A Yucky Frozen Dinner

Well, we're in Bemidji, Minnesota at the 4th Annual Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival. I'll post more about this when I get the photos sorted out.

Came back to the hotel to work on a Rocket Mom's project because it's really, really slow there at the Dragon Boat Festival. The actual race isn't until tomorrow and today the 60+ teams are all out there practicing. Just a few people hovering around. As we understand it, this is normal and tomorrow we'll be selling smoothies by the hundreds. We'll see.

Anyway, I am not a big fan of fair food or whatever your call it. Gyros, cheese curds, and the like just do not appeal to me. Okay, they appeal to me sometimes but I'm trying to make better choices. Have been pretty darned good, lately.

So I stopped enroute back to the hotel and picked up a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer thinking it would be healthy and good for me. I got the Sesame Chicken. I love Asian food so thought that was a no-brainer.

The concept is a good one. Where they went wrong was in the actual creation of this. Waaaay too much sauce which was waaaay too sweet. A couple of chunks of chicken, a few little carrots, pea pods and mushrooms and white rice. More white rice than veggies, I might add.

It would not have been fabulous even if I hadn't stirred all of it into that syrupy sauce but it would have been BETTER.

So steer clear of Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers, my friends. If this stuff happens to be a favorite of yours, I'm sorry.

Am heading back to the festival...will probably have something unhealthy but tasty there.

NOTE: I did find a great recipe for the raspberry sauce, by the way. Will post it when I get home.

Fresh Raspberry Jam

Jen and I picked this huge basket of raspberries a few day ago. A friend down the street has a beautiful raspberry patch and this year the bounty was tremendous. Despite the fact that they didn't cut the canes this spring (which I guess you're supposed to do) because he had heart surgery and things went from bad to worse for awhile. But all is well, now, and we were invited to pick a day to gather as many as we could.

The best way to deal with freshly picked raspberries is to spread them out on parchment or wax paper lined trays, freeze them, and then pack them in freezer bags.

That's because they're so fragile that washing them first would cause them all to fall apart. We're talking REALLY fresh, soft, flavorful berries right off the vine, now. I have no idea what they do to the ones you buy at the market but they're just not the same. You wouldn't probably know that unless you've picked them fresh.

Today I'm making raspberry jam. I've also looked through all my cookbooks for a raspberry sauce to make for ice cream but have yet to find one I like. I have dozens of cookbooks so that's saying something. I'm going to do a little internet research to see what I can find.

I'm off to find a recipe and see if my jars are sterilized.

Homemade Cough Syrup

Try this the next time you have a cough:

Mix 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice with 1 teaspoon honey and mix. Add just a little bit of water (maybe a Tablespoon), stir it up and drink it down. This is safe for toddlers, too, but not children under one year old because of the honey.

It seems to be working on one of the grandchildren. Will give her another dose before bedtime. Now we're off to the Depot Express for our night-before-they-go-home dinner. The Depot's pizza is excellent and it's really in an old train depot.

4th of July 2009

This is the 4th of July and we couldn't ask for nicer weather here at Lake Mary. The icing on the cake is that we have two daughters, a son and daughter-in-law and five out of eight grandchildren here to help us celebrate. It's been great fun. Tonight's fireworks over the lake are eagerly anticipated by all!

Granddaughter Emma has taken an interest in photography and has shot some pictures worthy of posting. She's definitely got a knack for this art form. This "Grandyma" (as she calls me) couldn't be more pleased.

These petunias are in a pot on the front porch. If we'd thrown in a white flower or two it would have made a great 4th of July tribute.

Jack took the little ones to an organic strawberry field where they picked twelve pounds of strawberries! Not sure how many they popped in their mouths as they were picking. Took me a long time to clean them but it was well worth it! Our holiday dessert is going to be layers of angel food cake, strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream. Yum!

Emma took this picture in our lakescaping. She captured the daisies and coreopsis gently waving in the breeze. I love it.

Here's our firepit on the beach. It wouldn't be a trip to the beach without roasting marshmallows for S'mores. Gooey delicious fun. Maybe we'll do hot dogs, today. Our menu is going to be grilled hamburgers and veggie burgers, hot dogs, and brats as the entree with potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans as sides.

You can't get more "4th of July" than that!

This is one of my favorite shots. How Emma captured the undulation of the water so perfectly escapes me but I think it's cool.

Well, I'm off to cook potatoes for our potato salad. It's quiet in the house as everyone is still asleep. I can hear a woodpecker busy destroying something...probably a tree. I hope it's not the siding on someone's house. Peace reigns.

Have a wonderful holiday and God Bless America.