Years ago when we were in a fair trade store I saw a lovely set of chimes. I announced to Ken I wanted to buy it. This does not happen often, and he was taken aback. He looked at it and said, “A guy could make one of these.” My quick reply was, “And if A GUY doesn’t make one, his wife will buy one.” For a few weeks Ken puzzled what he had …
The first seeds Ken planted each season were the onions. Since I had bought seeds, I decided to try planting them in Ken’s germination cabinet. These are the first seeds I have planted since the bean seed in the cup in kindergarten. Although I called a friend for tips, I had low expectations. So much could go wrong. Was the soil too wet, too dry, did I put enough soil covering the seeds, too …
Ken used to teach people to make nori maki. This is sushi rolled in a sheet of nori – a sea weed that is pressed into a thin flat sheet. And the term sushi refers not to raw fish, but to the rice cooking process. Sushi is rice cooked with some rice vinegar to soften it so it can be carefully pressed into shapes or rolled. Sashimi was the term used for raw fish when …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Before I met Ken I had a small house in St Paul. I had many flowers and wanted a buddha statue. I saved my pennies and when I returned to the garden center the buddha was gone. Each time there or any garden center I looked for a buddha. No buddhas. I had told Ken this story and he listened each time and nodded. Once when we were doing a pottery show in the …
