PRINCE and potatoes

well, the tree has been chucked out on the lawn and all Christmas is

officially put away. i have neverrrrrrrr left my tree up till january 11th

before. usually by about new years day i'm so over it. i spent two weeks

up north at the cabin after Christmas though

 and i think that was the reason why i was loving having

 the tree up so long. i missed 2 whole weeks of nestling into my

big chair in the living room, right next to the beautiful tree so i made up for it.

i washed the floor, vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom today and did a bit

of touch up painting in the bathroom too after i got the

tree outta here too~ and it feels good.

while i was up at the lodge i cleaned there too...it's never ending up there

and this having 2 homes is a big blessing, but it's also double the work.

i made a deal with lars that if he'd keep the floors clean i'd do the dusting and

everything above floor level. what do you think of that arrangement? :  )

i took some pictures to show you some of my decorating and favorite

things there. the first pic is a little collection i framed. our family friend

ray witt carved this arrow for me about 30 years ago, eric woodburned the

larson sign when he was little and lars carved the whistle, while sitting around a 

campfire when the kids were young. 

this trophy makes me laugh every time i dust it. it's an old

football trophy of dale's that i added a paper inscription to one

miraculous night in 2013 when he managed to stay up waaaaay 

past his bedtime. *he's always the first to turn in~ (but also the

first to rise and shine in the morning too).

our oldest used to do house demolition and a couple years ago he was

part of the demo on a house of PRINCE'S. yes you read that right.

the people doing the work can take stuff that would otherwise just be bulldozed

into a pile and hauled away.... these pool balls came out of that house!

this lantern was my mother and father in laws- and the sash is dale's

old boy scout scarf.

 both dale and i used to handcraft things all the time, he made both these

ducks and the tall birdhouse.

there's a lot of this kind of mess up there~ flashlights, lighters, binocs, camo,

back scratchers and why not throw in some dog treats for good measure.

this is our pantry. it's just out there~ for everyone to see...we have enough food

on hand to live for about a year. with "town" being about 35 minutes away we stock up...

eric re-chalked around the sink for me- (love that boy)

he and his pop made sausage for the first time too...and it was some of

the best sausage i've ever eaten. pretty amazed at how much work it

sounded like. i wasn't there to take pics of the whole process~ or see the

mess and that's probably a good thing~ but here is the finished project!

they just smoked another batch...

once a year i make potato klub. it's a scandinavian favorite that my

inlaws always made and i (a total non-norsk ) learned to love. 

it's a whole lotta monkey business to make- so it's a good thing i like

to eat it too or i probably wouldn't be makin it for the fam.

i peeled 15 lbs of potatoes for this project at the cabin. my brother in law

can eat about 12 of these babies at a sitting and he was on his way!!!

 you grind the potatoes  up and add flour, baking powder and salt.

next you wet your hands and shape the potatoes into round, dumpling like balls and

push a piece of ham into the center of each one, then drop in a huge pot of water

and cook/boil for an hour.

the reward comes when you eat them. as with almost any norwegian food, the secret is

in the butter. lot's and lots of butter. you melt some and cut up one of these

klub balls and drench it with butter and "oh my, they are a-mazing!"

grab a fork and help yourself!

 is Christmas all put away at your house? Do you decorate for valentines day

then? i only have a few things for that, but i put them out today...

might as well, it's only about a month away.

one more question: do you feel more like cooking when it's winter?

i don't know if i cook more or less, but what i do do, is cook 

different kinds of food. it's cold here people! comfort foods are important.

 soup, bread, pastas, popovers, roasts in the 

slow cooker...all those kinds of things sound so good  to me

right now. if you've been cooking, please give me some ideas of what

to try!

have a great start to a warmer week,

b.
p.s.  you know i love a good p.s.
so i hit  "post"  on this blog entry last night and then settled in
to watch the golden globes on tv and who should appear on stage
but PRINCE.
purple reins!
people went nuts... huge stars were screaming and hugging
each other. did you see it (him)? he's my neighbor you know.
we're pritnear friends....still waiting for him to invite me over.
i know people, who know people who've actually seen him at the
grocery store~- just say'n. if big stars go crazy when they see him,
if i ever lay eyes on him in the produce department, I can't be
held responsible for how I might act.