Category Archives: Gatherings

2026, Food, Gatherings, holidays, Uncategorized

Bottoms Up!

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Most of my friends and acquaintances know me well enough to know that New Year’s Eve does not find me out drinking and partying wildly.  The only time I’m up at midnight these days is if I need to make a trip down the hall in the middle of the night. 

I have only been drunk twice in my life.  The first time was when I was living in Northfield during the summer between what would have been my junior and senior year.  I was working at Ole Piper Inn and went to a party with my co-workers.  I hadn’t really had drunk much prior to that and there was a lot of mixing of different kinds of alcohol.  I woke up in my bed but don’t remember how I got there.  Keys were in my jacket pocket and the car was in the driveway – luckily nothing amiss. Thank goodness the party was only about 10 blocks from my apartment.

The second time was at a work party at the bakery in Milwaukee.   No memory loss this time (I remember the bus ride home from the bakery QUITE clearly) but I felt so awful the next day that I wished for memory loss.  It was after this horrible hangover that I decided that overdrinking was just not something I wanted to do. 

I’m not a teetotaler but I rarely have more than a glass of wine or one mixed drink.  It’s not hard as the taste of alcohol isn’t my favorite anyway.  Not imbibing much was a little challenging with clients over the years but nothing too awful.  The pressure that many people experience for not drinking in social settings hasn’t happened much to me; I’ve found that if I don’t call attention to my beverage in a party setting, most folks don’t even notice that I’m nursing one glass of wine for an hour or that I’ve switched to a non-alcoholic option.

All this is coming to mind because in addition to the New Year, I finally gave in and let the Medicare/BCBS home wellness visit happen last week. It was easy enough, no invasive stuff and only took about 30 minutes. The nurse practitioner asked me all the same questions that the doctor asks every year at my usual wellness checkup.  When he got to the “how often to you drink alcohol” question I hesitated after saying “one or two” and he immediately filled in with “a day?”.  I laughed and said “no, probably one or two every two or three months”.  I had hesitated because I was trying to decide between two to three months and three to four months.  He clearly didn’t believe me.  I reported that I had just had a glass of wine the Saturday before at my party but that I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d had any alcohol.  Maybe Blevins back in September? 

He did write down 2-3 months, although I’m not sure he really thought that was the truth.  Oh well.

Did you party last night?  What makes for a good celebration in your opinion? 

2025, Gatherings, Music, Uncategorized

Community Music

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I know that November and December are very busy seasons for musicians, but I have been astounded by the number of musical performances by local musicians since we moved here. When I grew up here, all the music was in the school and the churches.

In the last two weeks there have been musical performances by a variety of groups downtown in stores, in outdoor public performance spaces, and in the Palace, the old Vaudeville theatre. They performed in the snow storms. The music ranged from classical, folk, and rock. Children and adults have been playing and singing all around town. The school is having concerts.

Next Sunday, there is a big concert of a variety of musicians at the Senior Center. We bought tickets to attend. I signed Husband up for guitar lessons at the local music school. Is this typical for small town Minnesota? Our ND town was extremely musical, but not like this.

What is your favorite holiday music? What would you like to perform or hear?

2025, Family, Food, Gatherings, Uncategorized

Soaking Up The Ambience

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We have been in our new home for almost a month, and find the community and people friendly and accommodating. We spent the last almost 40 years living among ranchers, oil workers, and people descended from a Black Sea immigrants. The latter are somewhat short and Roman Catholic. Now we live in an area settled by Germans, Norwegians, and Dutch immigrants. There are lots of Lutherans and Dutch Refomed here. There are lots of tall, blondes here. The Lutheran Church we attend and that I grew up in was founded by Norwegians. It was surprising when we attended last week to hear the loud and intune singing from the whole congregation. The local high school here had to start a new men’s choir this fall since so many of the boys wanted to sing. This is a very musical community.

Husband and I are amazed how often the city puts out street sweepers and machines that suck up piles of leaves that people have raked into the street. We usually just ignore the leaves. Husband felt compelled to rake since everyone else was doing it almost every day. He blames the Dutch influence for this street cleaning obsession.

Husband was excited to find Aquavit in the local liquor store. It was impossible to find out west. He went full Scandanavian by getting lingonberries and pickled herring, both easy to find in the stores here. We also have a local brewery that makes a German type beer that Husband likes. We rolled and fried 75 sheets of lefse last Saturday, so we are ready for a SW Minnesota winter. I draw the line at lutefisk.

How are you influenced by your neighbors? How comfortable are you singing aloud in church or other public settings?

2025, books, Fantasy, Food, Gatherings, Mysteries

When the Moon Hits Your Eye..

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If  you don’t like this post – it’s Jacque’s fault!

As those of you in Blevins know, I sometimes like to bring something for the potluck that aligns somehow with one of the books we’ve read or is a favorite of the author.  Walter Mosley got espresso chocolate brownies.  Louise Penny got miniature croissants with chocolate sauce on the side.  For the book Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos I was very pleased with my cupcakes adorned with shards of “glass” – made by melting Jolly Rancher candies and then breaking it up into sharp-looking pieces.

This month I was in the mood to do something fun but wasn’t sure what to make.  I didn’t think I’d get an answer in time from John Scalzi about his favorite food and I figured the only way I would find out about Mary Shelley’s favorite would be if she communicated from beyond the grave.  Not my cup of tea.

I decided that moon pies would be fun, except that all the commercially available moon pies have gelatin in them- that’s why I haven’t had a moon pie since I was a kid.  So I headed to the internet and found a relatively straightforward recipe using marshmallow cream.  Marshmallow cream is easy to make but purchasing a jar of marshmallow cream from the grocery store is even easier.  I made the graham biscuit dough, rolled it out, cut it with a crimped cutter and baked.  That turned out to be the easy part.  Marshmallow cream is incredibly futzy to work with.  First I tried to pipe it from a pastry bag, but getting the cream into the bag was just about impossible and having a star piping tip was worthless as the cream settled into a star-less blob anyway.  I abandoned the bag and just used a spatula but at this point had cream all over.  I had to put the sandwiches in the freezer for a bit and then I started the chocolate.  I was really having trouble just dipping the whole cookie so I switched to icing the top and the sides with a spatula instead.  I had chocolate EVERYWHERE (think both hands, handle to the double boiler, the counter, spoon, the spatula, the floor….).  I had to use my teeth to pull up my sleeves at one point.  There’s something to be said about having stuff made in factories with enrobing machines:

But in the end, it was very satisfying to make them and they turned out to taste great… quite rich so if I ever try this again, I’ll make them smaller.  Of course, we’ll have to read another book about the moon!

Tell me about a favorite book and what food you would bring to represent it to a potluck!

2025, Family, Gatherings

Marry Girl Cake

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My next-door neighbors’ son is getting married right after Christmas.  He met his fiancée when he was stationed in Taiwan a few years ago (Marine).  They moved here early last year after he retired; yes, that’s right, you get to retire from the Marines when you’re 30 if you join up right after high school.  He’s attending the Carlson School of Business for his MBA and she’s working in financial planning. 

Zander and Nina will be getting married in Taiwan, where her family still lives.  Apparently there are quite a few “traditions” that weddings incorporate in Taiwan, even in this day and age.  This is from their wedding website:

The wedding ceremony then will begin with a “bride pick-up” ceremony (迎娶), where the groom arrives at the bride’s home with music, groomsmen, and playful games. After the groom complete the “mission,” they travel together to the groom’s house. A tea ceremony follows, where the couple serves tea to elders in exchange for blessings and red envelopes.  The evening ends with a lively banquet, sometimes held outdoors as a traditional 流水席 (Liúshuǐxí), filled with delicious dishes, toasts, and laughter. Of course, mostly seafood in Taiwan.

Another tradition that wasn’t listed on the website was the sending out of engagement cakes – see the photo above.   YA and I are not invited – obviously it’s a small number of folks heading to Taiwan from the US the day after Christmas for this wedding.  This doesn’t bother me – I would have been shocked to be included and we couldn’t have afforded it anyway.  But it was nice that my neighbors brought us over an engagement cake (called “marry girl cake” in the past) which are sent out by the bride’s family to announce the upcoming nuptials.  I looked up the label to find out it was a red bean variety but then YA translate-googled the Chinese ingredient list and found out it also has pork.  So we got to admire it, but didn’t eat it.

Weddings are way down on my list of favorite things.  Way down.  Too much pomp, too much emphasis on the day and not the life afterwards, too much expense, too much “it’s the bride’s day”.  My first wedding was pretty much run by my mother; I made a few key decisions but she took care of everything else.  It was too big as far as I was concerned but at least it was very low key.  My second wedding was at a table at Good Earth; the judge joined us but didn’t stay for lunch.  Our witnesses were our waiter Philip and the waitress Sarah from the next section over.  The restaurant gifted us with a little centerpiece and comped our dessert.  Even though the marriage didn’t go the distance, I’m still happy with the memory of that wedding day.

YA will not expect a big flashy wedding from me… if she ever ties a knot.  I’ve been sending her psychic messages for years…. just one word…. “elope”!

Any good wedding stories?

2025, Business, Family, Food, Gatherings

Super Mercado!

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I’m pretty sure that not too many people see grocery-shopping as an exciting activity.  Well, count YA and I as the outliers.  For some reason over the years, we have cultivated grocery-shopping as an activity we like to do together.

Our favorite is Trader Joes.  We especially like to go every couple of months when the new round of items hits the stores.  We go through the Fearless Flyer that TJs sends out and highlight stuff that looks good.  Sometimes, if I just want a couple of things, I don’t tell YA that I’m going to Trader Joes; if she comes along, it will triple the bill at the register.

The spot where Rainbow Foods used to be in the Hub Shopping Center near our house has been empty for seven years.  A couple of times there were signs for temporary spots, like a Halloween store, but they never materialized.  When construction started to happen almost a year ago, we were both excited to see what was happening there and then doubly excited when we found out it was going to be a Mexican market, bakery and taqueria.  Unfortunately, it took WAY too long to open, so I had put my excitement on the back burner.  Finally, about a month ago, it was clear from the trucks in the parking lot that progress was finally happening. 

The grand opening was this past Saturday.  Prizes, giveaway, samples, a bouncy house, mariachis and native dancers made it a big party.  And it was CROWDED.  The opening was at noon and we arrived at 1.  Thank goodness for my bad knees and temporary handicap parking placard; we would have had to have parked in Iowa otherwise.  And forget getting a shopping cart.  Luckily YA and I didn’t have any big shopping plans so we just used a big bag that we had in the car.

Lots of nice-looking produce, a massive dairy/cheese aisle and two bakery sections, one with cakes, pies and then the self-serve bakery aisle …. I don’t even have the words

There were plenty of mainstream items alongside the Latino foodstuffs you would expect to find.  A big endcap of Mary statuettes and a long row of Mary and other religious paintings above the front windows.  They even have a Currency Exchange office.  The taqueria was doing a bang-up business, as well as the deli.  The tortillaria, where they will make fresh corn and flour tortillas is still in the works and should be open in a couple of weeks.  You could see that area and the machines waiting to get set up.  Since I’ve quit making my own tortillas, I can’t wait.

Anyway, YA and I had a fun time.  We picked up a few items that I needed for a soup I wanted to make but didn’t partake of any on-site food – just too crowded, even for us.  But my guess is that in the next few weeks, as the hoopla dies down, this will be another grocery shopping venue that YA and I will add to our events catalog!

If a tomato is a fruit, does that make ketchup a smoothie?  Any good grocery shopping stories?

2025, Family, Food, Gatherings, holidays, home, Kids, Uncategorized

Thanks

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I have purposely chosen to not write about Halloween today, as it seems to me we have enough horror and fear around us. Instead, I wanted to let Baboons know what I am thankful for right now.

First, I am thankful to all the Baboons for putting up with all the posts I have written over the past several months about moving. I am sure they were getting pretty tedious to read. Moving is over, and now we are getting settled and organized. Not much more needs to be said about it.

I am also thankful for the increased time with our son and his family. We saw them yesterday in Sioux Falls and I got the best smiles from our 3 month old granddaughter.

Thanksgiving is four weeks away, and our son has requested a particular brined turkey ala Alton Brown, homemade French bread, and various other side dishes. Son and family, along with my best friend, will spend Thanksgiving weekend with us. I am so excited to cook in our new kitchen.

Finally, I am thankful that the court hearing Husband was to testify remotely at yesterday was settled on Wednesday afternoon. He had done a parental capacity evaluation on the parent in hot water with a central ND county. Now he is officially done working.

What are you thankful for these days. What are your Thanksgiving plans?

2025, education, Family, Gatherings, sports, Uncategorized

Bowl

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I see that today in 1520 is the anniversary of Henry VIII ordering that a bowling alley be installed in his palace at Whitehall. I imagine it was an outdoor lane for lawn bowling, but even so it reminded me of my bowling experiences.

I noticed last week as we were driving around Luverne that the bowling alley was still a going concern, although it is only open Thursday through Saturday these days. I never belonged to a youth bowling league, but the bowling alley was a place to go to have fun when I was in high school. I don’t remember it serving anything but snacks and simple beverages. My mother belonged to a bowling league, and I remember how heavy her bowling ball seemed to me when I was a child when I would take it out of its bag in her closet.

The bowling alley in Dickinson is a really busy place that doubles as a bar and restaurant. There are very active bowling leagues for adults and children. It also is the stop for the buses that run east and west across the state. The police have their hands full there. A work colleague’s husband was attacked and robbed in the parking lot by a couple of Montana guys recently who he met bat the bar and had a couple of drinks with.

One of my high school classmates had a dad who was a professional bowler who seemed to earn a living bowling competitively. I remember seeing him on TV in bowling matches. I don’t think that is a thing anymore. What a way to make a living!

When I started as a freshman at Concordia College in Moorhead. MN, we had to take two semesters of physical education. I opted for bowling for my first gym class. It was taught by Sonny Gullsvig, the college basketball coach, at a local bowling alley. I will never forget Coach Gullsvig instructing us in his coaching voice as though he was in the Concordia gym ” FIRST YOU TAKE THE BALL AND TOSS IT DOWN THE ALLEY….” I skipped class a lot and ended up with a “C,” in the class.

What are your bowing memories? Ever hang out at a bowling alley?

2025, Family, Gatherings, Kids, Travel, Uncategorized

Old Town, New Bottle

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It has been interesting being in Luverne this weekend as I get to know the place again. When I grew up here I never bothered to associate street names with places or landmarks, so when I am told that City Hall is on Luverne St., it means nothing, but when I am told City Hall is in the old hospital, then I can find it no problem.

There are more coffee shops now, as well as a Mexican grocery store. I ran into a couple of people who knew who I was after I introduced myself, although their memories of my dad are fresher than their memories of me. I recognize familiar faces but don’t have names for them yet.

Two people stopped by the new house when they saw we were parked in the driveway. One was a neighbor who I knew from high school, and the other was the former owner. Both told us they had been keeping an eye on the place until we moved in. The former owner was able to tell us the garage door code and said her husband would come over to help navigate the very complex sound and video system set up throughout the house. We feel very welcome.

Last evening we ate at a very fine Italian restaurant in Sioux Falls with our daughter, son, grandson, and daughter-in-law. It was at the hotel we are staying at this weekend. We struck up a conversation with the waitress, a young woman in her late 20’s. She grew up in Luverne, knew my dad, and went to high school prom with my Cousin Jack’s son. She was going to drive to Luverne after work to visit her parents. She said she visits there a lot and would see us around town. I feel connected with new and old.

What are positive and negative changes over the years in your community? When have you experienced old wine in new bottles?

2025, Gatherings, Uncategorized

Quilts

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Last Sunday, we sang in the choir at the 9:30 service, and were acknowledge for 38 years of musical service to the church in both the choir and bell choir. They even had a God’s Speed blessing for us, which I had no idea they were going to do. After that, we were expected to sing a choir anthem all about leaving and journeying. It is awfully hard to sing when you are choked up.

We have committed quilters in our various musical groups, and they gifted us with a queen size quilt with musical motifs. It is gorgeous, and you can see it in the header photo. As soon as I took the photo, our dog jumped on the quilt and snuggled in, claiming it for his own.

What motifs would be on a quilt someone made for you to commerate your work and life? How do you keep yourself from crying?