Letter from Grappa

This is a letter Grappa sent to Gramma Pickles from the nursing home earlier this month. It made me laugh to see that he is settling in so comfortably at the nursing home where "Everything is free!"

Here's the transcription (in case you can't read the above):

"Oct. ??? Don't know the town.

Dear Violet My Love
It is hard to write as there is nothing to lay the tablet on. Wish I was home. How is everything there? I hope good. You could come up here for a while. Everything is free. Food all you want. To eat, or whatever you do. You don't pay for anything. There is a lot of people you know. And best thing they do is keep you happy. Everybody gets a wheel cart so you can get around. Excuse my writing. The wheel cart goes pretty fast or slow as you want. I hope you can drop me a few lines.
Your love, Ed."

Great News! Grappa seems to be adjusting to life in the nursing home. That's good! The don't let him sleep during the day (He was sleeping most of the time at home, out of boredom, I suspect.). They keep him busy with entertainment, activities, and company. He knows many of the other residents there, too. They keep a handle on his diabetes--Gramma really didn't understand what needed to be done to manage it. And he's been on anti-depressants for the transition. When my family goes to visit him now, several times they haven't been able to find him there--he's off and doing somewhere there.

All this means Gramma can go back to being his wife, not his caregiver. That's great! Maybe absence does make the heart grow finder.

One More Recipe for Fall : Wisconsin Cranberry Walnut Pie

This is called a pie, but it's more like a coffee cake ... I left out the pie shell here, planning to serve it more like crisp (without the crisp layer).

The picture above is before baking, and before the sweet, buttery batter is spooged across the top (see 1/3 pie to the left). I had to take a picture because I thought the cranberries were so pretty!

Wisconsin Cranberry Walnut Pie

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust, homemade or purchased
2 cups whole fresh cranberries washed, drained
1 cup whole walnut halves
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp soda

Place cranberries and walnuts in unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar.
In a small mixing bowl, mix egg, butter, flour, salt, sugar, soda. Mixture will be thick. Spread evenly over cranberry layer with spatula.
Bake in pre-heated 325-degree oven for 60-65 minutes. (You may increase oven temperature to 350 degrees the last 5 minutes if you like a golden-brown surface.)
Makes 8-10 servings. Serve warm or cold.

The cranberries are from Wisconsin. :-)

Wild Rice Cranberry Salad

Here's the recipe for my very favorite Thanksgiving dish. I've been making it every year for several years now. There's always a lot left. Few other people seem to know just how tasty it is, so I'm happy to have the left-overs! We're getting ready for the annual Saturday-After Thanksgiving Feast at our house, so we haven't really celebrated yet ... My husband cooks. I just do appetizers and side dishes.

I got the recipe from Ann B. in Madison about 10 years ago. I have modified it only slightly.

Wild Rice - Cranberry Salad

1 cup wild rice
2-3/4 cups water
1 pat of butter
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped (1 T dried)
4 green onions (scallions), chopped
1/2 c olive oil
1 cup pecan halves, chopped
Rind of 1 orange, grated
3/4 c. orange juice
black pepper, freshly ground

Combine water, butter and wild rice. Simmer about 40 minutes until the rice starts to open out. While the rice cooks, combine mint, cranberries, orange rind, juice and scallions. Let stand. When rice is done, drain in collander. Add olive oil to rice. Combine all ingredients except pecans. Let stand for at least 2 hours for flavors to blend. Just before serving, add the pecans.

This is one dish that gets better with age!

In Northern Wisconsin, the Native Americans grow and harvest the wild rice I buy. I'm a little concerned because I had heard that the crop this year was not very good due to lack of water on some of the lakes this year ... Global warming in our own back yard.

A Few of Our Favorite Things : Babbette's Feast

Around the holidays, we like to watch a few movies that tipefy the season for us. For Thanksgiving, it's a film about food : Babbette's Feast. BF is based on a story written by Isak Dineson (the Out-of-Africa lady), this film tells the story of a French woman who fled Paris during the French Revolution. She seeks refuge in Jutland, Denmark, a stoney and barren outcrop on the sea. 2 sisters, minister's daughters took her in. After several years of being their servant and living simply, Babbette learned she won the lottery in France : 10,000 Francs, a small fortune. She decided she wanted to treat the sisters and their church friends to an elegant French dinner, somethingnthe humble and simple Jutlanders had never experienced. During the preparations, they were sure Babbette was preparing for a "witch's sabbath."

Babbette had to make a trip to Paris to purchase everything--not just the food and the wine, but also crystal glasses, silverware, and table linens. She spent the whole entire sum on this elegant dinner. The sisters were flabberghasted! It was Babbette's joy. In PAris, she had been a celebrated chef, an artist--sheesh! Just thinking of that brings tears to my eyes!

An essay on Babbete's Feast. Another article on Babbette's Feast.

Thanksgiving

Here's is Oliver's Thanksgiving Turkey, made at school with markers and a coffee filter. I love the effect so much, I'm trying to figure out how to apply it to cloth as a dyer's technique! It makes a nice sun-catcher, and everyone should have a little kid-art on their house!

Thanksgiving IS my favorite holiday because it's about food and family and being together. It's not about presents, but presance. It's not really about religion, either.

A celebration of ABUNDANCE, not only of food, but of the other riches of life.

What am I thankful for? All the usual things :
* A wonderful partner--I can't imagine a better match for me :-)
* A loving and supportive family (Ma and Pa, Gramma)
* A bright kid
* A decent job that supports my quilting hobby
* A warm fire to sit by on a cold winter's night/day
* A wonderful dog with a story of her own (though we may never know her true past, she has a good life now)
* An ice rink with uniform and regular ice most of the year (I know this one is not environmentally friendly, but then neither is heart surgery, which would probably eventually be the alternative if I did not skate)
* A place to call home

As Glen Phillips sings with Toad the Wet Sprocket, "I will not take these things for granted."

A Few of our Favorite Things : Holiday Folk Fair, International

These Czech pastries shine like jewels!

For me, The Holiday Folk Fair in Milwaukee, WI, is what being an American is all about. The coming-together of so many different cultures, traditions, foods, languages, dances, music ... It IS The Global Village.

It never fails, when I'm in The ALL Nations Theater watching a group of dance performances, the tears start to well up in my eyes--amid all those bright colors, happy music, and bright smiles. It gets to me--every culture has a way (many ways) to celebrate. None of them are right or wrong, and we gather to celebrate the diversity of it ALL.

In one performance, you can see a dance from Serbia, and the next might be from Croatia. Here they are dancing on the same stage--peacefully represented. It breaks my heart to see know what has happened in the Old Country for some of these cultures. At least here (Milwaukee, WI), there is no war.

They also have a Naturalization Ceremony to recognize today's immigrants who are becoming citizens. This is an incredibly MOVING ceremony.

So when Congress fights over immigration laws, I would remind them : We were ALL (or our ancestors were) immigrants here at some point in history. It just depends on how far back in time you go. Even the Native Americans came from somewhere else if you go far enough back in time ... I truly believe the next civil rights movement in the US will be about Immigrant Rights.

I first went to this magical event in high school about 25 years ago. The language clubs always organized a trip (It was a 5-hour bus ride one-way from Antigo) to Milwaukee for this event.

It's always a weekend filled with color, dancing, folk costumes, merchandise and cuisine from all over the world. I love it! Where else but Finland can you get the wonderful hand knit mittens, or gorgeous hand-made wooden boxes from Poland?

People-watching at the Folk Fair :

Lithuanian (or Latvian?) folk dance costume. I believe the fabric is woven linen. They also wear a lovely crown-like headpiece (not pictured).

Pomoranean Dancers heading back to the stage for another performance. These have always been some of my favorite costumes! I love the red!

The other great thing about the Folk Fair is that you don't need to be some rail-thin person to dance. Normal people dance these dances and wear the costumes. The Folk ARE regular people!

Holiday Folk Fair : Favorite Foods

Here's a photo of the Kolaces at the Czech stand. These tasty pastries shine like jewels! Grappa Eddie remembers these from his Bohemian upbringing. I even made him a batch a few years ago ... Maybe it's time to do that again?

The Folk Fair is always the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving. We re-discovered it in 2000 when I was pregnant with Oliver. With all that music and dancing, the little fish gave the first flutter that I could feel (at 5 months).

When we go now, we make a beeline to the Czech food stand. We love the pastries!

The Rakviky, or "Little Coffins" are an almond cookie filled with a lemon icing. They are DELICIOUS! It's a good thing we can only get these once a year--That makes them special too. One year, I asked for the recipe for these Rackvivky, but I was told it's a secret family recipe that could not be shared. Then she invited me to come down to help make them the next year ... Maybe I don't want to know how much butter is involved, but I haven't done it yet. We live just a little too far from Milwaukee for such a baking trip.

Uly, or Little Beehives, is another favorite. It has a Nilla wafer base, with a chocolate-covered nut and cream topping. There's also some hint of alcohol (brandy?).

[Photo - Glugg]
Another favorite item of past years is Swedish Glugg, or mulled wine. They always made it with grape juice since so many kids attended the Fair. One year, I happened to sit next to the head of the Swedish presence there. I lamented to her that I couldn't get the Glugg anymore. She was wonderful enough to send me the recipe! Here it is (You'll be able to find lots of recipes for the wine version on the web, but probably not this version.):
***********************************
Swedish Glugg (non-alcoholic) from The Holiday Folk Fair International

2 c. apple juice
1 c. grape juice
2 T. sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
8-10 cloves
Peel of 1 or 2 oranges, peeled in a spiral

Combine ingredients and bring almost to a boil. Place raisins and slivered almonds in each cup and serve.
************************************
We had a nice talk that year. She said the Swedes no longer did a food stand at the Folk Fair anymore. It's too much work, and too exhausting to man the booth (thousands of people attend). In those years, she said they had not been very good about encouraging the young people to take over the tradition. She regretted that ... I was pleased to see that the organizers seem to have made a special effort to get younger generations involved. There was one dance performance stage that scheduled only youth groups. Hurray!

We LOVE the international flavors in the World Cafe (We can't get most of this in Oshkosh, so when we go, it is special!) Here's what we ate this year :

Spanikopita from Greece is a delicious spinach and feta pie in a wonderful flaky crust

Koshari from Egypt / Egyptian Rice - a delicious warm salad of noodles, chickpeas, lentils, spices, rice (and more)

Hearty Lentil Soup from Slovakia

Hummert Salad from Denmark - Lobster Salad

Chicken Kebab and Hummus from Lebanon (above)

With so many choices, it's hard to decide what to eat! For all that, we managed NOT to over-eat this year.

Last Flower of 2007

As of November 18, with temperatures in the 30s this morning, I have one last flower on my climbing Eden rose bush. Lovely!

The Many Faces of Oliver

Normal Face

If looks could kill ...

Funny Face.
Oliver was born with the odd talent of being able to close off his nose with is upper lip. My father can also make this face--hilarious with a mustache. I remember being wheeled off to have surgery once, and I asked my dad to make this face. I was laughing on the way to surgery then.

As his mother, all these faces make me laugh! This falls into the category of things I don't want to forget.

Chuckle for the Day : Stars

Upon planning a trip to a local planetarium, MM asked "What happens if it's cloudy?"

"It's not an observatory, Goofball!" CL replied.

The Giving Tree

A few years ago, my parents built a new house and left the old handyman's special where I grew up. This fall, a family moved into the old farmhouse. While I'm happy to see the placed lived in, it's a little hard to see some of the changes :
The old house had 2 white paper birch trees next to it. (The kind of trees surrounding Baba Yaga's house in the Russian forest. These trees thrive in the cold white winters. The bark is white so as to reflect sunlight in the winters--Other trees with dark trunks split and crack in winter, but the paper birch have adapted.)

We always saw these trees as an asset. My dad even built a deck that let the birch trees grow through it. Their leafy canopy provided natural shade and habitat for the birds as I was growing up. (We never had air conditioning ...)

So you can understand why I was horrified to drive by the old house and see the remains of those majestic birch trees --white bark skeletons--stacked up for firewood, like the Romanoffs after they had been executed.

I know--I know--I know. It's not my house anymore. They need to do what they think best for the place and property. Those trees have gotten bigger and older over the years. I'm sure the new owners didn't want the trees, or their colossal branches to fall on the house.

Don't Know What You've Got Until It's Gone ...

[Photo old farm house]

The house where I grew up was a drafty old farm house, more than 100 years old. On cold winter mornings, I got dressed next to the old cook stove in the kitchen : It was the warmest spot in the house. I never took a picture of that old stove--and I never thought I'd miss it ... It looked something like this, though not exactly ... It did have the water reservoir on the right, and the storage shelves above ... It sat on a brick platform that my parents scavenged from an old schoolhouse that had been torn down, or burned down. They recycled the brick long before it was fashionable to do so. They even got enough brick to build a fireplace in that old farmhouse ...

Thoughts on Mortality

If you knew when you were going to die, would you live your life differently?

Is knowing when you'll die a gift or a curse?

If you had the opportunity to plan your funeral, would you do it or not?

Would you want the chance to say goodbye to your loved ones, to help them prepare for your departure (as after an illness)?

OR would you rather die suddenly and unexpectedly as in a car accident (like Princess Diana) or from a burst aortic aneurysm?

Would you want to die as a young person, or after a long life?

Would you want a prolonged illness like Alzheimer's, where you're here, but you seem to be somewhere else?

Or would you choose a prolonged illness like cancer where you are sentient?

After pondering these questions, I've decided I want the best of both worlds--I want to be able to plan my life and funeral. I want to live deliberately, and I want my loved ones to know how much they mean to me.

As for an occupation--yes, librarianship is a worthy occupation. But if I knew my days were numbered, I would prefer to spend my time creating (probably quilting). People will remember me for what I left behind : those creative endeavors of a life well-lived.

Part of the idea for starting this blog came from pondering these kinds of questions. This is sort omy online scrapbook of things I don't want to forget, things I want my family to remember ...

[Shillings--I wrote this months ago. But EG's passing made me want to set it down here now ... I am thinking of you!]