About The River

Friday, September 27, 2013

On The Road Friday...Old World Wisconsin part 3

We are off to Old World Wisconsin today.
 Old World Wisconsin is a big place and you do not want to miss any of it, because it is amazing.  A few tips in planning your adventure.

Start your day early! It will take all day to get through all of the buildings. And if you like to ask the folks questions (like I do) you will need all day. :-)
Be sure to wear shoes for walking.
Bring a backpack or other comfortable bag for water and snacks. There are several benches along the way, it is nice to sit for a bit and have a snack.
 Old World has a Polish Area, Finnish Area, German Area, Danish Area, Norwegian Area, African-American Area, Yankee Area and Crossroads Village.
Each culture has a garden. It was so much fun to see how the gardens differ. And yes, the German garden was different from the Norwegian. So interesting, I just loved it.
 Grapes in the German Area.
 Beautiful garden!
 I love this...I would like my sweetheart to build me one for my garden work.
 Old World Beauty
 And more Old World Beauty.

  Old World provides free trams, which are nice towards the end of a long day of exploring.

Thank you for coming along with me today. See you next week for another On the Road Friday!
 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Motivation and Habit

Motivation is what gets you started.
 Habit is what keeps you going!     
Jim Ryan

Monday, September 23, 2013

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Cream together butter, oil and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Blend well.
Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
Roll teaspoons of dough into balls, then roll into granulated sugar.
 (or fun sprinkles like my son Atticus did.)
Flatten cookie just a bit with fork.
Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350°for 10 to 12 minutes.
Leave cookies on cookie sheet for 2 minutes after taking out of the oven.

Enjoy!

Friday, September 20, 2013

On the Road Friday to Wholly Cow Custard

 My aunt treated us to custard at Wholly Cow Custard,  Delafield, Wisconsin this summer. Yummy! If you are in the Delafield area, this is a must stop. I thought to take a photo of our custard after we put it in our tummy! For more information - click here

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Razzleberry Lemonade

Razzleberry Lemonade
2 12oz cans frozen lemonade partially thawed
1 1/2 cup Frozen Red Raspberries
2 T. sugar
2 Liter bottles of club soda
1 lemon

Blend lemonade and one cup raspberries and sugar in a blender 
 strain to remove seeds
Pour back into blender add 2 cups ice - blend until smooth

Divide between two - 2 quart pitchers - add ice and top with club soda.

Enjoy!
 
I know fall is in the air and we like to have something warm to sip. For me, after a beautiful Autumn hike, I crave something cool and refreshing. I made this recipe this summer, and loved it.
I plan to make it again, and put it in our thermos and say "Cheers" to all around me enjoying the beauty of Autumn.
 Reason's why I love Autumn....
Hiking! Colorful leaves...brisk breeze...sweaters...bon fires...blankets...
Hope you are able to get out and enjoy the beauty of nature.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

More tomatoes then we know what to do with?

We worried our tomatoes were not going to ripen, because we had a very cool July. Never fear, our hot weather came in August. "Yay, our tomatoes will ripen" we all yelled. As we impatiently waited for that first tomato. We always  make BLT's with our first ripe tomato. After a long winter, we were getting impatient.
We have enjoyed, tomato salad, BLT's, fresh tomatoes with breakfast, lunch and supper. I have canned tomato sauce and tomato juice. I am now freezing tomatoes. And guess what? 93 percent of American gardeners grow tomatoes. So I can not give any away. Smile! Actually, we are blessed with the great harvest! How about you? Did you grow tomatoes this year and how did your crop do?

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Hummingbird or Sphinx Moth

Hurt no living thing: Ladybird, nor butterfly, Nor moth with dusty wing, nor cricket chirping cheerily, Nor grasshopper so light of leap, Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat, Nor harmless worms that creep.  Christina Rossetti    

Friday, September 13, 2013

On the Road Friday....Old World Wisconsin part 2

We are back on the road tonight...heading to Old World Wisconsin. This is part two of our road trip to Old World Wisconsin, click here for part one.

Off we go, heading to the German settlement at Old World Wisconsin.
 German homestead...can you see the young lady working outside the house?
 Atticus making a shingle. This is what I loved about Old World Wisconsin, hands on and very kid friendly.
 Tools of the day.
 Sam giving shingle making a try.
 Cute pigs!
 German barn....we all thought this structure was amazing.
 Big, beautiful, black oxen. I was fascinated with the oxen. I continued to think about Laura Ingalls Wilder when the oxen run over the sod house.
 Yes, I wanted to take this fella home. I love sheep. Did you know I use to raise sheep?
 Another view of the German home.
 Inside the barn. Check out the low ceilings.
 The Polish area. I loved how this home was built. The screen door on the side of the home is the chicken coop. The chicken coop is attached to the house. The young lady said she enjoys listening to her chicks talking while she is working.
This is a close up of the logs and how the Polish home was built. I am not sure the name of the style, but I like it. The walls were very thick, so the home stayed very warm during the cold Wisconsin winters.
 Low ceilings in the barns. I remember visiting a farm when I was the boys age with my dad. The farmer was a homesteader to Wisconsin, he was from Switzerland. Guess what kind of cows he had? Brown Swiss! I loved going to visit him with my dad, because he had a different barn to me. It was a low ceiling barn, just like the barns at Old World Wisconsin. 
The other fun memory I have of visiting his farm, the cats would sleep on the cows backs. It was so peaceful in his little barn. The Brown Swiss content  chewing their cuds and the cats sound asleep on the cows back.
Thank you for coming along tonight. I hope you enjoyed your trip to Old World Wisconsin.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Okra

I shared with you about fried eggplant on Monday, today I will share okra. Using the same breading mixture that I used with Eggplant, you use with okra. If you missed my post about eggplant, click here
All you have to do with okra is slice it into small bite size pieces. Go ahead and toss into flour, buttermilk and breading. Again, you will fry in a pan with just enough oil to cover the okra. We have used vegetable and peanut oil and both make a great fried okra.  Do you like okra? How do you like to eat it?


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

It is good to be me.

 "Courage is something you want and need, when you are afraid always remember your courage, if you don't have any, get it, you need it. Atticus TePaske age 11
"It is good to be me." That is what Atticus had to say yesterday morning. He received a thumbs up on the healing of his wrist. Yay! Thank you to all my dear readers for praying for him.    This past week Atticus wrote an essay about courage. He wrote about his time in ER and about his piano teacher who is now a missionary in Haiti. I will leave you with a quote he came up with.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Time to take a trip to the Library...The Tanglewoods' Secret

In a struggle to learn to overcome her fiery temper and selfish spirit, Ruth is lead to the discovery of a very important Shepherd who can and does teach her (and others) how to be good. Author, Patricia St. John does a wonderful job creating a story to grab young readers.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Eggplant

Eggplant
Eggplant has become my new favorite! I just love how it turns out breaded and fried.
We have found young eggplant tastes the best using this recipe.
Slice your eggplant.
Salt your eggplant and stack. By salting your eggplant you are getting the bitter taste out. Let set with salt for about one hour. After that hour, wash the salt off your eggplant.
You will need eggplant, flour, buttermilk and breadcrumbs.
Take your eggplant, dip into flour, buttermilk and breadcrumbs.
Now you are ready to fry. Fry in hot oil. Just enough oil to fry your eggplant.
We have used peanut oil and vegetable oil. We have enjoyed both ways.
Fry until you notice your coating is turning a nice brown. If you like your fried food a bit more crisp, like I do, fry just a bit longer.
 Let cool just a bit, dip into ranch dressing and enjoy!

Yummy!

Friday, September 6, 2013

Welcome September...September Fun Facts

Welcome September
September Fun Facts

Redwing blackbirds head south

Whitetail bucks shed velvet

Oaks are raining acorns

September 22 Autumn begins....my favorite season is just around the corner.

September 24th the Autumn leaf color is underway

And Jack Frost is due anytime!

Happy September  



 
 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

It is time to take a trip to the Library....Road Trip by Gary Paulsen and Jim Paulsen

My boys read this book this summer. "Mom, you have to read this book, it is fun." they both told me. "And, guess what? The dog's name is Atticus!"  Well, in that case I just have to read it. :-)  I am a big fan of Gary Paulsen. And he and his son team up to create this story. The result: Road Trip; one wacky and entertaining adventure rescuing a Border Collie Puppy.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

"We love our tree!" said the boys

First, came the cool rope ladder and tree fort.

Then came the fractured wrist.
Then came the wind storm!
I think the fort and rope ladder made it! The boys built it strong.


And the clean up crew. During the winter we will need to do some more work on the tree. We want to save as much as we can for the boys, they love this tree so much. Do you have a story about a loved tree?