ness

We've been to Hermann a few times. It can be a pretty nice get away weekend. I've always been interested in winemaking, but going to wineries all day isn't for us. There are a couple wineries there that do a pretty good job with things. We rode the wine trolley there a few years back and went to a few of the wineries. At one stop an engagement party of about 10 girls got on. I asked the bride-to-be if this was her first wedding, to which I got a delayed semi-laugh. Hermann Farm there is pretty cool. They do old-school farming with Shire draft horses. They have a huge timber-frame barn, restored/rebuilt buildings, and now a distillery. Hermann is light on good places to eat. The restaurant at Stone Hill is pretty good for German food but can be hit-and-miss. Wursthaus is pretty good too.

Any problems with the app? I thought about signing up this year, but haven't pulled the trigger. We listened to the Royals on radio last weekend for a bit and it was kinda nice. I may just do that. It's going to be interesting to see how the whole Royals/stadium thing shakes out now that the Jackson County voters said no to the proposal for a downtown stadium.

We ate well this Easter Sunday. Starting at 12:00 in the pic and going clockwise: smoked pork loin, smoked corned beef, pimento mac and cheese, baked beans, scalloped taters. The corned beef was excellent Got gifted a bottle of key lime juice, so the missus made a couple key lime pies. Excellent, but we both agreed it was too sweet, so we’ll adjust next time. Got a little carried away at the Jelly Belly dispenser, dang it. $14 worth, and the guests left us with about $13 worth. I wonder if they freeze well?

Nice capture! Aren’t you glad you took it with your phone instead of trying to go grab your camera and possibly missing it??

Told Kathy last night life is too short and guys like this aren’t going to last forever. So… We’re going too!

Li’l help So, I ain’t got no mushrooms.

Golldarnit! You retired folks are making me jealous!! I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t even considered getting out to look, and it’s gonna get worse before it gets better around here. Busy, busy, busy, but I’m still getting paid. Dinner? ‘By the time I get home my supper be cold.’ (You tracking with me?? Ask for clues if needed.)

I found a picture of one beginning:

I follow this group on Facebook. They seem to have some credibility. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/j74EvDenVVcFEdLJ/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Yeah, I’ve got some permethrin and some dedicated clothes. It’s a good solution. I think I learned about it here, maybe from you. Lyme disease can mess you up forever.

Ahhh, morels are truly wonderful and I almost feel sorry for folks that don’t enjoy them like I do. They are a special, seasonal thing… something I really look forward to each spring. It’s much more than, ‘Oh, that tastes good.’ That said, I met a guy a couple years ago who’s in our small group at church. He got Lyme disease somehow and it is a tough, tough road for him. I don’t want it, and you don’t want it. It scares the crap outta me and almost has me wanting to skip hunting for mushrooms. Now on to asparagus: When I was single a few years back I pulled up my asparagus and black raspberry beds because I figured I needed less to do around here, and also that those would be a liability if I sold the house. I didn’t sell and I sure do miss them, but especially the asparagus.

Good buddy of mine had his prostrate removed and I think he’s glad he did it when he did. His wife thanked it for its service on Facebook, which he was less glad about 😀

St. Patty came early for us this year. Guinness beef stew on mashed taters with some onion (‘champ’), Irish soda bread with cranberries and a Guinness. Slainte!

Bow tie pasta with mushrooms in a cream sauce with cheese

I know of borscht but haven’t had it. As a lover of funny stuff I’m familiar with the ‘borscht belt’ comedians.

I don’t know exactly when things changed but I learned to like picked beets many years ago. Then I developed a liking for plain old beets just a few years back. They seem to be best with something tart to offset the sweet. The earthy flavor is always there, but a little vinegar or tart cheese are the ticket for us. we like them in salads or as a side.

We like most all the root vegetables, parsnips too. Beets don’t transplant well so I start them from seed pretty early in spring.

Anybody here like beets? I ask because I know there are a lot of folks on the hate side and I’m just curious if there’s any on the love side. We like them and grow a bunch in our kitchen garden. Just planted 128 last weekend. We’ll pickle some and roast some and do a fall planting if I get around to it. I didn’t take a pic, but last night we roasted a biggun and served it as a side with goat cheese and chopped pistachios. Tasty!

Nah.

Another goodun came to mind: Hud. Haven’t read the book but love the movie.

We went up there a few years back for a weekend just to get away. The bridges are pretty cool, but I couldn't care less about the movie. Ate like an Iowegian at Iowa Machine Shed, went to a pretty good cidery in Winterset and visited Living History Farm in Urbandale, which is pretty cool. Something about it reminded me of this place

My dad loved Louis L’Amour and read a lot of his books. He picked up one and there was a character in it with our very uncommon last name. Dad wrote L’Amour and asked him how he happened upon that name. He got a letter back explaining it all. I’ve got a copy of the letter here.

Welp, I’d probably agree for fiction. Love Lonesome Dove. But… there’s a lot of good stuff out there. The Virginian by Owen Wister is a goodun.

Empire of the Summer Moon is a good book about Quanah

Agree it’s his best. A great character in that movie. I love the, “Let’s go home, Debbie” scene. Also loosely based on history. Cynthia Ann Parker was kidnapped as a small girl and raised by Comanches. Not a happy ending in real life.