Balls in the Air

No, the title does not refer to a new yoga position, I mean I'm busy! I have "a lot of balls in the air" like a juggler.

After preschool on Monday I gave blood. I may have mentioned before that I have a rare blood type. I kind of feel that I need to spread some of it around, since somebody might really need it, and it's scarce. If you give blood, keep your fingers nice and warm, so you can pass the hemoglobin test.
I always feel so virtuous after the questionnaire, because I haven't done anything to make me a bad risk for contaminated blood. (Lately) Been in jail? Nope. Had sex with a hooker? Nope. Been shooting up? Nope. Been scarfing down cow brains in England? Nope. Are you having sex with a man who has sex with other men? Nope, nope, nope! I don't even know what some of the stuff they ask about IS! They tell me that if I was doing it, I'd know.

Monday night I had to renew my CPR certificate. I hate this. I hate asking a filthy rubber mannequin if it is all right, I hate cracking it's creaking chest while counting to 30, I hate blowing into it's mouth, hoping to see "chest rise". Mostly I hate imagining that I might have to do this to one of my little preschool friends. Please, God, don't make me have to do that!
For weeks after this class, I inspect every mouthful at snack time, "Only one goldfish cracker in your mouth at a time, kids! Mrs. Ose does not want to give you the Heimlich!"

After Religion class on Tuesday and Thursday, my brain is mush! No new input will go in until the rest is absorbed. I can feel the moment my brain fills up. I spend the rest of the time looking at the clock and hoping I'm not missing anything important.
Tuesday night I met Reenie at the Seward co-op. It's as hippified a place as my little heart could desire. Everything is recycled! I needed help to sort it, but I loved it. I had dandelion root tea (tasted like water you soak a burnt pot in) and french cheese (tasted like french feet).
Nick and Nate had conferences on Wednesday night. I couldn't be more proud! One teacher noted that as our son had an "A" in the class he didn't see what we were doing there. Duh! One of the reasons our kids get the grades they do is BECAUSE we go to every conference. We care and they know it. We make a big deal out of their accomplishments, and (so far, knock on wood) we haven't had to make a big deal out of troublemaking.
Thursday, Nick had an orchestra concert. Nick's group did a good job, but one of the other groups absolutely murdered Wagner. Yikes!
We had our annual visit from a firefighter at preschool. This year, I didn't embarrass myself, I'm happy to say. Two years ago, I noticed that my fly was open AFTER the firefighter left! Nice. Last year, I got caught making the universal hand sign for "Hottie" by another firefighter. (It's not MY fault the Ramsey Fire Dept. only hires lookers!)
Next week, I add another ball to the juggling act. I will be volunteering at Headstart. I have to spend 20 hours (for my other college class) in a class with a high level of poverty and diversity. 20 hours! Where am I going to find that? Luckily, I can spread it out as much as I want.
Nick is being confirmed at the end of the month. I'd be going nuts if I had the time. Instead, I've delegated the planning to Paul. He's project managing, it's one of his many talents. All I have to do is cook and whatever else I'm assigned. I'm so happy not to have to juggle that!

Here's a recipe I found in a magazine while I was waiting for Nate at the orthodontist. It sounded good, but not with the marinara sauce that was suggested. If you need sauce, nuke some Cheez-whiz.

Rice Balls (Not for juggling)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with greased foil or parchment paper.
Cook in 1 Tbls oil:
1 cup thawed, chopped, frozen spinach
1/2 small onion
1/2 tsp minced garlic

When onion is transparent, mix with:
1 cup cooked rice
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
pepper to taste

Make into balls of about 1 Tbls and bake for 20 minutes.

E for Effort

I went to another book signing. This is my favorite author, Diana Gabledon, signing my copy of her new book. Look how nice and THICK it is! I won't be able to read it until December, sadly, because I have to read homework books until then. I know better than to start one of these unless I have time to do nothing else, because I will ignore the world until I'm done.

I waited for 2 hours to have her sign my book. Why? Two hours for "To Kellet, Diana Gabledon"? I have no idea! It seemed like a good idea at the time. She is a good speaker, I enjoyed her talk before the signing. Here is how she began:

"In days of old, when knights were bold, and condoms weren't invented, they wrapped some socks around their c**ks, and babies were prevented!"

See? You don't hear a talk start out like that every day. Her books are hard to describe. I think they are shelved in fiction, as historical novels. They could also be science fiction or romance. Paul calls them the "Lusty Scotsman"books. I told Ms. Gabledon that at a previous signing and she asked, "Does he enjoy the fringe benefits, too?" GULP! She was asking if her books (which do have some sex in them) inspired me to make out with my husband! I muttered something like, "Bleaaahhh, yeahhhh hahaha" took my book and scuttled off.

She seems to be a very straight-forward person. She said a reporter asked her once "What is the appeal of a man in a kilt?" She said, "I guess it's the idea that he can have you up against a wall in about 2 seconds flat!" And the reporter said, "GULP!" and scuttled off! So if you're looking for a good read, the first one is called Outlander.

Now, we get rain. Too little, too late. My tomatoes are already dead. My friend Deb is a marvelous gardener. I was admiring her tomatoes and asked her how many tomato plants it took to make a cherry tomato hedge that big. Just one! It was so full of cherry tomatoes, I couldn't believe it. Deb gave me a ton of them. I made this yummy jam with them. It takes a lot of effort, and it's amazing how 4 pints of tomatoes cooks down to 3 cups, but it is tasty.

I got my first paper back from religion class. I was pretty nervous, not having written one for a quarter-century, but I got a 3.0! Pretty good, considering. Better yet, the professor said I could rewrite it and try for a better grade, because he says I seem like the kind of person who would put in a little more effort to get a 4.0. Now THAT'S a compliment!

Cherry Tomato Vanilla Jam

2 1/2 lbs (4 pints) cherry tomatoes
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
1/3 c. plus 1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
3 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
3 (1/2 inch wide) strips lemon zest
5 Tbls lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rinse cherry tomatoes and put on a heavy cookie sheet. Pick off all the stems. Add the vanilla bean pulp to the 1/3 cup sugar, mix with your hands to combine. (Don't they smell good?) Mix tomatoes, sugar, olive oil and lemon zest on the cookie sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes depending on size of tomatoes, stirring often, until the tomatoes are wilted and skins have burst. Let cool a bit before removing the peels. Press the peels in a strainer to collect all the juice. Add juice to a medium sized pot and add tomatoes, discard skins.

Add 1 1/4 cups sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Place in a glass bowl, cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Put it back in the pot and boil until it reaches 220 degrees. Put some on a cold plate and see if it thickens some when cool. It shouldn't run when you tilt the plate. Can or freeze. yield: 3 cups

NOW, It's Fall!

The temperature dropped like a rock yesterday! Maybe our extended summer is over? My garden is done, I won't have to be running out with blankets to cover the tomatoes from frost. I want to get all the houseplants inside today, then I won't have to worry about them either. Mr. Ose hates having to haul plants in at 10:00 at night. Where am I going to put them?

Nick and Nate picked most of the apples off the tree yesterday. Now I have to do something with them. Come and get some if you want, we have plenty! I didn't spray them with anything this year, and they still look pretty good. Sometimes I use the juicer to make cider. I want a cider press, I have my best engineer on it. He should be able to make me one, don't you think?

I'm trying to write shorter blog posts (maybe with less gut-spilling), so let's get right to the recipe:

Caramel Apple Cider (Never spell it "Carmel" or I'll come find you!)

Cider
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups apple cider
1/2 cup water

Caramel Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbls brown sugar

Cider: Bring the cream and brown sugar to a boil, stir in the cider and water and heat just until the cider begins to steam, about 4 minutes. Divide among 4 mugs, top each with caramel whipped cream and serve at once.
Caramel whipped cream: Whip the cream with the brown sugar until soft peaks form.

Something Big!

I have matriculated! I am going back to college at Augsburg. I'm excited and overwhelmed at the same time.

I first went to Augsburg in September of 1981. (At freshmen orientation I noticed a cute boy named Paul.) Augsburg is a private, Lutheran college in Mpls. I lived on campus for 3 years and off campus as a senior. I went through ceremonies in a cap and gown and everything, even though I was a few credits short. (They let you do this.)

Anyway, I never got all those credits. I have been this close to a Biology degree for 24 years! I have taken classes at the U, Anoka Ramsey Community College and one other college. I'm still trying to figure out which one. I took Gen. Chemistry SOMEWHERE in the summer of 1983, because I took Organic that fall. Macalaster says it wasn't at Mac. I still haven't heard from Hamline. It's hard to ask a school if you ever went there without sounding ditzy at best.

It's so funny to be back there. I spent over 4 years of my life on that small campus, and some things look familiar, but some don't. They have done a lot of expansion, but still. The funniest thing is that I realized I have put all my college years in a big box in my head marked "Failure" and locked it. I now have the opportunity to take something out of the box. When I explained to a professor that I was a 25-year senior, and a cautionary tale, he replied that on the contrary, I was an inspiration. Yeah, I cried.

I realized I belonged there. I have a history at that school. Not only did I go there for 4 1/2 years, my husband went there. My mother-in-law and father-in-law went there. My sister and her husband went there. It's MY school.

So, I'm at the weekend college and taking one class during the week. It's "The Lutheran Heritage". I'm taking this because according to my transcript, I signed up for this in 1985 and got a 0.0 as a score. I must have never gone! If I retake it and get a decent grade it will help my GPA. It is also having a another effect on me.

I have been thinking for years that I was a bad Christian because I don't seem to think like the other Christians at my church. For example, last Sunday, the parents of the 9th graders were asked to participate in the youth group meeting. This involved kickball and a game played in the hallway and everybody sweating on and smacking balloons at each other. I hated it. Everybody else seemed to love the "Fellowship". I hate fellowship. I hate modern Christian music, radio and TV. I thought something was wrong with me. (Did I mention the box in my head is a BIG box?)

For this class, we are reading the important books and papers of the Lutheran religion. As I read them, I realized that I believed it all! Really believed it, and belief is the key here. "Saved by Grace, through Faith" and I have Faith! (Who knew?) All the things I don't like are just details.
So I got that back, too.

I'm a little worried that I've been gone so long that I won't know how to do all that college stuff. Footnotes, and the like. I've already written a paper for the Lutheran class. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who used the phrase "naked trollop in the kitchen" in a paper on Martin Luther. I'll let you know how I did (maybe).

The downside is, I have NO time. I have to plan everything days in advance and be super-organized. I know, welcome to your world, huh? I'm making good use of my crockpot, because when I finally make it home after teaching this year's 3-year olds (one word- YIKES!) and going to class in Mpls, my brain is banana pudding. It's nice to come home to a yummy smell and dinner already made. This recipe was in the strib. I thought the sauce was kind of runny, so I thickened it with corn starch.

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

1 (3 1/2 lb) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 carrots peeled and diced
2 celery ribs with leaves, chopped
4 fresh parsley sprigs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 3/4 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbls milk
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or other herb)
Sour cream, for garnish

Put the chicken and everything up til Bisquick in the crockpot and add water to cover. Cook, covered, on high for 3 hours or low for 7 hours, until meat falls from the bone.
Take chicken out of crockpot and let cool enough to handle, then remove meat from bones and discard bones and skin. While chicken is cooling, mix bisquick and milk, stir in parsley. Drop the batter by tablespoon into the liquid in the slow cooker. The dumplings should be just submerged. Cover and cook the dumplings on high for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove dumplings and add chicken back in. Thicken with corn starch if desired. Serve chicken in sauce over dumplings. Sour cream may be added for garnish. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I didn't think it needed it!

Rich Folks

My buddy Chris and I went to Wayzata on Sunday. They were having some festival with a parade and craft fair. We love craft fairs, and the guys were out of town, so off we went! This photo shows the view from the patio bar by the marina. Beautiful flowers, cold beer, (um, we were warding off heat stroke) it was great.













Here we are all cooled off. You can tell rich people drink here because the drink menu was a bound, hard cover book and not a laminated piece of paper. Also, we were amused to see that they sell wine by the glass, and charge $15! For one glass! I know I'm a rube, but I try not to pay that much for the whole bottle.













We took a tour of Lake Minnetinky on the refurbished steamboat that at one time was sunk on the bottom of the Lake. It has a nice, loud whistle that made me scream whenever it went off. The ride was a real bargain at $5, and lasted an hour. We figured it was probably our last chance to retouch our tans before winter.













Here is one of the mansions on Lake Minnetonka. We tried to imagine what it would be like to live in such a place. All we could think of was how much work it would be to clean! We also can't imagine having servants to clean for us. I would make a serious effort to get used to it, though.








The parade was also interesting. Marching Band must be cool at their high school, because it was huge. The middle school has a steel drum band! The best part of the parade was the "Westie" group. Over100 West Highland Terriers and their owners marched in the parade. Not only that, but all the dogs were wearing frog costumes! I'm told they do this every year, last year they dressed as loons. I've never seen anything like it. The little dogs don't seem to mind, either.

Rich people just seem to think differently than I do. We should have a zoo-type thing for them so we could watch them. This may explain the popularity of some of that reality TV, like "The real rich housewives of Texas". (I know 2 rich people, and they are both really nice. I like to visit them and see what is new. One has a microwave that is an undercounter drawer! It looks like a regular drawer, but it's a microwave! Fabulous. )

Although I would really like a big, neverending pile of money, There are probably some drawbacks, like worrying that somebody will kidnap your kids. That would be horrible. I'd rather be poor. (Let me point out that I know that as far as material possessions and such are concerned, I am blessed. By the standards of just about everybody in the world, I am rich. I (obviously) get enough to eat, I have a roof over my head, clothes to wear and easy access to excellent medical care. Not nearly enough people in the world can say this.)

I think there are advantages to NOT being rich like Paris Hilton. Such as:
1. We don't have fights over inheritance. We are not waiting around hoping for someone to leave us money, we know we have to go make it ourselves.
2. We are not shocked when something bad happens, we expect the s**t to hit the fan on a regular basis. Then we deal with it.
3. We won't be getting any of that hideous plastic surgery all the movie stars are getting. Why do they do that? It looks worse in the after pictures.
4. Our clothes don't go out of style from year to year, or if they do, we don't know or care.
5. Our kids can't get TOO spoiled.
6. We know people really like us for ourselves, not our cash!

I left book club early tonight to hit the William Kent Krueger book signing in downtown Anoka. I had told my friends that the last time I had a book signed by Mr. Krueger, he remembered me from the time before, complimenting me on my name and writing IN MY BOOK that it should be the name of a book character, maybe in HIS books! I was so flattered, he sees thousands of people! It's been a couple of years, so I didn't expect him to jump up and yell, "Kellet, great to see you!" which is good, because what he said was, "Hmmm...... Kellet, huh? What an unusual name, I've never heard that before!". Sigh.

Gotta go, but stay tuned. I'm working on something BIG! (NO, NOT a baby! put that out of your mind, RIGHT OUT!).

Today's recipe is for dog treats. Make them the right size for your dog, and while you could go all Martha Stewart and use a bone-shaped cookie cutter, remember that the DOG DOESN'T CARE!

Dog snacks

1 (6oz) jar turkey and rice baby food
1/4 cup beef gravy (use leftovers, the dog won't care)
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 egg white

Egg wash: 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 Tbls whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil. Mix all ingredients (except egg wash) together to make a dough. Roll out on a floured work surface to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into rectangles appropriately sized for your dog. Roll it thinner for small dogs, too. Put snacks on cookie sheet and brush with egg wash. Bake for 35-40 minutes (shorter time for smaller snacks) until golden brown. Cool before giving to dogs. Duh.

One for the books

Shortest summer EVER! Man, and what do I have to show for it? (Besides a freezer full of corn?)
Well, I did read a lot. I read 42 books this summer, most of them were fluff. This is a good time of year for new books. Many publishers bring out new books in the fall. Maybe so people will buy them as Christmas gifts. I try to get most of them from the library, but I will be buying the new William Kent Krueger mystery. Also, my favorite author Diana Gabaldon is publishing the 7th "Claire and Jamie" book, "An Echo in the Bone" in 12 days. Just 12 days!

There is not enough time to read all the good books out there. If you are ever wondering what to read, I have a cool link for you. You type in the name of an author you like, and this site shoots out a grouping of similar authors. It's fun to watch. It's called "Literature Map" and it's at http://www.literature-map.com/

I found that site by blog hopping. See up at the top of my blog where it says, "Next Blog"? If you click that, you go to a stranger's blog. It's different each time. Some of them are in foreign languages, then you have to make up the photo captions for yourself. It's a real slice out of someone else's real life. They WANT you to read them, they posted them on the web!

I like to read cookbooks, too. I get a lot of the shiny, celebrity chef ones from the library. Jamie Oliver (the "Naked Chef" who, sadly, is never naked) has the most gorgeous photos in his books. They are food porn. The Julia Child book isn't. I'm thinking of selling my copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". It's going for $30 on Ebay, and I'm never going to want to cook brains in wine sauce, anyway. Those recipes are way too complicated for me. The author of "The Silver Palate Cookbook" just died. That is a good cookbook. I'm keeping that one.

I also like books with recipes (big shock). Diane Mott Davidson and Susan Wittig Albert write mysteries with recipes. Jan Karon's "Mitford" series has it's own cookbook. Ruth Reichl wrote 3 autobiographies with recipes. She was the "New York Times" restaurant critic, so she knows a good recipe. I read a book by Kathleen Flinn called "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry". It is about her time in the Cordon Bleu cooking school, and has recipes from there. I will not be attending this school, I'm not paying frenchmen to yell at me! Jill Conner Browne (the author of the Sweet Potato Queen books, which have really yummy recipes in them) has a website, writes a blog AND will be your Facebook friend! Just ask! I'M on her friends list. I knew you'd be impressed.

Here'a a picture from last weekend. A bat was in the cabin, so we opened the doors and shooed it out. The brooms are merely for self defense.

Today's recipe comes from a book, my church cookbook! It's a little something different.








Mexican Stuffed Shells

12 ounce pkg jumbo pasta shells, cooked
1 lb ground beef
12 ounces medium or mild picante sauce
1/2 cup water
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 can (2.8 ounces) French fried onions
4 ounce can chopped green chilis (not jalapenos)
1 cup shredded cojack or cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef, drain. Combine picante sauce, water and tomato sauce. Stir 1/2 cup into ground beef along with drained chilis, 1/2 cup cheese, and half the can of onions. Pour half the remaining sauce mixture on the bottom of an 8x12 baking dish (9x13 is fine). Stuff shells with ground beef mixture. Cover with remaining sauce. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and onions. Bake uncovered 5 more minutes.

Squirrelly

I'm feeling squirrelly! Not goofy (I think I covered that with my last rant), but like it's time to store up acorns for the winter. A little crisp fall air and I can't help myself, I start stuffing the freezer and cupboards full. A couple of weeks ago, Chris and I canned 52 pints of jalabeanos! That should last us a while. It took all day and we were exhausted! How did farm wives do it? They canned every day for weeks, all while doing their regular work AND feeding the work crews!




This is 9 dozen ears of corn. Paul went to Rochester and stopped at a farm stand. I told him that the cheapest price here was $3 a dozen (Coborn's), so he drove a hard bargain with the guy. They started at $6 a dozen and ended with $20 for 9 dozen. (I asked for 3 or 4 dozen). The boys helped me peel them and I spent all morning cutting off the kernals and scraping the cobs. Right now, it's all cooking in the roaster. When it cools, I will package it in ziplocks and stack it in the freezer. This winter it will be "fast food" when I microwave it for dinner. Intellectually, I KNOW that I can BUY corn, canned or frozen, all year round and don't have to do this, but somehow, I NEED to! I also need to make jelly, wine, beer, spaghetti sauce, frozen green beans, applesauce and more than one kind of pickle. Part of it is a "Locavore" thing, the idea that eating locally grown food is superior to eating food shipped from far away. Partly it's because I can make these things just the way we like them, and without a lot of preservatives. It just makes me happy to see the bags and jars of stuff I worked so hard on putting up. Unfortunately, this all is ready to be put up at the same time! With some of it, like wild grapes and berries, we have to do the picking as well as preserving. Grapes are having a good year, and I've got a batch of wine fermenting away. It will be a couple of years until it's really good, wild grapes are kind of sharp. I could not resist getting this going even though I had preschool open house last night and squeezing grapes makes my hands purple. Looked nice with my yellow shirt.
These are the balloons that were tied to the mailbox of a house that was having a garage sale. They lost most of their air, and were lookin' a little, um, testicle-ish. How are you doing with the hunt for outrageous garage sale items? I haven't received ANY photos yet! Don't make me win my own contest, people.













Speaking of outrageous things, I met this nice dog in a sundress at Joann's yesterday. Her name is Molly. She gets all dressed up and goes to the hospital to cheer up the patients. It must work, she made me laugh! Little Miss Molly wasn't even embarrassed to be wearing the sundress, (like my dog would be,) she seemed to like it. Paul says now she REALLY looks like musky-bait. In a hula-popper.












This is how you get juice from the fruit to make jelly. Cook it with a little water, smash it, and strain it in a jelly bag. I picked these door handles on purpose because they are so good to hang a jelly bag from. Don't be tempted to squeeze the bag, that will make the jelly cloudy (and your hands blue!).

I have to go, there's a farmer's market in Anoka today, and I think I need more green beans. Maybe some cucumbers.

Here is an easy recipe for making freezer jelly from wild grapes. It is delicious! Put it right back in the refrigerator after using it, as it has no preservatives it molds quickly. Be sure that you are picking grapes and not something else.

This is from"Abundantly Wild" by Teresa Marrone.



Wild Grape Jelly

1 1/2 cups grape juice from wild grapes
2 1/2 cups sugar
Half of a 1.75 ounce box of powdered pectin
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbls water

Combine juice and sugar in a glass mixing bowl, stirring to dissolve sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a small saucepan, combine pectin and water, stir well, mixture may be lumpy. Heat to full rolling boil over high heat and boil for one full minute. Stir constantly.
pour over juice in bowl. Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy, about 3 minutes. Mixture should not be cloudy. Pour into freezer containers, leave enough room at the top for expansion. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours, it should be set. If it isn't, refrigerate it for several days or until set. Sometimes it may take up to a week. Then freeze it.

To make juice: Place washed grapes (no stems) in a pan, add 1/2 cup water per pound of grapes. (about 3 cups). Crush grapes with a potato masher. Heat for 5 minutes at medium heat, do not boil and crush again. Cook for 5-10 more minutes until skins lose much of their color. Strain through several layers of cheesecloth or in a jelly bag. You should get about 1 1/2 cups juice from each pound of grapes. When using the juice, leave the dregs in the bottom of the bowl, don't use it, it may cause your jelly to crystallize.