questions???

 Once again my west coast brother has provided me with inspiration for my blog.  He has informed me that today is National Souffle Potato Day, National Hot Mulled Cider Day,  National Mud Pack Day and Ask a Stupid Question Day.  His 'stupid question' was "Why do mud packs even have a day?"  I actually thought that was a pretty good question.  My 'stupid question' is why is it National Souffle Potato Day and not National Potato Souffle Day?  I mulled this over while sipping some delicious hot cider spiced with a cinnamon stick earlier this evening.  I'm not sure if having the cinnamon stick in the cup of cider makes it mulled or not?  But this whole line of thought reminds me of a chemistry teacher I had in high school who like to say "There's no such thing as a stupid question." (I'm sure you've heard that one.) But then, when I would ask him a question, usually during lab work, he'd say, in a rather patronizing voice, "I'm sure you can figure that out."  This explains why I did not go on to take Physics in my senior year (same teacher) which gave me a chance to take an art class and realize that what I really wanted to do in college was major in Art Education so I could, and did, become an art teacher.  Funny how things work out.

Oh happy day

Today is National Corn Day.  It's also National Coffee Day but that's for my husband to celebrate.  As for corn, we bought some at "Schmucker's Produce Farm and Greenhouse" on Friday, and it is delicious.  Before we left on our vacation, on another visit to that market, the farmer happened to be there when we asked the clerk if they would still have sweet corn available at the end of September, when we expected to be back from our trip.  He told us he had recently planted a late crop which would be for sale in late September.  Hence our trip to the market on Friday.  My spouse and I agree that this is the best corn we've had all summer.  An interesting thing about corn, while my husband is allergic to processed corn products such as anything with corn syrup in it, and corn chips, he can eat fresh sweet corn with no ill effects.  An argument for fresh veggies I think.  I was reassured on our recent trip that the world (or at least North America) will not be facing a corn shortage any time soon.  At least that's how it appeared.  On our way west through the northern USA and on our homeward drive east through southern Canada we passed miles and miles of corn fields.  Not all sweet corn of course, but what appears to be an abundance of corn available for a variety of uses.  You'll have to take my word for it though.  I didn't, as it happens, take any pictures of corn fields on our trip, because, when you grow up in the flat country of northeastern Indiana, they are not an exceptional sight.  

a new review...

 This evening my husband and I went to dinner with my son and daughter-in-law.  At their suggestion we went to a newly opened (about two weeks ago) Mexican restaurant.  It turned out to be a delicious suggestion.  This restaurant, Sol De Mexico, is tucked in the corner of a little strip mall just west of Cracker Barrel on Lima Road. It's much larger on the inside that it appears from the front, and blessedly quiet.  They have some sound deadening tiles incorporated in the ceiling design.  I like good food but I also like to be able to carry on a conversation without shouting.  The food was very good.  I have a few favorite Mexican restaurants in Fort Wayne and this ranks with the best of them.  I had a burrito with deliciously seasoned beef covered with cheese, green sauce and sour cream.  So good!  The chips, served as soon as we were seated, were fresh and crispy and the salsa was just spicy enough for me.  All in all an excellent first encounter.  I highly recommend that you give it a try.  We will be going back.

looking way back...

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is Ancestor Appreciation Day and also German Butterbrot Day.  I do appreciate my ancestors.  They were hard working immigrants who came to this country beginning, as far as I know, in the mid-1700s.  One ancestor arrived in time to fight in the Revolutionary War.  The family story goes that he escaped from Germany after being arrested for killing the king's deer.  I like to think that he wasn't really a bad man, just trying to feed his family. Since my ancestors were almost all German (with a little Scots-Irish and French mixed in) I do appreciate them for many things including their good cooking.  So it seems very fitting that I honor them for German Butterbrot, also being celebrated today.  It turns out that, without even knowing it, I have been carrying on this tradition.  Almost every morning my breakfast is a slice of toasted bread liberally buttered and sometimes with one more layer on top such as jelly or honey, and that is exactly what butterbrot is. Happily, I often have cinnamon bread from the Amish bakery which makes it even better.  My spouse, on the other hand, is of Viking ancestry.  I'm not sure if his breakfast choices reflect his heritage, but he certainly burned and pillaged his way through our Scrabble game tonight.  Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad, but he did win by 40 points.  I have demanded a rematch. 

Happy Birthday1

 Today is Johnny Appleseed's 250th birthday.  He was born in 1774. My west coast brother brought this to my attention earlier today.  Many places claim some connection to good old JA, but none cherish his memory more than Fort Wayne, Indiana. Not only is he buried here (I can show you his grave) but he is also celebrated each fall with a weekend long Johnny Appleseed Festival. In addition our local baseball team is called The Tin Caps. You may recall that Johnny Appleseed wore a tin pot for a hat as he roamed around this area planting apple trees.  Those original trees are almost certainly all gone now, but their descendents still thrive. In celebration of this great day my spouse and I have each just eaten a delicious piece of apple bread from our favorite Amish bakery. Happy birthday Johnny. 

Home again, continued...

 Pictures of the bridge:

Home again....

  After 19 days of adventuring we are home again, safe and sound.  It was a great trip but it is good to be home.  Even today, although it was just a driving day, was fun.  We left Sault Ste. Marie at 8:48am, crossed the big bridge, always a thrill, and drove into the USA at 9:05am.  Then headed south on I75.  At 10:20am we stopped at Darrow's Restaurant, which we had discovered and loved on our Michigan trip last year, for brunch.  We each had a hearty breakfast topped off with pie.  I had Dutch Apple while my wonder spouse, who is always wondering about something, had oatmeal butterscotch pie, very sweet.  He said it was delicious.  Later in the day we stopped at a Biggby Coffee. He had black coffee, I had frozen vanilla mocha with whipped cream (my too sweet treat for the day).  In retrospect, it seems that we ate our way home.  Arrived home by 4:45pm.  We will not discuss how long it took to unload the car.  Suffice it to say, we are gradually returning to a somewhat organized at-home life and looking forward to a really good night's sleep.