It was just like Al's...

We were up at 5 a.m. for (the completion of?) our bathroom remodeling project, and swung by Bloedow's to see what time it opens - 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays.
Later in the morning, around 7:40 a.m., I swung by again, by myself, but prepared with a list. And it was packed. I had to walk a block just to get there, meaning the parking lot and one block of the street's worth of people were already getting their weekend doughnuts.
Now Bloedow's is a small building, pretty narrow, shot gun style like most of the other buildings on the east side; and the line was stretched out the door. It reminded me of Al's Breakfast, when KT took me there as a must visit place last fall (she started going there upon recommendation of Megan Jones, and it really is just as bizarre as all of the reviews claim it is). Of course the line has a different sort of atmosphere, with lots of sweet older Polish gentlemen.
There is always that moment of, "Should I stay, or should I go? Da da da da, da da da da." And then you decide, yes I should have known better and got here earlier, but I have a mission to accomplish (plus Trav's dad is coming, and he really likes doughnuts and hes helping us with plumbing). And just like Al's, there is a set of rules one must follow. Please, Google the rules and reviews of Al's Breakfast before visiting, and tell me they don't make you nervous. And the servers all have attitude problems, except they seem so cool that you want them to like you. Bring coffee for the wait, use the bathroom prior to visiting (so don't drink too much coffee), and open the door for people as they exit the building. And scoot down if ordered to, (don't scoot if they don't tell you to) or you might actually get kicked out- dead serious. Bloedow's is not that crazy, but you better know what you want to order. No hem hawing around. People like me (somewhat indecisive)- bring a list, its a must. First, let them know what size of box you want, read them your list, and then if something additional looks extra tasty, its okay to slightly deter (but no dawdling). That's my list of Bloedow's rules, at least for a Saturday morning. Oh yes, and get there right at 7:30 a.m. (At Al's, its best to get there at least 1/2 hour before opening, otherwise be prepared to wait for potentially 2 hours!) And yet, its soworth it (just ask Megan). And I am rating the custard Bismark I just ate- 5 stars.
(*I do think they should add a pregnant lady rule- right to the front; but at this point I would probably have to announce my condition, as people probably just mistook me as someone who's ate one too many long johns, and there is no sympathy for that.)
~Becky

The Return of the Black Hammer Cowboy

I think these pictures speak for themselves :)

~Becky

Carrot Cheesecake Bars

I can't believe how good these bars (with a graham cracker crust) turned out. I don't really think the picture does it justice- its not perfect, I don't think those cracks are supposed to be there;but it smells like cinnamon and looks like a creamy, fluffy cheesecake. Now it has to set for four hours, and I swear, there had better be some left in the morning. I'm not kidding, there had better be some left, and Trav really could eat the whole thing (his mother can vouch for me, and is probably the only other person that can really appreciate how much it takes to feed that guy, and she did it way longer than me AND while he was a teenage boy). IF there is some left (and there had better be), I'm eating some for breakfast. Its got carrots in it, so it has to be healthy, right? (Just like how zucchini chocolate cake is healthy, 'cause its got zucchini in it.)

~Becky

*recipe is from Kraft Foods (http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/carrot-cheesecake-bars-115437.aspx)

I said, "Sounds like a lot of work." He said, "Sounds like a lot of Fun!"

It was so beautiful today, I didn't have the heart to make Trav stay inside to work on the bathroom - as if I could have stopped him from getting out his tiller (his Christmas present from his dad). I took a bunch of pictures to try to get a good one, and I swear he is grinning in every single one. He just got a good 'ole dose of Vitamin D today (and is currently snoozing on the couch behind me while I type this, big smile on his face).

We dug out all of the carrots and a few parsnips. (We ate parsnips for supper with steak and peas from last year, and oh man! Plus I have a roast full of carrots going right now.)
Beautiful, beautiful carrots...
Trav and one of his big turnips...
Liz and Brad should have stuck around- we got all kinds of goodies today. And Trav planted a whole ton of peas and a few radishes. Its difficult to imagine, after a sunshine filled day like today, that our hard workin' garden gnome looked like this, just a week and a half ago. I almost brought the poor fellow inside back then (which maybe I should have done, because not all of the onion seeds came up). But he was waiting patiently (or impatiently if I am perhaps figuratively talking about Trav) for Spring thaw.
It was such a good day, even my bread turned out. Yay for the sunshine!
Good Night! (I know we'll be sleeping good...)
~Becky

My silly ideas and wandering feet

Hey y'all!

This will just be a quick one, I've got to get to bed so I can catch a train at 8 AM tomorrow (to Pisa!!). I have a quick story from a while back that will probably make you laugh . . .

The weather was finally nice one day in February and I had a bad case of Spring fever (as I'm sure you all can relate to) so I decided to walk to Assisi - it used to be a common city to walk to . . . back in the day. Anyways, I gathered my things - a sandwich of cheese and prosciutto cotto, a bar of chocolate and some crackers (notice that I did NOT say water) - and headed out of town.

The picture above was my first real look at Perugia from afar. The day was beautiful, perfect for a walk, and the traffic wasn't too bad (although italians are kind-of crazy drivers). I walked trough several little towns and, for some unknown reason, saw not a soul. I think it is because I walked through them during la pausa, a 4 hour break stores and people take every day from 12 until 4. It makes shopping a bit of a hassle because you have to shop on the stores' time, but it is a lovely idea.

Above, a sign that shows I was kilometers from nowhere! The walk was relaxing and I thought I was making good time. I stopped in a little town, San Ponte San Giovanni, I think, to buy a bottle of water and drank it in a little park where some young boys were practicing soccer. After a quick lunch I headed back on the road and really got myself in the middle of nowhere.

Some chickens I saw along the way.

This is road I ended up on. i wasn't sure if it was someone's drive-way or a road so I just kept walking. I ended up peeing in some brush alongside it before I started climbing the hill in front of me. By this time I also noticed that the sun was about to set and that I was only about half-way to Assisi.

I finally got to the top of the huge hill and saw Assisi a loooooooong ways away. I admit that my initial idea of walking there wasn't the smartest, but I wasn't silly enough to keep going with the sun nearly set so I made my way to the next macelleria (butcher shop) to ask about the bus schedule. The woman there must have thought I looked half-starved because she gave me the information and then a big pile of meat. Amazing meat. Fatto a casa (made in house) meat. I was exhausted so I hung out there for over an hour and chatted a bit with the kind woman and the jolly owner of the place who arrived a bit later and showed me lots of dead pig parts, including a pig head cut neatly in half! I finally made my way to the bus stop at the correct time - full of meat, warm and with an extra package of pancetta (kind-of bacon but WAY better) and coppa (a gelatinous type meat mixture made of everything but the squeal, quite literally) - only to have a bus whiz past me. Nearly crying (because by now it was dark) I decided to wait 10 minutes more. Luckily I did because another bus came and carried my weary self back to Perugia (note: it had taken me 4 hours to make it roughly 13 km, it took the bus 15 minutes).

And that is my silly story! Pictures of food and Ferrara (the city of bicycles) to come . . .

We were having such a good time...

And then things got crazy.

Good thing Liz made chocolate cake.

Happy 27th Birthday, Brad and Brian!

Naples . . . and then some.

A fountain near a piazza-type clearing at Pompeii. Take note of the cloudy but bright sky.

It has been a bit since my last blogging, but do not take this as an indication that there has been nothing worth blogging about, on the contrary. As can be seen in these photos (a small, representative bit of the hundreds I have) I made it to Naples and the ruins of Pompeii a couple of weekends ago. It was, to say the least, pleasantly exhausting.

The gladiatorial arena. At the extreme right of this picture I believe you can see a tidbit of the door that acted as the entrance for lions into the arena.

The first challenge was to catch the correct bus. We wandered around the station, looking at the screens with departure/arrival times and gates. Unfortunately, we were looking at the arrivals instead of departure screen and were thus quite confused. About 5 minutes before departure time, however, we straightened ourselves out and boarded the bus to Naples. 4 1/2 hours, miles of beautiful countryside now obscured by the darkness, we arrived to find the city wet, confusing and dirty. Quite literally there are piles/mounds/mountains of trash just sitting in streets, in alleys, random corners . . . everywhere. True night was imminent (it was only early evening when we arrived), however, and so, guided by our recently purchased map and my amazing navigational skills, we managed to happen upon our hotel. We had thoughtfully purchased a bottle of wine, of Naples origins, from a very kind man. Unfortunately for us we were never able to find his shop again. Thus is Naples.

Our first view of the ruins of Pompeii.

The next day we (Ian, Amanda and I) started out fairly early after our peaceful night. Breakfast was necessary, that much we knew. We stopped at the first pasticceria/bar we saw and had a cornetto and the most amazing cappuccino I have ever experienced. Feeling quite refreshed and determined to see some museums, we set off from the shop nearly skipping. The peace of the night and refreshed feeling rapidly disappeared as we entered into the hectic world of Naples' traffic of people and vehicles alike. Shops had put their wares on the sidewalk already crowed with immigrant vendors; fresh fruit spilled out of crevice-like grocery stores; the smell of the city, thankfully subdued by the cool weather, laced the morning air. I even saw a swordfish, head and all, for sale. We were lost pretty much the entire time.

This gallery was filled with ancient busts of famous dead men - apparently Dad's style of beard has lasted throughout the ages (look closely at the white men).

We finally made it to a the Museum of Archeology and approached the desk to pick up our Artecards, which would get us into museums and ancient sites for free or reduced price. Coincidentally the internet was not working at the time. Cardless and rejected, we picked another museum on the map and headed in that general direction. I'd had practice all morning, so I was proficient at map reading by then and led us more or less directly to the museum. On the way we had to climb an innocent-looking set of stairs. I say innocent-looking because once we began our ascent we could see that they were covered in garbage of all sorts (see picture below), including a dead rat (did not take a picture of that). The top was slimy with moss and the odor was like nothing I've every experienced. Never.

The Botticelli we saw at the first museum. Not 100% positive that it is The Botticelli, but I think so.

The internet was, thankfully, up and running at the second museum. We wandered around it for over an hour, but it was mostly paintings of the "Madonna and Child" style, so we didn't stay for too long. It may be difficult to believe, but one can see too many paintings of the Madonna and Child and gruesome martyrdom scenes in one day. After an aborted mission to some catacombs we ate the most delicious pizza of my life and then checked out the first museum we had attempted to go to. Beautiful and ancient artwork and artifacts surrounded us. A lot was taken from Pompeii, so we got a preview for the next day.

A picture from the top of the nasty steps . . . only a small bit of Naples.

The next day we headed to Pompeii. It was a bit damp and chilly to begin with, but we managed to find the correct train and headed out despite the foreboding clouds. I cannot do justice in words, I don't know if anyone can, the feeling one gets upon entering the ancient streets of a dead city. Between the 3 of us I'm sure we took over 400 pictures that day so when I return home I can show them all to you. For now these few will have to do. We wandered around the ruins for somewhere around 5 hours. It rained intermittently, sometimes only a drizzle other times it poured. Exhausted and a bit damp we decided to return only to be rained/hailed on one last time while running, very lost, through the streets. Needless to say, upon returning to hotel we took showers, drank a bit of wine and crashed. The rise home the next day (once we found the bus-stop back, which took us a while) was restful and we got to see some magnificent countryside. Thus ended our adventure to Naples.

Garbage on the steps . . . imagine this EVERYWHERE!

A nice little piazza that we took a break at (mostly to check out the map).

Some random steps in Naples.

A couple of my dear friends: L. Rosanna, R. Amanda

On a completely unrelated note, there are a lot of dogs in Italy. i think everyone has one. They are all tiny but proud. I'll be sure to take some pictures for examples.

Love from italy!!!!!!

San Pietro, and more . . .

Rosanna, Amanda and Ian

leaving the central courtyard of the Church of St. Peter

Down below

The REAL medieval garden, it was through some doors in the church

A 3-headed woman guards the entrance into the chapel

Hello all! Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been quite busy and my internet isn't exactly reliable. Nonetheless, I have been enjoying my first 2 1/2 weeks of Italy. Sadly I'm not a reliable operator of my camera yet, and so I somehow took some pictures that later disappeared. A thousand words will have to suffice.

So, after moving into my chilly apartment (7 hours of heat is not enough when it is sub 40's weather) we took our placement test and began classes. My class includes students (not necessarily my age) from everywhere: Vietnam, Turkey, Indonesia, Japan, England, China, Russia, Germany . . . and they don't necessarily speak english. It is interesting, and they all seem very "simpatici" (easy to get along with/nice), but it is difficult to establish many relationships yet when all of what we know how to saw is quite superficial, i.e. - "Hi! My name is Katie. I'm from Minnesota. It is cold there. I live on a farm. I like to make cheese. . . "

Nevertheless, I have made friends. Most are from the full-immersion group, and I'm sure we will have many adventures to come. We have, in fact, already begun. Last Sunday we went to a farm that is a member of the Slow Food Movement ( an Italian creation begun to contradict fast food). They produce 3 things in particular that exemplify what Slow Food is all about: olives, pigs and beans. The olives they grow are indigenous to the area and more difficult to pick than those one would find in a wholly commercial environment. It's branches tend to grow upwards, meaning when the trees get a bit old the topmost branches are unreachable. The olive oil it produces, however, is absolutely to die for. I'd say it is definitely worth the hard work. Light, delicate, a bit sweet and a bit salty - it kicks the ass out of any oil I've every tasted (but in a quiet, tranquil and subtle fashion I attribute to the people that make the oil and the environment in which it is produced). The beans, fagiolina, are small and must be harvested at a specific time. They were nearly nonexistent on the market before a few farms decided to grow them again. Normal beans, maybe from Brazil for example, are bought for $3 per hundredweight. These beans are bought for $300 per hundredweight! Sadly we didn't get to taste them. The pigs, however, we ate a lot of during the meal following our tour (that lasted over 2 1/2 hours and was followed by a trip to the lake for gelato!) and take about 2X as long to mature, thus their scarcity. They are allowed to root as they wish, thus negating the need to inject iron into them and preventing other diseases. It was, in all, a wonderful day.

Classes and homework and getting to know people take a considerable amount of my time, so little of significance (not to say that it was not enjoyed) happened until this weekend. I was suppose to go to Barcelona with 3 girls: Aubree, Alex and Ruth (who had an eventful time of it without me). Instead, due to class conflicts, I had to change my ticket and forego the adventure. I will instead be going to Norway for a week after my program is finished (May 3 - May 10)! Hopefully some family members can be found and fjords explored.

So, plans for Barcelona extinguished (for now) some other friends (Rosanna, Ian and Amanda) and I decided to explore the city we were in, beautiful Perugia. We walked and talked for a while until we cam across what we thought was a medieval garden (see the 2nd picture below) with a striking monument in front of it (see the 3rd picture below). It was, we later discovered, not the garden we had intended to see, but was pleasant and has great potential for a picnic when the weather warms.

We went next the the enormous, nearby church of San Pietro. We wandered around it for quite some time and Rosanna and I each lit a candle infront of the crucifix. There was artwork - paintings, carvings, sculptures, tapestries . . . you name it - quite literally covering every surface inside the main chapel. Underneath it they were doing some digging and renovation of the space, but weren't very far along (we are in Italy). Pictures can not begin to do justice to the magnificence and the heavy feeling of reverence or holiness or some other indescribable feeling. There was an ominous presence and I felt as if I were performing an sacrilegious act whenever I took a picture or made a sound. (see pictures above and the one immediately below)

A little prayer room off to the side

Next weekend a group of us are planning to go to Naples and see Pompeii, Herculaneum and possibly some nearby islands. It'll be a long ride (via bus, ugh) down and back, but we're trying to go on the cheap as much as possible (projected budget thus far is around 150 Euro for a trip lasting Thursday afternoon to Monday afternoon) and well worth the trip. Many pictures will be taken and much good food eaten (I'm designating myself as the gastronomic coordinator).

Well, aside from these adventures (and the plans for those to come), and other wanderings around the city, I am learning how to speak Italian by shopping, meeting people at the bar (we go out in good sized groups, it is quite fun but a bit expensive so it will be happening from now on much more sparingly), or warding off creepy men in the street (I've already expanded my cache of nasty words). Also, I've been eating far too much nutella. Far too much.

Kurk off!

A little act of randomness

There is a pillow sale on at Shopko through Saturday- pretty much 1/2 off. And every person I work with that had soggy pillows, got brand new pillows this week. I've pretty much been dreaming about them, so I finally went and bought some tonight.
On my way home, the Statue of Liberty was standing by the stoplights on Highway 61. She did not really appear to want to cross the road; but she was either hitchhiking or just being herself and doing her pose. Which, without a torch, one can imagine, looks a little bit like hitchhiking...

~Becky

new calf for the new year and yummy dessert

Last night we had home made pizza and this yummy dessert. Liz's new creation......

Milly had a heifer calf on new years morning. Her name is Mabel. This is Milly's 14th calf.

Love, Mom

In Italia!!

Ciao a tutti! I have finally arrived in Italy. After hours of flight and waiting, a bus ride and a night at a hotel, we (Alex and I) moved into our apartment which was also suppose to house Italians, but does not yet that we know. I have include pictures of our small rooms, our small shower, a toilet (and bidet!), and pictures of the view from our bedroom window.

I apologize for the bad formatting - I'll get it eventually. Next time I'll put up pictures of the houses across from us and tell you a funny story about that one. Also, I got some delicious cheese and meat which I will put pictures of on here with a full gastromical description. Ciao!