The movie took me by surprise, but it was a great surprise, and a fantastic journey.  We saw it in the historical Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee, right in the middle of all the inner city turmoil this summer.  It was a warm July weekend, and we ran in for the Sunday matinée showing (it can be challenging to be in the area at night). 

After the movie, and all the great French swing music, we walked onto the sidewalk outside the theatre, into a couple keeping pace with the pedestrian traffic.  She had taupe four inch heels, and a tight pencil skirt.  He was shouldering a guitar, and he asked “Did you just see ‘Midnight in Paris’?  Of course we did, and so we answered in the affirmative.  He said, “If you want to continue the experience, there is a French Swing Band playing at the Hotel Foster, right around the corner.”  They were suddenly lost in the crowd on the walk, and we looked at each other with the look that says to each other, “I’m game!” 

Sure enough, just around the corner, on the opposite side of the street, we saw the “Hotel Foster” sign.  We crossed at the light, and walked down the block to come into a really cool looking bar.  It apparently used to be a hotel, but was now a bar.  And sure enough, there was a French Swing Band playing, with open windows to the sidewalk “French” cafe, where patrons gathered with their brews, taking in the music and the city.

Yes, the guy with the guitar was right!  This did extend the movie experience!  Midnight in Paris is a fun movie, and if you can listen to a French Swing Band afterwards, it is so much more fun!

Forty eight years ago this summer, I first visited this little lake named “Ennis Lake” but really, it is John Muir’s lake on the West end of his homestead from so many more years previous, in the middle of Marquette County, Wisconsin.  

This picture is taken from the South end of the lake, where a pier used to stand, and young kids used to launch their motorboats and go waterskiing.  There were always a bunch of local kids out waterskiing back in the 60′s; I was among those camping families around to the left of the hill, usually swimming out on the float.  Occasionally I would get out in the rowboat with Dad, and fish out in the middle, where I’d see the kids on this side of the lake.  Camping is no longer allowed; motorboats are no longer allowed.  And, the DNR came in and destroyed the pier, leaving only the posts behind as a reminder of what used to be.  Why does the DNR have this need to destroy things?

Shannon McMahan (a photographer who paints with light) had taken our Christmas 2009 photo shoot and added the bottles of Port for the photo contest, “Posing with Port” at Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac.  As a result, we won the prize for their first ever Facebook photo contest.  And we also had an enjoyable time trying out the white Port.  A word to the wise:  Please don’t plan on going anywhere after drinking a glass of the white Port!

We caught up with Chef Wilfried Alt in Fredrichshafen, Germany, Friday afternoon, on the 26th of November, 2010. And just like in November of 2007, it was a challenge to find and get to the great Chef.

Early that morning we were in Scharnitz, Austria, just south of the German border near Mittenwald. We cleaned out the apartment’s fridge of food for breakfast, and as I walked outside to our vehicle, loading my first suitcase, I met the snow blizzard, pelting those flakes on my nose. Oh, oh, this is going to be a challenge to drive through!

As we headed out on the open road through the Austrian Alps to the Bavarian Alps, I kept a wary eye and foot on the gas pedal. There were some icy sections, and the cement truck, churning away, was a sight to behold. Just where the wet cement was headed during a snowstorm was a mystery to us.

The GPS software was a bit outdated, but we managed to find our way to Augsburg, only to become lost at the exit ramp from B17 because newly installed round-a-bouts were not there yesterday when the software was written. We called my brother on his extra cell phone to find our way off the Autobahn into the city of Augsburg. We found his apartment and a roadside parking spot from which to unload our suitcases.

After an hour or so of catch-up conversation, we headed out the door on foot, towards the main train station. My brother suggested we catch a tram to the central train station. He carried extra tickets in his wallet and so scanned them for our ride. When we arrived, he purchased a day’s train ticket so that we could head off to Friedrichshafen. We hopped onto the train at Augsburg and found our seats. This was much more comfortable and smooth as compared to Amtrak in the States. After a bit of cruising along the rails, the conductor came by for our ticket and then quickly explained that we had the wrong ticket for this train and that we should hop off at the next station and take the regional train instead of this more costly express train. Oops! So we hopped off this faster train and hopped on the next regional train. After a short trek to the train “crossroads” at Ulm, we arrived and checked out the routes available to get us to our destination. Surprise! There was a train heading in the direction of Friedrichshafen, and it was 10 minutes late, giving us four minutes to buy a ticket and hop on board. As we did that, another five minutes delay was added, guaranteeing that we’d make the train, which we did. Amazing! The next train was another two hours wait, and if it hadn’t been for this delayed train, we would have been sitting for a long time before we had the chance to keep traveling. We had to ask a fellow passenger where the train was headed exactly, in order to determine where we might get off. It turns out that the train was headed straight for where we wanted to go…..and we departed the train at Friedrichshafen Stadt for the 100 meter walk to the Central Hotel Bar and Restaurant.

We found the Central Hotel and walked into the Bar, a bit smoky with the fumes of recent cigarettes, and were greeted by the owners of the establishment. We said we were here for dinner with Chef Wilfried, and we were quickly seated in the dining room area. Suddenly Chef Wilfried appeared through the doors, and my brother Dave began a conversation on the events of the past three years since last we dined. I felt so handicapped, not knowing German, but I trusted my brother Dave to convey our feelings to the Chef, that we wanted him to surprise us again with his artistic and flavorful creations. Chef Wilfried told Dave that he had survived death not once, but twice, in the three years since our last visit. First, he had narrowly missed smoke inhalation when the former restaurant burned in the night. Next, he survived a bronchial pneumonia attack during which he lost his job for being out ill for so long. When he went out looking for work, the owners of the Central Hotel quickly hired him, feeling very lucky to have found such talent in their immediate need. And so it came to be that Wilfried Alt was there to greet us on the shores of Lake Constance in the Central Hotel Restaurant and Bar that Friday afternoon.

We asked that Wilfried choose the wines to go with his creations for our special meal. Dave asked that the wines be limited to 20 Euro per bottle….we had to be reasonable about this. The first was a dry white wine from the local Robert & Manfried Aufricht winery in nearby Meersburg. Dave checked it out and decided it made the grade, and then we were served with the first course, an appetizer of cream cheese mixed with salmon, herring, peppers, and paprika served with warm freshly baked onion bread. Wilfried came out to see how we liked the appetizer and we definitely liked it. Anything cheese for us from Wisconsin is sure to please us. Combine the cheese with complimentary tastes, and we are in tasting heaven.

The next course was a creamy field salad soup. The salad greens, which included rucola (arugula in the US), weren’t exactly pureed, but they were chopped, and then combined with a warm creamy base. It was like eating a hot salad. Bits of smoked salmon were dropped into the warm, creamy salad, and it was garnished with a sprig of something which maybe someone can identify in the picture. All I know is that it was the best salad soup ever!

When Wilfried brought out the next plate, I thought we had a rock lobster, but no, it was an extremely big shrimp, served with curried rice which included peppers and onions. Also on the plate was a zanderfish filet that was crusted over with bread crumbs I think. The zanderfish is a pikeperch type of fish common in Europe. It was delicious. Caviar was skirted around the outside of the plate, dropped on the tomato caviar puree.

After the plates and silverware were replaced from the seafood course, a bottle of Anoranza Trianza, a Burgundy from Spain I think, was presented to me and I found it hearty enough to accompany the next surprise as Wilfried brought out the main course, a plate of wild elk and wild boar, served up with broccoli florets, carved champignon, potato puree topped with a hazel nut, Preiselbeeres (cowberry or loganberry) and surrounded by a wine sauce with a cream sauce swirled through it. The wild game could be cut with a butter knife because it was so tender and flavorful too. I heard the beef cattle in Germany are not fed like our beef in the USA, so that getting a great steak here is not easy. That’s probably the reason Wilfried likes to prepare wild game. The wild animals choose their own natural food which makes for better eating at the table for us.

Just when I thought I couldn’t eat any more, Wilfried really surprised us with the dessert tray; yes, a tray for each of us, with three of his own freshly made ice creams! There was a peppermint ice cream, loaded with chunks of chocolate. When I noted the peppermint was so strong, and it reminded me of gin, Wilfried let us know that fresh peppermint was cooked up from which the oils were extracted for the ice cream. He also had a banana ice cream with honey and crushed nuts, and another ice cream of Toblerone, a Swiss milk chocolate with bourbon vanilla ice cream. There was also a cup of yogurt creamed with honey, nuts, and finely chopped peaches and a piece of cake made with fresh apples. All of these were surrounded by fresh raspberries on the tray, dusted with powdered sugar.

 After that meal, I thought I had tasted everything there was to taste in the world! When I asked if I could take a picture of us all, Wilfried suddenly disappeared; when I asked the owners where he went, they said he went to change his apron; he wanted a clean apron for the picture. When Wilfried returned, we took a picture at the bar by setting the camera on its little tripod so that it could be done without a flash. We said our goodbyes for another best dinner in the world, and set off on foot for the chilly walk to the train station for the two hour trek back to Augsberg.

There’s not much time for exercise in daylight after 5 pm these days so swimming will take over my nightly leave from the office as the colder weather takes over. 

Where did that summer go?  The days have gotten so short, and the temperatures so cool at night.  Just what did we do this summer after Ludington?

We picnicked at the American Players Theatre before the Saturday night performances of Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw.

We bicycled all over the countryside from the Dells to Milwaukee and the lakefront, even when the President flew in to speak.  The Coast Guard was everywhere, escorting the local tour boats AWAY from the lakefront.  But Labor Day had the threat of rain, and the clouds were all puffy and ready to burst.

I ran up to Green Bay to revisit the old neighborhood and saw that Bay Beach was quite the gathering place for families on summer weekends.  The old train still ran around the park.  I vaguely recall a photo from the late 70′s, of  sitting in a train car, looking so big in such a little train.  Only the people have changed in the picture!

We went bicycling North along the Wisconsin River, deep into the next county.  Last summer we could wade out to the sand bars at this boat landing in Juneau County.  This summer, every sandbar was covered with more water.  The Dam at Wisconsin Dells has been frothing all summer, and even now, in the Fall, the gates let through so much water every day.  We never had a dry August.  I was cutting the grass every week!  I quit mowing now for a few weeks because the walnuts tend to sting as they shoot out from under the mower.

The rural roads up here outside of the Dells area are quiet little paths through the woods and farmland.  We even have a winery in the woods and so we burned off the calories just to put them back again with sample sips from fruits of the vine.

Cucumber Soup

If you have lots of fresh cucumbers over running your garden, here is how to use them.  I raid my sister Nancy’s garden for cucumbers.   She’s gone camping most weekends  

Since making this cold soup in our last summer party with my investment club friends, I have gone back to it, time and time again, because it tastes so good!  One of our club members worked in the test kitchens of Kraft before retiring last year, and she knows what makes for great tastes in foods.  She’s the one who planned the menu for our summer party.

I never had cold soup before this soup.  What I learned was that it was such a taste treat!  The buttermilk added to broth, makes for a match that must have been made in heaven.

Use slightly more buttermilk than the broth; 16 ounces of buttermilk to 14 ounces of broth. 

I already use chicken broth to cook my fresh asparagus, spinach and broccoli.  Aldi’s has 32 ounces of low sodium, no fat, chicken broth for $1.29.  Their 14 ounce cans sell for $0.69 each.  After cooking the fresh veggies in chicken broth, I save the liquid to use in my cold cucumber soup.  There are so many vitamins and great tastes in that cold soup!  After cooking the veggies, I have a combined chicken and vegetable broth.

Here is what I use to make this very delicious, full of vitamins, cold cucumber soup.

1 can (14 oz) reduced sodium chicken broth (or broth from cooking vegetables)

2 cups buttermilk

1 cucumber peeled and seeded, finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped onion or a finely chopped Vidalia onion (I really like sweet onions)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp dill weed (I like the freeze-dried variety from Lite House Foods, but fresh is better)

Dash pepper

4 slices fresh lemon, optional for garnish

Celery leaves, optional for garnish

Combine ingredients except lemon slices and celery leaves in large bowl. Chill 2 hours in refrigerator or 30 minutes in freezer. Serve garnished with lemon and celery leaves. Makes 4 servings.

This year’s Ludington bicycle trip timing was much like my first in 2006.  There was no time to spare for anything to go awry.  I packed my bicycle in the car trunk, then I threw in my knapsack and sleeping bags for the 24 hour mini-vacation over to Michigan and back but I first I had to travel 200 miles by car.  I left the Dells with the sun setting to the West, shining back at me in the rear view mirror.  I remembered thinking that I would be greeting the sun when landing at sunrise on the other side of the big lake.  I managed to get to Wauwatosa  in a couple of hours to add Tim and his bike (my car’s back seat folds down to fit both bicycles inside) and we headed North up I-43 for Manitowoc arriving just as the ferry had landed.  We parked the car, unloaded our bicycles, sleeping bags and knapsacks, picked up our ticket in the ferry office, and boarded the ferry at midnight. 

After fixing our bicycles under the stairs with a bungee cord, we climbed to the middle passenger deck.  At the next stairs to the upper deck, a generously endowed woman with a very large piece of luggage, seemed to be stuck between floors in the small rectangular opening.   Some people became frustrated and left to go around to the other side of the ship, but it looked like there were enough people who were willing to push her up the stairs when she suddenly figured out her problem, and moved her bag from her side to her behind, and then she popped through to the top.    We found our way to the bow of the ship where a couple of vacant lounge chairs stood waiting for us in the very front.  This location is best if you don’t want the wind whipping around you all night.  And then I saw the lights below as we waited to leave.  They were still just as beautiful as I remembered them.  Manitowoc knows how to light up a harbor.

What a sound sleep we had on the open deck after a couple of Sam Adams from the bar.  As we pulled into the Port of Ludington the next morning, the sun was poking over the Eastern horizon, shining just a little light topside as a group of teen girls were starting to wake in a row of lounge chairs next to us.  I was so glad they went straight to sleep the night before!

We pushed our bicycles down the ramp to the ferry office where we stowed our sleeping bags for the day, and then wheeled down James Street for breakfast with the very smiling Brenda at Brenda’s cafe.  She was the lone waitress and hostess in a full house of patrons when we arrived, but she found space for us in a booth by the window near our bicycles.   Her smile still amazes me, because she is so cheery so early in the morning.  It is no wonder the place was full of the male gender, including the whole local fire department.  There were just a few of us women in the place….I counted two others until Brenda’s mom arrived to help her out. 

After breakfast, we decided to hang around in town to watch the ferry leave back for Manitowoc.  We found that Ludington has really been putting a lot of effort into it’s local parks in the last few years.  New concrete bicycle and walking paths, artwork sculptures and historical displays, and new benches and tables were scattered along the shoreline and pathways from the harbor to the city beach and the skate board park. 

We watched the smaller boats go out for a day’s fishing and we walked our bicycles out along the long pier to the lighthouse and took our picture before the pier became occupied with the Saturday morning  joggers and walkers who came out to wave to the departing ferry.

We then hopped on our bicycles and took off for the five or so mile ride out of town to Ludington State Park (voted BEST state park  by Midwest Living magazine), where the Sable River flows from the  Hamlin Lake Dam into Lake Michigan and where I took a nap in the early morning sun on a bench by the river, using Tim’s lap as a pillow.   

Tim woke me to watch kayakers coming up river to the dam.  Kids and families were beginning to blow up their air mattresses, rafts and rings, and jumping into the river, below the dam, to take advantage of a real lazy river.  This wasn’t one of those indoor waterpark lazy rivers that float rings in a circle….this was the real thing.   And at the end of the hour float down the lazy river is the beach….crystal clear water and lots of clean sand, for miles!  There is nothing like this in Wisconsin!

We brought along a third ring, tied our valuables in sealed ziplocs and a plastic shopping bag, across the center of the ring, and floated the camera on top of it to take these pictures in the water.  The whole thing worked out pretty well and nothing inside the ziploc bags got wet.  Next year, we’ll be able to do the lazy river and the beach, now that we know how to travel lightly enough on a bicycle with small swim rings.  The picture with the big ring is a little deceptive….that ring is much closer than we to the camera.  Tim flung it towards the camera as the lens was taking the picture.  At first I thought the camera might have recorded just the ring, but Tim’s timing was perfect!

The beach was so colorful with people and umbrella’s from all the families in the surrounding campground.  I can see why this place is a favorite in the Midwest; there is swimming, fishing, camping, bicycling and hiking, which is what we did next, climbing the stairs to the top of the dunes.

After going back into the woods at the top of the dunes, we found our favorite shaded bench in the tree tops for another short nap while our suits dried down below on the bicycles, and we worked up the energy for the five mile ride back to town.

Back in town, the Adrenalin Games Alliance was sponsoring a skateboard competition in the local skate park.  I managed to get a perch up front to take some video when a little kid warned me to step back a bit because the skaters were using the path next to me to fly out into the bowl.  The little star of the event was a blonde kid with long hair, exactly like my son, only a foot shorter.  I recorded a video but I haven’t figured out yet how to get the video inserted into this blog.  (It isn’t of the same file extension as allowed.) 

We had a few hours left in Ludington, and we know that the Jamesport Brewery gets crowded around 6 pm, so we headed over there before 6 and were immediately seated.  The Salmon Oscar was our choice, with their IPA.  After dinner, we headed over to the bar and tried the Scottish Ale, while chatting it up with a local couple who were there to support the entertainment, a young lady whose haunting voice on guitar is remniscent of the lead singer of the Cranberries from the 90′s.  She was very good, and we each picked up one of her personally signed CD’s.   When we tottered away towards the boat at around 7:30 pm, I don’t know how I made it without falling.  I laughed all the way down the street to the ferry office where we picked up our bags and then ambled back on board.  We met some interesting people on board, but especially interesting were the Amish couple, orginally from Bonduel, near Appleton, Wisconsin, who were visiting their daughter in Michigan, and now heading back to home in Missouri.  I took their picture as the sun was setting.  The husband said that they don’t pose for pictures.  When I asked if it were because of vanity, he answered in the affirmative.  I showed him and his wife the picture anyway, and they just smiled.  I think it’s a beautiful picture of the sunset we had that night on our way back from our whirlwind day in Ludington.  And Wisconsinites just don’t know what they’re missing by staying on their side of the lake!

It’s sort of like my Sunday in Richmond; Richmond, Virginia that is.  It was my first time there, visiting relatives of my best friend.  So we took to the historic Canal Walk along the river in 90 degree heat and the humid sunshine.   We were getting a history lesson about the burning of Richmond, and at the same time, we were watching kids of the area take advantage of this big, wide river, and the railroad bridge which spanned its width. 

They were jumping off into the cool muddy waters, taking advantage of the ropes that hung high from the beams below the tracks.  These kids weren’t exactly ignoring the history of years past in this same exact place.  They were just living in the moment, and it was hot, and that muddy water was cool, and the thrill of that jump was more important than the quotes on the bridge. 

So how do they do it?  How do the words just flow for some, and become like a major effort for others?   I think it’s a matter of living in the moment.  The words flow when we take it one sentence at a time.  We don’t need to bite off a lifetime of words, but rather, just jump in for the moment.  So how was your Sunday afternoon?