Three out of four people in this house were tired of hearing me complain about my cold feet this week.
These ruby slippers were an early 40th birthday present.
There's no place like home...
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Birthday Slippers
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Freestyle Sewing
So, I'm stuck in the house.
The sun is out a little, but it is still not terribly pleasant outside. I found a scrap of fleece and unearthed the sewing machine for a little engineering/freestyle designing.
I tried to duplicate/modify the design on a freebie balaclava we've had around the house for awhile. I used one of Charlie washable markers to sketch out the design on the fleece, minus one piece and this is what I came up with...
It's not perfect or windproof, but it was free, is keeping my neck warm right now and occupied a half hour of my otherwise ho-hum day.
The sun is out a little, but it is still not terribly pleasant outside. I found a scrap of fleece and unearthed the sewing machine for a little engineering/freestyle designing.
I tried to duplicate/modify the design on a freebie balaclava we've had around the house for awhile. I used one of Charlie washable markers to sketch out the design on the fleece, minus one piece and this is what I came up with...
It's not perfect or windproof, but it was free, is keeping my neck warm right now and occupied a half hour of my otherwise ho-hum day.
brrrrr.... & grrrr....
Today's complaints:
My back hurts...
I just had to help dig my car out of the driveway after a big, icy drift developed overnight.
My front hurts...
See above complaint.
I just poured the last hot cup of coffee.
We are out of half and half.
Yesterday it was 18 below zero. Today it's 22 above.
There is just no consistency in this world.
And, in the amount of time I've taken to write this, my cheeks have started to thaw and they STING!
I wonder who is hiring in Hawaii?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Similar Minds
Okay, obviously First Lady Michelle Obama and I were of the same mind when it came to color selection for Inauguration Day. And, we were probably getting dressed at the same time, as she dressed in a gorgeous Isabel Toledo ensemble and I put on my shirt from Target at 4:30 MST this morning.
Coincidence?
No, just two women ready to spend the day glowing...
A Lovely Day For An Inauguration
I am not there in person, but I'm parked in front the television. Our flag is flying and a beautiful day awaits the beginning of a new era.
We took this photo first thing this morning, after I got back from working early this morning, teaching English in Korea, explaining to my student the process and promise of the Inauguration today. It was probably 16 degrees when I was hanging the flag from the ladder that I later used as a tripod/quadpod. The forecast today is for a clear day with a high of forty-four degrees, obviously to correspond with the Inauguration of the Forty-fourth President.
To all this I say...only and thankfully in America.
We took this photo first thing this morning, after I got back from working early this morning, teaching English in Korea, explaining to my student the process and promise of the Inauguration today. It was probably 16 degrees when I was hanging the flag from the ladder that I later used as a tripod/quadpod. The forecast today is for a clear day with a high of forty-four degrees, obviously to correspond with the Inauguration of the Forty-fourth President.
To all this I say...only and thankfully in America.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Ramblings On A Congressional Vote
I used to think -- in fact I used to know -- that most everyone in public service was there due to credentials and experience. From a young age I had convinced myself that the person elected to public office knew things -- important things -- that either I didn’t know due to my own lack of intelligence or lack of experience. Now, based on the past 8 years and most recently the last couple of days, I know that I was wrong. Just because someone has been elected to something doesn’t mean that they are in possession of more knowledge, experience or common sense than I have and that is a disappointing realization with which to grapple.
Since the November election, I’ve spent some time reflecting on the last eight years and what I find to be a rough and uncomfortable era. I’m happy it is passing. I am glad to know that I won’t have to await the broadcast of national news with trepidation. I spent the last many years ready for the squirm that would come when I would hear the latest dreadful gaffe by an elected official who’d obviously forgotten how to speak English. Was it inability or just blatant disregarded for our language’s rules, much like the rules of fair play and help for the common man that were also disregarded? I am not so foolish as to think that the president-elect’s language won’t be picked apart for “-isms” but I look forward to an era of eloquence in speech that I have sorely missed.
A recent experience did snap me out of my dreamy stupor of what is to be when the Oath of Office is administered. The vote on the SCHIP legislation came to the House of Representatives and the Wyoming representative, who certainly did not go into office with any mandate, voted against it. She replaces a painfully ineffectual representative who barely hung onto her seat in the last election go-round and the freshman representative is now at odds with the majority. She took the opportunity to vote against legislation that would help thousands of children receive state-funded health coverage as well as reauthorizing the program for the many that are currently covered. She referred to it, on our neighboring state’s 10 o’clock news as “another entitlement program hijacked by the Democrats”. Nice. Not only is this newbie representative slamming the existing program that has proved so beneficial to so many, including my children, but she is equating other elected officials with... terrorists? Nice, again. Great entrance into the circles of power and a beautiful effort on her part to propagate the climate of fear that has been the hallmark of the departing administration. I guess she is remembering that the expansion was vetoed twice by Bush and is continuing the policies of the departing power that is willing to send billions of dollars to failing industry, not require culpability in the lavishly compensated executives, but say that expanding the health insurance of children provided by the states is too much of a financial burden. The conservative Representative of the state to our north voted in FAVOR of SCHIP. Do his constituents know that he’s now being equated with hijackers? Maybe there was a need to wrestle this to the forefront of the session and not give the lame duck Chief Executive an opportunity to jackhammer the bill again. In the Representative from Wyoming’s depiction, insuring children against illness and injury, so that they can become productive, tax-paying citizens is another "entitlement" ripe for derision, but looking out for the interests of mineral producers and privatizing Social Security is of far more importance than our children's well-being. I know what drives the economy of Wyoming, I know what her priorities appear to be, but there comes a time and an opportunity to take care and help one’s own state and those most in need of the benefits of coverage. Could there be better way to do this than reauthorize and expand a program that will help the young of Wyoming become the productive workforce that will continue to benefit this state? If the Representative has a better solution, she is not shouting it loud enough to advocate for the young of this state.
I could proceed to quote studies about the benefits of early wellness intervention and the ability for a family to know they can have medical access before a small problem or illness snowballs into an expensive, uninsured visit to the emergency room that might leave them bankrupt or worse, uninsurable. I would think that a candidate and, now Representative, who counted on the support of the pro-life voters would understand that health care and support of the young doesn’t end with the avoidance of abortion and a live birth. I’ll spare you the quotation of studies and statistics, but I will mention the logic of a good friend, a priest in this community, who called the Wyoming Representative in DC to recommend her vote in support of the bill by saying she had seen, in the schools, in the lives of her neighbors and friends, the benefit of health coverage for those young children that are most in need; those healthy children will become healthy and productive members of society. I would think that all are deserving of that opportunity to thrive and should not be scolded for being too much of a burden.
The good news is that SCHIP was reauthorized and expanded. With broad bipartisan support, the House of Representatives approved the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA), H.R. 2, by a vote of 289 to 139. This is an exciting first step toward ensuring that states have the resources and authority they need to enroll millions of low income pregnant women and children in comprehensive, affordable health coverage. If there is ever a worthy “entitlement” it is certainly the health of this state's children. With the reauthorization and expansion of the program, I do hope that our new administration will see clear of those that come to the halls of power bearing grudges and looking narrowly at the future. And I certainly hope that those in Wyoming will make their hopes and requirements for the future known to the new Representative in Wyoming so that we don’t have two more years of special interest focus without a bat of the eye to those most in need. I would encourage you, no matter where you may live, to call your Senators and insist that they vote an enthusiastic YES to reauthorize the SCHIP program.
Since the November election, I’ve spent some time reflecting on the last eight years and what I find to be a rough and uncomfortable era. I’m happy it is passing. I am glad to know that I won’t have to await the broadcast of national news with trepidation. I spent the last many years ready for the squirm that would come when I would hear the latest dreadful gaffe by an elected official who’d obviously forgotten how to speak English. Was it inability or just blatant disregarded for our language’s rules, much like the rules of fair play and help for the common man that were also disregarded? I am not so foolish as to think that the president-elect’s language won’t be picked apart for “-isms” but I look forward to an era of eloquence in speech that I have sorely missed.
A recent experience did snap me out of my dreamy stupor of what is to be when the Oath of Office is administered. The vote on the SCHIP legislation came to the House of Representatives and the Wyoming representative, who certainly did not go into office with any mandate, voted against it. She replaces a painfully ineffectual representative who barely hung onto her seat in the last election go-round and the freshman representative is now at odds with the majority. She took the opportunity to vote against legislation that would help thousands of children receive state-funded health coverage as well as reauthorizing the program for the many that are currently covered. She referred to it, on our neighboring state’s 10 o’clock news as “another entitlement program hijacked by the Democrats”. Nice. Not only is this newbie representative slamming the existing program that has proved so beneficial to so many, including my children, but she is equating other elected officials with... terrorists? Nice, again. Great entrance into the circles of power and a beautiful effort on her part to propagate the climate of fear that has been the hallmark of the departing administration. I guess she is remembering that the expansion was vetoed twice by Bush and is continuing the policies of the departing power that is willing to send billions of dollars to failing industry, not require culpability in the lavishly compensated executives, but say that expanding the health insurance of children provided by the states is too much of a financial burden. The conservative Representative of the state to our north voted in FAVOR of SCHIP. Do his constituents know that he’s now being equated with hijackers? Maybe there was a need to wrestle this to the forefront of the session and not give the lame duck Chief Executive an opportunity to jackhammer the bill again. In the Representative from Wyoming’s depiction, insuring children against illness and injury, so that they can become productive, tax-paying citizens is another "entitlement" ripe for derision, but looking out for the interests of mineral producers and privatizing Social Security is of far more importance than our children's well-being. I know what drives the economy of Wyoming, I know what her priorities appear to be, but there comes a time and an opportunity to take care and help one’s own state and those most in need of the benefits of coverage. Could there be better way to do this than reauthorize and expand a program that will help the young of Wyoming become the productive workforce that will continue to benefit this state? If the Representative has a better solution, she is not shouting it loud enough to advocate for the young of this state.
I could proceed to quote studies about the benefits of early wellness intervention and the ability for a family to know they can have medical access before a small problem or illness snowballs into an expensive, uninsured visit to the emergency room that might leave them bankrupt or worse, uninsurable. I would think that a candidate and, now Representative, who counted on the support of the pro-life voters would understand that health care and support of the young doesn’t end with the avoidance of abortion and a live birth. I’ll spare you the quotation of studies and statistics, but I will mention the logic of a good friend, a priest in this community, who called the Wyoming Representative in DC to recommend her vote in support of the bill by saying she had seen, in the schools, in the lives of her neighbors and friends, the benefit of health coverage for those young children that are most in need; those healthy children will become healthy and productive members of society. I would think that all are deserving of that opportunity to thrive and should not be scolded for being too much of a burden.
The good news is that SCHIP was reauthorized and expanded. With broad bipartisan support, the House of Representatives approved the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA), H.R. 2, by a vote of 289 to 139. This is an exciting first step toward ensuring that states have the resources and authority they need to enroll millions of low income pregnant women and children in comprehensive, affordable health coverage. If there is ever a worthy “entitlement” it is certainly the health of this state's children. With the reauthorization and expansion of the program, I do hope that our new administration will see clear of those that come to the halls of power bearing grudges and looking narrowly at the future. And I certainly hope that those in Wyoming will make their hopes and requirements for the future known to the new Representative in Wyoming so that we don’t have two more years of special interest focus without a bat of the eye to those most in need. I would encourage you, no matter where you may live, to call your Senators and insist that they vote an enthusiastic YES to reauthorize the SCHIP program.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Banzai!
There were no classes for Charlie and Augusta today, so we went to Homesteader Park for some sledding on a sunny but snowy day.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Where's Charlie
For those of you that wonder what we do on those days when it's ZERO DEGREES, this one is for you...
Where Is Charlie? from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.
Where Is Charlie? from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Skating
Augusta tried skating for the first time and we've all lived to tell the tale...
First Time Skating from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.
First Time Skating from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Togetherness
Is this affection from the two of furry children due devotion to togetherness... or is their food silo empty?
And, who knew that a new basketball could be such a comfortable pillow?
And, who knew that a new basketball could be such a comfortable pillow?
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
The Saga of the Lefse Lineage
The Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone and as we charge up the ramp to Christmas, I can say that a family tradition was demonstrated and our bellies benefitted.
Being somewhat Scandinavian, I hold in my possession old family recipes for that addictive annual appetizer know as lefse. I may call it an appetizer, but in reality it is a food of many callings. It is a Norwegian potato flatbread, made with cream and butter, that can be a snack before the turkey is out of the oven, can unite with turkey and cranberries as a main course, can sop up the gravy and dressing when the turkey and cranberries are gone, and can be buttered and sugared for dessert. Every midwestern-origin Scandinavian spawn can wax poetic on all the iterations of the loved lefse and finish the sentence with "but... it's a lot of work."
It is a lot of work. And, as I found out recently, can result in surprise and family politics when discussing the genesis of recipes. Last summer, I was in California visiting family when I saw my now 99 year old godmother. Viola lives on her own in a delightfully decorated duplex at the Lutheran Retirement Home. She still leads Bible studies, takes all her meals in the dining room and is proud owner of her fourth pacemaker. I don't exaggerate when I say she sparkles. Her mother and my daughter share the first name Augusta, which is just a happy coincidence and not by design. She and her husband, Hildor, began their lives in the Midwest and were part of the mid-1950s exodus to the promised land of the Golden State of California. My father, also from North Dakota, was part of that cross-continent drift as well and became a pet project of Hildor and Viola when they were all teaching in the Woodlake schools and he the bachelor chemistry teacher.
My mother, not Norwegian in origin but of Iowa English extraction, had passed on to me the two lefse recipes that have resided in her recipe box since marrying my father the half-Norwegian-quarter-German-quarter-Irish-off-the-boats-from-North-Dakota-by-way-of-Canada in 1965. One of the recipes is my grandmother Mary Madigan's, a distinctly not-Norwegian, but probably passed from, maybe, paternal great-grandmother Ingaborg Justad. Got that? It's that recipe with the cooked potatoes, lots of butter, lots and lots of cream and some flour. I've tried that recipe and it didn't work all that well. I overcooked the pototaoes, probably didn't use the right technique with the potato ricer and wound up with something closer to a oversized saltine cracker. The other recipe I have is attributed to Viola and uses (gasp!) dried potatoes. But it worked previously and was good. I have pictures of my daughter snacking in the high chair on lefse, so I know I'd made it at least once in the last few years here. I've passed the recipe on to a friend here, so I know the recipe and its use of dried potatoes has been a topic for discussion, but probably out of ear shot of the text book Norwegians.
I saw Viola for lunch in August. It was during that lunch that I told her, quite happily, that I'd used her recipe with the Butter Buds for lefse and found it to be a success here. You would have that I was questioning the parentage of that baby born in a manger by the reaction I got. I was told in no uncertain terms that it couldn't have been her recipe because she would have never, ever have used dried potatoes. I quickly changed the subject to tortillas, which actually worked, because we were eating at a nice Mexican restaurant with its own tortilla machine chugging away across from us.
With the memory of the lefse-tortilla-luncheon controversy fresh as hydrating potatoes still in my mind, I began looking for the recipes the day before Thanksgiving. I couldn't find them. Now, my house is small and disorganized, but I really should be able to find two recipe cards. But, after shoving this, stashing that and still failing, I couldn't locate them. I was ready to retreat, but I'd offered to bring lefse to the Thanksgiving dinner we were to share with my children's godparents. I looked on the box of Butter Buds in the off-chance that the recipe might be there; no dice but I did find some lovely instructions in Spanish that I was intrigued to try. Finally, I went to the computer. I went to BettyCrocker.com, but a search for lefse was not fruitful in their gazillilon recipe database. I went to my old pal Google, bastion of obscure, untested and often wrong recipes to find THE BUTTER BUDS LEFSE recipe! There it was, in all its Midwestern resourcefulness and glory, on a blog. Hallelujah for the blog! The recipe was credited to two Minnesota Lutheran church ladies, so I figured that chances were high that is was a legitimate recipe and not submitted by some Samoan looking to win a cross-cultural recipe contest. I went to work.
I boiled my water, melted the butter, dumped in the Butter Buds and fluffed to an ideal consistency. No overcooked potatoes, no ricer, and, thanks to a handy tip in the Googled recipe, no condensation from the cling wrap to make for soggy cold potatoes. Thanksgiving morning, my not-Norwegian husband took over the potatoes, adding the flour with the help of the dough hook on the stand mixer and rolled out a gorgeous dough that was griddled to perfection and flipped without much tearing with the help of the lefse stick that resides on our kitchen wall most of the year. The children sat at the counter, rolling and patting their own lumps of dough. Being a good techno-Mom, I captured most of it all on digital video and I've now uploaded the edited four minutes to Vimeo. Later that day, a heavenly match of smoked turkey, cranberry-pear sauce and lefse made its way to my delighted palate.
And, when the time comes, as I present myself to that particular saint at those particular gates, I will proudly say "I USED DRIED POTATOES!"
Lefse from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.
Being somewhat Scandinavian, I hold in my possession old family recipes for that addictive annual appetizer know as lefse. I may call it an appetizer, but in reality it is a food of many callings. It is a Norwegian potato flatbread, made with cream and butter, that can be a snack before the turkey is out of the oven, can unite with turkey and cranberries as a main course, can sop up the gravy and dressing when the turkey and cranberries are gone, and can be buttered and sugared for dessert. Every midwestern-origin Scandinavian spawn can wax poetic on all the iterations of the loved lefse and finish the sentence with "but... it's a lot of work."
It is a lot of work. And, as I found out recently, can result in surprise and family politics when discussing the genesis of recipes. Last summer, I was in California visiting family when I saw my now 99 year old godmother. Viola lives on her own in a delightfully decorated duplex at the Lutheran Retirement Home. She still leads Bible studies, takes all her meals in the dining room and is proud owner of her fourth pacemaker. I don't exaggerate when I say she sparkles. Her mother and my daughter share the first name Augusta, which is just a happy coincidence and not by design. She and her husband, Hildor, began their lives in the Midwest and were part of the mid-1950s exodus to the promised land of the Golden State of California. My father, also from North Dakota, was part of that cross-continent drift as well and became a pet project of Hildor and Viola when they were all teaching in the Woodlake schools and he the bachelor chemistry teacher.
My mother, not Norwegian in origin but of Iowa English extraction, had passed on to me the two lefse recipes that have resided in her recipe box since marrying my father the half-Norwegian-quarter-German-quarter-Irish-off-the-boats-from-North-Dakota-by-way-of-Canada in 1965. One of the recipes is my grandmother Mary Madigan's, a distinctly not-Norwegian, but probably passed from, maybe, paternal great-grandmother Ingaborg Justad. Got that? It's that recipe with the cooked potatoes, lots of butter, lots and lots of cream and some flour. I've tried that recipe and it didn't work all that well. I overcooked the pototaoes, probably didn't use the right technique with the potato ricer and wound up with something closer to a oversized saltine cracker. The other recipe I have is attributed to Viola and uses (gasp!) dried potatoes. But it worked previously and was good. I have pictures of my daughter snacking in the high chair on lefse, so I know I'd made it at least once in the last few years here. I've passed the recipe on to a friend here, so I know the recipe and its use of dried potatoes has been a topic for discussion, but probably out of ear shot of the text book Norwegians.
I saw Viola for lunch in August. It was during that lunch that I told her, quite happily, that I'd used her recipe with the Butter Buds for lefse and found it to be a success here. You would have that I was questioning the parentage of that baby born in a manger by the reaction I got. I was told in no uncertain terms that it couldn't have been her recipe because she would have never, ever have used dried potatoes. I quickly changed the subject to tortillas, which actually worked, because we were eating at a nice Mexican restaurant with its own tortilla machine chugging away across from us.
With the memory of the lefse-tortilla-luncheon controversy fresh as hydrating potatoes still in my mind, I began looking for the recipes the day before Thanksgiving. I couldn't find them. Now, my house is small and disorganized, but I really should be able to find two recipe cards. But, after shoving this, stashing that and still failing, I couldn't locate them. I was ready to retreat, but I'd offered to bring lefse to the Thanksgiving dinner we were to share with my children's godparents. I looked on the box of Butter Buds in the off-chance that the recipe might be there; no dice but I did find some lovely instructions in Spanish that I was intrigued to try. Finally, I went to the computer. I went to BettyCrocker.com, but a search for lefse was not fruitful in their gazillilon recipe database. I went to my old pal Google, bastion of obscure, untested and often wrong recipes to find THE BUTTER BUDS LEFSE recipe! There it was, in all its Midwestern resourcefulness and glory, on a blog. Hallelujah for the blog! The recipe was credited to two Minnesota Lutheran church ladies, so I figured that chances were high that is was a legitimate recipe and not submitted by some Samoan looking to win a cross-cultural recipe contest. I went to work.
I boiled my water, melted the butter, dumped in the Butter Buds and fluffed to an ideal consistency. No overcooked potatoes, no ricer, and, thanks to a handy tip in the Googled recipe, no condensation from the cling wrap to make for soggy cold potatoes. Thanksgiving morning, my not-Norwegian husband took over the potatoes, adding the flour with the help of the dough hook on the stand mixer and rolled out a gorgeous dough that was griddled to perfection and flipped without much tearing with the help of the lefse stick that resides on our kitchen wall most of the year. The children sat at the counter, rolling and patting their own lumps of dough. Being a good techno-Mom, I captured most of it all on digital video and I've now uploaded the edited four minutes to Vimeo. Later that day, a heavenly match of smoked turkey, cranberry-pear sauce and lefse made its way to my delighted palate.
And, when the time comes, as I present myself to that particular saint at those particular gates, I will proudly say "I USED DRIED POTATOES!"
Lefse from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Obama Corner in Powell
I am hoping for change. I am ready for change. I wanted to do just a little something to express myself so... I mowed.
I mowed the yard full of cottonwood leaves to expose a blank but green canvas. I drove to the hardware store. I bought three cans of paint. I sprayed.
Here is to the hope for tomorrow and the changes, for the good, that I hope will result.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Unexpected Invasion
Due to unexpected and significant snow arriving in Powell early this year, residents are advised to be prepared for a Viking invasion.
Approach with caution. Offer lollipops as appeasement. Be on the lookout for inordinate amounts of lefse and lutefisk...
Approach with caution. Offer lollipops as appeasement. Be on the lookout for inordinate amounts of lefse and lutefisk...
Monday, October 06, 2008
Listening to Jay Meisel
I just returned from a lecture by NYC photographer Jay Meisel at our local community college. He spoke of the photographer's relationship to light, color, content and luck. His presentation was titled "Bearing Witness".
It was pretty great.
He showed slides of his current work but also a long segment of his photographs of his daughter, Amanda, from before her arrival to today. I spoke with him afterwards and told him I felt good knowing I wasn't the only parent continually shooting pictures of the kid. I showed him this picture of Augusta. He was very complimentary.
It was pretty great.
He showed slides of his current work but also a long segment of his photographs of his daughter, Amanda, from before her arrival to today. I spoke with him afterwards and told him I felt good knowing I wasn't the only parent continually shooting pictures of the kid. I showed him this picture of Augusta. He was very complimentary.
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