The Declaration of Independence

At last year's 4th of July holiday weekend, I printed out the Declaration of Independence to get an understanding about the holiday we as Americans tend to take for granted. After reading a good chunk of it out loud, my dinner guests and I got into a great discussion about the lack of knowledge many Americans have about this important document. Spurred to action, I brought a domain name and posted the Declaration in its entirety - http://theusdeclarationofindependence.com/

A sad day....

Today, Cindy Sheehan announced that she was stepping down from her self-imposed role as an anti-war activist. She sited dissappointed with the democrats as well as Americans' lack of contempt and action to stop the war in Iraq.

When Sheehan first took on Bush and his war in Iraq in 2005, she was a darling of the liberal left. "However, when I started to hold the Democratic party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labelling me with the same slurs that the right used," she wrote in the diary.

What a sad day. This woman only asked the question"What noble cause did my son die for" To which she never received an answer.

Read her "letter of resignation" here

Home Improvements - Patio

So this spring, we've been working in the yard - A LOT. First there was the new raised garden bed on the sunny side of the house, then of course, my annual 10 yards of mulch to put in and the newest project, the New York Blue Stone patio that Todd is putting in the back between the house and pool. And while it is possible to lay the stones willy-nilly to get them down, Todd, our ever driven project man, just happen to have a diamond cutter in the garage so now he can make the stones fit where ever he wants by cutting, scoring and fitting them perfectly.

Where to find wheat pizza

Since I was a teenager in Madison, the best wheat pizza (did you even know they made them?) has got to be the Uncle Sal's Spectacular wheat pizza from Rocky's. We had some last night. With pepperoni, tomato chunks and sausage - it's a great combo. Just remember to ask for wheat as they default white dough.

Raine awarded red belt!

What has been about two years in the making finally happen this month with little fan fair but great karate forms, actual board breaking and some improved self-defense moves, Raine has been awarded her red belt at East Madison Karate with Senseis Jeff, Maria and Jane. Yeah!!!! She started out in tae kwon do in 2003 and in 2005 switched to karate. Raine is now two belts away from her first degree black belt in Karate. Teiko proudly shows off Raine's new belt and congratulates her accomplishment.

Todd's Birthday

Todd's birthday (May 24) got me thinking about all that we've accomplished together over the years of our partnership. Here's a sweet photo of Todd and I in 1986 at an Easter gathering in Baraboo.

How I learned to crochet

This is so cool, just figured out how to embed a video on my blog.

Anyway....this video is how I learned to crochet last winter. I played it over and over and over until I got the correct stitches. A great learning tool if you want to learn crocheting, knitting, etc.

Frikandel Recipe for the Raine'ster

This was Raine's favorite dutch food when we lived in holland. You could pretty much bet that Raine was down at Pete Friets getting a frik when she had any money.

Frikandels are basically fried sausage-like things. I just found a recipe so we'll have to try to make this soon as Raine hasn't had a frik in about two years. We'd eat ours with dutch ketchup (curry-ketsup) onions and frietsaus (mayo).

Frikandel

• 1 lb ground pork, beef, chicken (any combo, really)
• 1/2 c minced onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 mashed potatoes
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp pepper 2tsp. salt 1 tsp. nutmeg

Preparation: Chop up the onion, put it together with the mashed potato, beaten egg and garlic in the ground meat. Add to your own taste salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Make sausage-like rolls. Deep fry in oil or you can fry in a pan.

Note: You can make a "Frikandel Speciaal" as follows: cut the roll in the middle (like a hotdog), add raw chopped onion, mayonnaise and ketchup.

Here's the Wiki - description of a Frikandel

Summer Plans

So not much else planned for the summer but work, yardwork and housework. This summer will be gone before I know it. However I do know we're are going to do the following:

• To indianapolis for the Formula 1 US Grand Prix
• A few long weekends up to Beatons
• Probably backpacking on Isle Royal

Here's a great shot of the pier we put in last year at the Beatons property.

Tomatoes anyone?

We built up a nice raised garden bed on the side of our house this month for vegetables. By July we are going to have tomatoes coming out of our ears. As per the course with Todd developing the project, the small little garden for my three plants is now 15 meters by 6 meters and I’ve been hauling wheelbarrow loads to fill the damn thing up and still haven’t made a dent on the mountain of soil the delivery men plopped in my front yard two weeks ago.

Puppy Gumbo Recipe

Since that horrible outbreak of death food for animals, I've taken extra precautions on what I feed my dogs. While I don't raw feed I do choose carefully what my dogs eat. I called the dry food company, Nutrisource, out of Minnesota to ensure its safety. Secondly any "wet" food that my dogs scarf down is made by me!

...Gotta love me some of dat puppy gumbo...Teiko

Puppy Gumbo is what I call cleaning out the refridgerator of left-overs. My dogs love the "real" food and I like that I know what my pups are eating. Puppy Gumbo contains any of the following items and is different everytime, depending on what I have available.

• Bones: from what ever you have handy (chicken, duck, beef, deer)
• Meat: I use fish, venison, beef, bison, pork, turkey, chicken and even shrimp skins. Really, it's whatever's sitting in the refridge.
• Vegetables: potatoes, pumpkin, squash, carrots, garlic, celery, brocoli, mushrooms - whatever you want to clean out of the drawer.
• Grains: rice, barley, couscou, pasta, again whatever is sitting around.

Directions: Assemble any or all of the above ingredients, depending on what your pups like and what's laying around. Start the gumbo by cooking the bones and hearty vegetables with a 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for a two hours. When the stock is rich in color, add the soft veggies and grains and simmer until veggies are soft. Discard the bones. I will keep one container in the fridge while the others go to the freezer or to my family. To serve: add 1 or 2 tablespoons of gumbo to each cup of dry kibble for extra deliciousness.

Northside Farmers Market

Got to love the Farmer's Market! My fave is The Northside Farmers Market - Great farmers from all over the area - Last week's highlights were: Angus beef, lamb, chicken, organic plants, flowers, etc.

Awesome camera

All of the pictures you see on this web site I have taken with my new Pentax Optio A20. I haven't had this much fun taking pictures in a long time. With 10 Megapixels of power, the close-ups, clarity and color are pretty amazing.