The Cabin

[snowangel]

80F? Hell, even I could swim in that.

It's much more imagining ice coated Yankees paddling around in some semi frozen lake. Try not to bring up warm water again. It ruins the whole mental picture.

What kind of grilling equipment do you have up there? Smokers? Weber? Regular cheesy grill?

←

If you prefer, you can think of me in the water, in a bathing suit on Opening Weekend. The water temp this year was in the mid-40's.

We have a Weber Kettle (21.5" one touch) up at the cabin. We got it at a garage sale, it had been used twice, for $15.00. It has the hinged grate, and I use a standard oven thermometer and regular old-fashioned meat thermometer, when necessary as I do at home. Remember, I'm a Weber Kettle gal.

When do you head north?

[eje]

Beautiful pictures, Susan!

My wife and I are heading to St. Paul, MN for a wedding in a couple weeks, and hope to visit my in-law's cabin in Minocqua, WI. It will be nice to get a break from the city.

-Erik

PS. The leaves of Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris) are poisonous, if ingested. So no adding them to salads!

Edited July 18, 2005 by eje (log)

[snowangel]

Back in the Olden Days, it was the husband who sent the wives, their kids, and servants off to the north shore, Lake Minnetonka, or wherever (along with the servants) while the men folk worked, so the women and kids could beat the heat. The men folk would join them as they could.

These days, it's the women folk, lead by The Gainfully Unemployed One (Me) who gets the Best Friend to off her legal cases onto others so we can make the trip.

And, instead of relying in the servants/cook to make meal decisions, we do it ourselves, since the only cooks are ourselves and our kids, and the only purveyors we have mid-trip are our husbands.

But, I digress. We chose the perfect time to be gone. One of the hottest spells around. The weather up north...well, imagine 85 degrees (F), completely sunny, slight breeze coming over the lake at you. Water almost bathtub temp, until you dip way down. Nights in the low 60's.

Earlier in the season, the water was like Rachel's Jello Salad. Very striated. The water this past weekend would be same that Jello salad after sitting for hours in the sun on a hot day. Sort of muddled, and more warm than cool. Needless to say, I should only have packed one t-shirt, one tank, one pair of shorts and one pair of undies (also must mention the one pair of VERY lightweight long pants for an excursion). We all spent the week in our swimsuits. Did you know that a stomach can become pruney if it spends too much time in the water?

Anyway, back to the food that we ate. On the way up, we were running late (we needed to drop brownies off to the girls at camp), so we had cheese-its, caramel corn and some sort of stop-and-rob beef jerky for breakfast/lunch. Washed down with several Nalgene's of water (more ice than water).

Dinner Night One. Seared scallops and a salad with a meyer lemon/dill dressing. Susan got the vinegar at the St. Paul's Market Market at the Golden Fig Epicurean Delights stand.

Forgive me, please. I took far fewer photos of food than kids frolicking over the course of the next few days.

This trip commenced with Susan (Best Friend), her son (Nick), my son (Peter) and Heidi. The man folk are coming on Friday with The Girls From Camp. Elizabeth (Heidi's Aide) and her BoyFriend also joined us.

We decided because the weather was so beautiful to reduce breakfasts (at least until the masses arrived) to cereal. That included granola from Trotters, on Cleveland in St. Paul, which happens to make the best granola ever. Especially when one remembers to bring half-and-half.

Lunches, before The Masses, was of the sandwich variety. We had salami. Bread from Breadsmith. Cheese from Eichtens. Melon, berries. All on the dock, of course, because the swimming was so great. Come to think of it, the lunches after The Masses were just the same.

Night number 2 we did burgers. Some ground chuck, some turkey with Salsa Lisa's Chipotle mixed in. Along with sweet corn. I forgot to take a pic of dinner before, but you get the idea from the remants.

The turkey burgers were problamtic. They were too soft and wet to flip neatly. I would not do turkey burgers again. I did get the ground turkey that was meant for grilling (i. e. more fat).

Night 3. It was just a few of us, some having had left. I made typical Thai satay. It was the hit of the trip. Served alongside were peanut sauce (peanut butter, coconut milk, curry paste, a hint of lime) and the cuke side marniated in vinegar, sugar, hot peppers.

By night 4, The Real Masses descended. We had tube meat. Weiners from Bob's Produce Ranch (some of the best in the cities) and brats from Hackenmueller's (my fav raw brats). Potato salad. Melon. Since I only had russets, we did the salad with those, and diced before cooking, and tossed with the above-mentioned meyer lemon/dill vinegar while warm. Dressed with onion and celery (finely minced) and mayo. We forgot the kraut.

Day 5. Blueberry picking day! It was Saturday and dawned cool and cloudy. Perfect for berry picking. A Bronco load was up for the picking, so we donned lightweight long pants (first long pants I've worn in ages), boots (LLBean duck boots for me, other boots for others), shirts and hats. Loaded said Bronco with people, ice cream pails, bottles of water and bug junk.

This is the earliest we have ever picked berries. And, pick we did. With difficulty. Given the cool early summer with tons of rain, followed by tons of heat, the berries were early, and largely very overpicked. Our Secrect Hill is no longer our own. We picked for an hour -- 5 of us -- and only came away with 3/4 of one 5 quart ice cream bucket (which I neglected to photo). The berries are as flavorful as any blueberries I have had, and as big as I have seen in almost 30 years of berry picking up here.

We did manange (out of the foraging) one batch of buttermilk pancakes with blueberries (not photoed, as the photographer was busy flipping 'cakes, and one blueberry pie

. The recipe is right here. Not baked, the best of the best. Some of them cooked, some of them still with that pop.

So, having not scored as big on blueberries as we thought, we went seeking. We think we have found The Spot for next year. Granite ridge, recently logged, new plants which should be ready for bloom and picking next year, providing that Mother Nature agrees.

Our diversion to look for a New Spot returns me to the cabin scurring to Get My Butt On. Yes, there is nothing like smoking a butt in a bathing suit, beer or cocktail in hand. One needs to set a timer so one gets out of the lake periodically to check on the progress of said butt. I have all of the makings of =Mark's South Carolina Mustard BBQ sauce recipe up at the cabin, and I know this recipe by heart.

Butt Done:

We ate it with sweet corn that kids shucked while sitting on the deck

We did clean up (and compost) the corn remains and recycled the cans!

I'm a pro at butts, and it was as well received as always.

By Sunday morning, I was ready to cook breakfast, so it was blueberry pancakes (not photoed) with breakfast sausages (from Miltona meat market).

Dinner Sunday night was a boatload of chuck eye steaks. They were great. Steaks. Green beans. Cole Slaw. Out on the deck. Pre-bugs.

This was a wonderful weekend. We saw the Northern Lights. Naked, on our backs. We spent time with the kids identifiying constellations. We listened to KAXE, a Northern Community radio station (one of the best in the country). Peter answered several of the Green Cheese questions correctly on Saturday night. We lived, we loved, we were cool.

We saw Sunfish of all sorts. Both those that were little and will be catchable in a couple of years, as well as a daughter out on one of these for the first time ever

We gave new meaning to the idea of a (Golden) Retriever

And, if you'll notice what the person in the floaty chair is lifting to lips, you'll see a new meaning to "liquid."

It was a week about languishing. So, cooking bacon for breakfast with a bloody mary in hand. Following an early morning swim. Watching the kids toss balls into the water for the retriever. A life of leisure.

As we drove home, Diana, in an almost sleep stupor said "Daddy, we are really lucky. Lucky, we are. " Yes, 4-1/2 hours in a car can get you to heaven.

Every summer is the best, I swear. Been saying that for almost 30 years.

We are brown as berries (whatever that means, since most berries I know of are blue, red or black). Warm through and through. Happy and relaxed. I always return from the cabin with an almost Zen-like aura wrapped around me. Must be all of that yoga in the water.

Edited to fix junk and add a couple of things. Like the blueberry pie.

[maggiethecat]

Susan:

What can I say, except to express mad jealousy and tell you how much I enjoyed your pictures and your writing. I don't think I'm alone at eGullet in vicarious joy in the stars, the lake, the skinny-dipping, the kids, the blueberries, your fad smoked butt. And how cool that the satay was the hit of the trip.

Thank you for my mini-vacation. Please say you'll be back at the cabin soon.

[snowangel]

I'm late in reporting about our recent trip, but have had camera trouble.

Expectactions. Realizations. That's what it is all about. We picked Peter (9) up from camp on the way up. Expectation and realization: He bathed once. He swam daily. He brought home more clean than dirty clothes. He had a wonderful time.

This was only the second weekend we have been up at the cabin -- just the five of us -- all summer.

Expectation. When we are not going to arrive at the cabin until mid afternoon, I am not going to want to cook a big meal. So, in anticipation, I fried a mess of Chicken.

Expectation. When we arrived, open windows, get the fridge going, get bathing suit on and go for a swim.

Objective achieved, we had dinner. A simple shucking of corn picked that morning, as well as some tomatoes and the fried chicken were all we needed. Minimal work.

We decided the dishes could wait until the next morning.

Late evening called for yet more swimming, this time under faint glimmers of northern lights, and a star display that was beyond belief. My kids can identify constellations that most don't even know exist. We saw a few lone fireflies.

Saturday morning expectations. Breakfast. Time for sausages and waffles. Link sausages from the Miltona Meat Market (they win awards at the Minnesota State Fair) and waffles on my nifty Nordicware stove top waffle maker (scroll up a few pages for a pic).

More expectations. Kids helping to do the dishes and make the beds. Make the beds so if people want naps, we don't end up with sand on the sheets. Further expectactions are even more swims.

The day is quite windy, so getting the Sunfish out is appropriate (scroll to the last post on the previous page for a pick of a Sunfish). It is windy enough that there is enough sand stirred up in the water that we can't see the other sort of sunfish -- the baby ones that will be meals in a couple of years. But, we can feel them nipping gently at our ankles.

Expectation. Another great music day on KAXE (KAXE.org). When I am rich, I'm moving to grand rapids, after I amass even more CD's, so that I, too can have a radio show based on an eclectic mix of music. There was over an hour of liquor songs (somewhere, there is a song that states that "vodka makes you stupid").

A day worthy of a little mowing, and a little lunch. Since I've been working hard at home, we decided on lunch on the dock. In swim suits. Some dabbled feet into the lake, some (like me) chose to lay on their back and be fed. Marinated green beans. Salami. Eichtens Chipotle cheese. If I tipped my head to the left, while eating, this is what I saw

If I looked directly above, this is what I saw

An occasional bald eagle or osprey broke the vivid blue.

It was a tough day. So tough that we decided not to cook dinner, but just eat leftover chicken, green beans, tomatoes, and boil some more corn. Lots of energy shucking, filling a pot, and pulling that butter out. We had to save energy for call ins to the radio and playing some games.

We played Scrabble as it was getting dark. Peter, Diana and I. The challenge was to only use food or food-related words. Did you know that if you get squid on the right square, it is worth a whole bunch of points? We did revert, with this food caveat, to "unorthodox" scrabble. Begging letters.

Sunday dawned clear and still. There was a faint breeze over the lake. Hot, with just enough of that breeze to make one feel like not sweating, but still jumping into the lake. The surface of the lake, without much wind, warms to warmer than bathtub warm. Early breakfast, early cleanup, because there is only one thing on my mind. Water. Heidi has the same idea.

Somewhere in the mix of this, we mowed, and Paul and I chiseled out 40-year old grout from a couple of cracked pains (typo intentional if you've ever chiseled out 40-year old grout that is still tight), replaced the panes, and re-glazed (another pain when it is really hot).

So, we worked, and we played. We enjoyed the quiet and peace of just it being the 5 of us.

But, most of all, we noticed how the light has changed in the week and a half since we were at the Cabin. The deck is shady in different places at different times. The days are noticably shorter, the evenings noticably cooler. The green of the trees is a different hue than that "blush of green" of May/early June, or the brilliant of mid-July. Yes, it is August.

The only sad part was realizing that I probably won't be up until 5 or 6 days before Labor Day. Which reminded me that I should have just said to hell with it many more weeks this summer and just gone -- even if just with a couple of kids.

This weekend also reminded me that a big part of food is not just the food, but where and with whom. I chose very well.

[snowangel]

You can get a recipe for Peanut Butter Burgers here.

Yes, we do the same thing at the cabin every year. We (meaning me) revel in getting in the water every mid-May to put the dock in in a bathing suit (my husband, the Water Wimp, gets the waders) in mid 40's (F) water.

We swim in cold water, waiting for it to warm up, and it did so very well this summer.

We wish for more weekends at the cabin.

We delight in skinny dipping under the Milky Way, and hopefully the Northern Lights.

We smoke many a piece of meat up there.

We delight in meals that are prepped in the cabin, and served by lovinly servants (the kids) on the dock while we dip and lay.

Mostly, it is the combo of food for the tummy and food for the soul.

Same every year. Boring, perhaps to some. But not us. There is a new star to see every night, a new future meal (fish) to nip at one's ankle every time I set foot in the lake.

I return a week from Tuesday with as many kids as I can stuff in my Bronco. Reminder to self for next summer. If the weather looks good, say to hell with the yard, the garden and head north. Paul can mow, he can earn, he can pay bills, and we can revel. We have not headed north nearly enough.

[snowangel]

Bags packed. House clean. Backpacks for the kids first days of school (Tuesday) are ready. Clothes for first day of school laid out. Fridge cleaned out.

I had intended to leave much earlier this week, but now that Diana is entering high school, had not anticipated the requirements of HS sports.

Weather looks mostly good.

We are opting to take Paul's Taurus SHO, not the Bronco due to fuel prices, which here in MN are nearing the $3.00/gallon mark.

The other mothers and I let the kids pick the menu. I will not be smoking. They want burgers. They want chicken. They want tacos. They want cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We are making the kids fairly responsible for several of the meals, and it is time they had starting the Weber and grilling lessons. The mothers have set a KP list.

I'm curious what it will be like up north. Some of the trees here are starting to yellow, and I'm sure we will see some leaves down at the Cabin.

Come Monday afternoon, dock out, a tear or two on the deck as we bid a fond farewell to the bestest summer every.

Come Tuesday morning, a leisurely piece of toast and cuppa on my deck at home. You will hear loud cheering from the Minnesota direction as the mother's "sadly" send their kids off to schoo.

[PicnicChef]

As a recent poster, I had to reply to the cabin, because like you, I adore my little cabin. 1929 - American Chestnut, bordering the National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. Now, most think of Jersey as a turnpike, but way up north is is just beautiful. My screened in porch has been the home to many, many wonderful meals cooked with local produce, stuff from the garden...tons of great babecues. It is 19 degrees here today, so no chance of heading up to it, but I'm already dreaming of spring weekends, cooking away (or at least with one eye on the grill) while I hang out in the hammock with a good book.

Your cabin seems swell! Glad you enjoy it!

[snowangel]

28 days from now, we will be having cocktails on the deck, but who's counting? (Peter is counting. We're at just less than 672 hours.)

The week before I will smoke some bacon for a breakfast. I'm also thinking of making some breakfast sausage for another breakfast, and making some sausages for one of the dinners, and taking some pre-smoked meat (brisket?) for another of the dinners. We may be doing a taste testing of a variety of home-made chicken and venison sausages.

I'm all over making these weekends as easy as possible so we can savor every essence.

[snowangel]

It has been a very warm spring, and they had a record-breaking ice out up north.

We can't stand it any longer, so we leave this friday. Even pulling kids (including a high schooler) early from school.

So, my aim is to not cook on Friday, nor eat McDonald's in Cook on Friday on our way up.

Suggestions about something simple which can be hauled up and not even reheated.

The kids are twitching already.

[srhcb]

It has been a very warm spring, and they had a record-breaking ice out up north.

Possible snow mixed with rain forcast for tonite though.

Suggestions about something simple which can be hauled up and not even reheated.

Pasties?

Have a great weekend!

[judiu]

Hoping it's warm and wonderful for you this weekend! Think quiche is the answer to your food question !

[Marlene]

Picnic items. What would you pack to go on a picnic? Sandwiches, devilled eggs, pick up some fried chicken (yes, you could make it, but we're trying to save time and labour here right?). Salads. Cookies. Wine.

[Smithy]

Not only a record-breaking ice-out, but the earliest leaves I've ever seen here. I have NEVER seen the trees break out in leaf before mid-May, and the woods already have the watercolor wash. Excellent choice, even if it does snow tonight. (I think they're wrong, FWIW.) I've already picked off the first tick of the season.

Tuna sandwiches for the drive north? I'm on a tuna salad kick right now. I like Marlene's ideas, too. Fried chicken, or rotisserie chicken; devilled eggs; lots of bananas.

[Pam R]

It has been a very warm spring, and they had a record-breaking ice out up north.

Possible snow mixed with rain forcast for tonite though.

Thermoses full of hot soup!

Seriously, the picnic-y foods that everybody suggested made sense. If the kids would be into it, just pick up some good bread, cheese/meats, some veg (tomato/lettuce/etc), maybe some olives, spreads (think hummus) and let everybody go at it. Absolutely no work for you and everybody can help themselves to what they like.

I hope our weather doesn't travel down to you - and you have a wonderful opening weekend!

[Smithy]

I just looked at the prog charts for Friday. High pressure bubble coming down from Pam R's way. Cold, clear. Bring warm clothes, and bring on the soup!

Better still - bring chili, shredded cheese, crackers, beer, sour cream. What could be bad? I am not suggesting that you eat this in the car, of course. But by the time y'all saw your way in past the fallen trees, you'll need something warm.

[snowangel]

Seriously, the picnic-y foods that everybody suggested made sense.  If the kids would be into it, just pick up some good bread, cheese/meats, some veg (tomato/lettuce/etc), maybe some olives, spreads (think hummus) and let everybody go at it.  Absolutely no work for you and everybody can help themselves to what they like.

I hope our weather doesn't travel down to you - and you have a wonderful opening weekend!

Pam, quite frankly, we don't really care if the weather is good or not. So we stay inside and play games and nap, we'll be at the cabin.

I think I've fleshed out a menu.

Friday evening: picnicky foods. I have a ton of eggs in the fridge, so deviled eggs. I'll do the thing where I boil and peel the eggs here, slice them and carry them up separately from the filling which I can pipe in up there. Some raw veggies, perhaps a salad. Some salami, some bread and some cheese.

Breakfasts. Waffles and home-smoked bacon one morning, the rest of the bread for french toast with sausages or bacon the next morning.

Saturday night steak and veggies on the grill. I'll take some potatoes and perhaps bake them. If not, the potatoes will be fine up there until we make our next trip two weeks later.

The list has been made of the staples that I need to bring up. Peter has packed his bag, and although it won't be swimmably (is that a word) warm, we will take suits, and I just bet that Peter and I at least dip toes.

Can you tell we're excited? There are already some cabin provisions in the back of my Bronco! Next task is to unload the camera and make sure I have extra batteries!

[Mayhaw Man]

I would probably take stuff that I would eat in the dead of winter. Warm soups, chili, braised meats, you know, stuff for icy weather.

I would also take a wet suit, heated socks, a parka (if I had one or knew where to buy one-I'm pretty sure that, no matter how hard you look, that you can't find an official parka in New Orleans-even in the best of times) and lots of warming beverages.

It's snowing still? And you're going to the lake? You, my dear, are more of a man than I am.

Have fun. I know you're all going to have a great time, but for the life of me, I don't see how.

[Pam R]

Pam, quite frankly, we don't really care if the weather is good or not.  So we stay inside and play games and nap, we'll be at the cabin.

I understand completely - when I was growing up we'd go out in the dead of winter. No power, no running water. The Coleman stove got used a lot!

Campfires are always better when it's cooler, don't you think?

Though we've been told by the 'power's that be' that it may snow at some point over the next couple of days, I don't think it'll be that bad for you!

Have a great time.

[snowangel]

Since I am having about 100 people at our house in just over 3 weeks, we really should have stayed home, but we just couldn't. And, I'm sure glad we went and didn't stay.

It has been a very warm spring not only here in the Cities, but way up north.

We left later on Friday than I anticiapted because of a test for Diana in her science class. So, we hit Virginia, the kids and Paul were starving, and The Golden Arches called to the kids because we only frequent this place once or twice a year. And, as I sat in the backseat of a Ford Bronco on a gravel road a while later, I remembered why. Lots of grease and a bumpy ride are not agreeable. A quick stop, a short "fresh air" breath and a quick walk around and installing me back into the front seat made for a quick rest of the trip.

As we drove in, my suspicions of an early spring were not amiss. My first view. Marsh marigolds! My heart springs when I see these when we drive in, especially when they are in full bloom. Nancy, I'm sure you understand my joy at seeing these beaufiul and spring-lilke flowers:

They are, I'm sure, no resemblence to what most gardeners know as marigolds, and only grow in very marsy areas. The dead grass underneat is on top of water.

The road on our jeep trail was high and dry this year, and we outside of one rotten tree, which we could kick out of the road, was clear. One we arrive, it was the normal flurry of activity. The kids checking to touch their special palces. Racing around. Undoing the kinks of a 4+ hour car ride.

First order of business for me is to unpack and put everything in it's place. Since it was about 50 outside and about 45 in the cabin (it has been closed up and the shades shut), once we turned on the gas and started the fridge and lit the pilot lights, I unloaded the fridge. I forgot to take a picture of the fridge, but Diana did take a photo of the veg bowl

Kids race, I admire, and spend a lot of time on the deck just looking and enjoying the deafening silence.

Pretty soon, the kids are hungry again, and so

This is Diana's specialty. Very ripe avocado's, lime and Salsa Lisa (the very hot variety), Salsa Lisa at least until we have real tomatoes.

Paul lights a fire, because after all, if the cabin is 45 inside, it means the core of the matresses is about 45 (if not colder!).

It is a soapstone cabin, and we are down to short and t-shirts in about an hour. Guac and a game of Mille Bournes and a game of Clue (difficult when you are missing a person and weapon cards each) along with a cocktail or two for the adults, we make the beds and off to an absolutely silent dreamland. Oh, the final job of the evening is trips to the ourhouse and the stellar head upturned on the deck guessing and identifying constellations.

We sleep in on Saturday morning, given the excitement which caused a rather late night.

Breakfast. Homesmoked bacon and waffles on my nifty Nordicware stovetop waffler.

As you can see by the light and shadows, the day has dawned clear and sunny, as it remained. Prior to fixing the waffles and bacon, I donned shorts and a t-shirt, and i wasn't but noon that I realized I sure wishes I'd brought a tank top. I spend my afternoon in active pursuit of nothing but reading, while the rest of the family raced around and did this and that.

I read the entirety of My Life In France. This photo simply does not do justice to the day, expecially the glint of the sun on the water. Oh, I did read this book with my reading glasses on top of my head, with my binocs around my neck. We did keep a list of birds espied, and have a list of over 30. There were not a lot of birds at any one time, but we did see and hear quite a number of different birds.

Lunch? Who nees lunch. It's all about casual munchies.

We quite liked the crisp crunch of the Multi-Grain Tostitos, but found them too sweet (yes, there is sugar in the ingredients).

Note chic avocado green melamine bowl. We have a lot of these in a cupboard at the cabin.

Peter decided it was time for a dip

Brooks, this one is for you. He prounced that "Mom, it's way too cold for swimming," got out very quickly, and complained of "shrinkage" for quite some time. He declared that we should wait and swim until next time up (two weeks).

Dinner was planned. Steak and grilled veg. I had four of these chuck eyes.

I knew that this was way more meat than we would eat, but steak makes for fab leftovers.

And, some veg oiled up, ready for the grill.

After I took this photo, I added more ramps and asparagus.

Ready for dinner!

It was a warm evening, so an evening of family games, and some serious laying on the deck and identifying constellations, dreaming of nights of midnight skinnydips, then to bed.

We slept past Will Shorts of NPR, and woke to another even sunnier, but windier day. First coffee, then breakfast.

Sausages and french toast.

Now, part of this meal was the biggest disappointment of the weekend. My family is becoming familair with me making the bacon, sausages, etc. But, I've not done breakfast sausages yet. Following a recommendation from Cook's Illustrated, I tried a brand they recommended. They were like wallpaper paste (general consensus), and They have decided that I either make sausages, or we buy from a very small meat market we know and trust (Miltona).

We play in the yard, mow (! in early May), and all too soon it is time to pack up and hit the road. But, after we are packed up, we take a walk to the point.

We note that the blueberry plants on the point (they never produce much due to the riff raff that is wont to camp there periodically, but they are a good harbinger) are in bloom!

(The blossoms are those fuzzy white things on the plant. I'm still getting used to my camera, especially in full light.)

I think we have some sated kids here.

Like them, we are sated with good memories. Memories that involve no phone, no computer. A few games, the kind we played as kids. Racing around. Learning how to use the mower. Searching for flashlights when it gets dark. Seeing who can identify more constellations. Making that perfect guac up north (they are more perfect up there Diana would tell you), listening to songs on KAXE that never ever got airplay anywhere. We played charades and saw two bald eagles.

The season is upon us!

[Smithy]

Thank you, thank you! I've been waiting and waiting for the report!

Yes to the marsh marigolds. We've been admiring them around the house here; they're one of the earliest bits of spring color in the woods. As to the warmth: that's a surprise, given how cold it was down here on Saturday night. Either you were on the right side of that occluded front, or our Superior Refrigerator was working overtime. Take your pick.

As to the sausages: I can't imagine any store-bought sausages doing justice to yours, now that you're becoming an expert, but if you want I'll scope out the Makinen Market selection next time I'm passing through. They have a lot of sausages, all good in my experience. I'm not sure they carry breakfast sausage as such. You would of course not have wanted to go that far off the route this time, but perhaps later in the summer...

Frogs? Did you have a good frog chorus? Do you, around there? We're already into the third grouping by now.

I scored a bunch of ramps today. Guess I'll have to try grilling some, based on your photo.

[snowangel]

Frogs?  Did you have a good frog chorus?  Do you, around there?  We're already into the third grouping by now.

Nancy, we did indeed hear the frog chorus, and it was a most welcome sound! An interesting thing is what is often under the cover that covers the gauges on our big LP tank (one of the big ass horizontal ones). Most weekends, when we open it up, there is a nice, big green frog that stares at me. Not around this past weekend.

Peter just reminded me of the coolest thing that happened on our way up. We pulled out of Cook, look up in the sky, and there were little strips of rainbows all over. No rain, just these rainbows.

[snowangel]

The tank gets filled when it is dry and Anchor Gas (I think it's now Ferrell Gas or some other name) can get it an do it.

Forgive us the lack of the sauna. My FIL bought the cabin from a ranger. As in an Iron Ranger, so we are forgiven.

We head north again on Friday morning, as soon as Diana's English class is over. Another family will join us, and we talked last night and arranged food.

My part: Charcuterie. Venison and chicken sausages on Friday night, butt on Saturday night. Bacon one morning, and breakfast sausages (which I will grind and bind tomorrow) on Sunday. You'll see some waffles, and some french toast.

The other family will provide lunch and munchie stuff. Cocktail suggestions welcome!

I will also doff my clothes and don my bathing suit and brave under 50 degree temps in the water to get the dock in. Weather looks to be in the low 60's, so it will be a goosepimply (sp?) experience. Pork fat will steel me.

[dividend]

I've been thinking about this thread as my family debates going to our place at the Lake of the Ozarks for Memorial Day. I love going there for all the same reasons you describe, and I'm pretty sure I annoy people IRL when I wax poetic about it. Even just talking about it sometimes sends my entire body into a state of relaxed bliss. Mom and Dad debate every year whether to go for Memorial Day weekend, or stay home and putter around their house, avoiding the packing, hours of driving, and inevitable beginning of season cleaning that my Mom hates to do on her birthday weekend. But we haven't spent a Memorial Day (or a Fourth of July or a Labor Day) in Kansas City since I was six, so I know the lure of the lake house will win this year too. We have our traditions, however much they sometimes toy with the idea of breaking them.

So Friday, we will all be off work - Mom, Dad, my brother, and my grandmother, who is my sole surviving grandparent, and owner of the lake house. We will spend the morning finishing the packing and cooler prep, and then leave at least an hour behind schedule. We will pick up my grandmother just off the Plaza, pick up Winstead's burgers, onion rings, and diet cherry cokes from the drive-thru, and head out of town. By Friday night, we will be drinking high-balls and playing card games on the deck until the light fades, listening to the silence over the water, then migrating indoors to read until we're all asleep in our chairs.

By Sunday, we will have finally completely decompressed from our frantic, hectic lives (this takes Mom and I longer then the rest of the gang because we're perfectionists by nature). I can already taste the coffee with skim milk and sugar I will drink early that morning on the deck, before the sun burns the fog off the surface of the lake. I drink my coffee black at home, but at the lake house I drink it the way I have since I was ten, when it was a special treat that Dad let me have before he took me out to teach me to water ski. The smell of milk in coffee puts me right back there, heading out onto the water with Dad before anyone else was up and about. Dad will cook big thick waffles, or fry enormous pancakes in a lake of melted margarine. (One of these years I'll convince them to go back to butter.) I will drink more coffee from the old white electric coffee press with faded blue and orange flowers printed on the sides. Then we'll dress in our bathing suits and head out to the lake for a day of childhood swimming games, beating the crap out of our sea-doos against the wake of passing houseboats ("aircraft carriers", in our vernacular). As for lunch - I second the love for sandwiches, chips and cold soda eaten out on the dock as possibly the contextually perfect meal. At some point, we'll stagger back to the house for showers, cocktails, bowls of nuts and olives, and chips with my homemade salsa as Dad preps the kettle grill for t-bone steaks. My grandfather perfected a method for Sunday t-bones that has been passed down and kept alive - it involves my grandmother tenderizing the steaks with a fork, and then a long, slow cooking over charcoal, enough time to cook several pans of mushrooms and toss together a green salad. We know the steaks are done when Dad brings around a little plate full of small peices that have simply fallen off the bone, and we feast.

I love this thread. Reading Susan's posts, I am struck not only by her love and longing for the cabin, but also by how well she captures what the rest of us lucky enough to have similar getaways feel. Our lake house tugs at my soul in a similar way all winter long, and right now I'm not sure how I'll get through the week between now and Memorial Day weekend.

[snowangel]

Finally, a few minutes to post about last weekend. This was our second weekend of the season at the cabin. Typically, we go up for Da Opener (a big deal here), but the last couple of years, we have eschewed that tradition for two reasons. The weather is usually crumby and the traffic and noise is awful. And, by going the weekend before opener and the weekend after opener, we scored big time on weather. This past weekend was colder than our first weekend up there, but still brilliantly sunny and clear.

We actually did something on Friday we never do. Pulled the teen early from high school, so we got a nice early start. No traffic, and this is the sight that greated me when I hopped out of the Bronco:

As you can tell, we did not get the dock in on our previous trip, but help was on the way!

My best friend from college, Susan, and her family joined us on Friday evening. Susan brought munchines. Tapenade and a baguette from Breadsmith.

Washed down with a lovely white wine (adults) and Coke Classic (for the kids). We never have pop at home, but usually have it at the cabin.

As the kids raced around, Paul got the grill going. We had my wonderful chicken and venison sausages (home-made and home-stuffed) along with grilled zucchini, asparagus and ramps.

By this time, we had moved to the first of two (or was it three) bottles of red wine.

Just as we were eating, we were buzzed. By a Lake Amphib, and we were joined by Ron and his son Jason. Paul has known Ron since they were in junior high.

A float of amphib plane just looks right up here. These kinds of planes have afforded us many opportunities for fly-in fishing trips to lakes inaccessible by road, and most often, the fishing is great on these little lakes.

As is typical in the evening, kids race and adults sit and tell lies and stories until it is dark, when the kids and adults move on to table games. Mille Bournes is a favorite at the cabin.

For dessert, s'mores. OK, not over a campfire, but the gas burners work just fine as long as no one's marshmallow falls onto the burner.

We all retire once not long after the adults hit the brown liquor. Sleeping is tight, so we put the kids on the screen porch. They were cold enough the next morning that we built a fire in the soapstone stove.

For breakfast, my homemade breakfast sausages and buttermilk pancakes.

About at this point, I quit taking pictures of food and started taking nature and kids photos.

We noshed on chips and salsa, salami, cheese, crackers all afternoon long. We opt not to have a formal lunch because that means yet another load of dishes.

At some point in the afternoon, Ron and Paul donned waders, and I donned a bathing suit (with a t-shirt over it) and water shoes and we decided to get the dock in. Now, this is a job that Paul and have have done many, many times together with nary a problem. But, this year, because of a way in a certain section of the dock, we decided to do some bracing, which meant that none of the holes lined up right away. This was most definitely a three-person job, and let me tell you, in 50 degree water, bare-legged for an hour, I was a tad cold. But not to cold for a full-body and hair-wash! (sorry, no photos of that one).

At some point in the afternoon, Peter and Nick walked out to the point and came back with this:

The lower jaw of a deer. There were other bones, but this is what they took. We're just wondering why it died and who/what picked it's bones clean. A vulture?

Meatime, the girls are enjoying a nice afternoon on the deck. What you can't see are the cans of Coke and Lays Ruffles.

As you can tell by the sleeping bag, it is chilly, but it is sunny. Diana is reading Mad magazine. We have a huge collection of them at the cabin, dating back to the early 70's. They are a popular read.

For dinner, we had leftover butt (heated gently in foil in the oven and served with =Mark's fabulous South Carolina Mustard Barbeque Sauce)), potato salad (which Susan and I made that afternoon). The girls had made brownies earlier in the day (yes, from a mix, and yes, they dirtied every damned dish in the place). More wine and brown stuff for the adults. The kids moved on to milk.

Then, a repeat of the previous evening. Kids playing games and adults telling lies and stories.

The next morning, it was some of my home-smoked bacon and waffles on my nifty NordicWare stove-top waffle maker. As you can see, we're a bit bleary eyed!

A lot of people around a little table, making huge memories.

But, back to Saturday. At a certain point late afternoon, the wind died down and Ron gave rides in Da Plane.

I think this is the nicest aerial shot I've ever taken of the cabin. You can clearly see the dock (which is in) and the point (toward the upper part of the photo) which is state land and a superlative playground for adults and kids alike.

Mid afternoon, we clean and tumble into the car, more than sated. The season is upon us!