The everyday (from Niki)

Every time I read Aunt Marge's story below, I find it more interesting, more heartwarming, and more special. Dad and I were talking about it at lunch last week, and we decided it's pretty much impossible to follow-up with anything nearly that big. So, I'm swinging the opposite direction. To the simple. The mundane. The everyday.

I've been into food research and cooking the last couple years, especially finding ways of incorporating organic, natural, and start-from-scratch eating wherever I can. One of the things I really wanted for my birthday was a pasta maker. I figured it always looks so fun and easy on Iron Chef so how hard could it be?

Well, I managed to make a colossal mess and practically ruined the stove top, but it was dang good. Matt and I both agreed it was waaaay better than the store stuff. Granted it took me an hour and a half, but I’ll get faster and cleaner (hopefully) over time. It’s totally worth it though and we’ll never eat regular pasta again. Here’s the play by play:

Step one- Make a well in the flour and add eggs. Just like on TV!

Step 2- Mix, knead, and cover your entire counter top with flour. (So much so that you show up to work the next morning with white stuff all over your brown pants from the edges of the counter you missed cleaning).

Step 3- Roll out dough. Also known as the Most! Fun! Thing! Ever! Seriously, it’s like play-dough for grown-ups.



Step 4- Make sauce. The goal next summer is to grow all these ingredients fresh or get them from the farmer's market.

Step 4a- Saute onions and garlic in olive oil.


Step 4b- Add tomato puree, parsley, and other spices.


Step 5- Boil pasta. I have no pictures of this because, FYI, fresh pasta really expands and water was boiling everywhere - all over the stove, rolling onto the floor, and making a giant smelly, steamy mess.

Step 6- Arrange awesome birthday flowers and balloon from my mom, dad, and sister as the centerpiece of the table.

Step 7- Plate, garnish, accessorize and enjoy!
Now that I have the basic concept down, I plan to experiment with whole wheat, the spaghetti setting, and (dun dun duuuuun), ravioli.

So that's a glimpse into my everyday. I know everyone has a random everyday story they should share. It doesn't have to be picture-filled or particularly earth shattering, but I promise it'll make a great blog post. Who's next? :o)
Niki

A Journey into the Past - Aunt Marge

Forty-five years ago I was a happy farm wife with a part-time dream job..."Society Editor" for the Wahoo newspaper. My job was to make any necessary corrections in spelling or grammar in the news items sent in from 'reporters' (local women) in each town in Saunders County. Then I chose a 'lead story' from those items and wrote a headline for each column.
But circumstances decreed that I must leave my dream job and go into the business world at Western Electric Co. And I told myself that some day I would visit each of those communities that I had come to feel such a part of. Well, the years went by and I didn't do the visits, but one day I mentioned to son John what I had always wanted to do. And John said, "we will do that! The time came Sunday, October 25th. We had hoped for a bright sunny day, but it was dark and chilly. 'Oh well...it's going to be interesting anyway." And it was. I am including population numbers from a Year 2000 road map which, of course, is 9 years old...but that gives you an idea of the size of each town.

We left at 1pm via the interestate to the Mahoney State Park exit and took the back road to Ashland, (pop. 2262). Went west from Ashland to Ceresco (pop. 920), and from Ceresco west to Valparaiso (pop. 563).

North to Touhy (no pop. lisited!). John took the picture of the tavern and told me that he would say he had to drag Mom out of the tavern so that she could admire the big beautiful Catholic church that overlooks the tiny town.

From there we went north to Highway 92, and on into Butler County until we came to a sign that pointed north to Bruno and Abie. We took a gravel road to Bruno (pop. 112) and Abie (pop. 108).We backtracked 5 miles, then went 7 miles east to Prague (pop. 346). From there we went north to Morse Bluff (pop. 134). Then east on a gravel road parallel to the river to Cedar Bluffs (pop. 615).

Now we turned south, to Colon (pop. 138).

We continued south and turned west on gravel to Malmo (pop. 109). We continued south to Highway 92 and headed east to Wahoo, the County seat.

But before we reached Wahoo, we came to the Starlite Ballroom. Boy! something was going on here! Hundreds of cars crowded the grounds with license plates from as far away as New York...honest! And from California and Texas, etc., etc. The signs on the Ballroom told us it was hosting the Big Joe's TV Polka Fest.

We continued on our way, coming to Wahoo (pop. 3,942). John said he was going to take my picture in front of the Wahoo Newspaper office...and here it is. I said I would treat him to a bite at the Wigwam Cafe, but, alas, it was closed. So we settled for the Dairy Queen and we refreshed ourselves (John's treat) for a last leg of our journey.

Now we were in home territory and reached Yutan (pop. 1,216). But look! someone has updated the population sign which now reads 1,218. 
We went north from Yutan to Leshara (111) and turned east. We crossed the Platte River and we were in Douglas County, almost home.

No, the sun didn't shine, but the open road for my chauffeur and guide made it a happy day for me.

NOTE from Sue...I've been struggling with this all afternoon, and the pictures just don't seem to want to land where I want to put them!! So, enjoy the story...You all know the sequence the pictures should be in anyway!.... Be sure to click on the picture of Marge standing near the newspaper stand to see the reflection of the fellow in the window!

Hellooooo, out there from Mary Jo

Thanks to the Stamps for the most recent posts with pictures of the family reunion and vacation. The trip to Florida sounds wonderful. What a nice family getaway. It's good you have a chance, now that your first is soon to fly the nest.

Be on the look-out for posts of "Margery's Excellent Adventure"...part 1 and part 2. I know Sue has some pictures to post and (if I can figure it out) I'll add the second part.

Hope you all are enjoying this BEAUTIFUL fall day. Mary Jo