Petrified Homemade Treats

Yesterday an old cereal box liner bag filled with what looked to be Frosted Mini-Wheats was discovered in the antique bread box up in my recently deceased mother-in-law's kitchen. It turned out that it was a secret stash of Gold Rush Brownies baked and brought by one of my Minnesota sisters - last Thanksgiving! One of us hid them up there (maybe me) to save them for future scarf sessions, then forgot about them, which is pretty incredible, knowing the family addiction to these goodies.

So my husband tried one and pronounced them "crunchy" but still good. I ate three.

Mary McGowan, 1900-2010

My mother-in-law, Mary McGowan, died on Sept. 2 at age 110. I only knew her for her last 40 years and missed some important parts of her life. When we sat down to look through her albums to show photos at her wake, we found some marvelous ones. The picture below shows Mary on her North Dakota homestead farm with her next younger sister, Anna - sometime around 1918?

This is Mary in 1921 before she bobbed her very long hair.


Mary as a flapper.

Our young North Dakota cousin, Greta, tells us that people have been taking pictures at the Bismarck State Capitol building like the one below for decades - she says she did it, too.


It was wonderful to see these pictures of a fun-loving young woman, full of life. Mary, rest in love and peace.

Cheapskates vs. Conservationists

The Cheapskate books I'm reading by Jeff Yeager (see sidebar) bring up the question, are cheapskates people who are simply misers who take no joy in life? Yeager says no, cheapskates are really people who are thoughtful users of only what they need to live a life freed of rampant consumerism. I'm trying to decide where I fit on the spectrum. Does using a teabag twice count?

His chapter on the costs of healthy living was really interesting. He says that most people who hire other people to clean their homes, mow their lawns, make repairs around the house, etc., then have to pay additional money to health clubs, personal trainers, and the like to help them keep in shape because they don't use their bodies to do any physical work. A vicious circle. I admit I've been tempted to hire a cleaning service when I think I can't handle a full-time job and keeping up with an old two-story house. So far, I'm subscribing to cheaphood, but I feel myself weakening.

TED and Spirituality

I like TED a lot. And last week someone sent me a notice that a well-known writer (and former British nun) won one of their major prizes (like $100K) in 2008.

Karen Armstrong took part of her prize money and started the Charter for Compassion, "a cooperative effort to restore not only compassionate thinking but, more importantly, compassionate action to the center of religious, moral and political life." I love her idea - and I like how she describes herself as a "freelance monotheist." If I weren't committed to healing my own religion, I would be one, too.

Not So Fast!

So, here are those lovely ripe San Marzano tomatoes I raved about last post. Almost every one has a rotten spot at the blossom end! I think I've heard of this type of blight, but have no idea what to do about it so far. I don't want to contaminate my compost heap with diseased plants and I'm not sure if it's ok to leave them in the garden. I'll see if Google has any ideas.

Well, lookee here!

It's only July 17 and the first San Marzano plum tomatoes are getting ripe! This is the first year I've tried growing these and they're doing great. Should be good for canning, so hope I'm up for it - it will be soon!

Travel Treasures

Last weekend we drove through Wisconsin to Minnesota to visit relatives. Even though we had stopped near Janesville only last year to buy a year's supply of honey, we were already down to one gallon. Orlovsky Apiaries, a mom-and-pop business of sorts, said they could let us have (buy!) three gallons. Here they are all nicely packed in a cardboard carton in the trunk.



Next, we went to Osseo near Eau Claire to the famed Norske Nook for two grandiose pies to add to the roster of desserts at a family barbecue.



Everyone (but me) loves their banana cream pie, but since this was summer, it had to be regular fruit pies: blueberry and peach praline. Their pies are THE BEST, next to homemade (mine). We've almost got the requisite 7 pie tins to get us a free pie on another trip!