Fun and Games

 

I am pretty sure that no one year old would ever care if there were games at their first birthday party. Or a cake, or presents for that matter.  But, when you have two older sisters and all your “friends” are older, school aged (and by that I mean college aged) friends, you really need some games at your birthday bash.

 

So in planning this little shin dig, I found the perfect party for all ages.

July marked the birthday of the blog Draw! Pilgrim.  She designs some pretty cute stuff and the whole month she featured great free downloads for a Pinwheel and Bunting Themed party.

 

So for the big birthday event, we are going to play Pin the Pinwheel, and maybe bingo, because it is too cute not to play.

Check out all of her stuff over on her blog.

Taverns, Made Rites and Sloppy Joes

 

So my sisters are at home for a few days visiting our parents in Northwest Iowa and the question has arisen as to the difference between the three types of sandwiches named above.  

I have done a little research and will share my findings with you.  I know, you can hardly contain your excitement.

 

1.  Tavern.  The tavern recipe I have comes from my childhood friend Erin.   I have know Erin since grade school and we spent a fair amount of our Junior High years  working on our 4-H record books, baking cream puffs at her grandma’s house, riding 4 wheelers around her farm, practicing crazy skits, working on our Share the Fun for the State Fair, and making super cool cards on  the computer(like when computers were first invented)!  Ah the good ‘ole days.

Back to the taverns.  Here is the official recipe. 

Simmer for 10 minutes-

2 cups water

1 cup catsup

3 teaspoons dry onion

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 cup brown sugar

Add to that, 2 lb cooked ground beef and 1 teaspoon dry mustard.

Simmer 40 minutes. 

There were a few recipes to be found for taverns on cooks.com and the ingredient list was similar.  I like Erin’s recipe.

 

2.  Made Rites.  Another Iowa original. 

In 1926, Fred Angell, a respected butcher in Muscatine, Iowa, combined a special blend and grind of the finest Midwestern ground beef with a selected recipe of secret spices and created the one and only Maid-Rite sandwich.

As legend goes, Mr. Angell asked a delivery man, at his restaurant, to taste his newest sandwich creation. After a few bites, the taster exclaimed, “You know, Fred, this sandwich is just made right.” Thus our signature sandwiches name was born.

Thanks to my mom, I have a recipe for Made Rites as well. 

Bob’s Drive-In Made Rites

2 1/2 to 3 lb ground round

14oz chicken broth

1 small onion

salt and pepper

Brown beef in 1 tablespoon oil, crumbling with a fork over medium heat.  Add chicken broth and simmer uncovered until liquid is absorbed.  ( You may use 3 tablespoons dried chopped onion)

I love Made Rites too.  We have Carl’s Canteen here in Loveland where you can get a sandwich for lunch and the owners are from Iowa even! 

3.  Sloppy Joes.  The most commonly known of the sandwich names.

Sloppy joe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A sloppy joe is an American dish of ground beef, onions, sweetened tomato sauce or ketchup and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun. Commercially made sauces are also available. Contradictory lore suggests that the Original Sloppy Joe Sandwich was invented at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida or by a cook named Joe at a cafe in Sioux City, Iowa as a variation of the popular "loose meat" sandwich (which does not contain tomato sauce).

Sloppy joes are also referred to as:

• Yip Yips in Southern Illinois near St Louis.
• Yum Yums in parts of the Midwest USA, particularly in Nebraska
• Wimpies in parts of the Northeast USA, especially Northeastern Pennsylvania
• Slushburgers in parts of the Upper Midwest, particularly in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota
• Barbecues in other areas of the Upper Midwest, and also in some parts of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
• Hot Tamales in parts of southeastern Wisconsin, particularly in the Sheboygan area despite the fact that tamales are a completely different food item.
• Taverns in parts of northwest Iowa and Minnesota.
• Sloppy Janes in parts of central Minnesota.
• Steamers in parts of Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.
• Gulash (not to be confused with Goulash) in parts of the Upper Midwest, especially in areas where people of Scandinavian heritage, boasting Viking roots, are prominent.
• Dynamites in northern Rhode Island.

 

So, if it is  a sloppy joe you seek, I would refer you back to item #1.  The best Tavern recipe ever. 

And that settles that.

Maybe I should stop wondering and start working.

 

I often find myself wondering  things. Why can’t I get anything done?  Why is my birthday a month past and I have not sent out any thank you notes?  Do you think these plums will turn into fabulous jelly all by themselves?  When do you think the girls will be able to wash their own hair?  And get all the soap out?  Will I survive a 1st birthday and two 10th birthdays in one week?

Sometimes I think if I had less stuff going on, I could get more stuff done.  While this may be true, I have figured a few things out when it comes to stuff getting done.

1.  Nothing is more important than the things I do for my family. 

2.  Dirty clothes and dishes don’t wash themselves but they will wait patiently until after everyone goes to bed. 

3.  And the things we do for others are the most rewarding when they are done because we are able to do them and for no other reason. 

October gets kind of crazy at our house.  We celebrate our anniversary and all the girls birthdays.  We have my sisters coming to visit.  The girls have changed their mind about what they want to be for Halloween at least 100 times already.  And that is just the family stuff!   We have a whole bunch of things going on at church that will be  great to attend (and maybe plan too :)  and I am sure there are things going on at school that I am not even aware of yet.

And on top of all that I am so thankful that I have time to fill in at church, get together for coffee dates, help Scott clean off his desk,  watch the big girls chase the little girl around the chair and read books before I tuck everyone into bed. 

I love being busy.  It forces me to slow down so I don’t miss out on anything. 

So tomorrow I start my list for October, mostly so I don’t forget anything.  And I think I will start with this for the birthday festivities. 

 

This is one of the cutest blogs I have come across lately and I am using all her great party stuff for the girls birthday party.  Stay tuned for all the details. 

And the winner is…

A few posts back I put up the recipes we entered in the Corn Roast Festival recipe contest.

The  Old-Fashioned Corn Roast Festival is the oldest and one of the largest community festivals in Loveland. Weekend activities included a Friday night street dance, roasted and boiled corn for sale, live music and Loveland's Got Talent Contest, beer garden, corn shucking contest, corn eating contest, corn recipe contest, parade and more.

I wanted to enter the corn eating contest but after a few practice tries at home, I realized I didn’t have a chance and stuck with the recipe contest.  And it is a good thing I did!

 

Corn Recipe

• Corn Relish Winner - Marybeth Hammond, Feta Corn Salsa

• Corn Chowder Winner - Kellee Zweifel, Santa Fe Corn Chowder (that’s me :)

• Corn Casserole Winner - Maryjo Morgan, Fried Corn

• Corn Chowder Winner: Junior category- Brea Hammond, TexMex Taco Soup

• Corn Salad Winner: Laura Burrill, Texas Tailgate Caviar

• Judge’s Choice: Laura Burrill, Texas Tailgate Caviar (look at Laura go!)

See that big trophy?  That is because she is the Judge’s Choice winner!  Way to go Laura! 

We celebrated by refilling our fresh squeezed lemonades  and toasting Mom for giving us the recipes and sharing a funnel cake.  It turned out to be a great day.

Things I send in the mail

 

I wish I lived closer to my sisters.  That way when they ask what they should serve for their upcoming parties, I could just make them some stuff instead of just making suggestions.

So my sister Lauren had a house blessing on Sunday and served a variety of cookies outside on a table underneath a tree in her yard.  It turned out super cute.  I wish I could have been there but instead I sent these. ( And paper lanterns from Dollar Tree but that is another story.)

 

And my sister Adriane is having some people over on Saturday. Again, I wish I could go but I can’t so I have these to offer.   

Sorry Adriane, I am not sending you the LWML cookies.  I know you are disappointed.  They were extras and completely experimental.

So the moral of this story is to invite me, knowing I can’t come,  in hopes that you will get a  box of cookies in the mail :)

Martha ain’t got nothin on me

I don’t really read Martha Stewart’s blog. 

Her personal life, I could do without.  But when I saw this as her post for the other day, I had to check it out.

1. Because I wondered when her birthday actually is. It is August 3rd.

2.  Because mine is August 29th and the last thing I want is to share a birthday with Martha.  DeAnn I am fine with :) Just not Martha. 

If you click on the link you can see the pictures and the rest of the famous guests too!( I don’t even know who half of them are!)

August 26th, 2010

My Joint Birthday Party With Harry Slatkin

A few weeks ago, I went out to dinner with my good friends, Harry Slatkin, the fragrance tycoon, and his wife, Laura.  We chose a new restaurant in Montauk, the far-east end of the South Fork of Long Island.  Its name is Navy Beach, a beachfront restaurant and bar serving casual coastal cuisine in a laid back, family-friendly setting.  While dining, we looked around and said, “Wouldn’t this be a great place to have a birthday?”  And so we started planning.  Harry and I never celebrated our birthdays together before, but it seemed like a fun thing to do.  Dinner consisted of everyone’s favorite comfort food, including iceberg wedges, butter poached lobster rolls, buttermilk fried chicken, truffled macaroni and cheese, seafood and chips, parmesan French fries and a several-layer chocolate cake.  Harry!  What do you think?  Should we try it again, next year?

So let me take this opportunity to compare this with my birthday.  Which is actually the point of this post. 

1.  Since it was on a Sunday, I went to church and it was a communion Sunday for us. Nothing like starting off your birthday will all the saints.

2.  My children gave me hand made cards. And I know my husband purchased a card for me BEFORE the actual day :)

3.  I got a box from my sisters with the most thoughtful contents. 

4. I got a box from my parents with the most thoughtful contents.

5. I got tons of FB Happy Birthday wishes, lots of texts and phone calls.

6. We went to my in-laws house for a wonderful supper. 

7.  I got to eat some fabulous chocolate pasta and enjoy it with some great company. 

  I got to celebrate my day with the most important things to me.  Church, family, friends and food.  It really doesn’t get any better than that. No matter how old you are.

Thanks everyone!

Need Something to Do?

Head on over here and check out cute thing upon cute thing! 

ONE PRETTY THING

I am particularly fond of the cake buntings that are popping up all over these days. They would be so cute on a set of cupcakes too.  And made out of paper instead of fabric, you could make them completely personalized. 

Did I mention that I have 3 milestone birthdays in my house all in one October week?  I am thinking and planning ahead!