Ken was an excellent cook; his last job was as a private chef to one of the Pillsbury family. When we first dated, Ken would get me a card and try to buy something or take me out for my birthday. In March egg season is in full swing, and one year I asked him to make me a souffle. He did and it became our habit. Each year he …
I met Ken dancing. He was staying in the Twin Cities to do a pottery show. I asked if he wanted to meet for dinner. He said yes, when he came in for the second load of shelves and unsold pottery after the show. I called him in Turtle Lake to arrange that. This impressed Ken. In those days each long distance call cost money, and no one had called him in Turtle Lake; he …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s box has sprouts, dry beans, carrots, beets, onions, garlic, kohlrabi, celery root, radishes, and cabbage. Field Notes. This weekend I plant to use some of the potting soil to plant onion seed. Wish me luck! Ken had done all the planting. In the kitchen I started sprouts for this week. From the Kitchen. Sprouts are a sure sign of spring. This cold winter the frost has …
Each winter we grow sprouts. I often make sprout salads, and they are also great in sandwiches in place of lettuce. Today for lunch I made guacamole and had an open faced sandwich with sprouts. I had bought some avocados on sale, sliced them open, removed pit, scooped out flesh and combined with minced onion, lemon juice, a bit of mayo, salt, pepper, and topped with some chili powder. Then I …
Ken forgot people’s names. He knew who they were, he could tell them their entire story, but heir name? Not so much. Once when we attended an evening mass he approached a person and seemed excited (later I learned it was because he actually remembered her name), and said, “Dorothy, Dorothy!” He then followed with a gesture to me and said, “This is….” Yes, he was so excited he remembered Dorothy he had forgotten my …
Ken had so many cooking jobs – bakery, pizza parlor, restaurant, hospital and finally as a private chef. He made bread for us. He left me a starter. Sylvia worked to bring Ken’s starter back to life AND came over to show me how she makes bread. I last made bread in my twenties with yeast and had no sour dough starter experience. Well, now I am ready to practice and make my …
People often ask how we met. The short answer is folk dancing. But today, on Valentines Day, it seems right to tell the whole story. It starts with Ken. He and a former flame decided to travel together between Christmas and New Year’s when flight rates were low. Ken wanted to go to Banff, Canada, but Margo insisted on a warm, sunny place: Mexico. Ken’s priorities were crafts and ruins – history. They did research …
People ask how soon will I have an auction, start selling things, etc. But I see this as a golden opportunity to try things and decide if I like them before I sell anything! One example is Ken’s blacksmithing tools and equipment. Today I visited Joyce, a wonderfully talented blacksmith in nearby Barron, Wisconsin. She had invited Ken and me to come by and see and use her forge. I brought a small …
Ken always struggled with jokes. Although he got the gist of the humor, he got lost in the sequence or the details. Once I arrived on the scene, he practiced on me until he could get the sequence and details. But many who knew him well just laughed at his joy in the telling – right or not. My favorite story, which resurfaced recently was from a friend. Her husband Ron told Ken one of …
This winter I am spending many an evening shelling dry beans. Most years it is dry in fall and I set up a mud box and fan in the yard, walk on the pods and winnow the beans. But it was damp this fall so I brought in the pods, set them on racks by the cook stove and once they were dry I began shelling I sit and listen …
