The Cabin

[Toasted]

Wow! It looks like so much fun. Your kids are really lucky. Now, about that grilled zucchini- did you marinate it before you put it on the grill? Just wondering. I think I need to start at thread about marinating veggies to grill. Have fun, wish I was there!

[snowangel]

The big sigh of relief and the happy dance.

Sometime this past March, my FIL (who actually holds the title to the cabin) said "time to sell." Trust me, we have had many an uncomfortable night. Many bizarre dreams. Kids crying, all of us sad. The two trips we have made this year have been very bittersweet.

FIL has returned from his first trip of the season. He's decided that it is indeed a wonderful spot, and that he'll rethink selling when he's 80. Our next trip will not be bittersweet, but as joyful as the many trips we've made over almost 30 years.

So, onward and upwards, and time for me to make some plans, and think about charcuterie for easy meals, and smoking meat up there. Time for me to think about salads, salsas and guacs the kids can make. Time to think about waffles and fishing and what to do with all of the fish we will or won't catch. Time to think about midnight swims and what will be on the dock to sip and nosh.

Time to be thankful.

[snowangel]

I head north early Sunday morning with the three kids in tow. We will be joined Wednesday evening by my best friend, her to kids, and Paul.

I'm also feeling sort of brain dead about food, having just hosted 100 at my house for my folks 50th.

Need dinner suggestions. Breakfasts are easy. I'd like to avoid just burgers and chicken on the grill. But, I go up with only one cooler, and the fridge up there isn't real big. A second round of provisions will arrive on Wednesday with the next contingent, and I need dinner ideas for Sunday through Friday or Saturday nights.

The other catch is that I want to minimize the number of dishes I have to do, since the dishwasher is me or my friend (rinse water too hot for the kids) and the running water is somone running to the lake with a bucket of soap.

Bring the ideas on. This is a pretty adventurous group of kids, food wise.

[judiu]

I head north early Sunday morning with the three kids in tow.  We will be joined Wednesday evening by my best friend, her to kids, and Paul.

I'm also feeling sort of brain dead about food, having just hosted 100 at my house for my folks 50th.

Need dinner suggestions.  Breakfasts are easy.  I'd like to avoid just burgers and chicken on the grill.  But, I go up with only one cooler, and the fridge up there isn't real big.  A second round of provisions will arrive on Wednesday with the next contingent, and I need dinner ideas for Sunday through Friday or Saturday nights.

The other catch is that I want to minimize the number of dishes I have to do, since the dishwasher is me or my friend (rinse water too hot for the kids) and the running water is somone running to the lake with a bucket of soap.

Bring the ideas on.  This is a pretty adventurous group of kids, food wise.

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Shrimp and/or trout and/or clams and /or salmon on the grill, with grilled veggies. Is the foraging any good up there? I dearly love day lily buds sauteed with a bit of soy sauce!

[Smithy]

Do you have time to smoke a brisket at home, then bring it up for pulled pork after reheating? How about some sausages for the grill?

Cut up some of that venison (or other meat of your choice) and put it in Ziplock containers with marinade. Freeze. Bring up in the cooler. Cook as kebabs on the grill when they thaw.

Get a tri-tip steak, put it (intact) in Zip-lock container with marinade. Same thing: freeze; cook on grill when it's thawed. Enjoy.

How about a pan of lasagna or other pasta that can be oven-cooked? I think you have an oven? Freeze it; let it thaw in the cooler; cook when convenient.

Make up a batch of gumbo, stew, or soup - you pick - and freeze in one large or several small containers. Freeze. Heat and eat when thawed.

(In case you can't tell, I've planned whole sailing trips based on the freeze-in-advance, store-in-cooler, cook-when-thawed, minimize dishes principle.)

Bring up whole eggplants. On the day for cooking, slice them into 1/2 thick rounds; salt and let sit for 1/2 hour to draw out the moisture; pat dry. Grill, basting with olive oil. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and more oil. Or top those grilled slices with yoghurt and chopped mint.

Bring up good raw tomatoes - I suppose it's too early for them at your markets, as it is up here, but perhaps from the grocery store? Chop them finely and mix with chopped onions, basil, cucumbers, perhaps a bit of mint, and oil and vinegar.

Bring up good cheese, bread, mustard. Make really truly grilled cheese sandwiches.

[snowangel]

Nancy, thanks for the good ideas. I think kebabs are a great idea, and Diana mentioned doing dinner in foil packages. And, I think that several meals will be planned around some sausages, and I'm sure I have some smoked butt in the freezer.

Unfortunately, the kids and I will not be leaving on Sunday. We can't leave until Wednesday -- Heidi took a nasty spill last evening, so we spent the evening (our 25th anniversary) at the ER. Seven staples in the back of her head need to come out on Tuesday and there is to be no swimming in the lake until Wednesday. Sigh. Just means we'll have to return that much sooner!

[srhcb]

Getta Porketta.

Fraboni's is a good brand.

SB (available at any Range supermarket)

[snowangel]

Porketta. Great idea.

Question: can someone recommend a good meat market in Virginia? (That's Virginia, MN, not the state!)

[srhcb]

Porketta.  Great idea.

Question:  can someone recommend a good meat market in Virginia?  (That's Virginia, MN, not the state!)

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Ehere are a lot of meat markets around Virginia, none too far off the highway.

F&D Meats has always had a good reputation, and Pauls pretty well known. I'll ask about the Kosher Sausage Kitchen, (a customer of mine is a supermarket butcher in Virginia), because Kosher isn't exactly a big deal up here so it has to be an interesting story.

I'd have to say that if you're coming up through Cloquet The Swamp Sisters Shop in Saginaw

might be worth while to check out. It wouldn't be too far out of your way. I don't know about their meat, but I'll bet they have cute t-shirts?

SB (doesn't get over that way very often)

[Smithy]

I'm so sorry to hear about Heidi's spill, and your change in plans! Glad she'll be okay, though. It will certainly make your silver anniversary a memorable one.

I really do like Makinen Market's sausages (see my foodblog for a reminder), but they may be too far out of your way. I've never actually measured, but I think they're 5 - 10 miles off Highway 53. They don't carry other cuts of meat, either.

Since I've frequently wondered about good butchers in Virginia when I'm wandering through that way, I'm glad you've asked this question. I'd push Wrazidlo's, but you'd have to be coming through Duluth for that to make sense.

[snowangel]

I'm so sorry to hear about Heidi's spill, and your change in plans!  Glad she'll be okay, though.  It will certainly make your silver anniversary a memorable one.

I really do like Makinen Market's sausages (see my foodblog for a reminder), but they may be too far out of your way.  I've never actually measured, but I think they're 5 - 10 miles off Highway 53.  They don't carry other cuts of meat, either. 

Since I've frequently wondered about good butchers in Virginia when I'm wandering through that way, I'm glad you've asked this question.  I'd push Wrazidlo's, but you'd have to be coming through Duluth for that to make sense.

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Yes, Heidi is just fine. She's not even objecting to having her hair combed (very delicately in certain parts) and her appetite is better than ever. Kids.

Makinen. For some 30 years, as we drive up, there are towns we comment on as we see the signs, and one is Makinen. "So, what do you suppose is in Makinen." Well, now I know, and if we don't stop Wednesday, it's definitely on the radar for the next weekday trip up. Specific recommendations from Makinen Market?

[Smithy]

Makinen.  For some 30 years, as we drive up, there are towns we comment on as we see the signs, and one is Makinen.  "So, what do you suppose is in Makinen."  Well, now I know, and if we don't stop Wednesday, it's definitely on the radar for the next weekday trip up.  Specific recommendations from Makinen Market?

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I have yet to pick a bad sausage from there. I'm especially fond of chorizo, and theirs is good, so I pretty much always come away with chorizo, Cajun sausage (Mayhaw would laugh, no doubt, at the execution) and some form of Italian sausage. Hot Italian sausage, regular Italian sausage, Polish sausage - those sound rather ordinary, but they're nicely done. The Landjager is unusual. Don't ask me what's in it, because when I asked the gal at the counter couldn't tell me. It's been a while, but I think that may be the one that has saurkraut in it. I liked it, but wasn't as sure how to use it to best advantage.

[Davydd]

It's time for this Minnesota guy to check in. SnowAngel you have a piece of Heaven on Earth with your cabin. Sadly, yours is now a rarity even in Minnesota if you have seen how the Brainerd area and the North Shore have evolved over the years.

It was 36 years ago in the Navy base library in Newport, RI that this former Hoosier boy came up a book called, A PLACE IN THE WOODS, by Helen Hoover with pen and ink illustrated drawings by her husband. She also wrote a few other books including, THE GIFT OF THE DEER. They are still in publication through the University of Minnesota Press. Theirs is an account of how they shucked Chicago and moved to the end of the Gunflint Trail on Gunflint Lake that is part of the BWCA. So inspiring, Minnesota was our destination after mustering out. We headed north in a van with two pre-schoolers and another on the way. Alas, we stopped in Minneapolis. My profession was tethered to big city opportunities.

It hasn't been too bad. My inlaw cousin is a member of an association that purchased 440 acres including a 90 acre lake with 8 others back in the 60s when it was considered waste land adjacent to a state forest. The association built their cabins on one side of the lake and left the land wild and banned motorized boats. We occassionally get to partake in that valhalla. No city water, telephone or electricity yet some of those original people now are millioinaires. Some now have fancy photoelectric solar collectors to supply needed electricity. But it is still primitive, quiet and loons, eagles and beaver inhabiit the land.

We felt as if we pulled a coup as well in buying for a song what was considered an outlot in Tonka Bay that backs up on a marsh (but not on Lake Minnetonka). We built a timber frame vaulted ceiling open cabin like house 300 feet off the road in the woods so you cannot see our house in the summertime from the road. We now have the gift of the deer -- http://www.tonkawoods.com. We keep a pontoon boat on Lake Minnetonka and we have accumulated sea kayaks and canoes. As much as I would like to eventually seek that end of the Gunflint Trail cabin I don't think it is going to happen unless lucky lightning strikes again. We have been scouring northern Minnesota. It has become a minor hobby looking at properties everytime we head north.

This year we opted for a complete campervan with stove top, cabinets, refrig, microwave, bathroom, air conditoner, generator, even a TV, and electric sofa that converts to a king size bed in a little 22 ft. package -- a Sprinter conversion van that is totally self contained but an electrical hookup would always be nice. We decided on that so we can still go to the end of the trail and camp where we tent camped all these years -- the National Forests, the state forests, state parks, etc. There is just the two of us now so it is feasible. We didn't want a large motorhome or a trailer that would limit our out of the way nomadic ways.

Last week we camped in the UP of Michigan at Tahqaumenon Falls at the eastern end and Porcupine Mountains Wilderness at the western end. It was great to see the Milky Way again. On our way home we found some National Forest primitive camp grounds on lakes in Wisconsin we may try later.

Gosh, how is this food related? The campervan is now my official pursuit vehicle for pork tenderloin sandwiches. We found 6 new places in Indiana and Wisconsin. Just pasties in Michigan. http://www.porktenderloinsandwich.com my odd little hobby pursuit that I am having fun with.

[snowangel]

Ah, Davydd -- a kindred spirit! I envy you where you live in the Cities, although we don't fair too badly living in a beautiful, older, very wooded neighborhood in Coon Rapids. And, we have our getaway. Food related? Most definitely. There's not only your quest for pork tenderloins, but that food for the soul that energizes all of us.

Heidi's staples are out of her head, and the dr. has given her the go-ahead to swim in the lake to her heart's content, so we head north tomorrow late morning just as soon as Paul gets his new crown.

I have not yet finished grocery shopping, but I'll get to that later this evening (I'm smoking ribs for supper!).

As has become the tradition, we don't cook the night we arrive. So, there will be bread. Brie with raspberry chipotle sauce. Some leftover tenderloin. A hunk of smoked salmon. S'mores. Breakfasts will be charcuterie (home smoked bacon and homemade pork sausage) and pancakes or waffles. Lunches of the sandwichy "get it when you are hungry variety -- cheese, venison salami, guac, chips, salsa, fruit.

We have dinner planned for Thursday and Friday nights -- one night an assortment of homemade sausages and steak the next night. I've learned when we go for longer than a couple of days that the last night should be whatever is left in the fridge (and when I go with my friend Susan and her kids, there is always plenty leftover!).

Best of all, the weather looks to be spectacular. Highs in the low 80's, lows in the 50's. Nice and warm during the days, cool during the winter. I anticipate lots of bathing suit time, some swimming (probably a lot as I'm sure the water is quite nice), and hopefully some fireflies at night. Some fishing, too.

We have minimal cabin maintance to do this weekend, the kids are out of school, so it's time to play!

[srhcb]

Gosh, how is this food related? The campervan is now my official pursuit vehicle for pork tenderloin sandwiches. We found 6 new places in Indiana and Wisconsin.

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Choppys Pizza in Chisholm has long been known for its breaded pork sandwiches.

SB (really cheap too!)

Edited June 13, 2006 by srhcb (log)

[Davydd]

Gosh, how is this food related? The campervan is now my official pursuit vehicle for pork tenderloin sandwiches. We found 6 new places in Indiana and Wisconsin.

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Choppys Pizza in Chisholm has long been known for its breaded pork sandwiches.

SB (really cheap too!)

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Chisholm? Thanks for the tip. I'll have to try it on my next northern Minnesota trip. And to think I just flew down to Houston, Texas this week to try the "pork loin burger" as they call it at the Heights Camphouse Bar-BQ. To Texans the breaded pork tenderloin is a chicken fried steak only pork and without the gristle. OK, OK I am down here on real business and the stop was just an opportunity.

[snowangel]

As I prepare for another trip to the cabin, I realize I did not properly report on our last trip, which immediately followed the end of the school year. Once again, we were joined by my best friend (another Susan) and her family.

We arrived early afternoon, and they arrived late afternoon. We all felt so lazy (and knew we would) that we didn't cook. She had brought tapenade and a baguette, I had brie and a raspberry chipotle sauce (with crackers), the last of my venison sausage, and I had made some deviled eggs. We felt so lazy that I didn't even take pictues. Nor did I take my customary "first photo" upon arrival. We did, however, have the energy to get a jar of sun tea going.

Lazy, hazy and crazy.

The next morning, we were again feeling lazy. Paul did get up and get the coffee going, and instead of cooking breakfast, Susan and I offered ham and cheese sandwhiches along with sliced, hard-cooked eggs (yes, I had a lot of eggs on hand at home, and they transport easier hard cooked than raw). Paul objected, but we reminded him that he wouldn't object to a ham and cheese omelet with toast on the side, and to just consider this breakfast a deconstructed version of same.

After breakfast, the weather started to go south. In fact, we primed a new screen door for the screen porch, and the weather went so south that it took 48 hours for the door to go from dripping to merely tacky. So, into the shed it went and I will deal with it later.

Dinner our first night was a variety of home-made sausages from the Charcuterie book -- Chicken/basil/tomato and Pork/poblanlo. The latter is probably the best thing in a tube I have ever eaten. My friend Susan agrees, as does Diana. I think the others prepferred the chicken sausages...

Sides were potato salad and a green salad with baby greens, local strawberries, a blue cheese vinagarette and walnuts. The girls made brownies for dessert. We topped off the evening with shots of brown liquor (adults) and a rousing game of Apples to Apples.

Breakfast the next morning was home-smoked bacon (done in the oven because we were too lazy to deal with the grease on the stove) and waffles. It rained, but we swam and all nestled down with copies of 30-year old Mad magazines. Ah, it is the life. We napped. We played games. We told stories. We listened to KAXE. There was no "lunch" rather a 2-hour non-stop marathos of playing games and munching. The lass in the brown t-shirt is Diana, and she was making guac while playing cards.

As we prepped for dinner that night, the weather improved, so we once again started the grill. We means Paul.

Dinner. Steak and leftover potato salad and grilled vegetables. S'mores (over a gas burner because it started to drizzle again).

A lot of people around a little table.

Yet another reminder of how just how good our life is. A lot of people. Reading, being quiet, playing games, communing together. Celebrating the end of a school year and the beginning of another summer.

So, Saturday morning, Paul, Heidi, Peter and I leave for a blissful weekend. A quiet one, as it will just be the four of us. We will stop at Half Moon Lake in Eveleth on our way up and see Diana, who will be at the mid-way point in her four weeks at the camp, and fresh off a 45' sailboat and 10 days of sailing around the Apostle Island with her camp group. I will take treats (Rice Krispie Bars, Goldfish, guac/chips, and Oreos) and we will admire how tan and buff she is before the four of us steal away for 3 very quiet days. We only have one task this trip up -- to hang the screen door. Otherwise, reports say that the water is now 70 degrees on the surface, so we will be waterlogged when we return. I'm planning super-simple meals. I'm reminded of the old commercial -- "Calgon, take me away!" Just change Calgon to SHO, and it fits just right!

[Lori in PA]

Ah, nice, nice. Have you read the book, The Long Ago Lake, a book of nature and crafts, by Marne Wilkins? I think some of the people in your clan might enjoy it -- it is a combination of stories about the author's family's annual visits to a lake in northern Wisconsin and charmingly illustrated directions about how to make lots of fun nature-y things. Very low-key stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087701632...6212857?ie=UTF8

Is this food related? It includes directions for:

How to Make a Lashed Table

and

How to Make a Wooden Spoon

[C. sapidus]

Susan: pork-poblano sausages sound indescribably delicious. I believe that all such sausages require a Maryland inspection stamp, though. It's a pretty complicated process, but if you send me a batch and I'll, uh, take care of it for you.

May all your summers be lazy and well-documented.

[snowangel]

It has been a sublime week. A week of quiet. It started on Monday evening, at my best friend's folks farm in southern MN. Rich (the dad) has deliverately not plowed up some areas for crops so that he can have a two mile walk every day. They saw a cougar there just a few days ago, and we saw pheasants, deer, growing soybeans and corn (yes, way higher than knee high before the fourt). The crops need rain as it is dry, and the beans are trying to bloom and the corn needs to tassle in the next week or two.

The real treat for us came on Saturday morning as we headed north to the cabin, with a stop at Half Moon Lake to see The Teen and deliver a care package (oreos, some flavour blasted goldfish and some rice krispie bars that Peter and I made early in the morning). The Teen, fresh off of 10 days of sailing around the Apostle Islands, looks like a million bucks. Tan and buff. As she should look. Tired, too, but that's part of the gig. She was clean and had done laundry. And, she's off tomorrow morning for a 10-day canoeing adventure in the BWCA and Quetico! I wish I was a teen again.

So, from there, we headed further north. Since my meat market didn't have any great looking steaks, and I wanted to buy sausages ( -- to get an idea of what other's are doing -- all in the name of research), we stopped at that "Smokie's" place that's on the left side of the big intersection on the south side of the bridge in Cloquet. Either business in Cloquet is bad or he was bad, but it's now vacant space and for rent. So, onward and northward! We ended up at F and D Meats in Virginia. Two porterhouses, a couple of cajun and a few smoked polish later, we were well on our way to that special spot north of Orr. It was hot out, and we actaully had the A/C on in the car. We rarely do that.

FYI. That Hwy's 53 and 169 intersection has lost much of it's charm. Used to be, before this summer, that you drove up 53, and not long after 169 turned NE toward Ely, it was a sleepy intersection, with a defunct bar. Now, it looks like a Super Highway, and we no longer take that narrowing path that goes under the DWP bridge, which signaled to us for so long that we were Up North. Peter still laments that we dont' drive under "Mommy's bridge." That signal that we were getting were were supposed to get. So, as we drive ont he by-pass, I knit on yet another potholder more fast and furious. The world needs more potholders.

The weather, upon arrival, was absolutely spectacular. And, given the amount of cars that had not pulled off at Cloquet (and headed towards Duluth) and pulled off on 169 N (to Ely), all indications were for a nice and quiet weekend.

We took the SHO, and packed very light, so it was a breeze to get unpacked, gas on, fridge and pilots lit, and cocktails poured. We were hungry, for food and for water. So, it was peanuts and cheeses on the dock, with cocktails, on the dock. True to forum, Peter was first in the water. Paul is hiding a cocktail behind his back.

One of the characteristics of Heidi's disability is her love of water. She didn't even want to eat chees and crackers once she saw her life jacket!

The water is not nearly as green as my picture shows. The sand is tan/brown. The water is still clean, but it has been dry, so the lake is low.

Tha lake is glistening. Other than the wind, there is not a single sound. Things have settled down from the weekend of the 4th, and the wind keeps the bugs away! There are spiderwebs full of mosqitoes and flies all over the deck base, and we see tons of huge dragonflies.

We tell time up at the cabin by a sundial.

Except, you need to add an hour to the time. We think it's time we thought about starting up the grill. It waited for an hour or so while we swam.

Somewhere while Paul and Heidi were swimming, but before we started the grill, Peter and I decided it was time to check out the point next to our cabin. It is state owned land, and it does have some blueberry plants. I would never choose to pick here, but the signs were right on that it is time we got back up there to pick blueberries.

So, just what did we do this weekend? We ate some steak and grilled veg (there werere a couple of vidalias that just screamed "grill me!". We grilled up those sausages we got at F & D meats, and while I found the smoekd polish way too salty, I thought those cajun ones were nice a spicy and required no accompaniments. Except some new potaoes (which were up there and needed to be used) fried in butter and oil, along side some salad to please the boy (yes, bag O salad )

We also had some waffles and home-smoked bacin (no photo, sorry) and some butter milk pancakes with sausages. I like my pancakes with nothing but butter. No syrup, no nothing.

Somewhere along the line, the boy and I made rice krispie bars

In betwixt and between card games during the spell of weather on Sunday morning that looked dark and foreboding (that didn't last long).

But, I realized this weekend that I am the luckiest woman on the earth. It is high July, the moom was almost full. There are late night swims -- twilights lasts up there until well after 10:00 pm! There is a fab radio station (www.KAXE.org). There is almost no cell phone coverage ( ). It was as quiet as it has ever been. No none was fishing. Well, not no one. We did see three boats over the course of three days. And, there are decisions to make. What do I wear? Do I don the water-printed Nike suit? Or the lime green Ann Cole? MOre important, which pareo to don? The stars and moon or the chili pepper one?

Do I languish on the deck with a cheesey novel? A NY Times Sunday crossword? Or, do I knit a square or round potholder? Or, do I just languish with a pair of Raybans? Or, do I swim again in the deep water with the kids and The Man? How long can I stay awake at night, warm and tidy in bed, listening for sounds? Just what should I cook for breakfast in the morning?

Or, just how many times do we skinny dip after dark watching the almost full moon?

Food for the body and soul. It was quiet. Really, really quiet. Everyone needs this once in a while.

Yes, I am lucky. Other than two of my kids and my husband, I saw no one after we left the stop and rob in Cook with petrol, milk, eggs and ice. Our skin and hair are silky, and we have been well-fed.

[snowangel]

The living room floor is littered with piles of clothes, duffle bags, grocery bags, knitting projects, Apples to Apples, Scrabble, etc. The camera batteries are charged and the card is empty. I leave tomorrow morning with three kids (Peter and Heidi -- mine; and my best friend's 16-year old son Nick, guitar player and awesome sous chef). We will be joined by Paul and the rest of Nick's family plus 5 others on Sunday. We return in a week, hopefully with pails of blueberries. Even without blueberries, I know we'll return brown and relaxed and feeling rather like avoiding civilization. We stop at the kid's camp tomorrow to see Diana and her group paddle in after their 10-day BWCA/Quetico expedition. I just love summer.

[srhcb]

  We return in a week, hopefully with pails of blueberries.

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The blueberry crop here was dismal due to lack of rain, but, on the other hand, raspberries are ahead of schedule and plentiful, although small. I'm hoping the hot dry weather will produce blackberries later this summer. We don't get them every year, but I know a few patches my grandfather discovered some fifty years ago, and I'll check them out.

SB (congratulating "The Man" on his good automotive taste: SHO and Dale Sr hat! )

PS: Depending on the winds, you may get smoke from the BWCA fires. A friend of mine has a place at "the end of the road", about two miles from where the fire was yesterday, and he emailed some spectacular photos of the day and night skies.

[snowangel]

Oh my, I've been negligent! I just realized that my camera is full of pictures from my heavenly week up north in July, but I will get to that tomorrow or the next day, so this will be slightly out of order, as we are just back from a quick (?) weekend at the cabin.

This could have been called "out of adversity come of the best of times" or "I married the greatest man in the world."

We headed out nice and early on Friday (1:00 pm, an early start for us given that Paul had to leave work early and works 45 minutes from home). But, I had everything ready to go, and as he stood at the sink eating a piece of cold chicken, I loaded up the Taurus SHO. Since it was just four of us (Peter is at camp), we opted for the smaller vehicle.

We're humming along nicely, passing every car on the road, me looking sexy in my Ray Bans, a nice accessory in the front seat. As we approach the Harris exit (not 45 miles from home), the A/C quits working, and all of a sudden we smell a burning smell. The Man managed to coax the car onto the shoulder of the exit ramp, were we sat while he walked to the bait shop at the corner. Number one good thing he did -- when he grabbed a hat, he grabbed is #3 hat (NASCAR fans will understand). As Paul said later, "You meet the nicest people when wearing a #3 hat. We got a tow truck from Rush City, got towed to the auto repair shop in Harris, where the guy confirmed Paul's diagnosis. After a flurry of phone calls, we found out that the faulty compressor was still under warranty. Then, as Paul said "We could either get someone to come pick us up or we could rent a car and head north, and that is our destination!" So, we left the car in Harris (as Scarlett said "I'll think about that tomorrow!" and managed to get most of the stuff into the trunk of a tin can Kia which rented for $20/day and headed north. Right into one of the worst traffic jams we've ever been in. For the next 1+ hours, we averaged 12 minute miles. Oh, we then remembered that's why we got on the road early.

Dinner was on the road. We'd fully intended to get to Camp Warren to see Peter (which we did; he's been at camp for three weeks and jumped into my arms when he saw us) and get to F & D Meats to get a sampling of sausages for dinner with corn (that Paul had gotten from our fail-safe corn stand) and a sampling of the 6 kinds of bacon they make.

Alas and alak, we hit the road out of Harris not long before F & D meats closed over 100 miles north of us.

But, the rest of the weekend was absolutely perfect. It was the first weekend we've been at the cabin with my in-laws (who own the cabin). They have a motor home, which they've parked up there for the summer, just so that they can be up there with their kids. Paul and his dad fished, my MIL and I cleaned off the deck, Diana went tubing, Diana got to fish with her dad and grandfather, and I cooked some wonderful meals.

I have only a few photos from this weekend:

The first tomato from my garden -- a superlative brandywine. What is it about the first of one's own produce?

Morning coffee shot from the deck, before I headed to the dock.

Three generations fishing. A dad, his dad, and the daughter. They caught a nice northern (which according to regulations on this lake, is catch and release), some very little sunfish, and a mess of really fun-to-catch bass.

I knew my in-laws intended to come home last Friday, but stayed since we were coming. Knowing this, I brought more food than I would have for the four of us.

So, for breakfast, one morning we had bacon and scrambled eggs, another morning bacon and waffles. The bacon was OK -- since we missed F & D Meats in Virginia, I got some Eliots Up North bacon at the IGA in Orr. I got two packages -- the regular and the double smoked. I didn't realize until I purchased it that the double-smoked had "smoke flavoring added." Oy. I usually smoke my own bacon, and this is a no-no in my book. I was so looking forward to trying more of the bacons at F & D so I'd have some ideas for variations on what I make...another weekend!

Lunches. Sandwiches, hummus/pita/tabouli, fresh Colorado peaches, watermelon, tomatoes.

Dinner on Friday was an on-the-road feast. We started with a box of Target brand Ritz-bits crackers (the PB variety). Did you know that a food can have less than 0 grams of fat? I'm not sure how this is possible, but that was what the box said. Washed that down with a Nalgene bottle of water. Then we stopped at the Lemon Tree in Cloquet for beer and also got a bag of Cheetos (not good car food; way too orange), a can if sour cream and onion Pringles, a couple of slim jims and and big bottle of Squirt. I can honestly say that after than 4.5 hour turned into an 8 hour trip, a cocktail at the end of the road never tasted so good!

Dinner on Saturday night was a feast. Steak, the best sweet corn we've had, fresh green beans from my favorite vendor at the farmer's market (they pick them nice and small), some roasted very small new potatoes. Gin and tonics for the adults.

We'd had a tough week. We got news that a very close friend (Paul has known him since 6th grade) has lymphoma, and I've been working double-time to get things ready for a party for 40-60 this coming Friday, and we were reminded just how good it is to get away to a place where the only requirement is to do what we want to do. That, for me, includes a very therapeutic morning and after-dark-just-before-bed swim and taking time to remember how much we enjoy each other and how much we love this place.

So, we drove home today on back roads, the only car on the road in remote locations, savoring the essences of the weekend, ready to take on the challenges of the coming week. By the time we stood on the deck, cocktails in hand, the challenges we'd faced earlier in the day had melted away.

I've said it before. Just call me the luckiest woman ever!

[snowangel]

It was a very expensive weekend. We don't have the tally yet, but we are nearing the three figure point. A friend asked me today "don't you just wish you'd stayed home?" Absolutely not. Eating sweet corn, my first brandywine of the year, and some great steak followed by laying in the lake checking out the almost full-moon and yet another star display that was beyond priceless.

[snowangel]

Labour Day weekend is a rather emotional time for me. As much as I want the kids to return to school so my days are once again my own, I know I will miss them (and I do!), but it marks the end of my very favorite season of the year. Although we will get back up north this fall, it will be different -- it will be about walks in the woods and braising -- not noshing on the dock while laying on one's back in the silky waters of The Lake.

But, back to Labour Day weekend. We went. The weather report was dicey, and I'm pleased to report that the weather guys didn't have a clue what they were talking about. A typical Labour Day weekend is cloudy and cool and perhaps drizzly, until Monday after noon when one starts to pack and the weather gets spectacular. We were treated to three spectacular days. Unbelievable.

And, with no car problems, we did get to F & D meats in Virginia, where I stocked up on polish (I can do better); jalapeno, porketta and garlic "brats;" and bacon -- brown sugar/cinnamon, cajun and their house standard (sweetish/smokey).

We had a couple of other stops, but when we got to the cabin, this is what greeted us:

Spectacular, but the low sun and the hints of yellow in the leaves let me know that this was not high summer.

First order of business, as usual, is getting the fridge started and everything put away, and then it's cocktail time!

Since the friend that was going to join is called at the last minute ill and couldn't go, we also stopped at Walmart in Cloquet (shudder, but it's a beautiful store) for the stuff she was bringing. And, I espied an item I have looked high and low for -- Mayonesa. Who'd have thunk to look in Cloquet at Walmart, of all places?

Dinner the first night was leftover grilled chicken, cheese, sliced tomatoes, whatever. I'm much happier when I get up there not having to cook. I start things up, like the fridge, and can lay on my back in the water, cocktail on the dock, Paul or someone feeding me nibbles of food.

Which brings me to ice. We always stop in Cook on our way up (about 35 minutes shy of the cabin) and get milk and ice and bait. I've become really picky about my ice, and now insist on the ice from the Spur station in Cook (which, BTW, had gas for $2.55/gallon with a $.02/gallon discount if you paid cash, which we did). THey are those nice bit, cylindrical cubes with the whole in them. Not that crap that's little and square with the dip in the middle top and bottom. Since I bring my own ice, I want cubes with staying power. And, since it is used for beverages, staying power is important. Pay attention to what kind of ice you buy. Once the fridge cools down, the ice does go in the freezer.

So, a lovely evening, and the last thing I did is the thing I will miss most this coming season. My evening/late night swim. Peter usually accompanies me. At this time of year, the water is warmer than the air at midnight, so the water feels especially silky and rich. We get out, wrap ourselves in pareos, and crawl into bed with that cool daamp feeling and our skin and hair is silky. Plus, it's a good learning time -- those constellations that bloom even brighter when there are no other lights than the moon.

Next morn, as is tradition, Paul rises early, fills the Melita filter with ground coffee (yes, I do pre-ground for the cabin because the noise of the generator is somewhat polluting to the serenity), and I shag my sorry ass out of bed and go for a swim. Peter brings me coffee at the end of the dock, and we listen to the birds and look for loons. Then, breakfast. This Saturday morning, we had waffles and brown sugar/cinnamon bacon.

The first slice of bacon was great, but the second cloying. Diana and I both agreed that this bacon is a great accent, and would be terrific crumbled over a salad or somewhere else, but it is not a centerpiece. Perhaps it was too cinnamony.

We were joined Saturday afternoon by some friends who brought a boy Peter's age. She also helped fill in some food gaps, not that the boy and Peter even noticed. They were too busy playing to eat.

But, we did have sweet corn -- the sweetest of the season. Picked and chilled until the moment it went into the water. Along with the assortment of sausages. I really should have taken a picture before dinner was almost gone...

The jalapeno and porketta "brats" were especially noteworthy. Neither overwhelming, but leaving one with the essence of jalapenos and that complex porketta spicing.

Yes, another midnight swim, after a game of apples to apples.

Next morning, pancakes, which were eaten before I could remember I had a camera.

The kids emerged from the lake and raced back from the point long enough to indicate hunger, so it was sandwiches. Standard lunch meat, sliced cheese (deli, not plastic), some with mayo, some not (although my kids like mustard ), peaches, cantelope. Then me laying on the deck or in the lake pretending to read.

At some point, Diana made a snack. A "pizza" with a phyllo crust, with tomatoes on top of moz and topped with crumbled feta. The plate of square she brought down to the dock with cocktails that Paul had made were well appreciated by Nancy and I!

Saturday night was steak night, with green beans and tomatoes. All veg courtesy of the farmer's market or my garden.

Sunday morning as I headed down for my morning swim:

People had what they wanted for breakfast. Some had over easy eggs, and some of the kids opted to finish off the cold cereal that needed to be used up before the season really ends. Nancy and I, before she left, made sandwiches for the road trip home.

She left, and we stayed for a while. The day got more and more beautiful and we became more lethargic about leaving.

But, before Nancy left, we signaled the end of summer by taking out the dock.

But, after she left, Paul, Diana, Heidi, Peter and I packed up the car and went for that one last swim of the season. And, as Paul got the kids in the car, this time, he did the final go-thorugh on the cabin to make sure things were taken care of and I sat at the end of the pathway and reflected on how many years I have left here on Labour Day with a tear in my eye. I remain unbelievably lucky, and although we will return this fall to hunt and walk in the woods, I will start counting the days come January 1 until we return and celebrate summer again!