Thursday, July 13

Wednesday, July 12

Curly
About the recipe below: I sure wish I had the gumption and the equipment to make it. It sounds scrumptious!! I also was doing an experiment. I did not know if it would copy and paste correctly from the website I found it on. It did.:-)
French Onion Soup Gratinee
Submitted by: Jersey Tomato Rated: 5 out of 5 by 13 members Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 15 Minutes Yields: 4 servings
"About as good as it gets! This is the version of French Onion Soup that people seek when they go to restaurants. I have been making it for 30 years and it never fails to please. It makes an exquisite presentation, too!" INGREDIENTS:
4 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon salt 2 large red onions, thinly sliced 2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced 1 (48 fluid ounce) can chicken broth 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth 1/2 cup red wine 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2 sprigs fresh parsley 1 sprig fresh thyme leaves 1 bay leaf 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 4 thick slices French or Italian bread 8 slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese slices, room temperature 1/2 cup shredded Asiago or mozzarella cheese, room temperature 4 pinches paprika

DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in salt, red onions and sweet onions. Cook 35 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized and almost syrupy.
2. Mix chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and Worcestershire sauce into pot. Bundle the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf with twine and place in pot. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, mix in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread.
3. Preheat oven broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet and broil 3 minutes, turning once, until well toasted on both sides. Remove from heat; do not turn off broiler.
4. Arrange 4 large oven safe bowls or crocks on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each bowl 2/3 full with hot soup. Top each bowl with 1 slice toasted bread, 2 slice Gruyere cheese and 1/4 of the Asiago or mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a little bit of paprika over the top of each one.
5. Broil 5 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. As it softens, the cheese will cascade over the sides of the crock and form a beautifully melted crusty seal. Serve immediately!

Tuesday, July 11

The trail was misty this morning and I assume the DNR had been busy clearing weeds aka wildflowers. They left these for our viewing enjoyment.
Flambouyant Coneflowers
Spent Cone flowers
Tree Tunnel -Notice the hole through the trees near the center of the photo.
Swedish Weaving Tablerunner
Finished Swedish Weaving project

Monday, July 10

In the Year 1906

The year is 1906. One hundred years ago!
What a difference a century makes!

Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the Year 1906:

The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.

There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.
With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.

The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home.

Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education.
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools,
many of which were condemned in the press and
by the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
1. Pneumonia and Influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.
Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.

The population of
Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write. (Not sure we have improved on this one.)

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores! Back then pharmacist said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." (Shocking!)

Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.

And I forwarded this from someone else without typing it myself, and sent it to you in a matter of seconds! Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years. It staggers the mind.

Sunday, July 9

Mickey and I rode the trail to Jefferson (18 miles) while Butch, Jason and Laura played golf. And then we were able to catch a ride back to Yale. We found some wonderful blackberries near the intersection of 330th street and the Raccoon River Valley Bike Trail. And we saw an Indigo Bunting (small blue bird) near Jefferson.
Blackberries!!
How many Turkey Buzzards are in this picture? Answer -7 That is right! 7 and they did a fine job of cleaning up a dead possum on the road.