Leg Lamp Cookies & Snow

Snow decided to fall in time for Christmas. And lots of it. I didn't like driving home from work tonight, even with my 4WD. Not a bit. I guess it was good that I had my two days off before the snow to get a lot of shopping and wrapping done.
Finally last night we baked our leg lamp cookies. Couldn't skip our tradition.

Well, the beer in the growler was the fuel for Joe's cookie making. Without it, there was no leg lamp cookies.

We finished frosting the cookies at 10:30. No time to clean the mess in the kitchen. We both agreed it's a good thing that we only do this once a year, and went to bed. 

Now, with the leg lamp cookies, we are ready for Christmas! Merry Christmas to everyone. 

Christmas Spirit

Although we haven't done much Christmas shopping at all, Joe found a really good deal on line on Black Friday. That's how I got my early present of Fiesta square serving plate (above) that I wanted to use for sushi rolls and such. I had to try out last night!!
That also gave me a bit of guilt for spoiling the true Christmas spirit so early. We decided to decorate our tree. It began snowing lightly last night to make everything white again. It's looking and feeling more like Christmas now.

 And I'm off to create our greeting cards now!

Joe Shot....

In case you were wondering about Joe's deer hunting season... the only thing he shot this year was some sunset pictures as he walked out the woods.
I went out with him one day and took a 2-1/2 hour nap in the morning and afternoon.

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and deer season all have come and gone.... If I'm not careful, December is going to disappear soon. Time to get on my to-do list.

Deer Season: Day 4

Yesterday morning I got up with Joe and saw him off to his deer blind way before dawn. I made myself Japanese style breakfast before work.
Day 3 included Joe's brother Mark and brother-in-law Adam. At 9am Adam broke his chair, which made a loud crashing noise scaring all the deer for the rest of the day (or so they thought). They got to have lunch with his uncles who were up from downstate. It was a nice break in the routines. Oh, Joe saw a flying squirrel he hadn't seen for ten years.

Day 4: Joe decided to sleep in and make me breakfast. A good thing I baked a fresh loaf of bread last night.
I'm going off to work now. Joe is going out to his deer blind in the afternoon.

Deer Season: Day 2

November 16th is my brother's birthday. Since it was already the 16th in Japan, we put a candle on the cheesecake and poured Leinie's seasonal Vanilla Porter in honor of Yoshi's birthday last night. The cheesecake was very nice. Light and heavenly. A good thing I baked a regular size cake. We wish we could actually share the cheesecake with my brother, not just the photos.  

Both yesterday and today Joe got to see deer at his deer blind. The most excitement he had was yesterday right after he got settled in his blind, still dark. He thought he saw a black shape the size of a deer. Just as the sunlight broke from the tree lines, the deer turned his head to leave in the way that Joe could make out his antlers. Joe vs Deer. Deer won on the opening day. Only if the buck stayed at the bait pile a few minutes longer till the legal shooting hour of daylight... 
Joe saw a spike horn today. A jumpy little thing. There are a few does that know Joe's bait schedule, right around 5 pm. They actually look in the direction that Joe walks in with his bait bucket.
I can't wait to get out with Joe next week when I have a day off.  

Deer Season: Day 1

I'm up early this morning. Joe left for his deer blind a little after six. Since I had a bunch of things I wanted to get done on my day off, I decided to start my day right then. One of the things on my list was to bake a cheesecake for my brother's birthday that he can't even have (due to the thousands of miles distance). I'm making a fluffy, airy, souffle-like cheesecake this time... it's cooking in the oven right now. 

November is flying by faster than expected. Joe's been busy getting ready for deer hunting weekdays and weekends; I've been working into the retail craze holiday season. Not much is new.
We got ourselves a brand new bed though, including a bed frame and all. No more sore backs! Despite all the dramas of our new box spring not fitting through the staircase, and our less than a year old laptop quitting while we were waiting for the bed delivery, it was so worth getting our new bed. Especially because Joe managed to recover our laptop himself, instead of paying Best Buy $300. Phew.  

Happy Halloween!

First, we hope the hurricane Sandy didn't cause too much grief in your area. We had strong wind all day today, cold wind, which has just started mixing in some snow this evening. We doubt we'll have too many trick-or-treaters tomorrow due to the frigid weather, yet we wanted to be ready!
Joe and I each had a pumpkin to carve this year. Look how BIG Joe's pumpkin was... Joe looked small. 
Mine was sideways... only to challenge my creativity!

Quite a pair of pumpkins, aren't they?

With the lights off... 

No matter what weather you might have tomorrow, Happy Halloween to everyone!!

Etching Press

This last weekend we took a road trip in the middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin. An art trip to collect an etching press and other printing supplies that I bought. On the way I got to take a few pictures that I want to paint or make prints from.
Since all the stuff wasn't going to fit in our SUV, we had to ask Phil to come along with his Subaru, hoping two vehicles would be suffice.

Almost. The base of the etching press had to go on the roof rack! 

What's lacking in this post is the pictures of us carrying a heaviest part of the press stretcher-style (as Joe would say "Indiana Jones Arc of the Covenant style). Joe, Phil, and me!
At our house we were saved by Joe's cousin Al and a refrigerator dolly. Only this time the thousand pound press went down the stairs.

Here the etching press is all back in one piece at its new home. I got it from Bill, who gave me a two-day crash course in etching some years ago. The press was originally built for Bill's teacher Fred, who I got to know for about a year before he passed, but definitely left me quite an impression. I am honored to have this press with his name on it. Very inspirational! Now I only need to print some!!

P.S. For all the heavy lifting and chauffeuring all weekend long, Joe was rewarded by visiting our beloved Leinie Lodge in Chippewa Falls. We took the tour, had our samples, and did some shopping there. Conveniently my etching press was located in the next city. You might say I bribed Joe with beer!

Kayo's Birthday- Belated Report

Not that we've been especially busy. Usual stuff-- work and everyday things. Still, I managed to miss chance posting about my birthday. October 16th happened to be my day off, so we had everyone over for Joe's BBQ ribs.
And I cooked a pot of cajun beans and rice as a side dish. 

For my birthday cake I asked Joe's mom for her pumpkin pie-- my usual request. She made absolutely from scratch, transforming Uncle's home-grown pumpkins into these beautiful pies. Yummy.... We did light a tiny candle for me to blow, so I'm good to go for another year!!



First Snow!

This morning we woke up to a little wet snow. What I couldn't capture with a camera was how it was snowing pretty hard at times. A perfect day to curl up in blankets and read... was what I wished I had done. Instead I went to work. Joe got to stay in, but is trying to get rid of his cold.

Autumn Pleasure

The day after that legendary salmon fishing, Joe and his cousin went back to the same hole, only to catch the great fall colors. There were no salmon to be found... like the previous day was all dream. They concluded it was probably Joe's dad's spirit playing a trick on them.  

Not too worry. We got plenty of salmon and roes. We feasted on salmon roe and avocado over rice this Tuesday. Very decadent. 

On the side was a spicy shrimp-cucumber stir fry dish. (My mom cooks this dish for New Year's osechi cooking.)

Trout season is officially over. Joe and his guys are starting to get ready for deer season next. Before deer get to feed on, I got some nice pumpkins and squash from Joe's uncle. It turned out to be a beautiful autumn season for us. 

P.S. I heard snow is possible this weekend. A pretty normal timing for the first snow up here. 

Great Salmon Run

Of course, I had to work today... and missed this great day of fishing. Joe got to go to Apple Creek, Dad's favorite, this morning with his cousin and little cousins. If you look really close at the photo above, you should see fish, lots of fish, at the bottom. It's the fall salmon run season, and they really caught it right. A very, very rare experience, even for Joe who's been fishing for many years. Everyone, including the little ones, caught big enough fish. Mix of salmon and brown trout. 

Not only did I miss great fishing, but this weekend was probably the best time for the fall colors, too.

 I admit I'm more for eating the fish, but I only wish I could have felt the salmon hooked on the end of my own fishing line!!
Joe even went back to the same spot in the evening by himself and caught a few more big ones in half an hour. Even when I came home from work after 7:30, he was only half way cleaning and filleting the fish.

Joe did grill a couple of nice smaller fish for dinner. Yummy as always. But the fresh salmon roe drizzled with some soy sauce and chopped green onion over freshly cooked white rice!! Priceless.

Too bad I have to work the next couple of days... I'll be making sushi on my next day off for sure!

Filter, Not a Translater

Once again the Japanese delegates paid their visit to the area for a week, and I volunteered to help out with translation in their morning activities. I had an earlier start than my usual work day. Today was the last day. No more double shifts. Still,it was fun meeting new people, visiting places, and learning local history.
Joe and I regretted that we didn't wear our "yukata" summer kimono for the welcome party. Maybe next time.

While I had to work all weekend long, Joe got to go to an auction and found himself a treasure. He got this 8-gallon crock that was painted RED. No idea who and why. But Joe came home and scraped, and scraped....

Just as he hoped, it revealed a stamped red wing marking. No crack, with handles. A pretty good buy. I was even more impressed this was all he bought at the auction. Maybe, perhaps, Joe might soon make some grape wine in it!

Grape Jelly Making

Yesterday, my day off, I had a huge mission. Joe had picked, stemmed, crashed about 12 pounds of grapes, then cooked and squeezed to get the juice. All the hard work. So I spent all afternoon making and canning the jelly. All four batches.  

It was also my day to bake a loaf of bread. What more could you want with fresh homemade grape jelly??