Blog Hi Hi

After a few weeks of deliberation/hibernation/stagnation... I've decided to combine my personal blog with the family blog.

The Barrett Banter blog was started on a whim, and then became an important link to family while we were away in DK. Then I started up my own blog because I wanted to rant about things and people, experiences I was having specific to being an expat, food, politics (and I knew some of the family really only cared to see 'what was up with Pete'. Those people don't know who they are - because they don't read this blog).

Two blogs worked fine before. I was unemployed.

Now its just too much. I'm working, Pete is in school. Rich started a new job (yep, we won't be on another expat assignment anytime soon, bummer).

So off I go to Barrett Banter. If you don't mind more of my son Peter, come along with me.

Link to Barrett Banter

Ahhh, remember when...

Now that I'm gone from Denmark I am free to fantasize that it is the most idyllic place on earth. I listened to a show yesterday on how people can only survive (mentally) by their memories. And those memories are not non-fallible. We change them (whether we realize this or not) to be what we want them to be.

Survival is not based on intelligence - but adaptability (and that might mean selective memory modification).

Back Online @ Home

About three weeks ago I dumped a nice, full, steaming cup of coffee all across my laptop. Nice. That laptop was less than 10 months old. Tears ($$ tears).

I promptly went out and bought a new one. We don't have TV, so internet is our small connection to the greater world. I got the same one I had before (minus the fancy graphics card). However, the guy had to give me a returned one, since there were no un-opened ones. He said it had been checked out, and was ok to go.

I took it home, and left it to sit for a few days. I just had bad computer vibes. Well, it turned out that that one was a dud. The fan ran constantly. So I took it back.

They gave me a brand-spanking-new one. I took that one home and sat on it for a few days. If I don't turn it on, then I won't have any problems see.

So maybe, little by little, I'll feel more comfortable with tapping away on this thing, downloading pix...only time will tell.

Good Music

A MN artist let's any-one stream any-of his three albums, whenever you want. Just click the first play button after 'Share' and it will happily play you the whole album.

Jeremy Messersmith - The Reluctant Graveyard

Now I'm bugging out of work early to go have lunch and recess with Pete.

Yeah!

Time Time Ticking

Lately, I've been busy trying to get some jobs out of the way - so that I have more time to just to what I want to do. One that been hanging out there in process for a couple of months are the hearts.

My soon to be sister-in-law (marrying my husband's brother) asked me to make 180 Danish paper hearts to be used as party favors at their wedding this June. Two years ago I made Danish woven hearts as gift tags for Christmas presents; that's how she 'found' out about these things. The plan was to do them in the dead of winter, when I had nothing else to do. Well, I don't know what I did last winter, but it wasn't this little project.


I've made good progress on them this week with the help of the new Margaret Atwood book - After the Flood. I was able to download the audio book for FREE from from my library. Sooooo awesome! (I love free.) The interesting thing will be how long it sticks around in the download program - a program on my computer, not online). I think I read some sort of message about how I have 21 days to listen to it. Maybe it self-destructs? ??

I'm also trying to get a bunch of work done at work so that I can take some days off. I want to be home all alone, with nothing to do. No Danish hearts, no cleaning, no cooking...this may all be a fantasy that I've worked up in my mind, but its my goal right now.

Oh yeah - and just to make you people in DK feel better. It snowed here last night. And later this morning - in freezing temps - I have to sit outside and watch my son play t-ball.

Mutant Asparagus

Can you see the tip of this thing?

I was out looking for wetlands on a hazardous waste site yesterday and I found this guy growing out of the base of a concrete block. There was only him though, and I won't be eating it.

Consumed

For the past three weeks I have been obsessed with garlic mustard. Any chance I get I'm out in my backyard, my neighbor's backyard, or the neighboring empty lot - pulling this thing with a vengeance. In certain areas its 100% percent of the total cover. Just a crazy carpet of this crap, that will eventually go to seed and produce an even denser and larger diameter carpet next year.

This is an edible plant, brought over from Europe long ago. Since its non-native it has no nature enemies to keep it under check. No animals browse it, no bugs eat it. You get the first one in your yard and think - look how pretty, its shiny and bushy and it has that nice white flower. Then it goes to seed, which is scattered by animals and kids all over the place, and before you know it you've been successfully invaded.

Removing it all from my yard took time. But I did it. Now I want it out of my neighbor's yard - for obvious reasons. However, convincing some people that this thing should be at the least managed is challenging. But I have hope that - with a smile and a free flyer, I will prevail.

Link - Garlic Mustard flyer from WDNR. Know your enemy!

Motherload

For the last few months, Rich and I have been contemplating what we were going to fill our plant boxes with. They are nice and tall - to make gardening easy. But that's also a lot of volume.

Well the other day, driving to get my hair cut, I spotted through the leaf-less trees a giant pile of black. It turned out to be a HUGE compost pile from yard waste for the city next to us. They put it outside their gate, so we figure its free for the taking. So far Rich has made about 7 or so trips, about 8 pails each trip. And I think we finally have filled the boxes.




This is a pic of my buckthorn removal progress. Our back lot line used to be a solid wall of the stuff. I saved the native bushes (those are the little stumpy trees that are left) and we'll see how they do now that they have been "released" - released from their confinement trying to grow in the buckthorn.

Bedtime Stories 2

Bedtime Stories 2

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The Baby Grinder

The Baby Grinder

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Out & About

These are sights from my field day last Friday.

For my afternoon meeting, I parked at the 'no parking' sign.
And everyone else did the same.



Rosehips.


Trash as art.



Trash as trash. The rivers here are flooding, and with the water comes lots and lots of junk.


Lovely mushrooms.


Finale - I was told by the landowner that this here rock is the biggest in Wright County, MN. Or it was at one time-until it was mined to build the foundation of the original farmhouse.

Yeah, OK, I've been AWOL lately. Melting snow causes us to have a jittery and slightly crazed feeling at work. Its a spring rush to go and look at wetlands that might not have water in them at any other time during the year.

This picture was taken with my not-very-fancy-phone. At one of my sites there is an experimental carp barrier. Well, I didn't see any carp behind the fence, but I did see some pretty nice northern and muskie. All over a foot long. Lent is fish fry time you know. These guys weren't even scared of me, I could have just reached down and grabbed one.

Can you smell spring?

Wait! Oops, I mean don't breathe.

The MN Pollution Control Agency has been issuing air quality warnings for the past few days. We have had very little wind lately, so the polluted air is just hanging around. But the point is WE HAVE polluted air.

This used to be the problem of *other* Cities, not Minneapolis. We're supposed to be all about woods and wilderness, not cars and smog.

But on the up side - we had a few days of warm weather last week and the driveway is finally clear of its former 6 inch sheet of ice. I attended a winter hike/winter plant ID class last weekend and didn't even need my hat (although I did have on long underwear).

I can't remember craving an end to winter as much as I have this year. Is it the child climbing the walls, is it lack of fulfilling work? Am I just getting old and can't tough it out anymore? I can't put my finger on it. I just need it to be over. I am unmotivated to do anything until I can do it with the windows open.

Pinwheel Appetizer Recipe

I haven't shared any food stuff in long time - mostly because its been pretty much the same old thing. But I did have a girls night this weekend, so I was motivated to make something different.

I've been sitting on this pinwheel recipe ever since I tried it months ago at Lakewinds. Its oh-so-yummy and vegetarian, but it needs the right crowd (that is to say - not someone like my father-in-law). Here it is:

Pear, Blue Cheese, and Onion Pinwheels

Ingredients:
2 pears cubed (any kind)
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 vidalia onion (or other sweet onion, or even jarred onion relish)
1 cup spinach leaves
1 package wraps (I used tortilla shells)

Heat oven to 425. Clean pear and cube. Spread onion mix on wrap (I very thinly sliced my onion and sauteed it before putting it on wrap). Add pears, spinach, and blue cheese. bake in oven, open-faced for 10 minutes. When done, roll and chop into appetizer size. Serve hot or chilled.

I have no pictures. Girls night was Friday night. I stayed later than I wanted to at work, then had to hit the grocery store, rush home, make this appetizer, and then rush downtown. The kitchen was not a pretty site.

32 Seconds of Divine-ness

Ya gotta check this out!

Link - 89.3 debuts new Prince song this Friday.

I'm from Minneapolis, and Prince IS Mr. Minnneapolis.

*You can live stream this radio station in Europe - I did while I was there. You can also listen to their live studio performances and interviews anytime you like.

Some of my favorites...

Link - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Link - Brother Ali

Link - They Might Be Giants

Can I get myself a normal week please?

The week before last started out with a popped ear drum (in the boy), that I neglected for two days due to ignorance, that then turned into a trip to urgent care followed by a few days at home with a double ear infection and 10 days of antibiotics. His sickness was then passed on to me where it still lingers.

The following weekend we had the pleasure of going to the children's ER on Saturday night. We have now used the dreaded epipen. The food culprit - split peas. No peas for Pete thank you.

On Monday this week I got my Toyota gas pedal fixed (I have a 2010 Corolla). This is my second recall (the first was for something to do with the brakes and cold weather). Oddly, I'm not the least bit upset about the whole thing. When the news comes out, I get an email from them on the same day. Then THEY promptly call ME to set up an appointment to fix it. This last time I even got oil change gift certificates. I know they are a bit concerned about heir reputation, but really, that stupid Volvo we used to have was more trouble.

Peter had a Chinese new year performance and party this week, plus a valentine's party plus Friday night sledding. Although it was an exciting week for him - he also needs to get back on a normal schedule. Normal health, normal eating, normal homework, normal bedtime.

Last night I started reading 'Unconditional Parenting' by Alfie Kohn. He had me hooked in the first chapter, when he explained how Timeout (originally the whole term was timeout FROM positive reinforcement) was used in animal studies to 'control animal behaviours' and then he further explains how this is perceived by the kids as love withdrawal.

But we use timeouts. Super nanny uses timeout! Who doesn't?

But, then you read a little more. And I have to admit, as he starts to give examples of things parents do to withdraw love - I can say that I've done some of them. Even as recent as yesterday.

Peter told me he didn't like cucumbers, only carrots. This is absurd and untrue. I told him so, and then I proceeded to ignore him (that's the love withdrawal part) as I unloaded the dishwasher. I withheld love simply because I had a crappy day at work coupled with the fact that my kid told me he only wanted carrots for dinner. How stupid is that?

Go Figure...

That's my boy, out on the middle of a frozen lake in Plymouth, MN. There was a Scandinavian themed fish house (Medicine Lake Art Shanties), and people speaking Danish. You know, you can actually go to Danish camp in MN.

Concordia Language Villages.

I don't know why, but the other day the grunginess of my bath curtain caught my eye. All the sudden it was just unbearable, and I promptly got a new curtain, rod, and hangers. Ahhh.

Wait. Did you see the pink? That's right. I have a circa 1959 salmon pink bathroom (our main bathroom). I actually don't mind the color, plus the tile is in good shape. Its kind of fun to hear people's reactions when they first go in there. Of course, not all comments are good. Men in general, and especially my husband, tend to extremely dislike the pink. So what to do. Keep it retro, or overhaul the whole thing?

And this weekend we made one of the most comforting of comfort foods - roast chicken. We always use the recipe from America's Test Kitchen for a high roast chicken (you can watch it on You Tube). Making this in DK, we could never seem to get the potatoes to come out just right. It was probably caused by operator error - my oven had 8 or so options, but I only knew how to use one of them.

But this time, in my gigantoid american oven that spurts out a dry heat, the potatoes were spot on. And for the underskin butter/garlic/mustard marinade we used Coleman's mustard (my grocery store has suddenly started carrying popular British food items). That stuff has a kick as stong as wasabi. Num.

Pre Party Mini Saga

Today was birthday party day for my son - 6 years old. I had booked a party at the nearest bowling alley, an easy 5 minute drive. Before leaving I just happened to look out the window. Uu Oh, the neighbor guy is salting the road...just to get BACK to his driveway. The neighbor boy is out in the road with his hockey stick and puck. Crap!

A light drizzle in just freezing temps was creating quite a nice ice rink of the roads. On top of that, we live on an end moraine (a glacial dumping ground) making our neighborhood a series of hills and pockets and turns. My only hope was to get to the top of the hill right outside our house (a 6 house stretch), then it would level off to to the highway entrance, and we would be on our merry way.

Well - I'm not shy about asking and off to the neighbors I went. First to the one with the hockey boy (they usually have something, the dad was a fireman), then to the one with salt. Half a bag of grit, and a bag of salt later I was ready to make my attempt.

Get in the car, Now, NOW! I screamed at Peter.

We made it to the top of the hill, we made it out to the highway. We started on our way and I laughed out loud - Hope we didn't forget anything!

Shit - I forgot Yoda's ears!!!!

Boy starts crying.

Without the ears, the cake is just a weird looking green head. We must go back.

I go around the freeway loop-de-loop. I drive just into our neighborhood, park the car in the road, put the boy on the top of the nearest snowbank (in case another car hits my car), and start running home. I'm not a runner, but I don't want to chance the hill with my car again. Plus I don't know where I'd turn around. My driveway (which is also a hill) is a sheet of ice too.

I get home, get the ears, and start running back to the car. The boy meets me halfway, crying. He's forgotten his birthday crown from school.

I do not turn back.

Disclaimer: My husband is the cake-baker in our house.

Time to feed the worms

I got a new camera, so this time around I actually got some non-blurry, zoomed in shots of our nematodes.

Get the food.

Dump it in.

Crush those eggshells.

This is what happens when you mix worms, newspaper, and food.

AaHhHhHh! (not really a worm)

Ooze.

Back into the closet.

Piggy Under Pressure

A few weeks back while out Christmas shopping, I ran across a small pressure cooker. My other one is very nice, but its soooooo huge I don't ever use it for cooking. Just canning. This one was the right size, had the safety features that I MUST have, and was on sale. Ok, you're coming home with me.

Last night I used it for the first time. I made a happy pig pork roast in 45 minutes, with another 5 additional minutes to cook the potatoes/parsnips/carrots. Parsnip puree is THE puree that we constantly see underneath food on those cooking shows. I don't know why a 'gourmet' scallop or piece of beef is always served on top of this sort of baby mush, but I thought those parsnips must be pretty tasty to be served repeatedly to such distinguished pallets.

Well, I tried them yet again, and in my opinion, they are what they are (not potatoes), and those chefs must add some magical butter or something to make them so delectable.

I still have a couple of parsnips. I'm going to try them in a pie with cheese and see if I can change my opinion of them.

The cooked meat.


Then add the veggies.


Cook another 5 minutes.


Done. The meat was tasty and tender. And the veggies were fully cooked - in 5 minutes!


But the very next recipe I'm trying with the pressure cooker is Oxtail Ragout.

Why?

Because I have an oxtail in my freezer that's why. It came along with my happy cow meat from the farm. As did a tongue and a heart. I gave those tantalizing chunks away. I kept the tail because I once saw Anthony Bourdain eat one, and he seemed to be in heaven.