Trigger Foods

Brickle Chip Blondies

Have you ever cooked or baked something that suddenly triggers family memories?  I had one of those moments tonight when I reached for a family favorite cookie/bar recipe book.  I haven't used this cookie book for like fifteen years!  I was contemplating tonight what favorite bar recipe could I make for my neighbors to try and cheer them up.  Laurie and Therese experienced the worse nightmare last night when a skunk sprayed underneath the crawl space of their house.  The stench is so horrible that the gals had to quickly grab some belongings (and their cat) and move to the local hotel.  All day I've been trying to think about how I could help the gals, but there really isn't anything my husband and I could do for them......except, make a sweet treat for them. 

So getting back to my question, do you have a trigger food or recipe?  As soon as I made these bars tonight, memories started flooding back to me of when Becca and Chris were young children.  I sure miss those days.  So, this particular recipe was one of their favorites and I bought the cookie book back in the mid 90's.  I made these bars all the time because they were fast and easy to make.  The pan of bars NEVER lasted long in our house.  And now?  Bike man and I rarely bake cookies, cakes or pies.  Nowadays, all you hear or read about is that sugar is bad for you.  Kind of makes a person depressed ya know!  I enjoyed making the pan of bars and will make them again when I have my next sugar craving.

If you are interested in the recipe, please look in my Turtle Recipes menu.

 

Ted's Thanksgiving Patties

I meant to post this right after Thanksgiving, but I'm running behind, so please excuse my lateness!  I wanted to share my hubby's idea for leftover Thanksgiving food.  He actually came up with this recipe years ago and we always look forward to making these patties every year.  So, you basically use leftover cornbread stuffing from your Thanksgiving meal with some cooked turkey or chicken mixed in....and leftover sweet potatoes (for this photo, I forgot to use the sweet potatoes).  Our cornbread stuffing always consists of craisins and fried bacon pieces....it's delicious. 

After mixing it all together in the bowl, I use my Tupperware hamburger press (remember Tupperware?) and make individual patties.  At this point you can just freeze the patties and then take them out of the freezer when you want to fry up some patties.   So handy.....

I like to use butter in the fry pan when cooking the patties.  The butter makes the patties nice and crisp and flavorful.  I recommend serving the patties with a large dollop of homemade tangy cranberry sauce.  We use to eat these primarily for breakfast, but now I realize the patties make a wonderful quick dinner when you are in a rush.

Want to make a batch of these patties anytime of the year?  No sweat, just buy a package of cornbread stuffing (Pepperidge Farm) in the bag and follow the directions on the package.  I highly recommend adding fried bacon pieces and yummy craisins.  You can also add nuts and any type of meat, or NO meat.  These patties would be great vegetarian style too.  Whatever your heart desires.  

Red Cedar Peace Initiative

A very dear friend of mine asked me to attend the Red Cedar Peace Initiative with her last night.  I happily accepted her invitation, but not really knowing what I'd be getting myself into at this gathering.  Well, I personally have to say that this was the best medicine for my heavy heart.  Ever since our presidential election and it's outcome, I've grown increasing weary and now it's to the point of feeling anxiety and fear.....real fear that I haven't felt in many many years.  So, I decided that I'd like to share my personal feelings with you about the political climate that surrounds all of us.  If you'd rather not read this, I'll understand.  Actually, I was going to post about Bike man's Thanksgiving patties, but with my personal anxiety these days, I thought I might feel better just getting this off my chest.  Lol....then I'll move on to food and recipes on another day.

As you can see in my two photos, there were around 55 people that showed up for this community gathering.  As I listen to numerous folks talk, I soon realized I wasn't the only one that is suffering from fear, sadness and anxiety.  Wow, somehow I began to feel a peaceful energy surround me last night.  I think I also started to feel the compassion and love of others in that room.  I discovered we all felt passionate about the same issues and this gathering quickly had us talking about our concerns.  Now, I have to tell you this gathering wasn't meant to talk politics.....we weren't there to bash a political party, but we were there to talk about our fears and concerns of political changes that would affect our children, grandchildren, our seniors, our communities, our LGBT community, international student population at our local university and much more.

One thing I am so proud of that I just want to briefly mention.  When I look around and I see the people who immerged from the 60's era (the hippy generation), and I still see them today in their mid to late 70's, still fighting for social justice and still so passionate about the environment.  These are the people from my generation, even though I was a young girl in the 60's, they have always cared about society and they care little about BIG money or big corporations.  I truly respect these people and I respect their integrity of clean living and protecting our earth.  I am sad to think that our young people of today do not understand the hippy era.....the love and not hate attitude. 

So, getting back to our peace initiative gathering.  I'd like to list our common concerns, which will be affected by the new Trump administration.  When you read through the concerns, just ask yourself, what can I do to help my local community deal with these issues?  How can I help?  Even if you are a Trump supporter, how can you help community members who feel scared like me?  What I'd rather not hear is the typical Christian reply....oh, just pray about it!  Prayer is not the answer to greed and corruption.  I'd like you to think about how can you make children feel safe, especially with the hatred that is oozing out from our communities right now.  How can you comfort the LGBT community that is increasing fearful for their lives.  And how can you help the African American communities that feel the bigotry and hate?

Concerns from our gathering:

How can we teach our children to be kind and show respect?
How can we console our immigrant workers who are fearful of losing their jobs?
What will happen to climate change when all the regulations are thrown out?
Many worries about clean water and clean air
Environmental regulations dismantled nation-wide
Clean energy and moving forward like the rest of the world
Public school systems and funding cuts verses Charter schools
The growing divide in our country.....can't we all work together?
Silencing of opposition from Donald Trump himself.....people are scared! Dictatorship???
Standing Rock situation and taking away the rights of our native people to protect their sacred land
LGBT community - how can they feel safe from the hatred and discrimination
How can we make our international students feel safe while attending college at UW-Stout
How can we stop the factory farms from increasing their herds to thousands of cattle & runoff issues

There were so many more concerns that I didn't mention, but this gives you an idea of what we were talking about locally.  I will be attending the next meeting in January to continue to help implement a plan for bringing our community together to feel safe and to give support when we are facing so many political changes.

For now, I might just have to take a break from social media, especially my Facebook account....or even reading the news.  The political climate is exhausting right now and it's easy to get depressed and feel hopeless, but that is why it's so important to get involved in your community to make a difference.  We owe it to our children, as they will suffer the consequences in the future.  Thanks for reading.  






       






 

Enjoying November

I've been traveling to Southwest WI once a month since January 2016 to help my elderly parents.  This most recent photo was taken two weeks ago at Wildcat Mountain State Park, near Ontario, WI.  Since we were having unseasonable warm weather in November, I wanted to take my dad on some outings so he could enjoy taking photos....and I wanted him to feel normal again.  Dad hasn't felt normal for months now. 

Since my dad has terminal cancer, any day I can spend with him is a good day.  I was so happy to catch this photo of a "good" day with my parents.

 

Wow, and dad caught a photo of me with my camera!

So, today with the cold and windy weather, I decided to stay indoors and make a batch of cranberry orange scones....my mom's favorite!  When I return to Southwest Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, I will bring my mom her scones!

I also decided to make a batch of buttermilk biscuits....I love baking with fresh buttermilk.  As the weather cools and winter returns, I hope to do more baking and cooking big batches of hearty soups.  Be sure to check out my Turtles recipes in the top menu.

Thanks for checking my sporadic blog.  Life is always interesting..........

Farewell To Miss Winnie

I am sad to report my wonderful mother-in-law, Winnie, passed away on October 21st.  She was 97 years old!!!   Way back when, maybe eight years ago when I started my blog, I often talked about my mother-in-law and her health concerns.  Winnie was struggling with dementia or Alzheimer's and had reached the point in her life where she couldn't live by herself.  Winnie moved to Milwaukee to live with her daughter, so my husband and I didn't get to see her often.  Over the years I saw the dementia take over and change the woman I once knew so well.  When Winnie didn't recognize me or her grandchildren any longer, that was very sad for all of us.

So, my daughter Becca and I were talking about her grandma Winnie at the funeral.  We both agreed that since the dementia or Alzhemier's had taken over about ten years ago, we realized we hadn't had a regular conversation with Winnie in years, and we both felt very sad about that fact.  Both Becca and I remember the good years of fun activities with grandma Winnie and the wonderful conversations we had with her.  So basically, we were mourning those years that we most remembered Winnie.....her good years.

Yes, we were sad at Winnie's funeral, but we also felt like we lost her ten years ago, so the sadness went way back.  Emotionally, it was a hard week, but now the work begins of cleaning out her house and preparing to sell her beautiful home.  It will be a very sad day for our family when the keys are handed over to a new owner of her home on the river.  There are many, many good memories of family gatherings at my mother-in-law's home. 

Rest in peace Winnie.

Just Talking Banana Bread and Owls

Seems like the bananas I buy at Aldi's always ripen too fast.  When this happens, I usually make a batch of banana bars with brown butter frosting (recipe is listed in Turtle Recipes) and put them in the freezer for special occasions.  Well today, I decided to make a double batch of banana bread.  The recipe really called for sour cream, but I used our homemade Greek yogurt.....thanks Bike man!  To see the actual recipe, check out my Turtle Recipes in the top menu.

On a different note, I had an interesting night playing with a Great Horned Owl!  It was 2 am and I couldn't sleep.  After laying in bed with my eyes wide open, I suddenly heard an owl hooting in the woods near our house.  I couldn't resist and had to get out of bed to find that owl!  I absolutely LOVE owls.

I ended up going outside and standing on our deck that faces the lake.  It was only 59 degrees and I was barely dressed to stand outside, but I didn't care, who would see me?  Very softly, I started calling back to the Great Horned Owl.... hoo hoo, hoo- hoo hooooooo.  Then I increase the volume of  my call.  Within 1 minute, the owl flew in closer to me.  The owl called to me, and I called back to him.  We did this for almost 30 minutes.  The owl kept moving from left to right in the trees, coming in closer and closer.  How cool is that?  A second owl was calling down the road near my neighbors, but never really heard me. 

I had wished I would have grabbed one of our flash lights to see the owl, but I forgot as I was in a hurry to get outside.  I didn't really care however, I was just excited to call in my favorite owl.

For years I've practiced the call of a Barred Owl, but this was the first time I called in the Great Horned owl.  Isn't it amazing how the small things in life can get you so excited?   

Heavy Hearts

I hope one of these days I can do a better job of blogging, but honestly, my heart hasn't been in the mood for writing.  After ending my library career in December, you'd think I'd be hammering out the blog post with all this extra time on my hands.  Nope!

Funny thing is, my life didn't actually slow down with retirement, but has accelerated.  I've committed to helping my husband with his volunteer work of stream and lake monitoring for the DNR, plus once a month we also collect phosphorus samples from 17 creeks in Dunn and Barron County.  Then, add in working/volunteering for the Lower Chippewa Invasive Partnership group, which is an active group that helps educate the public about terrestrial invasive plants & trees.  We also have actual work days pulling buckthorn, garlic mustard and tackling a new invasive, Amur Cork trees.

I then have about 1-2 weeks each month of unscheduled work or activities around the house, followed by one week a month in Richland Center, helping my elderly parents.

I posted this particular photo of my parents, Jack & Shirley, because it was a day I won't forget.  The day this photo was taken, we had just come back from dad's mid-afternoon oncology appointment at their local hospital.  The oncologist told my dad.....you realistically have 6-9 month left before the cancer takes you.  Your bladder cancer (of six years) has now moved into dad's pelvic area and the lungs.  All I can say is that we left this appointment with heavy hearts.  My dad held strong the rest of the afternoon and we decided to go out for dinner at a beautiful place along the Wisconsin River near Spring Green.

During that short time while we enjoyed our meals, we talked, we laughed and we even met some wonderful new people.  Can you believe we all three even enjoyed a frosty mug of beer???  Way to go mom and dad, live a little!

But now, it's back to reality.  Time is ticking.  Dad was finally placed in hospice last week and it has been a flurry for my parents.  Lot's of appointments, hospice visits, phone calls, new faces and new decisions to make about the future.

I will continue to travel to Richland Center to help my folks and will anticipate more trips for me in late fall and the winter months. Every day I tell myself I am so lucky to be able to retire early in order to help my parents.  I also have to say I am very lucky to have two wonderful sisters that are willing to help as well.....we girls all work together coordinating dates and appointments, phone calls and lots of messages by cell phone or Facebook. 

Lastly and ironically, my mother-in-law has also been in and out of hospice for several years now.  The end of her life is near for her as well.  As they say.....when it rains, it pours!

Thanks for listening and reading.