consignment shopping

I swore a few weeks ago that I was not bringing one more piece of clothing into my house but today, I made a visit to Encore in Mankato where I purchased four skirts, two belts, and two tops for 80 dollars. I also made an appointment to go back with what I clean out of my closet. Ha!

I like to do that thing where you find a look for two hundred dollars and reproduce it with thrift and consignment store purchases for twenty. I'm not sure I did a great job but I did a passable job. What a hoot.

Because I like to shop at this store so much, I brought a birthday party invitation to one of the employees. Another woman (about my age) asked me if this was our 60th wedding anniversary party. WTF lady.

As promised, the revised flashlight collection.

We watched a movie from the 70s last night and ten minutes from the end, I learn that the main character does not make it out of the movie alive. I hate that. I like more redemption in my entertainment, meaning that I like to have things end in a rosy and uplifting manner. Don't give me that shit that real life isn't like that...it is if I believe it is.

So, now Regis wants me to go and see a futuristic  movie where lots of people kill each other and plot to kill the ones who aren't dead yet. Yeah. What a nice way to spend an afternoon. I told him I would give it a whack but I have been known to take long naps in movies like this. I didn't make it through one of the Lord of the Rings movies without a nap. Too many sword fights for my taste.

The weather will be gorgeous tomorrow. My bike is getting tuned up and I am going off on some errands. Look for me pedaling down the street.

dog treats

Regis and I made homemade dog treats this afternoon. It was a rainy day and we felt like puttering in the kitchen. Dog treats are as good as anything. They were easy and the recipe made a lot of treats. Gus had a few of them and now he's taking a nap behind the chair.

middle of the night

In the middle of the night, Regis shouts, "Wake up! Somebody's coming to the door!" I gasp and sit up because I see a flashing light. I look toward the curtained window and see zombies. I realize the light is my cell phone and that Regis is dreaming. With a pounding heart, I spend the next hour waiting for the Ambien to take effect and writing this sentence in my head.

I had my annual check-up with my head doctor yesterday. She's retiring the end of the month so unless I feel myself really whacking out, I'll move on without her. She has helped me sort through a lot of stuff in my life. I hugged her when I left and thanked her for her part in my happiness. I'll miss her as a friend and as a professional therapist.

When we dropped Gus off at Young Regis's house the other day, my husband spotted this flashlight hanging by their door. Regis loves flashlights. Put flashlight in the blog search bar and see what you get. It's a long-standing obsession for him which he compares to my shoes and boots but I said you can only use one flashlight at a time.

So, he had to order this flashlight. I knew he wouldn't be able to resist it.

Rayovac SE4W3C Sportsman Xtreme 3C 4-Watt LED Metal Flashlight

This was his collection in 2007.

I'm going to ask him to photograph the current collection today. (He claims that none of these flashlights in the photo are currently in use.) If any of the other Fritsch men are reading this, here's the challenge. Take a picture of your flashlight collection and email it to me. I'll post them here. It's a flashlight-off!


We watched the episodes of Cheers last night where Woody and Kelly get married. It's about twenty years old but we laughed until we cried, just like we did the first time we watched it. Carla going up and down in that dumb waiter is about the funniest thing ever.

We have a group of thirty people, in the age range of 65-70 coming into the coffee shop today. Of course, the twenty-somethings I work with are ready to get out the wheel chairs and walkers. Ah, to be young and think that everyone older than you is old. I don't think anyone is old anymore.


Going the Pulse this morning, then to work. Hope those old people can make it in the door. Hahaha!

driving and abandoning books

If you put each person's quirky habits on a Venn diagram, would it look like this?

I abandon books rather quickly. Right now, there are about three books that are on the edge for different reasons. Do I have a short attention span?

My driving habits don't fit for someone with SAS (short attention span). I like to pick a lane and a spot (behind a truck) and stay there. I could drive all the way to South America in the same lane, if it were possible. Is it?

Oh, shit. I just read on Facebook that today is Meatless Monday and I just finished putting the biggest meatloaf ever (stuffed with provolone and prosciutto ham) into the oven. It's made from real beef from real cows out by LeCenter so maybe that gives me a few points. Sometimes too much information is too much information, right?

I woke up early and worked out with Rachel. She had me doing some sadistic exercise where I had to drag my whole body across the studio floor with my hands. Am I too old for this?

This is not me. I don't know who this woman is...I just grabbed her picture off the internets so don't write me and complain about it. It looks to me like she's trying to crawl over to that bar which might be a good idea. I think I'll suggest that next time.

I worked all morning on stuff I have been putting on a list of things to do and then forgetting about anyway. Then I tried to take a nap but the wind and the heat are disturbing. My neighbors daffodils came up almost overnight and now they're already almost dead. They lived three days tops. What the hell. Last year, my daffodils lasted almost a month. It was cool and wet, if you recall.

Regis is in the other room watching The Walking Dead. I don't have much of an interest in zombies. Or futuristic things. He asked me if I wanted to go see The Hunger Games. I asked what it was about and I really only wanted a one sentence answer like this: It's about a group of people in the future. I would have said nah, I don't want to see that. I have as narrow a menu of movies that I like as books. No violence, no murder, no mayhem, no futuristic stuff. I like reality and not much of it. Ha!

My cousin is in Florida visiting friends. She sent me a picture of a woman is going to be 104 on Saturday. I won't publish the picture because that might violate her privacy but I will tell you she is gorgeous, dressed in lively colors and a big hat. After she posed for a few pics, she asked Deb to take a picture of a hot guy by the pool in swim trunks. That is some spirit!

I just rediscovered Mark Knopfler. I have several of his CDs but they are buried in a box somewhere I can't find them. I have uploaded a lot of music to the cloud, whatever that means, so I found them there. Thank God for the cloud, whatever that is. Check out this Dilbert cartoon if you have wondered the same thing.

Does anybody else think the birds sound crazy? My theory is that it's early spring so the trees of full of those creepy birds like grackles, starlings, and red winged blackbirds. Usually, it's colder so we have the windows closed but with the weather so unseasonably warm, the doors and windows are open and it sounds like a bird revolution. The grackle is some bad ass bird. This one is giving the evil eye.

Don't make eye contact if you see them outside!

st. patty's day

Here's the Guinness Chocolate Cake. It popped right out of the pan but then I had a little trouble with the ganache. It got good reviews, though, and I took slabs of it to the neighbors in my shamrock apron.

Here we are at the parade. I'm going to write a separate review of the parade which I did not enjoy very much this year and I don't want to cast a pall over a normally cheerful holiday post by being cranky.

Ella and Elliot trying to keep the sand out of their eyes.

The guy in the green top hat had one of the best costumes...green jacket and knee pants, boots, and the giant top hat. It was too windy and too crowded to bother with a better photo. That's Mary's Flowers van in the background. Mary...where fun and flowers meet.

I put corned beef and carrots and onions in the crock pot in the morning, added cabbage about noon and when I came home from the parade, we had this delicious dinner with a nice chunk of soda bread.

On second thought, here is my list of grievances regarding the parade. Please remember that this is not a scientific study and most of this information is presented as exaggeration for effect.

1. First of all, it was very windy and humid. This is a problem for several reasons one of which is my costume. I have green and white striped tights and green and white arm warmers, a red wig, and a felt derby. It was too hot for most of that and a partial costume is just...a partical costume.
2. The heat and the wind made for little gusts of sand blowing down the street. You might expect this if you are at a parade in Saudi Arabia but generally not here and not in March. It was weird.
3. The weather (must mean lack of snow) meant that there were record crowds. Third Street is not made for record crowds so it was nuts to butts making the next few items even more annoying.
4. Of the estimated ten thousand people lining the four block stretch of Third Street, eight thousand were either drunk or had a dog or a bicycle or both. Do dogs really enjoy parades? Really, all they get to see are the butt cracks of the people sitting in front of them and they don't get the marching bands. In my world, the rule is that the dog stays home unless the dog is in the parade.
5. Same with bicycles. If you are riding a bicycle to the parade, chain it to a tree a block away and walk over. Do not attempt to ride a bicycle through a street crowded with drunks, small children, and dogs.
6. Unruly and over-sized children. I'm not sure the age of these children...they were more like teens and pre-teens but they were excited about the smashed tootsie rolls and left-over from the last parade candy being strewn in the street. Ella and Elliot figured out pretty fast that there was a code of conduct: stay in your area, don't get too far out into the street, share with the kids smaller than you. Not these big oafs. They had a grocery bag full and were still cruising the small kids area like land sharks.
7. People who try to drive and park a car as close to the parade route as possible and then try to leave when the streets are still full of dogs, bicycles, drunks, and small children. I'll be amazed if nobody got run over.
8. Drunk college kids who play football on crowded streets. I love dodging a football as I try to make my way home with two small children. (No bicycle or dog.)
9. Gigantic tractors. Somebody drove a tractor the size of our house to town and down a crowded street. It had giant wheels that went practically from curb to curb and were as high as an adult person. Really? You have to drive something this big to a parade? It looked like this:

I have been in a bit of a funk. Funk is not the right word...neurotic, anxious, fearful, blue, agitated. An unpleasant combination of symptoms. There is hope in that I think it's interesting when that happens that all of a sudden, other things start happening that you the way out, maybe a book review, a person you meet, or even a movie. Just now, I read an article and two book reviews that will be helpful. Moving on...always moving on.

Enjoy the day. I'm really not as cranky as I seem. Ha!

trying to get in the mood

I decided that I am going to make the Guinness Chocolate Cake and give it away. I don't want to eat it but I want to make it more. Does that make sense? I am also making Irish soda bread...wearing my shamrock apron. Mary Smith just delivered flowers to Mike Callahan across the street. Mary, her usual festive self, saw me and ran across the street to hug and dance. What a hoot.

Also have an Irish Soda Bread in the oven.

I ran into a crazy friend of mine at the liquor store about 10:30. She was sampling various wines and I asked her if she was having breakfast at MGM this morning. We laughed about that and she wondered if the wine I bought at the wine tasting was gone. Oh, long gone, I said.

Reasons why things suck sometimes in no particular order

I have written several of these kinds of posts over the years. Things that annoy me in no particular order. Things that suck in no particular order. I must have a sort of sarcastic side, eh?

We have decided that we like Gus with longer hair but he's still a handsome dog.

I have some of my St. Patrick's Day gear on but the weather is not conducive to my usual state of preparedness. A wig and a hat and long socks don't wear well when it's over 70 degrees. St. Patrick's Day is usually during the tail end of winter, not the middle of what feels like summer.

I was just reading about a St. Patrick's Day cupcake which got a lot of heat for being too politically incorrect. I'm not even going to name it here since I got spanked for the 80s mullet rock star jacket post. What a chicken. I don't like conflict; what can I say?

The cupcake is a lot like my Guinness cake only it's a cupcake with a ganache filling that's flavored with Irish whiskey. If you put Irish cupcakes in google, you'll probably find it. If you don't and you know me, I'll tell you if you promise not to write me scathing messages about my taste in cupcake names. They sound grand and they make me what to have a party just to try them out.

Well, off to the parade.

elliot, driving, and abandoning books

Elliot came to visit his Nana and PopPop (I never know how to spell that dang word) yesterday. I picked him up at Beans after school and we had spaghetti for dinner (delicious!) and cookies on the patio. He liked to name the animals in the garden (frog and cockadoo) and he liked to spot birds in the sky. He has a three-year old's attention span...would that be about three minutes?...and wanted to do everything and play with everything and eat everything. All of it, right now. He's a good-natured little guy and we had fun.

Driving and abandoning books are probably two subjects to be dealt with at a later time. It's St. Patrick's Day and I have a corned beef to get into the crock pot before long. We're going to the parade and will probably get into some other mischief before the day is done. Here's a picture of Regis and me from last St. Patty's Day. Last year, we got into the spirit of it, as you can see. I'm not sure I'm feeling the same spirit this year but we'll see.

Love the holiday!

Gus goes to the dog park

This dog gets out more than I do. Ha!

Gus goes to daycare

We dropped Gus off at daycare about noon. He did not appear anxious and all and trotted happily off with the woman who would take him to the play area where they were having "quiet time". I inquired, because I pictured thirty dogs lying on little cots while a person in the front reads a book. She said they lower the lights and try to get them to calm down for a while. Good luck with that, I said.

We picked him up at 4:30 and the reports were that he had a wonderful time. He's very playful, she said. They had a little swimming pool in the outdoor area and Gus like to run through the water. Gus was happy to see us and promptly collapsed in the back seat for a nap.

It was like having small children and finally getting a day away and suddenly you don't know what to do. We don't shop much so that was out. Finally, we visited a few coffee shops, Encore in Old Town, Famous Dave's bar, and then had dinner at Pappageorge where our favorite server, Layla, took care of us. What a grand day.

Then we came home to the beautiful patio weather. I love being out and visiting with the neighbors. All winter, you just wave as you pass on the street but you rarely see each other face to face. This is so much fun!

I'm picking Elliot up after school today. Great start to a weekend...and the parade tomorrow! Life is good!

today holds lots of promise

Gus is going to dog daycare today. Regis did a test run yesterday by taking him to the dog park in Mankato to see how he reacted to a large group of dogs. He loved it so we're good to go. He came home a little muddy but a quick bath helped with that.

Gus gets dropped off at The Paw Pet Resort (doesn't it look plush?) at noon and we have about five hours of grown-up time! We're going to visit a couple of coffee shops and then have dinner somewhere. We haven't been to Papageorge in ages. So much good food...so little time.

my dirty little secret

I am terrible at parking. I look a long time for a space where I can be off by my lone-car self and where I do not have to impinge on the space of another person's vehicle. I often (always) have to back up and re-park several (many) times to get even reasonably within the lines of the parking space. It can be (is) embarrassing. Ironically, I am better at parallel parking than I am at diagonal parking. I blame it on the car.

Gary Hannah was my driving instructor in 1966 (right?). He taught us to gauge how far away from the line on the highway we were based on the hood ornament. I almost hit a couple bikers in the 80's when hoods became shorter and that was not a reliable measure. I'm not blaming Gary who is my mom's neighbor and takes good care of her driveway. I blame myself. I'm a terrible parker and probably not a very good driver.

Yesterday, my neighbor Mike was cleaning out his garage and he stacked a bunch of plywood and insulation on the boulevard. Getting into the spirit, I hauled a ratty looking lawn chair to the curb. We love how people slow down, come around the block, and stash your old shit in their trunks. I don't care how much you make on a garage sale, it ain't even close to the entertainment value of putting stuff on your curb.

We realized last night that Mike's shit was getting way more attention  from the passers-by than our lawn chair so we hauled the chair across the street and added it to Mike's pile. By this morning, the lawn chair was gone. Great marketing, right? By this afternoon, all of Mike's crap was gone, thanks to neighborhood hoarders who can't let free stuff go to waste.

Next time, we promised to make the initial pile and Mike gets to add to it. I wish we had gotten pictures of the whole shebang which was a damn hoot.

We had a wonderful afternoon sitting on the patio with a glass of wine, a neighbor or two stopping by, and the early spring sun. Here's to global warming. (Don't use this in your science report, junior high kid.)

spring burn-out

Yesterday. Worked at coffee shop from 6 a.m. to 7:30. Went home, worked liked crazy until 9:00, away all the party gear. Worked on coffee shop stuff until 11. Went back to coffee shop until 12:30. Came home and swept patio and sidewalk. Raked and bagged leaves and sticks from front yard and boulevard. Addressed birthday party invitations. Tried to nap. Failed at nap. Got up and sat on the patio again until time to make dinner.

As has happened in the past four to five years, when I stir up the leaves in the spring, every spore and mold and piece of dust for ten miles around go up my nose and do the tarantella on my cerebellum. It's unpleasant and creates a feeling like I have a giant Mason jar over my head. Everything is just a bit off and I hugely fatigued.

Too much. Too much work and not enough sleep. Insomnia sucks. Allergies suck. Starting over today.

I had a failed attempt to deliver a 6:45 a.m.birthday breakfast to a customer. Not starting out on the right foot. I came home and took a long nap. Much better.

Softly scrambled eggs help. And a sliced orange.

I should be more like Julia Child. I'm reading her biography and that was one tough dame.

Our street is being cleaned this week. This project must take the city months if they do all streets with the diligence with they are doing ours. It's nice to have the gravel swept up so I can start riding my bike to work again.

This is my favorite coffee drink. The minute I walk in the door, Josh starts constructing one. It's made with two shots of espresso and steamed milk. I love the art he makes in the milk. It makes me feel like I'm drinking something very special. The art stays until you reach the bottom of the cup. Don't get it in a to-go cup because that will keep the milk on the top and you'll drink the espresso first. You want it to mix a little as you drink. Haven't I learned a lot?

Better get to work.

dinner pictures

This harkens back to the reason I started this blog in the first place. I called it Buns of Stone because Regis and I decided to do the community ed class that required us to walk 500 miles in a year. (That was when we thought we could lose weight by exercising.) We quickly figured out (like within a month) that if you missed two days, you were screwed because you had to walk a bazillion miles over the next three days. Bad decisions make good stories.

My intention was to post a photo of our dinner every night which I have not done and probably will not do. We like to take pictures of our food and do so frequently but I can't do it daily.

This is the grilled flank steak we made last night. It's surrounded by a little sea of grilled red peppers and onions. We have an IKEA cast iron grill for the vegetables that works like a charm but weighs about a hundred pounds. This is one of our favorite meals.

This is the meatloaf that George Stella on the food network calls beefed up meatloaf. It calls for prosciutto and provolone in the middle...and we use a spicy St. Louis Barbecue Sauce on the top. Regis said it was the best meatloaf he has ever eaten. Once I put hot peppers in the middle but it got a little too hot.

I have started about three books in the last week and abandoned them all. One was probably a very good book (Devil in the White City) and I liked the parts about the Chicago World's Fair, but I cannot read about psychopaths. I started another book called Fifty Shades of Gray. It's supposed to be the hottest thing on three continents. I read two chapters and thought it was so dumb I could not go any further. It supposedly contains erotica but I didn't get far enough to find any of that. It reminded me of The Bridges of Madison County. I started Amercian Dervish this morning but that bored me pretty fast and now I'm reading the biography (one of them) of Julia Child. I'm hard to please.

Yes, we eat a lot of beef. We like meat and we especially like beef. No apologies. We try to buy our meat from a farmer in the country who treats his cattle humanely and all of that. We tried to buy a share of a beef CSA but the market apparently won't support that. Whatever that means. 

So, no blog posts from me for a week and then all of a sudden three in one day. You just never know.

I had to go to work for a brief spell this evening. When I got home, Regis was watching some awful zombie show. I have a low, low tolerance for zombies. Too much blood. I skittered into the office and only came out when it was over.

I went to the Coop the other day and was musing in front of the mustard shelf. A fellow came along and recommended Lucky's mustard with habanero peppers and garlic. I bought some and now I can recommend it, too. It's made in North Mankato in some dude's garage. I guess everybody starts somewhere. Lucky has several varieties of mustard so Jill, you may have to try several!

I spent half the day on the phone calling for appointments for things I have neglected for weeks. Tomorrow my car gets cleaned...detailed, I guess they call it. Gus has a daycare appointment. I still have to call for a massage and to make the final arrangements for the wine trip. I need a secretary.

I had a latte when I was at the coffee shop so now I have to have a glass of wine to counter-act the effects of caffeine. It's no wonder I have insomnia. See #3 in the post called 23 Adult Truths.

I loathe daylight savings time. I remember the spring forward and fall back thing but I can never remember if daylight savings time is starting or ending. If you are awake at both ends of the day, does it really matter? You have the same amount of daylight, my friends. Anyway, half of my clocks, like the one in my car and the ones at the place where I exercise are stuck in what my Grandma Elsie called "sun time", whatever that means. So, I'm always in this weird time warp where I have no idea what the hell time it is. 

More tomorrow. I'm sure.

23 Adult Truths

Usually things like this don't amuse me enough to even forward them on, much less move me to post them here but I laughed out loud several times in the reading of this list. First of all, I wonder how the person who wrote this list came up with 23. Ha! My favorite is #11. Wish I could give credit to the author but it's like all that crap out in cyberspace...who knows?

1. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still do not
know what time it is.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How on earth are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind-of-tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest
of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't
want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did
not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay's

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to
prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and
sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.

22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but
I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in
about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and
the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to
realize that their brain is also important.

haircuts

Gus got his summer cut today and he looks way more poodle and way less doodle. His fur (hair?) is getting more knotty as he gets older and we thought this would be easier to maintain. I'm sure it will be I like his big, old fluffy face.

We also (hating to admit this) made a reservation for him to go to a half day of doggy day care on Thursday. We used to poke a little fun at people who did this before but we didn't have a dog like Gus before either. Gus does not like to be left alone. Thanks to his IEP, he is much better about it and will spend almost an hour in his crate without wigging out. We can even leave the house and he doesn't bark. Progress in baby steps.

Have to go back to work for a while now. More later...maybe.

the week & sunday in pictures

On winter evenings when it's dark and cold, we sit and plan parties. I got the happy notion one evening that a photography party would be fun, given our love of costumes and crazy pictures. Well, don't you know, photo booth parties are a big thing now. You can even rent one, which we did not do. I guess they're big at weddings.

We just issued an invitation for people to bring props, we set up a bench in front of the curtains in the living room, and Regis found an app for his iPad that would take a strip of pictures like this.

Not everyone at the party was comfortable with the public nature of my blog and Facebook page so I'm not going to publish all the photos here out of respect for that. But I didn't think Richie would mind so here we are. Gus liked to be in every shot.

This is Gus looking for a place to nap this morning. He's a dog who likes his leisure. He gets slicked up at Kind's tomorrow so he'll be clean and smaller after that!

This is NOT Gus but it looks like it could be him. Isn't this a riot? This dog must be smaller than Gus because I don't think there is any way you could carry him like this person is doing.

A couple of recipes requested by our guests last night. The first one is what we always use on chicken wings now and it's a nice bitey flavor without the slop of wing sauce. Better on the grill but acceptable in the oven at 375 degrees for almost an hour.

Chesapeake Bay Seasoning

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground celery seed
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
This is our favorite barbecue sauce. Regis discovered in his search for the perfect rib recipe. We don't always use it on ribs now since he learned to how to make a glaze out of the braising liquid by reducing it. This is still good on almost anything else. We served it last night on pulled beef sandwiches. I even made buns...Vi Hanson's Bread Machine Buns!

St. Louis Barbecue Sauce
Yield: Makes about 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat. Stirring occasionally and simmer for 20 minutes. Sauce should be thin, but not watery. Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate. Sauce is better if allow to sit for a day.

Wine Trip

We're planning another wine trip for April 21st. This year, we're going to Crow River in Hutchinson and Sovereign Estates in Waconia. Should be a good time.

I don't know why I didn't get this posted yesterday, but here it is now.

spring and dirty windows

A spring late afternoon sun is coming in the west window. I love it. It makes me think of gardening and barbecue and Easter and lilacs. I worry about getting old and infirm. Does everybody worry about that or just me with my ridiculous fears? Spring helps you remember the possibilities and forget about the likelihood of bad shit in your life.

Regis and I went to Mankato and dropped the stuff off for Linda. He offered to take me to Encore, my favorite consignment shop. I went in dressed in my recent purchases....a red hat and a faux fur that cost me $11.25. I found some great spring clothes for a total less than $50. 

We went to Famous Dave's and had a beer and bought some ribs and chicken wings. We came home, put on some Reverend Raven, had another beer, and ate an early dinner. There was some finger-lickin' goin' on, believe me.

We're making birthday party plans. The invitations (revised) should be here this week and we'll get them out. We're making dinner for the Reverend Raven and his band in the afternoon so we talked about the perfection of the rib recipe, the construction of the new grill, and the other menu possibilities. 

We also checked on the Paw Pet Resort in Mankato. They do dog daycare for less than twenty dollars a day and it looks like something Gus would love. He's a social dog and loves people and other animals. This is unlike (UNLIKE) our previous pets who shunned other dogs and bit strange people. Gus will be staying there for a day or two over our birthday party.

Here is a strange observation. We saw today, many snow plows on the roads, plowing mostly dry roads. We had a steady snow but it mostly melted as it came down. There was no accumulation to speak of and what the hell were they plowing anyway? Especially in Blue Earth County where you can always tell when you've crossed over because the roads are terrible there....but today the plows were out in force. Regis and I talked about county government and county budgets and just WTF this means.We have no idea.

Well, on to Monday and the rest of the week. I have a daughter turning 27 in March and a son turning 25 in April. How did the time go by so fast? Regis says it's like a stair case to the middle of your life then it's a slippery slide to the end. Nice visual, eh?

christmas in march!

Regis went up to Tom and Betty's house yesterday morning to do some computer work. I was lying in bed reading when I saw him pull up and emerge from the car carrying a fur coat. I bolted right up out of bed and met him at the door like a kid on Christmas morning. I put it right on and paraded around the house..a gorgeous mink cape over top of pajamas. It belonged to Tom's mom, Patty, and he's had it since she passed away some years ago. I feel honored to own it now.


I got dressed later and had Regis tote me downtown. It was a sunny day, although quite cold and windy, and I wanted to walk through a few shops before meeting Amber for a late lunch at Cedar's Grill. I went into Cooks and Company to get some of that sterno stuff for our table-top grill. Of course, I was distracted by this and that and bought other things, but not that.


I went into Swedish Kontur but there were other customers and they were boisterous and annoying so I left and went to Contents. I bought some signs of spring: a little bird nest that I will send to Mom, some Easter egg napkins, and a lilac scented candle. Nothing evokes spring quite like the smell of lilacs.


One thing about shopping in St. Peter is that everywhere you go, you run into people you know. And you know the shop keepers and the employees. Everyone wants to visit. It takes a lot longer than it otherwise would. It's nice though...I ran into a woman who was a nurse for my kids when they were little who I hadn't seen in more than twenty years.


I was dressed in my typical flamboyant fashion and a woman commented to me that she liked my get-up. I thanked her and said that was exactly the look I was trying to achieve. Ha!


We had a lovely lunch and a couple glasses of wine. Tony made me crab cakes even though it was mid-afternoon and I had a tabbouleh salad.


I have crab cakes on the menu this week. They're one of my favorite foods. With a nice chipotle aioli. Also on the menu this week: grilled steak on Tuesday when it gets to be 60 degrees! This is how I make it: 

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder or chipotle hot sauce
• Salt and pepper

Note added later: Sorry for the ragged segue. This is the recipe for aioli not the recipe for steak. Jeez. What a mutton head. 


We have grilled at least once in every month through this winter which is unusual for us since we use charcoal. It's too hard to keep the grill at the right temperature when it's twenty below.


I've been thinking about growing vegetables this summer. We belong to a CSA and get a share box every week, but I would still like to grow a few things. I think my options are to put some things in pots or to tear up the front of my flower garden on the west side which is the only place we get any sun. Well, there is a piece in the back but I'm not sure it would be possible to keep the dog out of a garden in the back. He thinks that's his race track.


We're taking a trip to Mankato later to drop some things off at the accountant's office for work. While we're there, we'll stop at Famous Dave's for a beer and some take-out ribs. I know it's a chain but I love that bar. The waitress is always friendly, they play great blues, and the smell of barbecue is enough to make you swoon. We like to eat the ribs right out of the take-out box with a cold beer. It reminds us of the poem Half-Rack at the Rendevouz.

Half-Rack at the Rendezvouz  by William Notter  

She had a truck, red hair,
and freckled knees and took me all the way
to Memphis after work for barbecue.
We moaned and grunted over plates of ribs
and sweet iced tea, even in a room of strangers,
gnawing the hickory char, the slow
smoked meat peeling off the bones,
and finally the bones. We slurped
grease and dry-rub spice from our fingers,
then finished with blackberry cobbler
that stained her lips and tongue.

All the trees were throwing fireworks
of blossom, the air was thick
with pollen and the brand-new smell of leaves.
We drove back roads in the watermelon dusk,
then tangled around each other, delirious
as honeybees working wisteria.
I could blame it all on cinnamon hair,
or the sap rising, the overflow of spring,
but it was those ribs that started everything.

Well, I've gone on long enough this morning. I'll get some pictures up later...the mink cape, the half-rack, the St. Patrick's Day tree.

Me in my St. Pat's Get-Up

busy end of the week

It's a good thing I've been busy because it sort of distracted me from the gray skies. It's easy to get the gloomies this time of year.

Thursday night, we had the ladies and gentlemen of the vignette writing class here for our last class and for some libations. We had a wonderful time reading and talking about writing. The party (or parts of it) went on until midnight which is a sign that a good time was had by all.

Yesterday afternoon, I went out to visit an organic farm that supplies a lot of vegetables for River Rock. Part of our marketing plan is to tell the stories of all the people who have participated in our business and East Henderson Farm is one. It was an amazing visit and I'm going to try to write about it on the River Rock blog this afternoon.

These are two of the goats...two of the four. They are named after the English queens Mary Catherine and Elizabeth. I also met a calf named Buddy, saw a 1942 Farmall tractor that is still in use, had coffee in a home made from a 1865 log cabin, saw a lovely flock of chickens in every color, and met two very nice farmers.

Last night, Tom and Betty came for chicken wings and wine. They just came back from Texas so had lots of stories to tell. It was grand to see them again. As usual, we ate too much, drank too much, and laughed a lot. Betty brought me a magic skirt from Texas that is reminiscent of a magic dress I made in the 70's. You can see how it works here. The ironic thing is that on my last trip to the thrift store, I bought one of these, not knowing all the magical properties of it. Just goes to show.

There are tiny snowflakes in the air that seem to be getting heavier. I wouldn't mind some snow. Driving on the gravel roads yesterday was awful. My car is filthy and I slid all over the place. I had forgotten how messy country roads can be in the spring.

Well, it's 10:30 and I haven't done a thing yet. Better get moving.

untitled

Here is what Regis said about this mess:  Lake Augustus in the back yard. The damned dog, Gus, for which the lake is named, is to blame for this quagmire. How one dog could destroy that much grass in six short months is a marvel. If Gus would just go to the bathroom on the neighbor's lawn like our old mutts all would be well.

And this is our dinner. Two recipes from Alton Brown....pan seared sea scallops and a spinach salad with warm bacon dressing. Regis took this wonderful photo. I asked him to study up on food photography and I'm sure that's what he's doing right this minute.

I think I got the searing down but it sure fills the house with smokey fumes. Both doors are open and I'm sure the town cats are headed our way.

I'm tempted to just go to bed even though it's only 6:30. The weather is wretchedly depressing and tomorrow might be worse. Why do I dwell on it?

I walked home from work today, thinking that the sidewalks were bare of slush because they were downtown where of course, merchants were shoveling the slush to the curb. Once I got into the residential area, the sidewalks were a mess. I walked in the street for a while until a car went by and sent a plume of snirt (snow + dirt) into my path. I should have sat down on a step and called someone to come and get me.

a year in food pictures

We like to take pictures of the food we cook so Regis suggested that we do a year in food pictures. We figure it will be good motivation to learn something about food photography and good motivation to prepare interesting food because who wants to look at pictures of Campbell's chicken and stars soup every day, right?

Last night, we had flank steak seasoned with Penzey's Northwoods Fire and then broiled. It's much better on the grill but in February, what can you do about that? I love the flavor as you can tell by the finger-licking. We serve it with lots of grilled red peppers and onions, some shredded cheese, and a nice chipotle salsa.

We have these left-overs around for several days but I don't mind. We always run out of the peppers and onions before the meat.

Tonight I made mushrooms stuffed with Prairie Pride chorizo sausage and provolone. I added some minced onion, minced garlic, and the mushroom stems minced to the sausage mix. Cooked them under the broiler. I asked Regis to give them a score on a scale of 1-10 and he said 7. I think if I made them again, I'd put some hot peppers, maybe jalapenos, in there.

I have been strangely attracted to books about Russia this winter. It must be a subliminal message I'm getting through the internet. Regis had an ad on his Facebook page the other day that said this: Click here to see your Russian bride. It's taken me about 600 pages to find out that Catherine does indeed become the empress even though the book is called The Winter Palace: Catherine the Great. The journey has not been all that fascinating as those people in the 1700's lived pretty down and dirty lives. Even in the palace.

Regis went off to do some computer fixing tonight so Gus and I are solo. He did some crate practice and some sit/stay practice. Now, I'm going to read about the Russians and see if this tale of misery will ever end.

spam...on notice

I get spam comments almost every day now. Usually they are trying to sell me counterfeit cialis or oxycontin. I am asking them to cease and desist or I will surely go on a rant and then they'll be sorry. I don't want to buy drugs from some weird off-shore factory website. I don't want cialis. I don't want oxycontin and I don't want my penis to grow four inches. Who sits in front of a computer and composes this crap? Get a life and a real job.

Regis laughed when I asked him about it. He said computers generate that kind of spam. A pox on the computers that do this. And a pox on the person who invented it. I might just shut off the comments for a while to show them who's boss.

Regis and I are making our favorite dinner: flank steak and grilled peppers and onions. So pretty and so delicious. Steak is seasoned, peppers and onions are sliced and ready.

I must be cranky today. The spam thing irritated me, then I got my hair up over something stupid on Facebook. I try very hard not to be disrespectful of the stupid ideas that people have about religion, sexual orientation, politics, television (FOX), movies, and books but sometimes I can't help myself and I have to unsubscribe. My right, right?

We had a spell of sunshine this morning then clouds and wind. Lovely. My least favorite weather events.

I checked my archives today and I only published 11 blog posts this month, almost an all-time low. I'll have to ponder that and see what the cause is.

Thursday night my vignette writing group is going to meet here for wine and appetizers. Should be fun. They want to see the possibilities for starting a blog.

On to cooking, the red carpet, and Sunday psychosis.

happy birthday happy sunday

We celebrated Elliot's birthday yesterday afternoon in Eagle Lake. His other grandma and grandpa (Brenda and Steve) hosted the party and it was a fun event. Check out the photos in the slideshow. There are a ton of them because Regis was camera happy and I am too lazy to sort them. His grandma and grandma from Rochester (Nancy and Larry) came, too. Lucky boy to have three grandmas and three grandpas at his birthday party!

One of the other grandmas commented that it's too bad he has to have so many. I don't think she meant to say that it's bad all of us are living (boo) but that it's too bad divorce and remarriage leads to lots of relatives. My thought on that is that life is what it is. Better to have a lot of grandmas that none.

I was listening to On Being on my iPod while Gus and I walked this morning. He talked about the Dalai Lama and how he's been living in exile for fifty years and has endured some true hardship, yet he is always laughing. Life is too short not to laugh.

Gus and I got down south of Econofoods and all of a sudden the wind whipped up and I thought that's enough of that and we turned north to head home. Gus doesn't like wind either and gets skittish when leaves blow across our path which they do often in this snowless winter.

I had my list of things to do this week written on a sticky note. I don't like to-do lists anymore but I will compromise and make a sticky note. Not a big sticky note, either. A very small one.

I just ran across this is my downloads file. I love my download file because it's like an archive of weird shit I've posted. I don't remember if I posted this before but I thought it was hilarious.

The point is that I only got about one of those things done. I revised our birthday party invitation and ordered them. We met with Brian at Patrick's last week about where to sit and how many and what kind of food and so forth. It was a bit of a struggle but we're ready now. They'll be going out in the mail as soon as they arrive and I can get them addressed.

Here's another old favorite out of the download file. It has nothing to do with anything but it's funny.

Gus is doing quite well on his IEP. We're up to ten minutes and he lies down on his own and looks relaxed. We don't even have to push him from the rear to get him to go in anymore. He was invited to the party yesterday and behaved quite well except for the time the kids let him in the back door and he landed on Grandpa Larry's lap and up-ended his plate of food all over the floor. Ah, well. The kids loved him, even the baby.

This is my favorite dog picture of the evening. Audie (named after Audie Murphy) is a cairn terrier and he's standing on a cooler on the deck. Gus, half a horse, is just looking in the window. They were banished to the outdoors for a while during the party but you can tell they both yearned to come in and join the fun.

Steve and Brenda told some hilarious stories about things Audie has eaten and destroyed. He chewed his way into a Rubbermaid container full of bird seed and consumed half of it resulting in some interesting poop for a few days. He ate the head off a trophy fish mounting. He ate the head. Imagine that. He was locked in a bedroom at a cabin where they were staying once and he jumped 18 inches off a bed and ate a set of mini-blinds. I laughed out loud. Funny as long as it isn't your dog, I guess.

I thought Audie Murphy wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer but Steve said no, that was Gene Autrey. I never was good with details.

Going to take my Sunday afternoon nap. I'm not much a napper anymore but I keep trying.

saturday and all of that

I see I haven't written a post since Tuesday. I wonder what I have been doing.

This is a great story. We have a customer, Danny, who owns the Road Haus in Henderson. He's a quiet sort of guy who drinks shots of espresso. I noticed him because people who drink their espresso by the shot instead of at the bottom of a sugary drink are not that common. We finally struck up a conversation and now we visit from time to time when he comes in, which is often.

One afternoon, he came back to my office and asked if I had a minute to meet someone. He had a fellow named Jeff who is the Chamber of Commerce president in Henderson. He laughed when he said that because he said, it's a small job. Henderson is a tiny town.

We had a nice visit about marketing, for which I am responsible but about which I know little.

He told me I should check into a recording studio going into the Carnegie building in St. Peter. Danny said when his wife worked for Nye's in Minneapolis, they did a lot of catering business with recording studios who had clients in making records at all hours of the night.

I tried to find these people on the internet but wasn't successful so last week when it came out in the Free Press, I called and left a message offering to bring samples of some of our baked goods down to their studio.

When I didn't hear back, I sent a post card with the same offer.

Thursday, I'm lounging around the pool (bath tub) drinking coffee when the phone rings. They are having a meeting on Friday morning at 9 a.m... and could I come with some samples?

I get right on the phone to talk to the kitchen staff. They're on it and will have things ready for me at 8:30.

I show up and get the grand tour (beautiful and fascinating), meet about ten people (eclectic crowd), and get a chance to talk about our food and coffee. Success, right?

I spend a couple hours in the morning, trotting around town to visit with people about the possibilities of renting space for meetings where we could cater coffee and food. This is turning out to be a very stimulating day brain-wise.

I go home about 1:00 and the phone rings. One of the folks at the meeting earlier had been showing our menu around and did we deliver to Mankato. Not ordinarily, I say with a laugh, but I'm on my way over there (to look at that fur coat I had been dreaming about...the one that was too small but cheap) so I would be happy to deliver their lunches.

Another call to the kitchen. They get things packaged up and I head to Mankato. I issue a disclaimer that sometimes the food gets a little off temperature when it travels but I hope it's satisfactory and I would like to know what they think.

I stop to have a glass of wine and clear my head on my way home. I visit with a few more people.

I'm walking home down 3rd Street and my phone rings two more times. One to say the food was 5+++ and another to talk about the possibilities of catering when bands are in the studio recording. So much for clearing my head.

It's cold and windy and I just want to go home but I keep talking and walking and thinking about this great circle that's happened because of one chance encounter.

I'm going to Eagle Lake this afternoon to celebrate Elliot's third birthday. Better get busy wrapping presents and making potatoes.

So, that's what I have been doing.

time for Tom and Betty to come home

I don't think they can celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Texas like we can at Patrick's in St. Peter. You better come home soon. Your seat on Geezer's Row is getting usurped by some young punk with tattoos and a backwards baseball cap, Tom. You might have to fight him for it. I've been wearing a red hat around town and stirring up some trouble so when you get back, we can take care of all of it. I miss you both. The weather here is wretched. It's been like March for months...drippy, marginally cold, gray. That's what bars are for, right?

We put the word out that we were looking for a dog sitter, then we decided to take matters into our own hands. We wrote an IEP for Gus. That's an individualized educational plan. We had a team meeting and Regis contributed what he knows about dog psychology from his dog obedience classes and I contributed what I know of special education. We came up with a good plan. Here is part of it.

Knowing that we are both kind of lazy and forgetful, we wrote a check list so we would remember the practice and the reinforcement. Here is the checklist. You can see that, so far, Gus is doing quite well and so are we.

Part of what I am doing currently for my job at River Rock is gathering stories. Monday, I am meeting with one of our farmer partners and knowing how I am, I will get busy talking, forget to take notes, and come back with no clue. I wanted a recording device. I asked Regis, the king of gadgets. This is what he hauls out of the catacombs. A twenty year old tape recorder. I said I would be risking ridicule to use that in public and couldn't he come up with something a tiny bit more modern?

Of course, when I got home from work, Regis had discovered an app for my phone that would record, save, email, and play an audio recording. Amazing.

We're debating about keeping our cell phone plans at the end of May. We pay a lot of money for stupid smart phones. Smart phones what the hell. Who invented smart phones? Most of our devices do all the stuff the smart phone will do except make calls. Can't I just buy something that will make phone calls? I like to tell my kids that when I was young we had one phone and it was attached to the kitchen wall by a cord that was 24 inches long. My dad would walk through the kitchen every thirty seconds and growl, "Get off the phone!"

I shudder to think what his view would be of iPads, cell phones, text messaging, and watching movies in the car. I think he would say, "Look out the window at the cows, goddammit!"

Regis and I watched two movies yesterday: Rum Diary and The Descendants with George Clooney. The Descendants was a wonderful movie...funny and poignant and an interesting story with great characters. Rum Diary was...Hunter Thompson. Debauchery. Drunkenness. Drugs. You have to find that interesting or you won't like this movie.

We're watching Reverend Raven and the Chain Smokin' Altar Boys on youtube. They're coming for our party in June, you know. Gotta go.

weekend

The weekends always come to a screeching halt. Here I am on Saturday coming out of the thrift store in Mankato. I never used to like thrift stores or consignment shops because I thought they smelled funny. Now, I  have gotten over the funky smell and I just like getting cool stuff for not much money.

This photo was taken from the car where Gus and Regis wait for me while I shop. They don't seem to mind.

We celebrated Alex's 3rd birthday this afternoon. It was fun even though I was injured. More about that later. Here is the evidence that a good time was had by all.



Ella lost three teeth in the last week. It hardly seems possible that she is old enough to lose teeth already.

So, my injury. Last night, I tripped on a shoe and went over to the left where I whacked my left hip pretty good & my left hand as I tried to catch myself, but the real damage is that I wrenched my back on the right side in the process and now I'm experiencing muscle spasms as a result. I spent most of the day horizontal with short periods of verticalness. I am feeling better tonight but not too much better. If I move around too much I feel the overwhelming need to be horizontal again.

We're looking for a reliable and responsible sitter for Gus. He is neurotic when we crate him. Today, he chewed up a bag of dog treats, broke the plastic tray in his crate, sprayed dog spit in every direction, and was a general train wreck when we got home. Once in a while we like to leave the house together without worrying that he will create chaos and mayhem. We would pay well and we usually aren't gone more than three hours.

Here comes Monday.