Trails, Trails EVERYWHERE! I LOVE FALL!

Brilliant Maples and Blue Sky, you can smell the air! I LOVE FALL! I LOVE FALL!!! I've been trying to get out at least once, if not twice a day lately for a good hike. The weather has been spectacular here; the leaves are falling, the colors on the bluffs are gorgeous, the air is dry and crisp and clean, the skies are brilliant blue, the squirrels are busy, and my dog is smilin' every minute of it!

There are literally dozens of hiking trails in the parks around this little town, and all of them have their own beauty. One of my favorite hikes takes me high above a fresh, spring-fed trout stream, through a hardwood forest up into a gathering of some of the tallest white pines you'll ever see. There's a picnic table way up at that top most point where I can lay down and look straight up into those majestic pines gently moving with the wind. It seems each of them has their own personality. It is up there where I feel the closest to my parents, if I listen quietly enough to the wind, they are often in it.
Another of my favorite trails first goes through a wildflower filled field, along another spring-fed creek, over two wooden walking bridges and up into a dense forest. The pathway up into the forest is an old access road for the farm that used to be up there and is covered with limestone rocks, many of which are fossils. This path eventually leads to a grassy meadow lined by brilliant red and orange sumac trees. Every year I'm awed at how intense the red of a sumac can get. Through the meadow and into another one of the area's white pine forests, the trail now a soft bed of fallen brown pine needles. I can see shallows here and there where the deer had bedded down just the night before, or perhaps they very quietly got up just as I was approaching, the scent on the wind giving away my human presence. This huge stretch of bluff land full of trails was given to the city several years ago by a local family. What a great way to share their good fortune with their community.


The trout stream, rich green scents combined with the crispy smell of fallen leaves.

One of the ravines I pass on a trail, always makes me think of the feminine in nature. Someday, you'll see another photo of this same ravine with additions, but you'll just have to stay tuned to my blog to see what I'm talking about doing someday.
One morning, there were literally hundreds of these newly spun webs along each side of the trail, and every single one of them was strung with pearls of dew. It was a magical morning!
Each year I go through the same emotions about Fall, the strongest feeling being, "couldn't it last just a month longer?" That's not to say I don't love the white beauty that winter brings with her, but Fall needs to be appreciated longer; maybe that's why we love it so much, we know how fleeting it can be! So, before the brilliance of the sumac is dulled by the cold and the bright yellow of the sugar maple turns to brown, GO OUT AND TAKE A HIKE!!! (Don't forget the dog and kids!)
Morning mist over the river. The sun is just beginning to burn it off for the day.

A FRUITCAKE YOU'LL ACTUALLY LOVE!

Okay, MnMom, you'd actually LOVE this fruitcake! No dates, not nuts, no raisins, and it wasn't baked in a tin can! Ymmmm, ymmmmm. MG, next time you're in town, you'll have to stop by for another slice!

Palin Schmalin' and McCrusty

I'm sick of the whining, the "thanks but no thanks" lies, the glasses, the scary religious zealots, the anti-choice/anti-women stance, . . . everything about this ticket just simply stinks. People in other countries favor Obama 4 to 1 over McCain!!! This should tell us something folks! Please make this nightmare end, ELECT OBAMA!

RNC Spectacle

Like most of you, I've been glued to my TV the last few nights watching the spectacle called the Republican National Convention and trying to keep the vomit from coming up into my mouth. It's kinda like when you were a kid and just had to stick your finger into your belly button and then smell it, you knew it was going to stink really badly, but you just couldn't help yourself . . . that's how I felt this week, I just had to watch it. And now, my convictions in my vote for Obama have been cemented, my energy to volunteer and be active in the campaign have been re-charged, and I'm going to do everything I can in my little corner of the country to ELECT BARACK OBAMA!!! I could go on and on and on about how misguided and out of touch the republicans have become, but instead I'll simply direct you to my sister's blog HAPPY TO BE FROM IOWA, where she has covered it all for us. Thanks sis!!

Too busy to blog!

I'm taking a blogging break in the interest of finding something more to do that actually makes money. NO MORE VOLUNTEERING FULL TIME FOR EVERY REQUEST THAT COMES MY WAY! With three children's mouths needing ortho work, three college's tuition to cover some day, and just simple maintenance on our home, it's time to get more serious about making some REAL extra money around here.

Check back in a few months, maybe I'll have something of interest to say. Thanks!!

NORDIC FEST 2008!

Nordical Festicles Photos Coming Soon!

KRUMKAKE SEASON! UFF-DA!

It is that time of year again, the annual baking of the Krumkake! Our little town sponsors an annual Norwegian Festival complete with baked samples of; krumkake, lefse, lutefisk, rommegrot, sandbakkels, kringle, and meatball sandwiches to name just a few. There's also Norwegian folk dancing, a huge parade, lutefisk* eating contest, canoe races, bunad shows, and tons of live music up and down the main street. (*Lutefisk tastes and looks like rancid wallpaper paste, not that I've ever tasted rancid wallpaper paste, but I did try lutefisk once and that is exactly how I imagine it would taste!)

Each year I bake many dozens of Krumkake for this festival, (pronounced kroom-kaka, not crumb cake!) This is a treasured cookie bake by only a handful of people anymore, (and some of those who bake them - shouldn't!) This cookie is supposed to be very light and crispy, rolled on a slightly tapered cone. Some "bakers" in these parts try to pass off a very heavy, soggy krumkake as the real deal. Shame on them. If you ever come around here and are served one of those soggy things, demand your money back and move on to the lefse or varmepolse booth! But if you are lucky enough to get a really well baked Krumkake, a light crispy one that crumbles upon the first bite, you've got the real thing! Savor it!

For those of you who feel adventurous enough to try them at home, here's how it's done! ENJOY!!

First, gather the ingredients (which, by the way, are basically the same ingredients for most all of the Norwegian treats, just baked differently!) You'll need flour, sugar, eggs, milk or half & half and/or cream, butter (REAL BUTTER, NO MARGARINE ALLOWED!!!), cardamon or vanilla extract or lemon extract.

And, most importantly, you'll need a krumkake iron, available online or in an import shop. The best brand I've found is the Nordicware brand, to be used over a burner on your stove top. Some people also use the double electric models, but I prefer to use the stove top method, not because it's any better, it's just what I've always done.

You'll also need a krumkake roller. These are a couple that my dad made for me 25 years ago or more on his lathe. Some irons come with a wooden roller, or you could have someone make you one. They taper from 1 1/2 inches down to about 3/4 of an inch.














Krumkake Recipe:
2 eggs, beaten until lemon yellow.
1 cup sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract, or lemon extract, or cardamon
1 stick melted and cooled butter

Beat together above until blended.

Add to egg mixture alternately:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 scant cup milk

Put batter in refrigerator overnight to let all air bubbles work their way out. This will prevent your cookie from having a very fragile lacy edge and instead have a strong solid edge.

To bake:
Put on your favorite CD or plug in your IPod, because you have to stand at your counter/stove top for the next hour without leaving! Heat the krumkake on stove top on medium high heat. Frequently turning from one side to the other to heat each side evenly. Brush a small amount of butter on your iron when heated then blot off excess.

Put about 1 rounded teaspoon of batter on the iron, immediately gently squeeze the iron shut, keep gently squeezing until you feel a very slight release of steam or the batter puff up just a hair. Let cook for a few seconds, maybe 10, then turn the iron over and bake another 20 seconds or so. Check the cookie, it should be very, very slightly tan, NOT DARK BROWN and NOT PURE WHITE. I usually burn my first cookie in each batch because the iron is too hot or because I don't turn the iron over soon enough. Just keep trying, you'll find the perfect timing on your own iron after a few burned cookies or a few undercooked cookies. Be patient, it takes practice!

When the cookie is baked to the right color, immediately remove it with a spatula to a nearby towel on the counter top and roll it IMMEDIATELY around your cone, be sure you tuck in the end so that while it cools it does not become unrolled. Let it cool on the cone while you start the next cookie. Take it off the roller when you turn the iron over for the next cookie. Let cooked/rolled krumkake cool completely and then place in an AIR TIGHT container or tin. You can separate each layer with waxed paper to protect cookies from breaking. Be sure to have your AC on when baking these or do it on a very cool, dry morning in Iowa. If it's too humid in the kitchen, they will get soggy very quickly.

They can be stored for months if they are in an AIR TIGHT container!!

ENJOY!

Wall-E, zzz zzz zzz

Took the kids to see Wall-E at the movie theatre tonight. I'd love to give y'all a movie review, but I slept through most of it. (This should come as no surprise to my family) :)

A Day at the Pool . . .

My niece (Happy to be from Iowa's youngest girl) is staying with us for a week, VERY FUN! I took them to the public pool today and let me tell you, the young mom's these days are frickin' too skinny! They must be on the "one pill a day with my diet soda" diet, they are simply bones with a thin layer of stretched malnourished flesh over them. Don't these women know they'll have osteoporosis as older women? Don't they know it's NORMAL to have a few pieces of evidence left on their bodies from childbirth? Don't they miss a good bite of a cheeseburger or a big glass of red wine? What the he** does their partner hold onto or hug when intimate? Those bones have got to hurt!

And the rudeness of kids now! Where are the parents?? The kids in the snack shack area leave wrappers from their candy and containers from their nachos all over the tables and the ground -- the trash cans are only 8 feet away! Back in the day we didn't dare litter! It wasn't cool to be a 'litter bug', and remember the Native American chief with the big tear running down his cheek as he observed the litter and pollution around him?! We need some kind of campaign like that again. And parents need to parent these kids!

Oh no, I'm sounding old and crotchety! Make mommy another martini, honey. Hurry.

STAY TUNED - KRUMKAKE "HOW TO" COMING SOON TO THIS BLOG!!

Unitarian-Universalist Humor

While preparing a lecture I have to give at our local UU church, I found this very funny UU joke on the internet:

"Have you heard about the latest UU miracle?"

"Someone claims to have seen the face of Ralph Waldo Emerson on an organic whole wheat tortilla"


I'm using it today. Know others? Send them on!

Iowa Summer Days - PERFECTION!

Summer has finally arrived here in Northeast Iowa! The flood waters have receded, the weeds are in their full dance of growth, our black lab is lounging in the shade under our mini-van in the driveway, baseball season is nearly over, the air conditioners are humming away, we're all out of sparklers, the river is ripe for kayaking, canoeing, or tubing, and the deep freeze is full of ice cream treats of one kind or another. WE LOVE SUMMER! This photo was taken last February of our very white, sun-seeking feet on the white sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast in Florida. I hope we can get down there again this winter, it REALLY helps to get a dose of summer in the middle of Iowa winters. If only we could bottle up these wonderful Iowa summer days we're having right now and pull them down off the shelf like a well worn board game every once in a while in winter. Well, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. So for now, we enjoy and breathe deeply each and every glorious Iowa summer day - fresh green, clean clear blue, perfection.

Fairy Houses!

I had so much fun today! There's a great group of parents and kids in our little corner of paradise that put together a 'summer camp' each year. For four days, over 40 kids ages 6 - 13 spend their summer days out at a local campsite doing various fun projects each day. This year's activities included; 'fun with liquid, solid, and gas', baking cookies with a solar oven, making organic chocolate truffles and a chocolate house, cray-pas mandala creations, designing and building a huge temporary (over 20 feet!) play structure out of cedar trees complete with a see-saw and swing, making molds of wild animal tracks in the woods, tye-dye techniques, acrylic painting of self-portraits and a large group mural, fairy house construction, three-legged stool construction, and dance/movement. (I want to attend an adult version of this!)
Clipping the willow branches until they're just right.
This fairy house is made entirely of animal bones he found in the woods! (Except the small human skull, I hope!)

This little girl wanted the wind to blow the bottle caps on this fairy house to make them jingle.

I created this fairy house to use as an example for the kids. It's not yet complete, but stay tuned there will be many more photos coming in August after the "Fairy Chairity" event! You'll be treated to some pretty elaborate creations at that time, by artists throughout the area!
My friend Gail, the fairy house guru, created this one, complete with little eggshells at the entryway.
Notice the raindrops on this house. He covered it later with more of them made out of hot glue.
Is there some mystical symbolism here with the rib bone topper?


Close-up of the entryway of this fairy house. Love the black fur door mat, every house should have one!

We had a great time! The houses will all be placed in the kids' gardens at their homes and wait for a fairy to move into them. I'll let you know if there are any fairy sightings soon!