The weather Saturday and was a perfect Summer day.

Results of my 3 cakes judged at State Fair, Saturday are below.  I was able to include currants into each recipe.  Cooking with currants is going mainstream, with me leading the charge!!

Butter cake:  disqualified-- The judge wanted a butter cake without added ingredients.  Currants between layers would have been fine.  Currants in the cake were disqualified.  The cake was described as 'delightful'.  The staff tried their best to find another category to judge it. AND they mentioned it had 'currants' in it.  Below is the recipe baked.

Citrusy Currant Nut Cake

Mix until light and fluffy in a large mixing bowl:
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C butter
4 Eggs

Add these ingredients and mix well:
3 C unbleached flour
1/2 C whole milk
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Gently stir into the batter:
2 C red currants
1 C toasted chopped pecans

Spoon into a prepared 10 C Bundt pan.
Bake in a preheated 325°F oven - 45 -> 50 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the
cake will come out with clean when the cake is done. (It will take longer to bake if
you are using frozen currants.)
Let rest 10 minutes in the pan. Remove from the pan onto a cooling rack. Ice when
cool.

Icing
2 C sifted XXX sugar
1 T room temp butter
2 -> 4 T orange juice

Add the juice gradually. The icing should reach a consistency that will spread and
drip down the cake, but not puddle on the cake plate. At this point mix until all the
lumps are smoothed out.

1 -> 2 t orange peel

Mix in orange peel.  Ice the cake.

Peach cake: Blue ribbon

This exact recipe is now the property of Wisconsin State Fair.

It can be easily replicated with the instructions below.

Spread 1/2 C peach jam on the bottom of a prepared 10 C bundt cake pan

Sprinkle over the peach jam:
1/4 C red currants
1/4 C toasted slivered almonds

Arrange over the other ingredients:
1 sliced peach

Pour your favorite butter cake into the bundt pan and bake until done.

Now comes technique:
- Let the cake rest upright for 20 minutes.  If this is not done, the weight of the topping will collapse the cake.
- Loosen the sides of the cake.
- Invert onto a serving plate and leave keep the pan over the cake another 2 hours.  This allows time for the topping to drop onto the cake.  The alternative is eating the topping out of the bottom of the pan.    

Spice cake: Many entries. 4 better.

Long story:  I could not get the honey-spice  cake I baked on Friday  to release from the honeycomb pan. 

For the remake, I used a 1/2 recipe in a traditional 9" layer cake.  It was not the show stopper the honeycomb mold would have made and no doubt kept the cake from placing higher.  I saw the blue ribbon winner.  My cake would not have been the blue ribbon this year.

Bee Mine Honey Nut Spice Cake (The recipe is for a 2 layer 12" cake cue to the size of the honeycomb cake mold.  Use 1/2 the recipe for a 2 layer 9" layer cake.)
2 cups honey	Combine the honey, oil, lemonade, and vanilla in a small saucepan and heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is well blended. Remove hot mixture from the heat and let cool.
1 cup grape seed oil
1 1/3 cup lemonade
2 1/2 t vanilla extract
4 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 T  ginger
1 T cinnamon
1 1/4 t nutmeg	Sift together.  Set aside In a large mixing bowl.
1 1/4 t coriander
1 1/4 t baking soda
1 1/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
4 eggs	Beat together until yellow and thick.  Add cooled liquid mixture.
1 c sugar
	Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat until well blended.
1 C pink currants	Gently fold into the batter and pour 2/3 of batter into a well oiled bee hive bundt pan and the other half into a well oiled 10 " round cake pan.
1 C chopped & toasted walnuts
	Bake 12" round pan in a 350°F preheated oven 30 - 35 minutes.
	Bake bee hive pan in a 350°F preheated oven 50 - 60 minutes.
	Cake will spring back when gently touched in the middle.
	Let cakes sit 20 minutes on a wire rack.  Carefully remove from pan and complete cooling on a wire rack.
Cream cheese filling:
8 oz  cream cheese	Whip together until smooth.
2 t vanilla
3 C XXX sugar	Sift together and add to cream cheese mixture
2 t cinnamon
3 t cream	Add just enough cream to spread and the frosting still holds it's shape.
	Move 12" round cake to serving plate.  Brush with 1/3 of glaze.  Spread with the 2/3 of filling holding out the balance of frosting for outlining the honey comb on the top of the cake.  Place the bee bundt on top of the bottom layer and brush top and sides of the cake with the remaining glaze.
Glaze:
1/3 cup honey	Over medium heat bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Move cake to serving plate and poke all over with a fork.  Brush on the glaze.  Let set.
2 T + 2 t sugar
2 T + 2 t unsalted butter
	Pipe the remaining frosintg in the 'honey comb' valley between each bee cell of the cake top.  If you feel really lucky, pipe a few honey bees on top of the cells.

3 cakes entered.  1 blue ribbon.  1 disqualified.  This was a respectable showing against people who compete every year.

A woman I sold currants to this year was there.  She told me her currant jelly entry took 1st place at the Wednesday judging!!!

Best of show for cakes was a chocolate, strawberry mousse cake.  There is something wonderful about mousse between the layers of cake.


There was shuttle service when I dropped off the entries.  Shuttle service was not available when I returned later for judging.  It was a slow, difficult walk on a beautiful Summer day to my car when I left.

After a few phone calls I discovered there will be shuttles for drop off on Friday, but none after that.  I will drop off my 4 entries and leave the claim tickets with a friend should not all those entries place.  


Below are 3 of the recipes for Friday entries.  I'm still working out the details of the 4th recipe.

Melba Ice Cream:

Mix together:
1 C cold currant jelly whipped to break up
4 C cold whipping cream

Process in Ice Cream maker.

Fold gently into the soft ice cream:
1 C frozen red raspberries
1 C diced fresh peach

Package and freeze.

Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the recipe.  My son and toughest critic said it tasted like Summer.
Currants bring a support background to the raspberry.  Much like a cello does in music.  Without it, there will still be melody, but it won't be as full and satisfying.

The next recipe is pure fiction.  And... reading it makes me drool.

Taco Fusion:
Cinnamon Taco Chips:
corn tortillas	Cut into 6 wedges and fry until crispy in corn oil.
1 C sugar	Mix together and sprinkle over hot taco chips.
2 T cinnamon
Salsa:
3/4 C honey	Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Cool to room temperature
1/3 C minced fresh cilantro
1/4 C seeded, chopped jalapeno pepper
1/4 C diced onion
2 T grated orange peel	Mix together.
1/2 t salt	Add honey and refrigerate 1 hour for flavors to blend.
1/4 t black pepper
1 C red or black currants
1 C peeled, cored & diced apple
	Eat with cinnamon taco chips.
	Best eaten the same day.

Grandma Hessil moved in to watch my younger brother when mom decided to go to work.  Good German apple crisp was warm from the oven when I came home from school in the fall.  The recipe below is a corruption of Grandma's perfection.

Apple Crisp With a Twist
3 C  peeled, cored & sliced apple	Mix together and spread onto the bottom of a buttered 8" X 8" baking pan.
3/4 C diced rhubarb
1/2 C red currants
Topping:
1/4 C brown sugar
2 T sugar	Cream together until light and fluffy.
1/4 C butter, room temperature
1 egg yoke	Beat into butter mixture.
3/4 C unbleached flour
1/4 t cinnamon
1/8 t salt	Mix into the butter mixture, gradually.
1/8 t baking powder
1/8 t anise
1/4 C toasted rough chopped walnuts	Stir into the mixture.
	Sprinkle on top of the fruit and bake in a 350°F oven for 30 - 35 minutes.  The fruit should be bubbling around the edges.
.	Serve warm or cool with cream or yogurt or ice cream or ….   ..

Wausaukee Wildlife

The city girl in me is familiar with squirrels, rabbits and dogs on leashes.  Wausaukee does not have dogs on leashes.  It does have wild reptiles and amphibians wandering through the yard this Spring.  

I was in the currant patch weeding when handsome distance runner yelled from the top of the hill to come and see.  Yes, my mellow, nothing excites him Yooper was jumping up and down like a 3 year old in a candy store.

He ran to the house to get the camera and I started to slowly walk up the hill to the garage and the area he was pointing to.  

There was a turtle traipsing across the yard.  Turtles have a reputation for being slow.  This guy had not heard about that reputation.  He was quite speedy.  It seems this is breeding season and he had plans to find a female, or more.

The turtle does not look all that big until compared to a 2 liter soda bottle.  

Look closely at the photo to see the toad.   It definitely blends.

 

 Snakes that eat mice and other snakes by the garage is OK....  .  

A snake using a hole 5' from the back door is not welcome.  

The grass snake (?) below got tangled up in the snake trap under the veranda.  He is no longer under the veranda.

Did you happen to notice that none of these snakes look under fed.

Memorial Day 2017

Hi, 

I changed out the 'posies' on the graves in Larry's home town two weekends ago.  Many were veterans who came back and made the world a better place.  The rest were the wives and parents, grandchildren, great grandchildren and on through the generations of those soldiers.  All are related though family and friendship in a small town.  When I was done there were 5 bunches of posies left over of the 23  brought.  Larry is leaving Thursday for the weekend.  Before I arrive, he will find the graves I missed. 

This year I went big and bought the $3 bunches in a cream colored gardenia.  They really showed nicely through out the small town cemetery.  There were some graves a few generations old where I was not the only person putting on fresh posies.  The gardenias blended in with the other stems of silk flowers as if planned. 

This is something Larry's mom used to do with Aunt Mary.  When she died, Larry would take Aunt Mary to change out the silk flowers on the graves.  Aunt Mary added the tradition of adding spare posies to a grave where no posies were, because every grave needed flowers.  Now that Aunt Mary is gone, the next generation has taken over this tradition.  Aunt Kathy and our household and Cassie take off the old silk flowers and put out the fresh ones so they will be all fresh for Memorial Day. 

In 2014, just before the fall freeze Aunt Mary accompanied me to the cemetery when I planted yellow iris bulbs next to the head stone of Larry's parents.  This year they may be in bloom for Memorial Day.  Live flowers on Memorial day are a treat where the frost line may not go away until June. 

Before next week the local chapter of the VFW will add the American flags to the graves of all who served.   

Monday morning we will gather to hear the high school band march onto the cemetery grounds and play patriotic music, listen to memorial speeches by local officials and smile when the aging soprano of the community choir doesn't quite find the note she once knew so well in the national anthem.  Before and after we will see friends and family and catch up on the year, noting how much has changed and how little has  changed since the last time we saw each other. 

Have a blessed Memorial Day. 

Nannette

2017 Blankets

The baby blanket started out as a set of valances at the Iron Mt. Goodwill store.  They were re-purposed with new fabric plaid squares and bordered with the same plaid ruffle.  Too cute for my new grand daughter.

 

 My younger God child graduated with honors from UW Whitewater.  Yooo Whoooo!!!

There is a story that goes with the blanket.  The top fabric is re-purposed sweat wear like the dozen or so prior college graduation blankets.

The day I went on the hunt for the purple and white school colored sweat shirt it took 6 stops to find 1, [yes ONE] UW Whitewater sweatshirt in grey, white and baby pink.  I am so glad the graduate was female.

(Notice how skillfully I extended the fabric by piecing the shorter pieces?  Yep... I am sneaky when it comes to designs)

It is now 2023 and I've been dusted up by life.  The quilt immediately above was gifted.  The college graduate, with honors did not acknowledge receipt, or keep me up to date with her life with the occasional email.  I found out 2 Christmases ago she had moved out of state and was engaged.  One more gift.  Nope.  This is also inclusive of another of the other college graduates. 

  Since moving for retirement, meeting new people and struggling with my quickly aging body, I am more selective about who I gift my talents.  
     

Spring 2017

It is the last weekend of April and Spring is at it's peak.  The photo above was taken by my handsome distance runner a couple weeks ago in Wausaukee.  It is a late Winter moon in a sunset.

This year has tried all that God blessed me with.  We were counting the weeks before the birth of our grand daughter in early May.  Then in March my dad suddenly took ill and died a day before his 87th birthday.  There will be no 4 generation photos with him.  Baby girl is in place for her first breaths and I am not travelling more than an hour from home until then.

In the Winter it is dark when I leave for work and dark when I return.  Today is Saturday and while eating breakfast I looked at the stove and was shocked by the grime on the floor in the space you can't reach with a mop.  While scrubbing that my eye was drawn to the cabinet fronts.  From there I noticed the lower door front of the fridge, but was distracted by the ketchup dried to the leg of a chair.  How does ketchup end up on the chair leg in a house of adults????    

Today's goal is prune the raspberry canes that were ignored last fall.  When I go through the kitchen I am going to close my eyes to avoid distraction.

Summer 2016: Fallow Field to Currant Field - How to Build a Deer Proof Fence

FALLOW FIELD TO CURRANT FIELD -HOW TO BUILD A DEER PROOF FENCE

This is the back portion of the lot. There is an old out building with trees growing through it.  

On the bottom of the hill is where the currant patch is going to be planted.  At this point it is sweet fern, alfalfa and wild growing things I do not recognize.

Full moon lit up the yard in early June

 Larry began the task of hand mowing the back field, one section at a time.  It took a while, but he kept at it.  By the end of the Summer he was able to use the riding mower to keep it in line.  

The most amazing thing I learned about my handsome distance runner is he has a need for speed.  Do not get in front of him when he is on his riding mower.

The two does and their fawns took advantage of the shorter grasses in the photo below.  I don't know if they sprouted new leaves, or the deer were just interested in something different.

This is the field once Larry had it where he wanted it.  

 During the week, my handsome distance runner would research how to build a fence to keep out deer.  The following photos are what can be accomplished with research, a fence pounder, a 10' ladder, basic tools and the help of a willing son-in-law to get the high stuff attached.

The photo immediately below is fence posts going into the ground using the pure determination of my handsome distance runner.

There is a stack of light colored stuff in front of the fence and on the edge of the sweet fern bed that was not cut down.  It is the carpeting we pulled from the house.  My cousin uses it in her garden to keep down the weeds.  We cut a hole in the middle of each ~ 4'X4' piece of carpeting and a slit to the edge.  This will make them easy to put in place and remove.  We will see how this works out next Summer.  Until Spring the stack will stay where it is.  

Before we cut the carpeting to size it was stored in the garage.  The mice were too eager to use it to store choke cherry pits.  I'm not going to make it easy for them to over Winter next to my currant plants.  

 6' high wire fencing was the bottom row.  By this point the storage unit from the patio had been moved to the fenced in patch. 

 This is where the second row of fencing was put up.  It took my distance runner, son-in-law and myself the day to install.

 There are two sets of gates.  1 for the lawn mower needed to keep the grasses in line and one centrally located for people to use.

 Yes, that is frost on the field.

 The 22nd of October the currant plants that had been growing in our West Allis yard were re-located to Wausaukee.  The prepared holes were bastard trenched and amended with aged manure provided by my sister's horse.  

It took me a month to prepare the 99 planting holes.  It took us 3 hours to plant the nursery stock.  

There is an abundance of the variety Red Lake, so alternate rows are Red Lake.  The other rows are started with Consort, Ben Sarek, Pink Champagne, Rovada Red (tastes the most like the currants my grandma grew) and Jonkur Van-Tets.  I took cuttings from these varieties to fill in the rows.

We took a trip to Channing in July to retrieve cuttings from the currant bush in Aunt Mary's yard.  There is a full row cuttings that I have named 'Mary Rassmussen' variety.  Now let's hope they are edible.

The doe in the photos below took her time one day nudging the bottom of the fencing over the entire perimeter of the patch.  In the two weeks since, my handsome distance runner has shored up the fence and added a couple rows of barbed wire to the bend in the fence pole.

The one concern we have is the bears in the area.  Neighbors on either side of us have seen them walking along the tree line on the other side of the berry patch.  Providing a source of food for the bears is discouraged.  Bears that are used to people are dangerous to have around.  If they become a nuisance, we will have to invest in a second fence and electrify it. We will see how the bears are next summer when the larger currant bushes produce berries.