doodledee

Check it out we went to Mystery Cave, too!!!

Oh man caves are great. And Mystery Cave is great. And the hiking in the park is great. And the fall colors were great. But how about the cave, you ask? Didn't I say it was great? I totally did.

This old park ranger dude guided our group around for our $10 1-hour tour. He was outstanding. A treasure. Maybe a little thin in the geology know-how, but maybe that's just me being picky. Also: the jokes and stories and cultural and historical know-how more than made up for it.

And I could go all introspective here and talk about how super insignificant million year old caves make you feel, but I'm too excited to post these pictures to do that now.

Would I recommend a Mystery Cave tour? You damn right I would.

Forrestville / Mystery Cave [dnr]
Mystery Cave [wikipedia]

This time of year, as the karst landscapes of southeastern Minnesota slowly give in and surrender to autumn, it starts to feel silly to spend even a single evening fussing over the tomato plants in the garden with their way-too-green promises that you know won't ever come true. It's been a good run, really. The hail damage from the spring storm beat them back pretty bad, but they held on and pumped out fruit right up until Labor Day. BLT's again? Yes please. But now the sun is low in the sky, and the neighbor's tree shades the garden for most of the day, and you shrug your shoulders and give in and surrender to autumn, too. And you pull the plants and you turn the dirt and you load your bikes in the car and you head southward to see the shallow streams and the valleys and the bluffs and the cows and everything else that's great about the driftless area of our state.

Park at Fountain. It's downhill all the way to Lanesboro and you don't have to really pedal at all. You roll through the woods and over bridges and through pastures and farmsteads and you smash a camera to your eye to remind you of the life you've been living. And everything smells dry. And it's so so quiet. You stop by a bucolic field to drink some yuppie Vitamin water and stare at the cows and even though they're 100 feet away, you swear you can actually hear them thinking about how they're glad they don’t have to work in a cube all day.

Back in the saddle and you take the out and back off the main trail over to Preston. It's a nice detour, with views of the Root River and corn fields and high bluffs that really turn your head. The town is like all the other towns in the area. Humble and proud, but also awkwardly desperate. The man at the deli almost begging you to buy a Pepsi even though they're closed and you were hoping for a gatoraid. The kid working the ice cream / coffee shop with his perfect please-and-thank-you manners, selling you a 67-cent coffee while never working up the nerve to make direct eye contact. The hipster transplant from Minneapolis, confidently selling his kitschy NEMpls style trinkets and talking about who had most recently been picked-to-click, but who was also maybe a little too thankful to see you buying one of his [super awesome] hats. And look, is that a tractor parked at the grocery store? Of course it is.

And then back to the main trail, for the final descent into Lanesboro. More bridges, more pastures, more time to think. And then you turn and ride back up the hill to get the car. And it's 11 miles. And you said you'd be back in an hour, but it takes a lot longer because you stop and take more pictures and talk to more cows and then maybe the last mile or two you almost pass out because seriously, you only had the one bottle of Vitamin water, and you're kinda hungry and should you have brought along one of those gu packets or something? Probably. But you make it. Eventually. And it feels good. And right. And that's ok by me.

Root River Trail [rootrivertrail]

She's a riot.

It doesn't exactly feel like fall at the orchard when it's 80 degrees out and you have to leave your favorite polarfleece vest in the car, but when the honey crisps are ripe they don't last long, so you promise your vest you'll come back again when it's cooler and you head off into the rows of trees with your wagon and your baskets and your helpers and your "lift and twist" picking technique that is at once rusty and familiar.

We did the Fall Harvest thing again this year. Everyone was up early and we got coffee'd and got moving and got lost in the Delano construction and then got to the farm around 9:45. Whoops, they don't open until 10. But whatever, we killed some time looking at the geese and the chickens and stuff and then at 10 the farmer guy kinda walks down to the end of the driveway and says "Good Morning" and that's more or less the way that it opens. Very casual. Very nice. Feed some goats, play in the corn bins, go look at the other animals, walk around and soak up the whole orchardfarm vibe, maybe allow yourself to take a moment to be jealous of the people at the megaorchards slamming down fresh hot apple donuts, but whatever, I wanted small and humble and proud and if that doesn't come with fresh apple donuts than no fresh apple donuts for me. Totally bring me an apple donut if you go, though, kthanks.

After a bit more playing around I couldn't stand it anymore so I headed over to the u-pick hut and started scouting the picking agenda. And then like 2 minutes later I got even more antsy and declared that it was time to make our way into the trees. And it was good. And we picked and ate and I totally climbed up to get the best apples even though I'm pretty sure the first rule on the sheet is "absolutely no climbing" but seriously if I wasn't so short I wouldn't have to climb so it wasn't so much "rule breaking" as it was "creating equal opportunities". Two overflowing peck baskets later I was only 10% done, but yeah, that was probably enough for now so some more wandering and picking and oh look they have apples in the AppleHaus, too, and popcorn and lovely jams and honey and did I say apples? And suddenly I'm needing carry-out assistance and I'm worried that the 12 quart jars I had waiting for sauce at home weren't going to be enough. I guess we'll find out during tomorrow night's saucetacular.

So that's the orchard trip. In a couple weeks it'll be time for pumpkin patching. My vest is already excited.

Fall Harvest Orchard [fallharvestorchard]
2007 visit [doodledee]

I was sitting there in a comfortable chair
And that was all that I needed
Then my friend offered me hummus for us to share
And that was all that I needed
Well, then I felt at ease
But then I'm not too hard to please
And that's when I saw Dino

This is from Greek Fest a weekend or two ago. We talked about hummus wraps and how much I like them and he kinda looked at me like I was a little crazy but that's cool, I totally am a little crazy. I asked if I could get a kiss on the cheek, I wouldn't wash it for a week, it would be all that I needed. I'm honestly not sure if he thought I was joking or what. Neither am I.

Dino's Gyros [dinosgryos]

The Target Book Festival. It really hasn't changed that much over the years. The same non-profit booths with the same goofy crafts, the same bookstore, the same stage set, the same giant rented jumpy castles, the same kick ass free paddleboat rides, but whatever, that's why you go, right? Exactly. Ok wait, no, I don't go for the jumpy castles. When there are 10000 kids high on cotton candy and fresh squeezed lemonade, I want to be as far away from the jumpy castles as possible. And also the face painting, which is seriously one of my secret "wish I was still a kid so I could get a killergreat pirate flag painted on my face" things, but when the line is 75 people long, the wait for facepainting can be a bit of a buzzkill. Even if you have a 14 pound bag of kettle corn to help you pass the time.

But look how a hint of showers and/or actual rain keeps everyone away and you can walk right up to the climbing wall and the face painting and the crafts and totally get your festival on in a crowd-and-stress-free environment. And Junior and I most certainly did. And when the Justin Roberts concert was delayed by the rain it didn't even really matter. And when he came out later and stood under a tent off the side of the stage and played like a 10-song acoustic set with his band playing soft trumpet, shakers, tambourines and handclaps while a group of us sat in the rain and helped him sing? Fantastic. Seriously. I was busting. And there were maybe 100 people there watching. There's probably a life lesson in there somewhere if you're looking for one.

Later the rain stopped for a while and the sun maybe kinda peeked out and we took a paddleboat ride and the water was glassy smooth and the air was misty and thick and it smelled of wet earth and algae and corn dogs and we stayed out for 45 minutes and it was just so very right on. And I don't really like Target all that much but I'll totally say thanks for this year's festival. Thanks.

2007 reset
2006 reset

Here's the 2008 pickles. Bread and butter - 21 jars strong. This year I dug around to find Barb Schaller's balsamic B&B recipe that she just used to win a blue ribbon at the State Fair, so some have a "twist". Very nice. Or so they seem. I'll report back.

Quick aside: I was bargaining with the pickle guy at the farmer's market last Sunday when I shopped for these. I only wanted a half a bushel and he had full bushels. $25 for the whole thing. I say "how much for half?" and he says "$12.50" and I offer $10 and he says fine. Then I say "I'll bring you some pickles" and he says "really? then take the other half for free." So yeah, now I have like 10000 pickles still to use up and I've got 21 jars made and that's probably enough. Time for a salad or something.

Ok, on with Barb's [non-Balsamic] recipe.

4 quarts sliced cukes (25 or so)
3 cups sliced onions
2 peppers - I go 1 green / 1 red
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1/3 c canning salt

1. Put all of the above in a big pot. I use like a 6 or 7 quart pot.
2. Dump on a bunch of ice cubes. You can crush them up if you like.
3. Mix it all up
4. Let it sit for 3 hours

Make the vinegar mixture.

5 c sugar (1125 grams or so)
3 c cider vinegar
1 1/2 t tumeric
1 1/2 t celery seed
2 T mustard seed

1. Drain the cuke/onion/pepper mixture well. Take out any left over ice cubes, too, obviously. Put veggies back in the big pot.
2. Mix the sugar, vinegar, and spices together
3. Dump the sugar/vinegar over the veggies
4. Heat just to a boil.
5. Seal in hot jars, process for 10 minutes in water bath
6. Yield: 7-8 pints. I always got 7 1/2.

Have fun.

Oh man is the farmer's market just OVERFLOWING with cheap tomatoes right now. I got a peck of roma's for $5 today and they were heaped up over the top of the basket and I was full on giggling as I gave the guy my money I was so stoked about the deal I was getting. And when I got home the first thing I did was turn on the oven to make candied tomatoes. Let's begin.

This recipe is neat because it has this story that goes with it about how back in the Old Country people used to make these tomatoes with the leftover heat from the big stone bread ovens after they were done baking bread. Pile in tomatoes, let oven cool, take out tomatoes. Seem so rustic and real and stuff, right? And who knows if it's true, but I'm pretending that it is because it makes them even awesomer.

So here's how you do it. And full disclosure: I think this is a Lynne Rossetto Kasper. If those goons over at APM wanna issue me a takedown or something, they know where to find me. Hi Lynne!

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Cut up a bunch of romas and put them on a cookie sheet. The ones in the picture are quartered. If you have freakhuge romas, feel free to cut them into 6ths or something. Likewise if they're tiny, maybe just in half is fine.
3. Arrange on cookie sheet(s) as shown.
4. Slice up some garlic into big chunks and spread it around. Nice.
5. Splash a little olive oil on each tomato. Don't be shy. The oil in the pan when this is done is crazy.
6. Sprinkle salt over it all. Kohsa if ya gots it.

Now you cook.

• 400 for 30 minutes
• 350 for 30 minutes
• 300 for 30 minutes
• 250 for 30 minutes (if needed)

I like mine a little on the brownish side, but you can start checking for how you like them after the 90 minute mark, maybe they're good enough for you.

So yeah, I just put them on toasted baguette slices. Or maybe I just eat like 75 of them right off the pan with a fork. Did I just say that? But on fish or pasta would also obviously be fresh. Or sandwiches. Or omg pizza? Nice.

Either way, sooooo easy an soooooo good. Get on it. They keep for a week in the fridge. They'll never last that long.

So yeah, my sister has like 10000 words of Fair blogging in the can, complete with photos and videos and montages and audio snapshots and wistful haikus about guys who make salsa under the grandstand. And this is the time I cut her some slack. Because it's all so right on. And I'm late, but whatever.

I made it over there three times. First was our family trip on Tuesday. Got there super early and rocked coffee and Buni Buns down by the coliseum. Always a great start. Then pig ears - and some actual pigs - and then cows, sheep, horses, etc. Lots of petting. Lots of "what does a ___ say?" Lots of freaked out juniorette. Seriously, those cows are huge, I don't blame her at all. Then we're off to get some food and start the gawking and we stop and play some skiball and breaking news: I'm still awesome at skiball, but more breaking news: you have to play more than one game of skiball to win enough tickets to buy anything even when you're as awesome as I pretend to be. Then it's off to the Little Farm Hands. Which is so great. And free. And the kids get to wear little aprons and feed fake chickens and milk fake cows and heads are exploding all over the place. Then at the end they turn in their farm pail of stuff they collected and they get to buy something at the fake store. Like a can of green beans. Or a little box of Golden Grahams. Or an apple. And even though their dad is saying "wtf, a can of green beans?" the kids are going crazy and that's really all that matters. (Full Disclosure: we got a tiny stuffed sheep instead. To go with the enormous stuff sheep we can't seem to get rid of. Your kid would love it, btw.) Then the parade and the butter heads and check out this picture of me and Nick with Princess Kay!! She had just finished interviewing another of the Princesses who was getting her head carved in butter. Adorable? Just a bit. And now it's like 4:00 and it's time to head home and wow it went fast.

Then Friday I'm back for the Trampled By Turtles show at the Lodge stage with my friend Melissa. We also checked out a few buildings and at one point I may have awkwardly slow danced with some kid in a Fresh Fries costume, I don't really remember. The show was great. People were buying up the plastic light sabers from the toy vendors and bringing them down front to wave during the show. Lots of good dancing and jumping up and down and this girl in front of me was ROLLING and at one point she told me I looked like a scientist. Nice. Another fantastic night at the fair.

Then Saturday back to it first thing with junior, this time we met up with Aunt Red. We rocked out lefse and coffee for breakfast and then it was straight to the Main Event For The Day: The SPACE NEEDLE TOWER THING. Junior going crazy about it all week. He literally yelled with excitement for an hour before and after. Before: IS IT TALLER THAN EVERYTHING? IS IT TALLER THAN THE GIANT SLIDE? Then we go on: WE ARE HIGHER THAN THE WATER TOWER. WE ARE HIGHER THAN EV-RY-THING!!! Then we're done and standing on the ground: IT IS SO TALL AND BLUE WHY IS IT BLUE WHAT ARE THOSE STARS WHY DOES IT SPIN HOW TALL IS IT?! So daddy said "let's get some pancakes" and off we went. Pancakes at one of the church diners and then more giant slides and another trip thru the farm hands and some skateboard park watching and a parade and spin painting and seriously I don't understand why people don't go to the fair. On the way out we stopped and ate our snack at the MPR thing and Barb Abney was working and Nick waved and she came out from the DJ booth talked to him for a minute and it was awesome.

Can't wait for next year.

How great is the Varsity? Really great. Really. As soon as Gordon came out he was like "we just love this room" and sure, you assume it's about the lamps and the couches and the general classiness of the joint - and sure it is - but it's also the drapes on the walls and sound and light system that proves somebody gives a damn. So yeah, a great place to see Cactus and the rest of the 5-piece he travels with. A great place to see anyone, really.

Lights went down about 10:30 and they dove right into a 20-minute take on one of the new songs. I think it was 'Voices'. Very nice. The Tuesday night crowd was really easy going, dancing and smiling and whatnot. Great vibe. Maybe another song or two, then Gordo says "I love coming here because you have some great people in this town" or something like that an the band starts leaving the stage and here comes Leo Kottke with his 12-string. And the two of them sat down in front of a single mic with no amps and played a few songs and the goosebumps were raging like a tsunami. Then the rest of the band comes out and they set-up this 'jug band' thing with an accordion and a simple drum and stuff and WOW, right? Right.

Kottke leaves and people cheer and Gordon says "now we're going to play louder than Slayer!!" and they didn't, thankfully, but they certainly found some good grooves. And 2 hours later I sat on the sidewall burned out from exhaustion and waiting for an encore and they closed the show with Alphabet Street and I was back on my feet again because those "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeaaaahhhhh's" get me every time.

M+

Opener was some crazy latinklezmerrock outfit. Fun enough, but a little shouty.