Deep Thoughts on Deep Frying

Awhile back, Paul caught a nice Walleye fish in Lake Erie. Walleye is, indeed, a very mild, tasty white fish. We discussed cooking this wondrous fish. Paul wanted it deep fried and we didn't want to go the route of the big gas turkey deep fryer. We received a deep fryer as a wedding gift long ago and far away, long since sold or given away. It worked well, but we didn't like the odor of fried food in the house. Progress in deep frying in the last 40 years was huge, Fry Daddy, Cool Daddy, P Daddy, and Kohl's had a sale on the Cool Daddy. It had an odor filter. It can't splash hot oil around the kitchen. Sounds great.

So on the next trip to Kohl's I purchased a wonderful saleful Cool Daddy. I looked at the box and thought about it for, oh, five weeks, maybe more. Had the receipt taped to the top of the box, hoping to change my mind. Finally, I couldn't put it off anymore, thawed said fish, checked the peanut oil in the basement. It failed the nose test. Bought soybean oil.

Had fish to fry. And french fries, and chicken legs. Smelled pretty bad. Nothing like the fresh scent of fried grease. As Paul said, he could smell it coming out of his pores the next morning when he got out of bed. I just picked up Mr. Cool Daddy and moved him, still smells. Think his new home will be in the little cottage, in case guests want to fry fish. Spent one whole day messing with straining the oil. I am thinking Miss Pricilla's pigs will love that oil poured over their pig gruel.

The fish was great.

Lake musings

As I laid in bed this morning I was thinking about fall, my favorite time of the year. It is cool and crisp at night and sunny and warm during the day. Heard the geese flying over just the other day. There is mist over the lake every morning made by the cool night air and the warm water. The fall feeling is in the air. I miss the lake when we are gone, even if I know I don't want to be here fighting the snow and the cold wind. It gets in your blood. Growing up among the lakes in Michigan made us water lovers.

Lazy Sunday

Saturday was very hot and humid in Michigan, up to 87 degrees with very high humidity. Around 4 pm storms started rolling in, the power blinked off three times. We got 1.8 inches of rain. Good for the farmers again. We cancelled our reservations to play golf at Buck's Run but still had dinner with friends Bill and Sandy Caul. Bill and Paul taught at the same elementary school for many years. I was taking my first walk down the hall in the hospital after Katie was born when Sandy rolled by just before her third baby, Jimmy, was born. That was over 36 years ago now.

Dinner was great, but the conversation was much better than that. We sat and talked from 5:30 till 9 pm. Bill retired a few years before Paul did, he is 66. He is running for his third term as our State Rep this fall. Sandy was our Rep before he was. Michigan has term limits. He told us the story of why he decided to run for office, besides Sandy's nagging. He was at a funeral for an older friend, during the eulogy he listened to the long list of Rollie's many accomplishments over his long life. A long, long list of boards served on and charities served. And Bill thought he should give some time back to his community. All he was doing was playing golf, and his handicap was down to 11. Quite an accomplishment. Not to mention all those years of teaching special ed. So the rest is history and he is a good legislator.

So on Sunday we went to church and are now sitting on our duffs. Paul is watching the Little League World Series and I am on my computer. Ta da.... my Pogo score is over 3 million points now. Very soon I am heading out to pull weeds and grass out of the flowers. But it is so nice to be doing nothing!

Posting some new pictures from Julie. She is becoming quite the photographer.

Fr. Patrick's homily today was very interesting. He talked about how in the 1850s Catholics were distrusted and thought not to be good American citizens. He read an editorial from that era that said they would follow Rome and not the USA. In fact, anti Catholics burnt down the original St. Cecilia's Church in Clare in the 1860s. That is why the new church has a tile roof that leaks in nine places. Tile is the only roof that doesn't burn, but is much better suited for Santa Fe than Michigan. Anyway, on the subjects of abortion, capital punishment, and people accumulating huge personal wealth, the percentage of Americans who think these things are wrong/immoral are the same percentage as are Catholic in the USA today. Since many religions are against abortion, etc. , this proves that some Catholics agree with the church and some don't. I think that is the idea, I listened real hard but it seemed quite complex. Let me know if I missed the whole point.

Over the Bored

I am so over the bored portion of August. I met my sister in Mt. P on Wed, we had a nice lunch at the Traverse City Pie Company and shopped at Kohl's. Good fun.

Then we went on a road trip with Woody and Marti. In Beal City we had 2 hamburgers, 2 beers, onion rings and french fries for $10 and change. Very good burgers and all. Toured the area, Lake Isabella, Coldwater, Lake, Weidman and the lakes there. Checked out the bar in Weidman.

Today I am shopping in Bay City with Shirley, and Paul and I are taking the GTO to Clare tonight. A classic car cruise is going through town as part of the Old US 27 Historic Car Cruise. Should be 400 cars at least. We might join them for Friday's drive up to Grayling.

And, yes, I am getting the sewing/computer room reorganized. When we redid the living room last winter, all the stuff got put in this room. We used to have a long wall of shelves and storage with the big TV. It held a lot of stuff. Now I am tossing things stored in the laundry room and bathroom for this winter's projects. Even the cleaning products stack up.

We had a beautiful, misty sunrise over the lake this morning. Photo taken at 6:265 am. I wish I could figure out how to avoid long vertical lines of letters down the side of my photos. Sorry about that.

No travel this week.

We forgot, Rex is fishing in Canada with sons and grandsons this week. No traveling for us. I am all antsy and bored. Not sure if it is avoidance or a major personality disorder. Perhaps the combo. I have hundreds of dollars of fabric waiting for me to turn them into fashionable window valances. Can't quite wrap my brain around it enough to get started. It does take a lot of thinking ...... I have been gradually digging out the sewing/computer room so I can get to the sewing machine. Do I want to make a large pattern of a square, or just measure, draw a line and cut. See why I am bored? You must be yawning by now.

One beautiful day after another ....

Last week every day was the same, sunny, dry, a nice breeze, a blue sky with white fluffy clouds floating overhead. Up in the 80s during the day and in the 50s at night for good sleeping weather. We didn't do anything exciting or go anywhere. By Saturday I was sooo bored. On Sunday we went to church, got groceries, excellent sweet corn by the by. Sat with Pete and Brenda on their deck for a long visit. And then it poured rain for over an hour. We got 1.3 inches of rain. The soy beans and corn were looking pretty dry, with curled leaves, so yay for the farmers. We are planning a trip up to Wild Cherry to see Rex and Nellie this week, my next post should be more exciting.

Weekend Update

We had a great visit with Katie and Mark this weekend. They were here when we got home on Friday. Flew in from Newburg, NY, on Thursday night. We got caught up on visiting, eating, sports, eating, shopping.

On Sunday, we went to church, golfed with Roger and Bev, ate dinner at our house with them, (they brought the steaks) and drove down to see Bob and Priscilla and Tony and Virginia on our golf cart. A busy day. Lots of fun. I am feeling like and old achy grandma this morning. Pics coming right up!

top pic is Katie and Mark in our golf cart, bottom is Bev on the course.

Beach Walk continued

This is the house we stayed in last week. It was a great week. So much fun swimming with the kids in Lake Michigan.

I slept hard for 8 hours last night, a rare event for me, and am still tired. Even my fingers ache. As I get more pics I will put them on.

Doctors doing dishes

This is a photo of one of my favorite things, doctors doing dishes. Carrie, Dr. Sean and Dr. Kevin.

After a wonderful meal of grilled, chicken and ribs.

Beach Walk Living

Beachwalk is a very interesting neighborhood. Everything is new and cottage like. Some are very large homes that look like Grandma's farm house, with big screened porches both upstairs and down. Narrow little streets, no sidewalks, yards are wild flowers, lilies and sea grass. Most houses are gay cottage colors. The only grass to be seen anywhere is in one of the parks.

The only thing I dislike about our house is the ceramic tile kitchen floor. It kills my legs and feet. The outside color is a soft burnt orange, and all the inside walls are painted the same, in a darker tint. Very soothling and calm. The granite counter tops are black with burnt orange/brown in it.

It is a good walk to the beach, but not a problem. The problem is walking down, swimming and playing for hours, and then walking up the dune to the board walk. Up the hill to the road. Ugh. Of course, after all that exercise there is no problem if we have ice cream cones and cookies for dessert.

The girls love the lake, Julia really loved kicking and splashing. Lake Michigan is beautiful and clean, no sharks or jelly fish or anything toxic or biting. We all love swimming in it. The first days were wavy, and we really enjoyed that. I suspect that today will be smooth swimming.

On Tuesday, Andrea, Ryan, Charlie and Julia left for a vacation in Wisconsin. Sounds like a fun place. Ryan won it at work. Charlie and Julia woke up early every day, not used to sleeping in the same room with mom and dad. Same for Patrick. Julie and Andrea got some early walks in.

Today Julie and Sean have some friends from med school coming for the last two days. Lots of fun.

Aunt Stephanie has been entertaining the girls very well. She brought lots of clothes for the Amerian Girl dolls. And coloring kits, and games. Patrick is the perfect little brother, loves to chew on the doll shoes. He is walking around the coffee table and getting 4 new teeth on top. He is really a happy baby and easy to entertain, fun to tickle him.

Paul says the bed here is so comfortable, he has never slept so good. Might have something to do with all the swimming, walking and fresh air. Whatever, it is great! This is such a fun vacation, the lake is great, we get tons of grand kids time having fun and playing.

Pictures on Julie's Blog

Julie posted some great photos on her blog. Some of the family, and some of the houses around us.

www.kansaskeenans.blogspot.com

life's a beach

The beach here at Michigan City, Indiana, is perfect. These first three days have been wavy, which is a lot of fun for all of us, like a big wave pool. The water is warm, and it is hot out. Great beach days. The house that Julie and Sean have rented is very nice. It is fun to wake up early and color with Megan and Charlie.

The area we are in has won many awards for being "green" and family friendly. I will get some pictures soon. It is a half mile walk to the beach, but every house has a wagon to fill up and pull.

Off again

Leaving this morning for Michigan City, Indiana, for a week with the kids at the beach. For the first time all of the grand kids will be together! This is my new exercise plan, playing with kids and walking to the beach. Lots of pics to follow.