Scenes from the Door County Renaissance Faire 2013

 Vicki says : We're here!

The Door County Ren Faire is only 4 years old, but steadily growing.

 Equestrian Arts included an act with horse tricks, including this magnificent black stallion.

  

Vladimir the Horseman

I love that mane behind him.

They also had a jousting competition, and other contests of precision and skill.  

We were this close to the action!

 Vicki M. enjoying the day.

 The Rat Catcher - Often seen at Bristol, too. 

He provides a valuable service, and I thanked him for his work.

 Vicki, The Rat Catcher, and Me

 The Evil Queen was at the Wishing Well selling bottled water. 
She accepted apples as payment, which Vicki happened to have in her bag.

 My straw hat needs a few small repairs.

 

Andrea the Gypsy Dancer performs The Sword Dance

 

 I love the swirling skirts!

 Vicki blowing bubbles.

 A Lady plays the hammer dulcimer.  

Her music added a lot of atmosphere to the Faire.

 Gypsies with dancing ribbons.

Vicki's walking stick.

 

Fare thee well, until next time!

Simple Goodness : Taste of Summer

 

Red, white, and blue.

Strawberries, angel-food cake, and blueberries : 

The perfect July dessert combination.

Here it is with a little bit pf Peachy Sun thrown into the mix. 

Simple Goodness.

Speaking of our New Kitchen ...

All I can say is : I love it!  And I can't believe we waited so long to do it.

That corner straight-ahead is where the Kitchen Aid lives.  [Wink!]
Black granite and natural cherry are match made in heaven.
Electrical Outlets and lights! Such a vast improvement!

Here's a slide show of the whole changeover, including the miserable hovel we lived with for the past 14 years :

Summer Goodness : Home-made Frozen Yogurt with Strawberries

 

We recently discovered the Kitchen Aid attachment for making ice cream, or in this case Frozen Yogurt.  (Special thanks to my friend Vicki Moen for sharing this!  You can get a pretty good deal on a used one at Amazon.)  This is the greatest invention since sliced bread.  I can finally retire the old 1960's vintage ice-cream maker I've had since I was a kid.   It's a hassle compared to this dream machine!  No ice and no salt to mess with--and no bathtubs to contain the mess!

 

So nice to know that our ingredients are all natural.  

 

CL has since made a delicious frozen yogurt with cardamom and a touch of almond essence.  Yum! Now that we've remodeled our kitchen, the Kitchen Aid has a place of honor there.  No longer relegated to the basement because it won't fit on the counter.   Life is good!

Here's e recipe :

Frozen Yogurt with Cardamom

32 oz. container of Danon plain full-fat yogurt

1 cup Fage 2% Greek Yogurt

1 cup honey

1 tsp. ground Cardamom

1/4 tsp Almond Extract

      A little Rose Water would also be tasty

Make according to the manufacturer's directions.

Enjoy!

July Peaches with ...

It's July with the bounty of summer fruits.  CL got 2 boxes of July peaches, so we've been eating these non-stop while we can.  I made a delicious flavor discovery this week :  The peaches above are drizzled with Slim and Nunne's (formerly Bite Your Butt Mustard) Sweet and Hot Mustard from Middleton's Mustard Museum.  This stuff is so good, we should be buying it in barrels!  It has a sweetness and a bite that is perfect for these peaches.

I dare you : Go ahead and try it!  It's a match made in heaven.  Mmmmh!

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread / Cake

 

This is the preferred birthday cake at our house.  We even had a lemon poppy seed cake at our wedding!  Yum!  It's a family favorite.  The paper on which the recipe is currently written is getting very tattered, torn, and tired.  I thought it was time to set this recipe down on Hidden Passages so we don't lose track of it.  

(Recipe makes 2 loaves)

3 cups flour
2-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1-1/8 cups salad oil
3 T Poppy Seeds

Mix all ingredients together and beat about 2 minutes.  That's what the recipe says, but I just mix it until everything appears to be evenly combined.


Here's the batter.  This stage always reminds me of when Baba Yaga ordered Vasalisa to soirt through a pile of dirt and poppy seeds.  What a job!

Grease 2 loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once the breads/cakes are in the oven, combine the ingredients for the topping.
The sugar needs time to dissolve in the lemon juice.

     3/4 cup sugar
     1/4 cup lemon juice
     Splash of Lemoncello

After removing from the oven and while still hot,  brush the lemon juice/sugar mixture on top.

Alternative Honey-Butter Topping :
     This is also delicious with honey and butter as a glaze.
     Melt equal parts honey and butter and pour on top.  Yum!

Thank you to Debbie Uerkwitz for giving us this recipe so many years ago.
I tend to categorize recipes according to who gave them to me.
This recipe lets me remember RDU with fondness.  :-)


                       CL at 42.

Remember the Quiet Evenings : Mid-Winter Edition

If on a Winter's Day ...

I am getting to know my new iPad, so during the snowstorm last week, I made a little video in the cafeteria at the Hospital where I work.  We have a lovely view over natural areas with 2 ponds.  Some of you live in sunny places and may have never seen a snowstorm before.  Here's a taste of what it's like:
Quiet.
Gentle.
White.


When I got home that night, my husband had a cheery fire going.  That's another enjoyable part of winter for us.   I spend many hours in winter watching the flames dance.  Here's your chance to see what I see -- if only for a few minutes.

Enjoy!

About the name of this post : Greg Taylor used to have a show on WORT (community supported radio in Madison, WI) called RTQE : Remember the Quiet Evenings.  I tuned in most Sunday nights to hear the show.  It looks like he's still doing it!  Cool!

Grappa Eddie's Furnace : aka The Octopus

With the winter season, I've been thinking about the huge old furnace Grappa Eddie Smitmajer had in his basement.  When I was a kid this furnace seemed GI-NORMOUS.  And all those ducts coming out the top made me think it was a metal octopus.  You never knew when one of those metal arms might reach down and grab a kid when she wasn't looking.  

This furnace was huge and inefficient.  Still, Grappa managed to get the temperature in the house up to 80 or 90 degrees on a regular basis in winter.   He liked it toasty and warm!

Here he is at the kitchen table.   His birthday would have been Feb 2. 

Trust Yourself

Read about the making of this image here.

Someone Waits for Me ...

On New Year's Day, I was driving home along the Lake Road.  It was about 6 pm and already dark when I saw a deer standing at the side of the road.  Too late to stop for it. 

I remember feeling ever so grateful that she didn't jump out in front of my car that day.  So in her honor, I wanted to capture the moment in art.  I remembered her countenance, but of course, I didn't have my camera at the time.  It was all over and done in a split second!   Still, the image is burned into my brain.  It's pretty rare that I get close enough to a deer to take a picture.  

Fortunately for me, my long-time BFF from high school's mother is a hobby photographer.  She lives in Oregon where they frequently get deer in their back yard.  Jackie Kerska took the the deer photo above (She says you can even see her own reflection in the deer's eye.  Cool!)  Jackie gave me her permission and her blessing to render this image to honor the doe who stayed at the side of the road that day.  Jackie's watermark stays on the original image.

[The content of this post originally appeared on my arts-and-crafts blog, Sweet Leaf Notebook on  September 30, 2012.  Read more about the rendering of this image there.]