Feeling Old and Stupid

Sometimes, no matter how much I concentrate I just do not understand. It is not like the problem is something new... I am sure some of you know what I am talking about. The situations occur when you can't figure out how to turn something on and your daughter looks at you like you are really dumb and says "Mom, it's the universal symbol for ON & OFF ". Who knew there was a universal symbol for such a thing?

OR no matter what buttons you push on the tv remote you can't figure out how to get the tv back to being a tv - it is stuck in Guitar Hero mode. ( I am getting pretty good a playing "Slow Ride" but that is another story) And when you ask your other daughter to help you, she looks at you with pity in her eyes, pushes a couple buttons and in less than a second "poof" the tv is fixed.

There is one area I usually understand with no problem and that has been sewing. So, you can understand my distress today as I found an article on a craft blog titled Sewing with Deployable Structures . What? The only "deployable" thing I could think of was sending out the troops. My College Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary said "deploy was to spread out your troops to form an extended front". When I was teaching, some days I would have liked troops to cover my front but I still didn't understand how it related to sewing.

So I had to Google. It took a while as I filtered through articles about bridges and buildings until I found an article about structures that can folded small and then be opened. Ah Ha, Deployable Clothing. It sounds like a good idea to me. Nice for travel. I think they had clothing like this on The Jetson's. Jane and Geroge pushed buttons and the clothing got larger. The article focused mainly on hats. I don't think McCalls and Simplicity have patterns for this yet but at least I know what they are talking about now, not quite so old and stupid as I felt earlier in the day.

Martha Does It Again

Just when I thought Martha Stewart had glue gunned, glitter and gilted, collected, cooked and created about everything there was and ALSO tried to sell just about everything from flowers to furniture, I found this..... She is now into turkeys. Just in time for Thanksgiving too! Click HERE for the whole article.


Prices start at just $70 a turkey and include a FREE copy of Martha's "Turkey 101" and true recipes from Martha Stewart Living. I wonder what a "true" recipe is?

Mario Quilt Comics

I read a few web-based comics. Occasionally one of them chooses to cross the line from straight geek-centric to barely grazing the realm of "normal." Real Life Comics did so this week, touching on a topic I thought this group would enjoy. I present the Saga of the Mario Quilt:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

Since the last one was just posted today, I don't know whether or not the storyline will continue next week, but I couldn't wait any longer to share. Enjoy.

More Salsa

Last Friday, 10/09/09, my mom came over and helped me make salsa and stewed tomatoes. I froze 7 pints of salsa and pressure canned 7 quarts of stewed tomatoes. We also chucked a few bags in the freezer. Then, this past Sunday I pressure canned 7 more quarts of salsa. The thing is, we still have many, many, many tomatoes. Yikes!

Fresh Tomato Pie

I made this pie last Thursday and it was very good. Here is the recipe the way it was supposed to be and then with the changes I made:

Fresh Tomato Pie

2 c Bisquick

3/4 c milk

4 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick

1 green pepper, sliced

1 t dried basil

1 t dried chives

1 t dried parsley

1 1/2 c sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 c mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together Bisquick and milk. Press into bottom and up sides of a greased 9" pie plate. Layer the tomatoes and green pepper in the pie plate, sprinkling each layer with the herbs. Combine the cheese and mayonnaise and spread on top. Bake 20-35 minutes, until the crust and top are golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I did not have the chives or parsley, so I used the dried basil and some Italian seasoning. Also, I added more cheese.

I hope some of you will try it. If you do, let me know what you think. I believe I got this recipe from my aunt, or my cousin.

I'm on the Interwebs!

I haven't posted here in a while, and there's good reason for it: I've been busy! It's life at a startup: work as fast as you can when you have an idea, because someone else may have also had the idea, and you don't wan them eating your lunch.

For a glimpse and what I've been working so hard at, have a look at video of a presentation I gave at a conference last Monday. Response to that talk has been pretty awesome so far, so we continue to be excited about the future.

It's not all nose-the-grindstone every minute, though. Amanda and I are still cooking up a storm every chance we get. Pizza, bread, and pumpkins tonight. Sauerkraut, beer, and possibly grape jelly (with concord grapes -- from Concord!) tomorrow. We may even start the day with waffles and sausage if we're in the mood.

Speaking of jam, here's a picture of the raspberry jam Amanda promised a couple of weeks ago:

Sewing Produce Bags!

OK, about 75% of the time I remember to take my reusable bags to the grocery story. When I buy produce I hate those little plastic bags you have to put the veggies in. They are not even recyclable. Quite often I don't even use them and get odd looks when I lay my lonely unplasticized vegetable ( I only do ones with skin or peelings) on the checkout conveyor belt. So when I saw this idea, I was really excited. HERE is the whole article. I wonder how the mainstream grocery stores in FDL will respond to me bringing in my own produce bags?

Now, my only problem is that I don't have any basketball jerseys laying around to sew into produce bags. The idea of buying some at Goodwill to transport food in kind of gives me the creeps. I know, if I wash them in hot water they should be fine, but the thought of putting my lettuce in a bag that was once worn by some sweaty stranger just makes me uncomfortable. I wonder if there is some other material laying around my house that is lightweight, washable and breathable? Gives me something to think about.

North Fond du Lac Homecoming

Another Horace Mann Homecoming has been anxiously awaited, prepared for and now all that is left is the photos ( and the magenta under Rachel's arms which will be explained shortly)

A special shopping trip was made to ensure Josh's shirt coordinated with the dress. I Love Rachel's dress and hair. I wish she would wear that dress again.

Lots of activities and contests. Jackie's class actually had a float in the Homecoming Parade and stood to be announced during the game. Jackie will have to tell you about her Reunion.

I know this picture will make you dizzy but I liked it so much thought you all should see it. Everyone is very happy as the Junior Class won the Spirit Stick.

Left to Right, Becca, Jackie, Rachel and Abby

The shirts are the 2011 class colors. Purple and lime green. Wonder what flowers will be used at graduation next year?

Rachel and a bunch of kids ate at Red Robin's in Oshkosh. Red Robin serves Never Ending Drinks. Rachel enjoyed the "Never Ending Root Beer Float" while her friend Stephanie spilled her "Never Ending Lemonade" all over her own dress as well as Rachel's dress. And, of course then there was also a little rain shower on the way to the car.

Then there was the dance. The theme was "A Night in the Lights or something like that, the room was covered in black paper with about 50 black lights all over". During dinner and the drive to the dance Rachel worried the lemonade stain would show up under the black lights. It did not.




But, even worse Rachel's arms rubbing on the wet dress caused her upper underarms and armpits to stain a bright shade of magenta. She said it made dancing a problem--she had to keep her arms down. Even showering today has not removed the stain. Fun Memories.

Weekend in Chicago

I just spent five days in the "windy city" with my friends Jennifer and Marian.  We stayed with Pete's sister Mary, who is the hostess with the mostest!  What a fun time we had!  We spent an afternoon at the Shedd Aquarium, which has a wonderful new "oceanaruim" with whales and dolphins and lots of other creatures.  It was really cool!

Then we saw two shows that Mary recommended to us.  One was an Arthur Miller written in 1947 called "All my Sons".  It was very well acted with an excellent message.   And then we saw "The Million Dollar Quartet", which is the story of the December evening in 1954 (?) that Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins spent time together at the Sun Studio in Nashville just jamming and playing all their hits.  It was great music - and a rather touching story about all of them.  

 

We went to afternoon Tea at the Peninsula Hotel, which is right downtown next to the Water Tower Building.  It was lovely - tiny little sandwiches and scones and sweets - and as much tea as you wanted!  There were violin players in the balcony - just a lovely afternoon.  Even my friend Marian - who does not like tea! - said it was lovely and she would do it again.  

We also watched two movies - "Doubt" and "Revolutionary Road".  Both were very interesting and thought provoking.  It's always amazing how people can watch the same movies and come away with different messages!

And on Sunday afternoon we took a boat cruise down the Chicago River and out along the lakefront.   It was an "architectural tour" pointing out all the building/landmarks on the Chicago skyline.  It was a rather windy day, and when the boat got out into Lake Michigan, those waves whipped right over the side of the boat and we got soaked!  All in the fun!

I also learned why Chicago is called the "windy city"!  It isn't  because of the strong air currents!  It's because of the politicians from Chicago and their reputation as being very long-winded and loud!  

So it was a fun few days away!  And when we got back into Marshfield on Monday evening, it was so lovely to see our quiet streets where there are plenty of places to park and nobody charges you $$$$ so you can park and shop.  I'm glad I live here!!  

Our Garden

Well as happens this time of year in Northern Minnesota the threat of frost is upon us, so we have undertaken bringing the garden in.

Here are most of the ripe tomatoes, which will be turned into salsa next week.

As you can see we also have lots of green tomatoes. We will let some ripen, but I found a recipe for Green Tomato Relish that sounds tasty, so will try that.

We also have green beans. Not very many this year and most of them have gotten too big. I think I will just sort through them and see if there is a nice amount to have with supper. May try drying the large "bean seeds" and sprouting them.

We also grew some green peppers, shown here with the rest of the ripe and green tomatoes. Some of them got quite impressive and I will freeze those for stuffed green peppers later on. The rest will go into the salsa.

Today I will pick the Swiss chard and blanch and freeze that. The carrots will have to wait in the ground. Also the winter squash will wait until after frost.

Next week I am going to shred the huge zucchini, 2+ feet long, and make and freeze zucchini pancakes. Busy week ahead, but first fun at the shack.

Deanna