoo.

What’s a duck’s favorite animal at the zoo?

2023, Family, Food, Nature, Seasons

Summer Kitchen

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Today’s post comes to us from Barbara.

Some of you have expressed curiosity about my summer kitchen. When the weather gets too warm, I do everything I can here to stave off using the A/C.  This summer, though, it’s been used more than usual.

There is a small stand on the patio, just outside the back door, and next to it a former potting table/cart (on wheels) that a neighbor left out on the boulevard when they moved.

You can see from the photos some of the appliances and their homes. The toaster oven, when I bring it out for baking, stays on the stand to the left. There’s a large ceramic tile on top of the potting cart surface.

I do most of my prep work in the kitchen, and then bring the food out to cook outside. The flaw in this system is that in “high summer”, the back patio is not in shade except in early morning, and late afternoon. In the sun on a hot day it’s just too hot to be out there at all – I need to rig up an awning of some kind. So this works best in early and late summer, like later this week when temps will be low 80s.

We tried several chilled soups this summer, one of them being this one:

Chilled Cantaloupe Mint Soup
1/2 Medium cantaloupe, cut into chunks and pureed in blender with several mint leaves

Add and mix well:

1-1/2 Tbsp honey    (less if you used sweetened yogurt)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 – 8 oz container plain yogurt  (or sweetened yogurt and reduce the honey)
1/4 cup buttermilk , or 1/4 cup fruity white wine

Cover and chill 1 -2 hours before serving.
Garnish with fresh mint leaves, and float some blueberries if you have them.
Serves 2

What experiences have you had with outdoor cooking?
Have any good non-heated recipes to share?

2023, Family, Food, gardening, Mysteries, Nature

Overheard in the Raspberry Patch

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Man:  This is a good year – lots of good berries.
Woman:  That doesn’t mean we need more than usual.
Man.  I think it means exactly that!

Girl.  Yada, yada, yada, yada…..
Grandpa:  Just stop.
Girl.  Stop what?
Grandpa.  Talking.

Woman #1:  We ended up having to rent a u-haul to get everything to college.
Woman #2:  Makes you wish they would just go to college locally, doesn’t it?
Woman #1:  Absolutely not.  Two u-hauls would be OK with me!

Girl:  He’s throwing berries at me.
Boy:  I am not.
Girl:  Are too.
Boy:  Am not.
Field Worker:  Wouldn’t you rather just be eating them instead of throwing them?
Boy:  I’m only throwing the white ones.

And then awhile later…..

YA:  What are all those scratches on your arm?
Me:  From the raspberry brambles.
YA:  Why don’t you wear long sleeves when you pick?
Me:  Well, it’s hot and the scratches are kinda like badges of honor.
YA:  SIGH (and biggest eye roll this side of the Mississippi)

What shall we do with all the fresh raspberries this year?

2023, Family, home, Uncategorized, work

Plumbing With Mom

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We stopped in to see our son and his family in Brookings, SD on Saturday on our way back from Wisconsin. Son loves to cook, and had a great meal planned for Sunday night, but asked me to make mashed potatoes. I obliged, and after I got the potatoes peeled and on the stove I started to clean up after myself.

No one told me that the garbage disposal doesn’t work very well, and that son never puts potato peelings down it. It clogged up, and the grinders seemed stuck and wouldn’t turn, either. Son said that he put a bunch of coffee grounds and egg shells down the disposal earlier that morning, and blamed himself, not me, for the problem. He said he knew that he shouldn’t have put those down the disposal.

Son and I tried our best to fix things. Son tried using the plunger to loosen whatever was jammed in the grinders. We also used a shop vac to suck any debris out. I figured out we needed a 1/4 inch Allen wrench to stick in the bottom of the disposal under the sink to loosen the internal grinder blades, After multiple treatments, we actually got it to loosen up and keep running. Then, for some odd reason, the dishwasher automatically started and began discharging water in the disposal and filling the sink twice with water full of potato peels and coffee grounds.

The dishwasher is programmed to turn on if it senses water collecting in the bottom. Our efforts to get the disposal running had apparently caused the water we poured into the disposal to back up into the dishwasher. A special code kept appearing on the dishwasher electronic display indicating that it was trying to rid itself of excess water. We couldn’t see any excess water in the dishwasher. The dishwasher was our of commission. At least the sinkswere cleared and the disposal worked.

Son called a real plumber who came out the next day and who cleared out any peels and grounds clogging the dishwasher. It still flashed the special code. The plumber said it was an electrical programing issue, and to call the appliance store to send out a technician. That person will arrive next Monday. I told our son to order a better garbage disposal, and that I will pay for it.

What activities did you like doing with your parents? Ever considered being a plumber or electrician?

2023, Family, Food, TV

Cherry Bakewells

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Several months ago I watched several episodes of a show made in Britain called “Inside the Factory”.  It’s pretty interesting mostly because the host, Gregg Wallace has an infectious excitement.  The format has him following the manufacturing process of whatever item is showcased that week.  There are a couple of other actors who did other bit parts but Gregg is the main draw.

One of the episodes featured the Cherry Bakewell, which is a popular treat in the UK and Australia.  It is a pastry base, filled with a layer of raspberry jam, then a layer of frangipane (almond-flavored custard), then a layer of almond-flavored fondant icing and topped with half of a glace cherry (yes, that’s the only cherry involved).  They come six to a package and are the kind of thing you might put in your kid’s lunchbox or serve as an after-school treat.

Of course, after seeing the show I searched a bit to see if I could find Cherry Bakewells in the US.  It wasn’t a productive search and I gave up pretty quickly.  I’ve found the recipe online but it’s a little putzy so I haven’t attempted it yet.

Then I found out that YA would be going to Dublin for two weeks for work.  I still have contact with someone in Dublin who works for the DMC (destination management company) that BIW uses and I suggested to YA that I would ask my friend for a favor in finding Cherry Bakewells in Dublin for me.  YA wasn’t crazy about this but then I found out the client has brought in a different DMC for their program, so I let the project slide and then forgot about it.

Imagine my surprise when a few days after YA returned from Dublin, I found two boxes of Cherry Bakewells in the fridge.  Apparently the little pastries are not commonly found in Ireland but a more thorough internet search had turned them up here.  A late birthday gift.

I’ve been spreading out my enjoyment of the little tarts, so I actually have a couple left.  And while I am enjoying them, it’s not earth-shattering delight and I doubt I’ll ever order them again (the shipping probably cost more than the bakewells).  Maybe someday I’ll try whipping up a batch to see how they compare freshly made.  Maybe not.  But it’s been fun to try them and fun that YA remembered.

What kinds of things were in YOUR lunchbox as a kid?

2023, Family, Food, State Fair

Fair Food – A Review

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This is not only not a comprehensive look at the 2023 State Fair Food Offerings, it is also not objective or even fair.  Just reflections from YA and me.

Don’t Bother

Cheese Curd Dill Pickle Taco.  Sounds good on paper but dill pickle ends up taking away from the cheese curd taste.  It also made the fried taco shell really soggy really fast.

Sweet Corn Ba-Sant.  Marketed as a cross between a bagel and a croissant with a creamy corn custard, this didn’t live up to its hype.  Not a lot of custard and if there was corn in there, I couldn’t tell.  A little dry.

At Least Once Every Year

Sweet Martha Cookies.  Get these early (so you don’t have to wait in a long line) but only get what you think you (and any companions) can eat before the day is up.  Wonderful when warm but “meh” if you still have some around the next day.

Pickle Pizza.  So much better than you expect.  White sauce, garlic, dill and then the sliced pickles.  Not an every day taste, but fun at least once.

Hot Honey Cheese Sticks.  Strips of fried Haloumi cheese slathered with a hot honey sauce (and for some silliness, a sprinkle of honeycomb cereal).  Hot sauce on cheese might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it didn’t keep YA and I from having it for breakfast more than once.

Yes Yes Yes

Roasted Corn.  Fabulous as always.  Perfectly roasted, dipped in melted butter, salt and pepper.  What more is there to say?

Cheesy Siracha Bites.  Little ball of dough, deep fried and then covered with cheese, green onions and chives.  Served with a siracha sauce that is the perfect hot/not too hot blend.

Hawaiian Shave Ice.  Still the best way to cool down on a hot summer day.  Biggest shave ice on the fairgrounds.  I always do cherry and orange.

Sota Sammie.  Grilled sandwich with peanut butter, almond butter and fresh blueberry jam.  Sounds good and tastes even better.

Deep Fried Blueberry Pie.  Really, how can you go wrong with this.  Freshly fried blueberry hand pie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream.  This vendor added a cookie dough version of the pie this year but both YA and I say “why mess with perfection”?

Wedge-Hammer.  Refreshing combo of orange juice, lemonade, ginger and a splash of lime.  Not too sweet so just right for sipping in the sun.

Birthday Cake Mini Donuts.  The big surprise of the year, this new concoction turned out to be great!  The donuts themselves were a little fluffier than the usual mini donuts, doused with a cinnamon sugar mix and then drizzled with icing and sprinkles.  It was the consistency of the donuts that really made this a winner.

There were plenty of other foods and beverages over the visits we made, but we decided these were the highlights.

Can you stomach carnival/fair food?  Any favorites? Any really NOT favorites?

2023, animals, Business, Family, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Uncategorized, Weather

BLT – Bean, Layers, Tomato

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

Where are we with Growing degree units you might well ask. We are about 450 growing degree units above normal here in Rochester. Extremely hot days don’t add as much as you might think because typically the plants shut down over 86 degrees and below 50 degrees. 

Too bad the weeds never stop growing. I mentioned once before, my soybean fields have really filled in and from the road, although short, they look pretty good. Except for all the weeds. I’m really discouraged about all the weeds. If this was a normal year, I probably would’ve had a second application of herbicide applied. But this year, I can’t justify the cost. 

You can see from the photo, because the plant is so short, there’s not a lot of pods in the first place, and those pods that are in the bottom 3 inches are difficult to get in the combine because it doesn’t typically cut that close to the ground. I have talked before about guys rolling their fields after planting to help level them and to press rocks and such down into the soil. This is exactly why; to get as close to the ground as possible but still, it’s hard to get that low. 

And the beans that are there, are not very big. There just hasn’t been the moisture to develop and fill a bean.

The corn looks kind of rough from the hail as the leaves are shredded up, the ears are OK, except again, small, and not filled to the tip because of drought stress, and I expect the kernels will be small because again, not enough moisture to fill the kernel.

Notice the kernels on this ear and how the tip didn’t fill. Drought stress and the plant pulled resources from them to save the other kernels.

This ear is 13 rows around and 43 kernels long. Everybody remember our math from last year? 13×43 equals 559 kernels on this plant. 80,000 kernels per bushel (bushel meaning 56 pounds), means I need 143 ears to create a bushel, but if the kernels are small and light, it will take more than 80,000 to be a bushel. Be sure to subtract deer, raccoon, and turkey damage. This year will be what it is.

I made a little more progress on the shop. I have some of the two by fours installed on the walls that the interior steel siding will be fastened to. And electricians came back and installed the breaker box and some outlets. The other end isn’t hooked up at the pole yet, but he’s hoping to get that on Tuesday. 

Momma and the chicks are doing well. Kelly calls her ‘Mother Clucker’. How many chicks can you find in this photo? (She’s still got all 13) And the 4 young guineas are hanging out with the older guineas. And we like this batch of ‘mixed breed’ chicks from this spring. They have pretty plumage.

Kelly has one tomato plant, growing wild, and doing better than her plants in a pot.

Daughter waters the plants. She enjoys having chores. And it’s fun to watch her do it. She turns on hose, puts it in plant, thinks for a few seconds, counts “1,2,3…4,5……..6, 7…. 8…. 9,10” thinks for a second, takes hose out. Good thing the pots have drain holes in the bottom.

Last week I mentioned the lack of women behind the parts counters. I feel like I should clarify: There are a lot of women in agriculture. I just don’t often see them behind the counter. There are women who are large animal veterinarians. There are several women agronomist’s I work with and the lady who runs the Crop Insurance agency. There are a few women who are solo farmers and there are several on YouTube I follow. There are many out there working with their families and contributing as much as the men. I am in no way disparaging them. Being a farm wife is a huge task.

We used to have one woman farmer in our neighborhood. Rita. Hair all done up and nails painted and she ran the farm while her husband worked in town.

Kelly and I try to spend a few minutes in the evening sitting on our veranda without a roof watching the world go round.

Do you drink the recommended 15 cups of water in a day? Who do you know in non-traditional roles?