State Fair and a Chicken

On this gorgeous Friday, we went to the Nebraska State Fair, the last one in the state capital city. After this, it'll be moved closer to the middle of the state. The group that approved the move said it was to be more "fair" to other people in the state to attend and not have to drive all the way over here to the eastern side of the state. Considering that something like 80% of the state population lives here on the eastern side, I'm tempted to believe the rumors that the university wanted the land and by God they got it.

I love going to the fair, but I gotta admit, I don't think moving will be such a bad thing. The fair grounds here seem more like a deserted parking lot than the dirt and grass of my youth. And going on a weekday is a bit of a disappointment because all the cool stuff like the dog herding trials, most of the sheep and goats, and the poultry and bunny exhibits weren't going on like the first time we went to the fair. I miss seeing those chickens, but we had a good time anyway. Think I'll let my pictures do the talkin'.

It was Veteran's Appreciation Day, and the parade was inspiring and emotional. All military and their families got in free this day. The parade started off with the Color Guard.



The Legion Riders were awesome


Gotta have tractors in a parade in NE


Of course there were animals at the fair!

I had never seen a 4-horned sheep. Looks like something from a sci-fi story.


The goats want some feed. No surprises there.


The AG Hall held the farming groups' exhibits. Of course there were the huuuuuuge veggies


The infamous fiberglass cow that has an udder you can milk from. The kids were just doing what we all wanted to do.


The infamous cheddar sculptor


And reminders that we are in Nebraska, after all


A new food offering. We did no partake.


And of course,

"Are you going to Heaven?" booth


Ice chest near the Methodist food stand



And since I don't have any pictures of funky chickens, I give you pictures of the chicken I knitted. I love her!







And the obligatory cute picture of Cosette, the sweetest dog in the world, asleep next to me on the love seat outside.

Lately, I've Been Knitting

Yeah, knitting has become more than a hobby. I can't tell you how satisfying it is to finally find something that I'm good at and I like. Yes, I said it: I'm good at this. You don't know me that well but just believe me when I say that I would have never admitted to being good at something, whether I thought I was or not. And if I did admit it, I would qualify it with "I'm pretty good" or "I'm OK at" or "I do OK but there's a lot I can't do." Pfffft. Enough of that.

So, here are a few of the things I've completed lately:

Cosette really wants to sit on the Modern Log Cabin Baby Blanket


Prayer Shawl


Fingerless Mittens (Christmas gifts this year!)


First attempt at Fair Isle


And the infamous (in the knitting world) clapotis pictures are on their way. Now, onto the next project! Or maybe I'll go back to one of the many I have already started. Choices, choices.

Mega Fun at the Mega Tasting

Years and years ago, a friend of mine was talking about liking scotch and I told her I didn't like scotch. She looked at me as if in shock for a second, then leaned in and said in all seriousness, "You're not drinking the right scotch."

She was so right. I had only ever had a blended scotch, which often is over 70% grain whisky (corn, rye) as opposed to single malts, which are made only from barley. That's not to say there aren't some good blends. Johnny Walker Blue Label, Famous Grouse, Dewers all perfectly good blends, but it's the force of the single malts that drew me over to the scotch side.

I've often talked about our favorite pub The Dundee Dell in Omaha, NE. For scotch lovers like ourselves, it's a mecca with over 700 single malts offered. As far as we know, that's the largest collection the USA that is also open to the public. There are larger personal collections, but you can't buy a dram of their whisky. Luckily, this mecca is only 20 minutes from our house!

There's a great group of people who get together once a month, at least, to drink and talk about single malts. Yes, talk about them. The complexity of single malts is vast, with different regions of Scotland contributing a different flavor. A whisky from the island Islay will more likely smell and taste of the peat used to dry the barley and the brine of the sea air that swirls around the barrels as they mature. A whisky from the Lowlands will more likely be light and floral, with hints of heather. And we haven't even begun to talk about the difference the wood of the barrel makes on the taste. A whisky that spent all of its life in a bourbon barrel is going to taste completely different from one that spent its life in a sherry cask. Here's a map from Scotchwhisky.net that shows the regions.




Really, I could bore you for hours talking about whisky--it's a little embarrassing, but hey, I could just as easily talk about knitting.

On the first Sunday in August (then again on the first Thursday), The Dundee Dell hosts its annual Mega Tasting. People fly in from all over the country for this event. For $100, you get 10 tastings of some of the oldest, rarest scotches they have. $100 is a bargain when you realize none of those samples come from a bottle costing less than $150, and several are in the "priceless" range because you just can't find them any more.

Since we missed last year's tasting, we were very excited to participate in this years. We were not disappointed. Wanna know what we drank? Well, I'll tell you.

We started out in the Lowlands, with a nice heathery, floral Rosebank 25 (25 year old). It's pretty rare to see a Lowland that old. Since they are so light in taste, there's just not as much flavor when they get that old. This Rosebank is the exception, proving that I really shouldn't assume anything with my limited knowledge. This whisky is cask strength, meaning it came right out of the barrel and wasn't watered down to the normal 40% ABV (alcohol by volume). This Rosebank is 61% ABV. That means it was hot hot hot. I added a few drops of water to it (as did everyone else) to drink it.

Oh, a little note about water here--please don't add ice to your single malt. Not only is it cold and will cover up the taste of the whisky, but it will melt quickly and add more water, which will also cover up the flavor. That said, I don't have a problem adding a few drops of water to open up the nose and palette, but I want to control the amount of water I put in. If a whisky is so high in alcohol that it burns my taste buds, it's not enjoyable and adding water takes care of that. Think of it like taking the seeds out of a jalapeno pepper to control the heat in a salsa.

And one more quick note about age. The age on the bottle represents the youngest whisky in that bottle. Different whiskies from different barrels at the distillery are blended to keep a consistent taste profile. This way a Glenfiddich 15 always tastes like a Glenfiddich 15. That also means that a Glenfiddich 15 could have some older whiskies like a 25 year old in there, but the youngest whisky is 15.

OK, let's speed this up a bit or we'll be here all day.

Glenlossie 27 is a Gordon & MacPhail bottling, meaning it wasn't bottled by Glenlossie but by the independent bottler, Gordon & MacPhail. Sometimes a distillery has a barrel or cask that doesn't quite fit in their usual taste profile and they will sell it to an independent bottler to sell. It opens a whole new world of single malts. Glenlossie is a Speyside, a large region in the northern center of the Scotland. This whisky smells and tastes of honey and green apple. To me it did, anyway. You may smell and taste something completely different.




Balvenie Rose is ultra special because you can't get it over here and it's a limited release. The general manager of the Dell bought it on her last trip to Scotland and opened it especially for this tasting. But this lovely 16 year old spent it's last 3 years in a port barrel, giving it a light pink tinge and a sweet, floral flavor with a hint of the oak it spent most of it's years. Several people thought it too light, being fans of the 12 year old Doublewood, but I thought it was a light and lovely change of pace.



Glen Keith 39 (Gordon & MacPhail bottling), a Speyside whisky, is known for being the first to use gas-fired stills and the first to bring in computers to run the distilling process. Spicy and sweet, with a hint of citrus for me. Others got baking spices like cinnamon and cloves.



North Port 23 (Rare Malts bottling) as a single malt is really rare because the majority of the whisky produced went into blends. A Highland whisky, the distillery, alas, is no more. There's a Safeway in its place now. But, thanks to Rare Malts independent bottler, we can enjoy a wee dram, even though I wasn't really impressed. Everyone else around me was, but I just didn't think it was exceptional. I got mostly baking spices, and the hubby smelled butterscotch.


Glenfarclas 40 (Scott's Selection bottling) is a rare thing. You hardly ever see Glenfarclas in an independent bottling because being a family-owned distillery, they are very careful about what is released. Glenfarclas is my of our favorites, not just for the lovely whisky, but also I love that they are still family owned after all these years. Therefore, it was sad to taste a Glenfarclas I was disappointed in. It was Glenfarclas-lite--it still had some spice, some sherry, maybe some anise, but it wasn't the full body experience I've come to expect of Glenfarclass. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't the normal great.


Bruichladdich 35 125th Anniversary is a special bottling that the general manager bought during our last trip to Scotland in 2007. With this whisky, we venture over to Islay. Ah, Islay. A small island that is the home to 9 distilleries (counting Port Charlotte); 9 tasty, lovely distilleries. Bruichladdich was one of our best tours in 2007 because of the passion of master distiller Jim McEwan. It's a kind of boutique distillery, with some pretty wild expressions. This particular whisky comes from a 1970 vintage which is legendary for being one their best, then it was finished in the barrels of a well loved Pinot Grigio. The original barrels give an oakiness while the wine barrel supplies fruits like banana and apricot. I also get some honey and vanilla. No heavy peating here, as with so many of the Islay whiskies.


Coleburn 21 (Rare Malts bottling) is the rarest whisky we tried, and you can't even get it at the Dell any more because we finished the bottle. Our taste was very little, but even in that wee drop of whisky the character and complexity were evident. Light and floral with a little peat on the nose, a sweetness like toffee in the taste, and a long, warm, peppery finish made this a lovely sample. Oh, and at 59.4% ABV, I added a drop of water.





Brora 25 is from a Highland distillery that has been mothballed since the 1980s. It used to be called Clynelish, but a new Clynelish was built across the street. Being aged in bourbon barrels, the nose and taste is earthy, with vanilla and oak. There's a little puff of smoke, not really typical of a Highland but the history of Brora is linked with Islay, helping out by producing peated whisky for blends. The finish is long and warm with that hint of smoke making this a really lovely whisky. If you hadn't guessed, this was one of my favorites.





Laphroaig Cairdeas was our last taste and as we usually do, we finished with a bang--a complex, warm, peaty bang. I'm not sure which year this bottling was, if it was for the 2008 or the 2009 Islay Festival. I don't even have notes because I knew what to expect and that this would be my favorite of the evening. The best thing about drinking an Isaly whisky is that I can close my eyes and as I nose the whisky, I'm back there. I smell the brine of the sea air, the smoke of peat drying the barley, the wood of the barrels, and the all over earthiness. The taste adds a little sweetness to the party and the long finish fades out on a light puff of smoke. Yummy.

All in all, a very successful tasting. As you might have noticed, I like back story about the distilleries and the whisky as much as I like the tasting. My tasting notes aren't very descriptive because I'm still trying to put words to what I'm tasting, but that will come. With more practice!

Oh, and for the grammar geeks, I apologize for tense being all over the place. I couldn't figure out which one to use. The event was in the past, but describing the scotch felt more natural with present tense because they are still present. Maybe someone can let me know how to handle it.

And because I like to end my posts with a picture of Cosette, the greatest dog in the world:

Twitter

I never seem to be inspired to post any more. Just too lazy, I guess. But I can find a few seconds to Twitter! I have a hard time keeping it to 140 characters, though. I'm constantly editing.

So, come see me on Twitter.

Happy Days and Happy Pics

I had a new adventure! Today (Saturday) I went to the Great Nebraska Mushroom Festival and hunted for morel mushrooms. It was rainy, freezing cold, muddy, early on a Saturday morning and much fun.

In case you're not familiar with morels, you can go here and get more information than you ever wanted.



It's a big deal here. There's a short window when you can pick morels and that window opened this weekend. Even though the ground wasn't over 50 degrees yet and it wasn't warm and rainy long enough and some flower hadn't bloomed yet (all part of the myth of when to find morels), we went hunting and were successful. Well, my friends were very successful with two big bags full. I did find about a dozen or so and was ecstatic that I didn't come home empty handed. Actually, my hands were overflowing as one of my friends gave me all of his mushrooms. I was excited because I had big plans!

I wish I had more photos for you, but I forgot my camera and my phone was dead. So, I took a couple of pictures when I got home.



I didn't collect the mushrooms in a plastic bag--heavens no! One must use a mesh bag because that way the spores can shake back onto the ground to ensure more mushrooms next year. But I didn't want spores all over my kitchen floor that I had just swept and mopped the morning before, so I put them is this trash bag to bring them into the house.

It's important to wash morels because, after all, you did just pull them out of the dirt a little while ago. People have definite ideas about how to clean these mushrooms, but I decided to follow the advice I got from the experts I met today. I split them in half lengthwise then soaked them in salty cool water and left them that way for over an hour. Yes, I said I soaked mushrooms in water, don't freak out. Have you seen these things? See all the those wrinkly crevices? Dirt and bugs hide in there, and the salt water kills the bugs. Al may have eaten bugs during his survival training, but he doesn't have to eat them at home. So here's the last picture of these little delicacies that I have, the mushrooms soaking:



It's important to slice them in half because the rule with morels is "if it ain't hollow, don't swallow." If it isn't hollow, it's poisonous so just throw it away.

So, what does one do with morels, you might ask. Well, I'll tell you what I did. Basically, anything you can do with mushrooms, you can do with morels, you just get a richer, meatier flavor. They're like little portabello mushrooms. I dipped some of them in egg then in Panko bread crumbs and fried them in an iron skillet full of butter to keep us happy while I made the entree. For that entree, I sliced up the 'shrooms, sauteed some finely diced onions and garlic in olive oil then added the 'shrooms and a splash of white wine. After some of the liquid had cooked down, I poured in a half-pint of whipping cream (oh yes I did), grated in some nutmeg, sprinkled in some salt and pepper and let that come back to a boil, turning the heat back down after I got big clear bubbles. I threw in a little fresh parsley, then poured it over some bowtie pasta. Even Al, who isn't really wild about mushrooms, loved them. He was most impressed and I was most pleased. And most tired. Good Lord was I tired. I've had a rough week with my MS, so trapsing around in the cold and rain might not have been the best idea, but it was totally worth it.

This is the best thing about being in military--you learn something new everywhere you move to. I'm already looking forward to the next Great Mushroom Festival.

So, I promised some happy pics. Of course, they're all about Cosette because pictures of the cutest dog in the world makes me happy.

First pictures at the dog park. Cosette loves to go, so we introduced my friend and her dog Topsy to it. Topsy is usually a little nervous around other dogs, but not here. They had a great time. Topsy is a cockapoo--cocker spaniel and poodle--obviously more poodle in the legs.



What a good girl coming when I call.



With spring comes mowed lawns and with mowed lawns comes green noses.




Cosette loves her new bed. Only $20 at Costco!

A Contented Sigh

Right before winter, we had a deck built onto the back of the house. It’s lovely.



The deck is made with the compressed wood stuff and the pergola is cedar. It’s exactly what I wanted, and I spent most of the winter looking longingly out my window at the snow-covered deck, impatient for spring so I could enjoy it.



Well, spring is finally here. OK, so it’s not as warm as many of us would like, but it’s not freezing. Personally, I like highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. It just fits my “middlen” personality. Al won’t be happy until it’s near 80. It’s amazing we have lived together this long, what with him complaining about being cold and me complaining about being hot.

But it is spring, so it was time to buy patio furniture for our new deck. I had in mind what I wanted—a comfy, rattan love seat with 2 single chairs and a fire pit in the middle. And that’s what I got! Well, I didn’t get the fire pit (I lost that battle to Al), but we got a coffee table instead, plus an ottoman. It’s as lovely as the deck and looks wonderful.





When I first saw them, I told Al they were too “Floridian.” Then he flipped the cushions over to reveal a beautiful pistachio green and I was sold. Cosette loved them at first sight and quickly initiated them into the household like she did every other piece of furniture in the house.





So, this is my new favorite thing to do. I sit outside on my love seat and read or knit and enjoy a glass of wine. Just today, I sat out there and started a new cabled scarf with the most wonderfully luscious Rowan Felted Tweed yarn.



Right now, I’m typing this post as I sit out here. It’s tricky having the computer outside—the light has to be just right or you can’t see anything on your screen. The sun is just starting to go down. It’s not quite dusk yet, but it’s not daytime either. The wind is blowing, of course, making things just on the chilly side, but I don’t mind it. It calms down in spells, and I can feel the sun on my left cheek and neck, promising it’ll be warmer soon. I look up at one of the trees and see a red cardinal then notice there’s a fly teetering on the edge of my now-empty wine glass. I can hear the kids a couple of houses down playing basketball, and a woman behind us is vacuuming out her car. More signs of the season changing. There’s even a faint smell of someone grilling out. Now if that’s not a sign of spring, I don’t know what is.

I feel sleepy and content, and I don’t think it’s the wine making me feel this way. But with the smell of someone's dinner grilling, I’m also hungry, so I think I’ll wake myself up and reluctantly head inside. Oh well. There’s always tomorrow.

List-o-rama

You will achieve a grand dream, a day at a time, so set goals for each day / not long and difficult projects, but chores that will take you, step by step, toward your rainbow.
--Og Mandino

I'm an organizer freak, I admit it. I love organizing tips and tools, and The Container Store is my mecca. One of the best gifts Al ever gave me was a label maker. But what I found at the bookstore has got to be the best thing ever!

So, let me set this up for you. I am a list maker. Not just "a list" maker, but many lists, with sublists and subcategories. I've even made a list of things I need to make a list for. And I write them down on whatever I have handy, so I find them in pockets or in my purse or in a basket of yarn. The problem is that since I'm an "all planning and no follow through" kind of person, all these lists are doing is cluttering my house.

Enter the most amazing book ever! A book of lists!




Organize Now! A week-by-week guide to simplify our space and your life. Here, in 234 pages, is every list I've ever made and some I haven't but should have. Instead of me writing all these lists on slips of paper and being frustrated because my lists need to be better organized, here they are in a spiral-bound book, which is designed to look like a day planner (which is what attracted me to the book in the first place).

Jennifer Ford Berry takes weekly installments to get you organized. With checklists, tips, ways to stay organized for the whole year, and places for notes, she outlines everything to organize your papers, your things, each room in the house, storage areas, and special events like vacations and holidays.





It's a beautiful thing. And here's the really amazing part--I'm using it! I can't seem to keep it to a week because everything takes longer than I think it will, but my goal is that by the 2009 holidays, we will be living in a house where there's a place for everything and everything is in its place. Since Al is seriously thinking of putting in his retirement papers next year, it would be one less stressful thing if we had all the house stuff in order so that he could focus on adjusting to a civilian life.

The only hard part so far was the suggestion that I write down my top 10 priorities and schedule time in my planner to contribute to my priorities--it can be something as simple as calling Mom. The problem is that I couldn't come up with 10. I'm not sure what that says about me. Am I ignoring some priorities? Am I not being honest with myself? Is my life really that dull that I can't come up with more than 5 priorities. I think it's like my kitchen in San Antonio. It was the largest kitchen I had had, and I excitedly called my mom to tell her that I actually had empty spaces in my cabinets. "Not for long, I bet," she said. And she was right. By the time we moved again, my house-hunting parameters included a big-enough kitchen for all my stuff. So, although there's an opening right now on that list, I'm sure I will fill it up.

I've got lots to do, huh? I've found that if I will leave the tv off, it's amazing how much I get done. I've replaced the tv with podcasts. However, I'll waste hours looking up podcasts on iTunes. I've traded one procrastination tool for another. Oh well.

So the theme for the rest of 2009 will be "Organize This!"

And because I can't have a post without pictures of the cutest dog in the whole wide world, here's one of Cosette doing her latest trick and one of her in her favorite place on the couch.