What a bunch of turkeys...

One of our family holiday traditions is doing some crafts. It started out as something to entertain the peanut gallery, but has evolved into projects that just about everyone wants to make. This year's Thanksgiving craft winner was...


a real turkey of an idea.

Paper grocery sacks, some construction paper, pompoms, a stapler and a few markers.

It didn't take long for the idea to turn into family portraits! Here's Chris and Bev's family - pretty cute - for a bunch of turkeys.

Terry escaped the turkey flock (he's more into elk - have to work on that one - maybe reindeer for Christmas? hmmm), but here's the rest of the up-the-hill crowd.

By the end of the day, some of us were look pretty much like this....

We had a truly terrific Thanksgiving! Family time is so fun!

Choco-LOT!

Did you ever see the movie "Chocolat" with J. Depp? He was the eye-candy. The star of the story was actually chocolate. Luscious, velvety, soul-satsifying chocolate. The drool starts just thinking about it. It was a good story, too, chocolate aside.


Anyway - when you put this...

and this...

in the same vacinity as Anne and Matt in a kitchen, you get...

these!! Chocolate-dipped Walnut Caramels with Sea Salt Flakes. Whoa nelly.

I can't even begin to describe how yummy these little sabateurs are! First the dark rich chocolate spiked with salt hits the appropriate taste buds. As the chocolate melts and swims in your mouth, the medium-soft caramel is released. Butter. Vanilla. Molten goodness with tiny bits of walnuts gathering for a bit of warm crunchy texture. I'm telling you, one of these in your mouth is like being on a week-long honeymoon.

Anne has perfected Grandpa Griffin's caramel recipe. She has the right pan, the right temperature, timed the cooking to the precise minute - yep, perfection. Then she stirs finely chopped walnuts into the buttery golden smooth caramel before pouring the vanilla-richened mass into a 9x13 glass pan. The firmed cooled caramel is then cut into squares and refrigerated to prepare for the next step: a nice bath in carefully tempered chocolate. Once the caramels are dipped out and placed on the waxed paper, Matt quickly and delicately adds a few grains of flaked sea salt to each one. The confections are then returned to the refridgerator for the chocolate to set.

A batch of these went to the Thanksgiving dinner. Brother Terry professed he wasn't interested in those new-fangled things, that there was nothing wrong with Dad's plain 'ol caramels like we always make - and he's absolutely correct about that. But. We finally persuaded him to try one. Hmmm. That's not bad. It wasn't long before we saw him quietly walk by the dessert buffet and nab another Chocolate-dipped Walnut Caramel with Sea Salt Flakes.

Old dogs are definately open to new tricks. And new addictions. Chocolate and the right caramel can do that to you.

Milwaukee Wisconsin Museum

There are so many fascinating things to browse and contemplate in a superlative museum. The Milwaukee Museum set the standard for quality displays - on all three floors. I restrained myself and tried not to take photos of every single thing that caught my particular attention. But here are a few.

The background paintings for dioramas and displays were absolutely jaw-dropping. Here's an example, which was over 10 feet long and about five feet high. I had to make it a two-part photo, to get it all in. The otter feeding in the foreground was a taxidermy piece, so beautiful.

There was one section, of one floor of the museum, dedicated to anthropological history of our country (there were other countries, in other areas). The dioramas were wonderful, so detailed. The figures are about 6" tall, and so intricately detailed - you felt you could walk into the scenes The transition from models to painted background was seamless. This one was obviously southwestern.

Hope you can read this - I was trying to save time by snapping some of the signs rather than writing it all down. ( Double click on it to make it larger, then back arrow to return to blog)

This section on the Canadian and Northwest natives was another diorama that captured me.
Not like I haven't seen similar scenes in some of our area museums, but this was exquisitely done. This section was specifically dedicated to the Kwatiutl people.

There were many familiar tools and artifacts on display. Felt like home.

Male artisans were woodworkers, a full-time occupation. Cedar and at times hemlock, alder or ash, were fashioned into everything from massive plant-walled houses, totem poles and sea-going canoes, to delicately tooled masks, rattles, storage boxes, food dishes and spoons.

Boxes were constructed by the distinctive method of folding. The sides were made from one piece of wood which was grooved, steamed, and bent at right angles. The two ends were then sewn together. The bottom was grooved to fit the sides and was either sewn or pegged on. These boxes were used in cooking by dropping hot stones into a water-filled box. They were also used for storage purposes.

So - the next time you need a new cooking pot - you know just how to make one!

From hand to hand...

Our family has been blessed with artists and skilled craftsmen. As I was rolling out pie dough recently, I was struck by the things in our daily life that have been provided by the hands, imagination and skill of family members no longer with us. These are items that will be passed on to the now-growing-up generation, along with the stories.

I took a few minutes to get some of these precious and practical jewels recorded.


This salad serving set was carved by Grandpa Harry Fellows; Harry was my dad's stepfather. Harry was about 5' tall, a logger who had a handle on using dynamite - except for that one little booboo that cost him one of his eyes. Harry loved to carve. If he was sitting, he was carving. He had a set of tools that were a source of curiosity to all of us kids. The things he could carve! I remember some ball-and-maze puzzle things, and although I'm not sure who has them now, I know they are still in the extended family somewhere. We still use this lovely carved set, although not daily.

Grandpa Harry not only made full size serving utensils, he was fond of carving miniatures. This set, and it's hanger, are on the wall in our dining room. I can't remember a time when they haven't been there.
This gives an idea of the scale of these tiny carvings. I need to try to figure out what type of wood they are made of and get it recorded as a note on the back of the display, for future admirers.

OK, this is another facet of Grandpa Harry's carving. I never saw another like this one. It may or may not have been a self-portrait...

Moving right along...

I have used this rolling pin ever since I first learned how to roll out a pie crust. Another thing that I just took for granted, it was always in the drawer. Mom's brother Marion, (better known as Moke) made this on his lathe as a wedding gift for mom. His advice: use it on your husband.

This is a solid, heavy rolling pin, made from oldgrowth fir. I remember how heavy it seemed when I was a neophyte baker. I wonder if handling this rolling pin is why mom always won the rolling pin toss at the annual town picnic when we were kids..

Here's a trifecta. The top tool is a steel that belonged to Grandma Ruby Fellows (Dad's mother, Harry's wife). Mom says Ruby felt it wasn't doing the job anymore and had purchased a new one. This one was headed for the trash when mom asked if she might have it. That was over 50 years ago, we just figured out. It still is useful to straighten blades.

The middle knife was made by Mom's brother Martin (better known as Mutt) from a sawblade. Uncle Mutt had some welding tools; we also grew up with a double-circle steel clothes drying rack that hung above our oil stove which heated the house for many many years.

The lower knife was made by Uncle Warren Walling, who was my dad's brother-in-law for some years. It was a gift to mom.

Notice the difference in the handles. The bottom knife has a handle that fits the hand quite well, with a bumper at the end. The top knife has a shorter handle, and wasn't as easy to grasp, so it got wrapped (more than once) with electrician tape - no duct tape in the "olden days" ;-)

Here's another design element of both these knives: the tang, the metal part that you see in the handle, is a continuation of the blade, which strengthens the whole knife. If you look at many mediocre knives in the kitchen department, you may see that the tang doesn't go through the handle, it may be just stuck INTO the handle. If that makes any sense.

Anyway, both these knives are heavy duty and have seen a lot of use. The upper knife, from Uncle Mutt, is great for cutting through bone like when cutting salmon steaks - mom cuts through the flesh down to the bone, then takes a hammer and beats the blade on through the bone with a couple of swift raps. That tough old steel blade can take that. I sure wouldn't try it with a "modern" blade.


It is such a pleasure to use these knives and the rolling pin, to think of the hands that crafted them. The carved pieces evoke the feeling of pleasure that Harry enjoyed as he carved them.

These hand-made keepsakes and tools will undoubtedly go on through the family long after the current generations are gone. They add warmth to our life, and memories of days past with people who blessed us.

Blast from the past!

I recently saw an interview with Laura Bush. Which brought back a lot of memories of the White House visit four very unlikely people enjoyed a couple of years ago. Courtesy of a invitation from Laura - yeah, we just call her Laura now...you know how it is. I'm not going to retell the whole story, but here are a couple of my favorite photos from that adventure.

My fellow-adventurers were Kathy, who is never far from hand when I need her, and Carrie and friend Courtney.


Wanna guess which room we were in here?

I took this just to prove we really WERE at the White House, not on a movie set. You don't get this close without the Secret Service escort, or your invitation from Laura in hand!

And last but far from least - our very favorite saying from the trip: "I left my keys at the White House." No kidding! It really happened - just ask Carrie!

Grand memories from a totally unexpected, once-in-a-lifetime adventure. And I am NOT having another heartattack just to get another invitation!

Challenging the Colonel

Here's a real Wisconsin farm-style dinner: fried chicken, mashed 'taties, garden salad, corn, and lemon pie.

But wait! This chicken isn't fried.

Coming to you right off the back of the Corn Flake package:

CRUNCHY CHICKEN
Oven 375 degrees. Line baking pan with foil.
3-4 pound fryer chicken, cut up, or equivalent favorite pieces
Wash well and pat dry.
Crush 7 c. cornflakes, put in shallow bowl
Mix to make a batter:
1 egg
1 c. milk
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Roll chicken pieces in batter, then in crushed Corn Flakes. Place on prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with melted butter (about 3 T total).
Bake 45-60 min., until juices run clear from pierce near bone or thickest part of pieces. Remove smaller or thinner pieces as they are done, leave larger pieces in a bit longer. Don't overbake.

Serve immediately.

This chicken is really best eaten warm. Once chilled in fridge, the corn flakes get hard, and the chicken may get too dry with reheating. Although I did strip the meat off some uneaten pieces and used it chopped in fried rice the next day, and it was OK.

Yes, unbelievably there were a few pieces left-over. It wasn't because they guys didn't like it - they did - but we had cooked more pieces than we needed. When the home-grown fryers went into the freezer, many of the packages were not mixed pieces of one whole chicken - so there were bags of just legs, just thighs, just breast, etc. Each bag was enough for the whole family. So when we got the dinner order for thighs AND breast - well, it was enough for a block party by the time we got it all cooked!

And the lemon pie? I have to say, after years of experimenting with dozens of recipes, I still think the original Betty Crocker Cookbook Lemon Pie recipe is the best. That gal knew about pies!

When you live on a farm with plenty of chickens, of COURSE you will have "fried" chicken. And lemon pie - the best way to use those extra eggs!

The Craft Warehouse Caper

When Anne asked me if I would be interested in working at Craft Warehouse Holiday Open House, I fell over my tongue saying "YES!" The pay was a $40 gift certificate, two certificates for 40% and 25% off single items of choice, and a handful of other coupons. Plus a Chinese food buffet and fancy cupcakes served to all the workers between regular closing hour and the beginning of the Open House bash.

As I meandered around the store to get acquainted with the special sales for the evening, I noticed a few things that surprised me.


I didn't know there were spare Scrabble tiles available. I love Scrabble, so this was nice to know. Of course it was a bit disturbing, reading the label...almost made me want to check the Scrabble dictionary.

These alphabet tiles are useful for all kinds of crafty things. May even substitute for Scrabble tiles, in a pinch.

Another game we enjoy is dominoes. I was very happy to see that a person could get replacement tiles for that game, too. Or use them for jewelry - although they might be a tad heavy for earrings.

Speaking of jewelry - this display is blinding! And this is only part of the offerings. There were also Swavroski crystals on sale, outstandingly beautiful baubles.

I loved browsing the many displays of craft ideas. I brought home the makin's for this cute Christmas tree. I like trees that don't drop needles...

Oh, you want to know what my job was. Well - I swept. For 5 solid hours. And I have the blisters to prove it. Because in the interest of keeping customers happy campers while they waited in lines or wiggled through the store in search of bargins, POPCORN was passed out. Tubs of popcorn. Bags of popcorn. All night long. And you know what happens if you step on popcorn on a concrete floor? Skating rink time. So. Yeah. I was a sweeper.

And I had a blast - I enjoyed every minute of a wild evening!

Not to mention some mighty fine art supply bargins and goodies.

Commute

There are some advantages to living 30 minutes from the dentist. Now if I were living somewhere else, say, in Portland, that wouldn't be a true statement. But here on the coast, anywhere you drive is a beautiful outing.


While I wasn't exactly thrilled to be headed to the dentist (crowns), I did grab my camera on the way out the door - a weather day labeled as "changeable" was bound to provide some Kodak moments. Dr. Gilbert has an office in Wheeler, commuting from his Portland practice several days a week to provide outstanding dental care for north county folks. He was late, snow on the pass. Arrived in a hailstorm. Within 15 minutes it was sunny - for a spell. That's what changeable weather means!


Some views of Nehalem Bay, from the hill where the clinic is located.
That's Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain in the background. Where it drops to the ocean is about a 900' cliff. Highway 101 curves around that cliff, with several big pull-outs for enjoying the incredible view down the coast and out to sea. Prime whale spotting place from late December through March. I saw 14 spouts during one outing there, my personal record!

I'm enthralled with clouds right now, they are so wonderful to play with using watercolors or pencils - my cloud photo reference file is growing, with shots like this one:

Heading home, coming around the curve on the north end of Garibaldi just where the highway breaks over the hill, I almost kept going straight on in amazement as these two eagles seemed to be perched right in the middle of the road. A quick dodge to the small parking pull-out right there, and I had the camera out in a flash and started snapping.

Looks a little grouchy, doesn't he? It's been extremely windy the past 36 hours, I'm sure it didn't help the fishing - for man or bird.

It was nice to come home to a cozy warm house and crackling wood fire in the stove. Changeable weather is fine, as long as you don't have to be out in for long!

The next generation of computers...

Computers are puzzling. The people that make them are puzzling. Even PHONES are now puzzling. Waaaaaay too many options...not to mention I can't turn them on.


I actually did get up close and personal with the innards of a Droid, though. That's a new phone, for those of you who may be as techie challenged as myself. Here's the story:


It's elk hunting season here on the coast. That means the guys are out in the woods at o-dark-thirty, rain or shine. This particular day it was rain. And fog. And more rain. But they perservered, and showed up here at the house about 10 am with the elk that nephew Derek got. Due to the downpour, they decided to skin it out and section it for the meat bags, in the garage on a large piece of plastic. All was going according to plan. Until.


Until Derek's brand new Droid slipped out of his pocket during a delicate maneuver inside the ribcage of the carcass, and went splat into a puddle of blood on the plastic. Which was covering the concrete floor. Not a good landing pad for delicate computerized gizmos. Del, Derek's dad, swooped and scooped, and came up with bloody Droid pieces (dads never stop looking out for their little guys, you know...).


OK, I'm the only one not already elbow deep in meat or hide, so by default I got the Droid handed off to me. NOT the most logical person, having the most knowledge to deal with the situation. Trust me. But I'm always game for a challenge, so after some wiping and evaluating, my handy operating room assistent - Mom - went for some slightly more sophisticated tools. They worked quite well, actually.

If you are squeamish, don't look at the blood and gore on the utensils...
Derek had to tell me how to extract the battery (told you, I'm not up on these things...) while his hands were dripping with bloody water; fortunately I take direction well. The phone was cleaned as well as it could be, barring a trip to the Droid Hospital. I think we accidentally may have produced the next generation in computing - you know, where they become living things - with blood?
Right after the phone made it's fatal plunge I heard this bit of conversation:

Chris: "Derek, did you get a picture of your elk?"

Derek: "Well, I HAD one..."

A short time later, as the Droid was resting comfortably on it's towel, we heard a warbling tone. The patient had survived.

I told Derek not to be surprised if the ring tone changed to an elk bugle, all by itself.

Bacon Onion Upside-down Corn Bread

OH MY. This one you HAVE to try! It's soup and stew weather, officially, and this is the perfect bread to go with your favorite pot of yummyness.

BACON ONION UPSIDE-DOWN CORN BREAD

Oven: 350 degrees. Use 10" cast iron skillet, or other heavy ovenproof pan.

Lay in cold skillet:
2 slices thick sliced bacon
Cook over medium low heat until crisp.
Remove bacon from pan and set aside, then add to pan with bacon drippings:
1 large thinly sliced (or chopped) red or yellow onion
Cook over medium low about 10 minutes, until softened. Meanwhile, mix:
1 c. flour
1 c. cornmeal (NOT polenta)
1 tsp. salt
2 T. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
Wisk in smaller bowl:
1 c. sour cream (or buttermilk)
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
Lightly fold wet into dry mix, mixing in crumbled cooked bacon, until barely combined. Spoon gently over cooked onions (OK if pan is hot), smoothing top.
Bake 25 min. Remove to stove top, cool 5 min. Loosen sides with table knife. Put plate or cutting board on top of pan, flip over and turn out cornbread upsidedown. Serve warm wedges.



I just made this for Anne and Matt, they didn't have a skillet but they did have this lovely coated cast iron dutch oven. It worked just fine!

This was a bit too close for good focus, I was anxious to get it my fork into it! This is a bit denser type of corn bread, not crumbly. The flavor has to be experienced - homey and tantilizing. Your kitchen will smell divine! I used the red onion, which adds some nice color.

I also used pancetta instead of smoked bacon. The pancetta was already diced, has great flavor, and was about the same price as good sliced bacon from the butcher counter, not quite so fat. Nice substitute.
I had been shopping at Whole Foods in Beaverton, a real treat for me, which is where I found the pancetta and bulk cornmeal.

This cornbread is soooo good. Moist and full flavored. You could add cubed cheese of choice to the batter, maybe an herb such as rosemary or savory. Sort of gilding the lily.

Even if you aren't a cornbread fan, give this a try, you'll like it! Promise!

Rainy Afternoon

There's some mystical synergy between drizzling misty rain, nostalgic music, and cozy throws in a deep cushy chair. When you put them all together for an afternoon it's like some magic has been sprinkled in the air. An escape to another era, a relaxing of mind and muscle. Throw in a good book and a pot of tea or Scharffenburger cocoa, and you may not want to wiggle a finger for a couple of hours or more. Oh, you have to have warm wooly socks on, no shoes. And a stuffed animal is mandatory.

This is what you find at Goose Alley B&B, better known as Anne and Matt's cozy townhouse. They manage to recreate this atmosphere where ever they live. I'm lucky to live within a short 90 minute drive or two-hour bus ride now, and boy do I take advantage of the opportunities!



This antique radio is a prize - it only plays one station, and it happens to be oldies! Anne and Matt can tell you the story behind it. Be sure Matt gives you the tour of the innards of this old beauty.

Here's another old jewel living at Goose Alley. It works, too! Wind up that handle, and out comes glorious old tunes from the records that Anne and Matt found in the bottom compartment.

There's no volume adjustment, so you get to enjoy mildly scratchy music at a volume that makes you listen and not chatter over it. Enjoy it or else!

The owner of the album was a music lover who had the foresight to write down the composers and titles of the records - what a treat! We listened to the Nutcracker and reminesced about watching the classic ballet at different venues over the years. Anne already has their tickets for this year in Portland, lucky duck.

For anyone who has never seen one of these, it's a vinyl recording. The only thing older would be wax cylinders!

If you happen to stay over night, you might wake up to Bing crooning "White Christmas."

Matt delivers warm buttered toast and steaming tea on request, right to your chair. Ahhh...the life!

I never have complained about Oregon rain - I love it. Because of memories like this.

Bring on the shades of grey drizzle - when we get through with our stroll in the mist, we know where to go~!