THE FLOORS ARE DONE! HECK YEAH!

Did I mention that we moved here nearly 10 years ago?  Did I mention that when we moved in, the kitchen floor looked like this:

Did I mention that we've lived here nearly 10 years and our kitchen floor looks like this now:

Yes, 10 YEARS!  I guess all that work on the outbuildings was more important. This is how the previous owners left the floor and we just never did anything about it.  Covered it up with a rug.

I know.

But we finally took the plunge. It was time.  It was 10 years of the followup comment to anything Bob wanted to do on the barn. For example Bob would say,  "I'm thinking we should build a deck on the barn," and I would come back with "Perhaps we could have the floors done in the house."

10 YEARS, people!!

We asked our good friend Justin to do the install.  This is a good thing.  Bob believes he could've done a great job, I know he would try, but I just felt more comfortable having someone professional do it. And if you've ever seen Bob's handiwork, you would agree.  I love you honey but...Phew!!

When Justin and I went shopping at Home Depot I took my dear sweet time looking at every different flooring option available.  Thank goodness Justin is a very patient man, I think I took 5 hours to decide.  Ok, it was only about an hour.  But of course, when I settled on the color I liked, they had none in stock, so I took a sample piece home and ordered online.  Funny part is - the tile looked just about as close to the original wood on the floor!  I guess staring at it for 10 years, you get comfortable with it.

So Justin stopped by early one day a couple weeks ago and got started.  He was so fast that I didn't get a picture of the entryway floor and all the broken linoleum tile in there, but here is where he had it all pulled up:

I thought it looked pretty cool like that and my creative mind started getting all excited and wanted to put down some kind of heavy polyurethane on it, ya know like the do to bar tops?  Then I slapped myself hard in the face.

Next was the tile:

Then that night I came home to find it half done:

Oh so beautiful!!

and here's the finished product:

Yeehaaa!  Now my kitchen cabinets need to have something done to them.  I think they were made of plywood, not sure but they don't look too good and shabby sheik is not really in style anymore.  Hmmmm….

Focus!  Focus!

Next: the living room floor!

BRANDIED HAM AND DAUPHINE POTATOES w/a side of green beans

Since Bob's birthday is Christmas eve we celebrate with homemade sushi, saki and a good time.  So for Christmas night I wanted to make something a little more…well, comfy-type food.  So when I was at the grocery picking up some more fruit the other day there was this deal on meat:  buy a ham get a turkey free!  Well, I was overcome by my thrifty upbringing and gave into the urge to buy factory farm meat.  Oh well, once in awhile is not so bad.  Right?  I'm a good citizen, I buy most of my food from local farmers.  I'm GUILTY!  OK!  I"M SORRY!  What can I say - I like a good bargain and I'm cheap.  (Cheap when it comes to bargains - not cheap in the sense you are thinking.  Get your mind outta the….)

Ok back to the food….

I saw this spiced brandy and herb marinade there at the store too - ok! I'm not going to the store anymore, I promise!  But really, I looked at the label and it didn't have anything in there I couldn't pronounce so I thought I was pretty safe.  It seemed non-toxic.  And I like brandy.

So I decided to marinate the ham for a day to give it that real brandy flavor.

BRANDIED HAM

I mixed together the mix as stated on the package, except I added more brandy, it seemed the logical thing to do.

Poured it over the ham:

Then set it the fridge to bake tomorrow night.











And the compliment to ham?  What else?  POTATOES!  I know - I'm not supposed to be eating potatoes either but IT"S CHRISTMAS FOR GOODNESS SAKE!  Ya gotta have the comfort food at this time of year, you do!

DAUPHINE POTATOES

Now, when I was working at a restaurant way back when, they had these awesome Dauphine potatoes as a side dish offering.  But when I was looking on line for an example they showed these deep fried potato puffy looking thingies when I remember them being a casserole type potato dish.  That's when I learned that the actual name of the one I remembered (way back when) is called Dauphinoise.  But that's too bad because what I remember is fact.  They will be called Dauphine Potatoes here in my world. That's just the kinda rebel I am.

The cast of characters:

1 TBS butter
1 1/4 lbs Potatoes - I used the fingerlings from my garden this year but yukon gold or some other creamy type of potato will do
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk (I used goats milk of course!)
1 garlic clove, mashed
Salt & Pepper to taste
4 ounces Asiago or Gruyere cheese
1/8 tsp nutmeg (optional)


Heat oven to 400* and butter a two quart baking dish.

You can peel the potatoes if you'd like but I like the skins in my potato dishes, I think it gives a nice added texture.  Slice the potatoes thin (like 1/8") and place in a bowl of cold water for few minutes.  Drain thoroughly.

Bring heavy cream, whole milk and garlic to a simmer in a large, wide saucepan. Add potatoes, salt & pepper and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are tender - about 20 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer half of the potatoes into the buttered dish.  Top with half the cheese.

Then grate some more cheese because you already ate half of it, I know I did.






Add the rest of the potatoes to the dish and pour enough of the milk/cream mixture to cover the potatoes.

Then top with the rest of the cheese.


Bake for about 45 minutes or until brown.  Top with a little grated nutmeg if desired.



Then add some green beans to complete your meal,

and WALAH!

MY BIRTHDAY NIGHT OUT 2011

It was an overall good day!  I got some down time, hung out with friends, ate the greatest burger created by man and a large bite of scrumptious chocolate cake! Who could ask for anything more?

I don't know, Ryan, when she is faced with a camera she does this with her hands

Growling will get you no where!

Ok, now pan through quickly to get the full effect of "bench dancing!"

What a fabulous night!  Of course every night is around here!

NOTHING BUTTER TO DO WITH MY TIME!

Yes, yes, yes!!!! I did it finally!  I got out that cream separator that i got for christmas way back in 2009 and put it to work!  Now my hesitancy, and I do this a lot, is that i keep thinking that its gonna be a pain the ass to do and that i don't have time for such shenanigans, so i put things off.  Now let me explain why i wanted a cream separator: because i wanted to make cream cheese, and butter and other cheeses that require cream, and ice cream. Goats milk is naturally homogenized and you have to use a cream separator because it doesn't separate like cows milk does. Now cream separators cost like upwards of $400- $500 and that's a lot of dough!  So i searched and searched on Ebay and finally found one for only $250, brand new but it was coming from Prague.  Well, it arrived for Christmas and with it came the directions: in Czech!  So Kristi, my step daughter was here at the time and because she is a scientist and very intelligent woman - quite like myself (well not the scientist part), we deduced that we could figure out how to make it work!  Well, a few gallons of spilled milk later, we did - all centrifugal force.

But what i remember was it was a pain in the ass and so when the goats started milking again, i figured it was too much work and that when we used 3 gallons of milk and only got like a cup of cream - well it wasn't worth my time.  But the other day i was reading in my recipe book, "Goats Produce Too!",  that in order to separate the cream, the milk needs to be 90 degrees for efficient separation.  Well, maybe that was our problem!  So i got out the cream separator, 6 half gallons of milk, and went at it!

That's why the towel is there- spillage! Looked like a remake of above.

Well i forgot that the machine had to be warmed up as well in order for this process to work, so as i poured the milk in out it came through the hole in the side that is there for some reason, can't remember. This is when one is grateful for their dogs, they came and lapped up the spilled milk. : )

 But once the machine warmed up from the warmed up milk, i remembered!  So with udder delight i heated the milk one half gallon at a time and poured it into the separator and all this beautiful cream came out - very quickly and efficiently!  Couldn't believe how much cream i got!

1/2 gallon of cream from about 2 /12 gallons of milk!  Wow!

Now I have 4 1/2 gallons of perfectly skim milk!

Look at all that beautiful cream!

So i got all excited and decided to make butter! YAY!

So i got out a jug, poured about 1 1/2 cups of 50 degree milk in there and started to shake.

About a half hour later, i had butter!

Now it doesn't look like it yet, but it is!

I rinsed the butter in water....

added a little sea salt and pressed out the remaining water.

and Wa-lah!  Butter! Yes, that is butter: goats are more efficient at converting carotene (which gives cow's butter that yellow color) in their bodies, that's why it is stark white!

I was so excited i even labeled it with and exclamation point!

Now tell me, who really gets excited about butter?  A desperate goat owner, who farms, and has nothing butter to do with her time in the cold, dank winter's of MN?  oh i mean better...or do i mean butter?

THE END WAS HERE!

The end of the year came and went, as well as Christmas.  It was a quiet Christmas this year, with Sam and her boyfriend Mike, Mike’s sister Bobbie and her son Caiden here.  We had a nice time and really enjoyed the company.  Christmas day was strange, not having Sam at home or Grandpa, but change is inevitable and it is upon us here at the Sanctuary.  We had a few gifts to open; some slippers, a shirt, nothing big. And that’s a good thing. I miss how it used to be, but think less is more now too.  We used to have such fun, opening presents galore!  When I was single with just the girls, I never had money to buy them much, and no one ever took them out to get gifts for me (no grandparents available) so when I finally got money, I went a little overboard! My heart is always in the right place.  Now, its all about being here, family and friends.  

Sam, Mike, Bobbie and Caiden

Maddie showing off some of her stocking gifts; a poncho, some udder cream...ya know - all the things a 16 year old dreams of getting.

Edy enjoyed her first Christmas and first present!

Louie is a little more subtle with her attack.

Percy even more so.

Maddie got a This Is Spinal Tap t-shirt for Christmas

The day after Christmas we went to visit Bob’s family from Indiana. We hadn’t seen them in about 9 years we estimated.  It was a nice reunion and we got to see Riley Ann, our granddaughter.  I also figured out why Bob watches sports: it’s in his blood.  I never expected when I met this man that he was a sports-type of guy so I never really figured out why he watches sports until now.  His family’s entire world revolves around sports, they even where clothes with sports logos on them!  This is fascinating for me, as I have recoiled from sports over the years as my values have evolved.  It saddens me to know that there are starving children, tortured children and animals, and abuse in this world and we don’t spend as much money to solve these pertinent issues as we do on sports teams, paraphernalia, sports figures salaries or stadiums.  Just saying…..

Riley opening her present

Everyone showing her how to react to it!

Creative forces at work.

I don't why - perhaps alcohol can explain?

We visited the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis as our last day with Riley, Kristi and Wes.  It was a fun place and we got to watch Riley have a grand time in the young children’s play area.

Saaaaannnnnd!

Bob and his crocodile

Crocodile Ma-ddie! (get it? like Dundee! haha!)

five of my favorite people

 On our way back to the great white north we stopped in Illinois to visit some old friends and break up the 8 1/2 our drive. We had a great time stopping by and seeing our good friend’s new baby, Andelyn.  She is adorable, and we have been labeled as Grampy and Grammie!  I was quite humbled, and proud that we would be thought of as that for her!

Andie!

This is why i stand behind the lens.

We got home to find all was well  - and our entire shoe collection piled in a heap.  I didn’t ask our friend who took care of the place why they were all in a pile, but we assumed Edy had something to do with it.  She must have taken our shoes and placed them in places around the house and our friend was kind enough to have picked them up and stacked them in a pile for us.

We also came to find that Percy finally figured out that she could walk on snow and could get over the fence.  So Bob made his way along the fence line and shoveled it all out.

That's a 3 foot tall fence under all that snow - that makes it 3 foot of snow!  Yes, i can do math.

  The next day my best-est friend from Illinois; Nancy Merkling arrived with her new beau Rick.  We had a wonderful time, chatting about photography like we always do, making good food and sharing wisdom.  If it wasn’t for Nancy helping me through the hard times in my life, I wouldn’t have made it.  I remember writing a paper about her for speech class once and the ending line read, “When I grow up I want to be just like her.”  Who knew that so much of that would turn true?  I miss having her around all the time, but its always like old times when we get together.  She is the most amazing photographer and so I let her do the images of the weekend.  (You can see some of her incredible work at www.nancymerkling.com)  We planned a day of shooting together but unluckily it turned out to be bitter cold and windy; not ideal conditions for shooting for me, I don’t care how bundled up one gets, 30 below wind chills suck! So next time she promises to come out when it’s warm.

By: Nancy Merkling

By: Nancy Merkling

We have been having these New Year’s get together since we got here 7 years ago.  We used to have a party and all our Illinois buds would come out and stay here.  But with them having babies and other life changes, most haven’t come by on New Year's for awhile.  The last couple of years either Bob or I had an operation of some sort and we weren’t very fun anyway.  But here are some pics from 2004. This was way back when we had our parties in the loft.

The midnight kiss.

I will be working on the New Year’s letter this week.  Last year (and I stole this idea) we decided that instead of a Christmas letter in early December, because I never have time to sit down and write one then, we would do a New Year’s letter. It works out quite well because everything settles down in January and I have the time to sit, think and reflect on the past year. 

Happy New Year!  It officially begins tomorrow for me.