Travis's Steamer Trunk

One of my recent shop projects was an old-fashioned steamer trunk that I made for Travis. Here are some shots of him with it. It wasn't really meant to be a Christmas present, but I did surprise him with it when he was here for a very brief holiday. (The Denver snow storms trapped him there, and he was unable to get here until Christmas Eve and then had to return the day after Christmas.)



The chest is made of oak--some solid and some oak veneer plywood. I lined the chest with aromatic cedar, and there is lots of brass hardware, as you can see. The finish was a mix of burnt umber oil paint and linseed oil that I hand rubbed onto the chest. Two coats of polyurethane varnish completed the look. This was a fun project--one I had wanted to do ever since I first saw the plans. I was pleased that Travis was interested in having one for clothing and other storage.

Six Word Memoirs

On yesterday's edition of Weekend America, I heard a segment on a contest sponsored by Smith Magazine. They are sponsoring a Six Word Memoir Contest.

I couldn't help this weekend but think about what six words I would use to describe my life. So far, I like this best: Stubborn, constructive, committed Iowan; adores family. I know this isn't as cute as some others I've seen on the Smith web site, but it feels best.

Way back when all of you were first starting these blogs and encouraged me to join in, various challenges were put forth. I specifically remember the challenge to recall what you were doing exactly ten years ago--I think I failed at this one. However, that doesn't stop me from challenging all of you to write your six word memoirs!! And, if you are truly inspired, you can enter them in the Smith contest too.

Pfefferneusse (Peppernuts)

Each year, in memory of my mother, I'm obliged to make peppernuts, or pfefferneusse, as my German ancestors would call them. They aren't nuts, and they don't have pepper in them, so go figure. Anyway, most of you know what they are--tiny little cookies made from flour, lots of butter, Karo syrup, sugar, a tiny amount of milk and baking soda, and two spices (allspice and cardamom; some use anise, but I don't care for that).

Many years ago, thoughtful, sensitive son Rob made a gift for me based on Mom's peppernut recipe. I have had it framed and hanging in the kitchen for over 16 years.


I didn't take a picture of the dough or the dough "in process", but you would be correct to imagine modeling clay. The dough is very, very stiff and thick. In the last stages, it is a real bear to stir. Then it is cooled further before being rolled out--like the snakes you used to roll out with modeling clay in grade school.


These rolls are cooled further overnight, and then the baking process commences. Each roll is cut into many, many, many, many, many, many small 1/4" or smaller slices. These are then, of course, arranged in rows and columns (the obssessive-compulsive in me requires this) on a cookie sheet and baked.



The results are wonderful, little, golden brown goodies that combine to fill up an appropriate container. The one you see here was filled to overflowing by the time I was done, with the extras filling another mixing bowl.


Now, there are many ways to eat these delights. Personally, I dislike just chewing them up like cookies, although to each his or her own. My prefence is to just let each one melt in your mouth (resulting in slower consumption) or to drop a handful in a glass of milk and fish them out with a spoon after an appropriate amount of time. Yum!

When I worked at NSF back in 1998-2000, I made some of these for friends there. They didn't recognize them, though they claimed to know what peppernuts were. Later, they brought me some they had purchased. They were enormous and were frosted! Naturally, I didn't think these qualified as peppernuts, but I guess there are lots of ways to make them. Just "google" for peppernuts or pfefferneuse on the web, and you will see what I mean.

Quality Time

Last weekend was a good one for many reasons. Betsy, Pete, and Henry came to stay with us for the weekend in order to attend Carrie's PhD graduation exercises. Since we won't be together for Christmas, we took advantage of the occasion for selected gift exchanges too.

Soon after Henry arrived, he started "reminding" me and Grandma that we could perhaps see a movie. I think his exact words were, "Grandpa! Watch Dumbo!" So, here he is cuddled up with Grandma and some pizza watching Monsters, Inc. (We decided to introduce him to a new title.)


On Saturday, Rob hosted an open house to further honor Carrie, who had received her hood and PhD at Friday's graduation exercises. (See Betsy's earlier post on this subject.) There were lots of good eats and good feelings. Oscar helped celebrate, and Henry helped Aunt Carrie open her gifts.





Back at home, I pulled out a sure-fire win-over-the-grandson's heart toy, that being my electric train. This was the first time Henry has had a chance to play with it, so it was a big hit. Since he also loves the farm and farm animals that Great Aunt Paula made for us to play with, we set that up in the middle of the track loop. Some of the animals even went for a ride. I anticipate that getting this out whenever Henry visits will now be a requirement, along with the farm and the Dumbo DVD.


Because there are so many of us in the family, we decided a few years ago to draw names. Otherwise, everyone was going broke buying gifts for everyone else. Anyway, this year, Kathie and I had Betsy and Pete's names, respectively. So, we gave them their gifts on Sunday morning before they went home. Of course, buying gifts for Henry is fair game, regardless of the name drawing plans, so he received some things too. Here he is tearing into one of his gifts. Also, Betsy is admiring the new Italian leather purse (purchased during our recent visit to Italy) she received. Pete received a jig saw from me, which I failed to capture on film.



Hope everyone has happy holidays! Today, we were expecting both Jessica and Travis to arrive. Jessica just walked in, but Travis is stuck in Colorado due to very heavy snow in the Denver area. We don't know if he can get rebooked to get here in time for Christmas or not. We have our fingers crossed.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this year. Except for Will and Sandy, who we had visited at their place the prior weekend (to see Iowa lose to Minnesota!!), everyone was able to be with us. This includes Paula, Ron, and Sarah, Jessica and Travis, Rob and Carrie, and Pete, Betsy, and Henry. Oh, yes! There were also four dogs in attendance: Josey (ours), Franklin (Pete and Betsy's), Oscar (Rob and Carrie's), and Dayton (Sarah's).

Kathie and Jessica cooked up a storm over a couple of days, and Carrie contributed some delicious potatoes and a great green bean dish. Thanks, Carrie!! Everyone ate too much, of course, but it was all too good to pass up.


Great Aunt Paula spent some quality time with Henry working with clay and making hand prints and various critters. We look forward to these being fired and returned for display.



Grandpa got to spend some quality time with Henry too. Playing with the farm toys is always good, but this time we also went for a ride on a real tractor and played in a leaf pile behind the house.




Grandma got out the roller coaster that she picked out for Henry and that he has learned to love. We discovered later that it also makes a great track for races with those tiny "Hot Wheels" cars. And there were the usual card games and other table games.




Later in the week, Paula, Ron, Sarah, Kathie, and I went for a "field trip." We ate lunch at a pub in Mount Vernon, visited Uncle Ed and Aunt Irene, and then paid our respects at various cemeteries. Kathie and I were sorry to see everyone return home.

Recent Visit to See the Kids

This is a little overdue, but I thought I should at least post a few shots from our visit to IL. We participated in celebrating Pete's birthday, albeit a little late, and Henry's, albeit a little early. Betsy has already posted some of this same news, but I figure another perspective can't hurt.

When we arrived, Henry was just waking up. Evidently finding out that the Hawks had lost another game (this one was to Wisconsin) just wore him out.


For Pete's birthday, we dined at Ra and enjoyed sushi. Henry really loved the edamame (soy beans). Here he is trying them, along with Grandpa Herr.



Other shots of the happy family include this one of Betsy and Aunt Liz, Betsy and her boy, and the entire family.




The next morning, Kathie and I gave Henry his birthday gift a little early. I had built an easel for him and it was accompanied with an appropriate set of coloring resources, paints, and chalk. He seemed to take to it readily. Maybe there is a budding artist here???



One of our last outings was to the Choo Choo Cafe, which serves great burgers and delivers them to tableside by electric train. Now that is a great place!!

And Finally...Some Interesting Italians

I expect my readers are becoming somewhat tired of stories about Italy, so this will be the last one. Here we describe some of the more interesting people we saw in Italy. At many popular gathering places or tourism hot spots, one would find individuals (I suppose you would call them mimes) who were dressed like a statue of some kind and who would stand completely still until someone dropped a coin or two into their cup. Then they would perform in some small way or engage the donor. Here is one we saw near the Ufizzi in Florence.


Police and other authorities were always present. I was never completely clear on whether we were seeing state police, municipal police, carabinieri, or other military officers. There were several distinct uniform types. Sometimes they were simply on foot patrol. We also saw them in various vehicles and at the airport. All had handguns, and a few carried machine guns or pistols of some type. Since this is not something one sees here as readily, it felt a little disconcerting, though we always felt quite safe. At any rate, these two sharply dressed officers were kind enough to pose with Kathie. The subsequent photo was taken at the entrance to a major administrative building in Rome.



We previously mentioned a couple of tours we took. The first introduced us to the ruins and ancient buildings of Rome. Below is our tour guide for this tour. Each tour guide has his or her "flag" of some kind to help the guided tour group keep from getting lost. The interesting thing about this individual was the freedom he took in presenting history and "facts" to us. Kathie and I were frequently in doubt of some of his explanations and stories during. One would assume that a tour company would make sure of the accuracy of the information presented. However, we have researched some of the information presented to us since getting home. As we suspected, this tour guide greatly exaggerated or misrepresented certain things. I'm willing to bet we learned more in the end, just because we were motivated to do more background reading.


At the monument to the unification of Italy is a tomb for the unknown soldier, which is guarded around the clock as shown below. We just missed seeing one changing of the guard. Of course, this reminded me of the many times I saw a similar site and honor guard at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC.


Finally, though I previously posted the photo below, it is worth a new comment or two. This street performer appeared in the Piazza Navona in Rome. He had a whole series of routines that involved dressing up his hands with little puppets, such that his fingers were the arms and legs of the puppets. He could make his "little people" demonstrate all kinds of moods and emotions. For example, he did a famous Charlie Chaplin routine--the Little Tramp. This was just one of the many amazing and quite good street performers and musicians we saw.

Eating and Shopping in Italy

Eating and shopping in Italy were fun things to do. We enjoyed numerous pasta dishes served in many different ways, of course. A full Italian evening meal might consist of an antipasti selection, a primi, a secondi, maybe a contorni, and possibly a dolce. That would be a huge meal. Normally, we would have an antipasti and either a primi or a secondi, and we frequently shared selections with each other. Antipasti can be a salad but is more typically what we would consider an appetizer. A huge favorite of mine was prosciutto (a dry-cured ham, often from the pork shoulder) with melon. The primi is typically a pasta selection, and these come in the full range of pasta shapes with many, many kinds of sauces and added items, like funghi (mushrooms), tomatoes, prosciutto, seafood, and other things. Secondi can be meat dishes, seafood, or vegetarian items, such as eggplant. They are not usually served with side dishes (contorni), so one could choose grilled vegetables or other items in addition if wanted. Dolci, of course, are the desserts, and these range from gelato (similar to ice cream) to tarts and many other kinds of sweets. Wine is always available and in Italy is almost always excellent. One usually orders water too, which always comes bottled in either still or carbonated forms, as you wish. Remember that prior posting about eating in Venice in the ristorante where the gondoleer came to our window? The two shots below were taken at that location. Kathie was eating linguini and clams, as I recall. I had gnocchi, which is a pasta made from potatoes.




For lunch, we could choose from panini or pizza. Panini are usually ready made sandwiches, stacks and stacks of which are nicely displayed and which are often grilled in a press. They are very good. Pizza comes in red (tomato sauces) or white versions (no sauce or other kinds of sauces). Pizzas are always very, very thin and crispy. I liked the red ones with anchovies, cheese, and olives or with prosciutto, mushrooms, and tomatoes. They are similar to, but also quite different from, pizzas we have here. Sorry, but we must admit that we stopped at a McDonald's one day too. The one near the Spanish Steps in Rome was said to be one of the most elaborate in all of Europe. Indeed, they had a gelato station, salad bar, coffee bar, and then the usual selections.



The shops were colorful, especially those that featured fresh foods. Note the prosciutto hanging in the shop shown below, the wine, and the fresh fruits and vegetables. In Venice, we saw fresh seafood on display and for sale.




There were many small shops on nearly every street we visited in each of Florence, Venice, and Rome. Many of them were quite specialized, featuring glass (Venice, especially), masks (again, Venice--there is a carnival or festival each year, we understand, where masks are common), hats and scarves, and on and on. Of course, leather goods in Italy are abundant and usually very well made. The name shops (Gucci, Ferragamo, and on and on) were very much in evidence. Window shopping was great fun, and we did pick up a number of keepsakes (the glass sculpture we mentioned in the Venice posting, a beautiful hand-painted ceramic plate). Below you can see us in our new headwear too.