A Life Lived on Her Terms

I bet a few of you are wondering what would get me to Minnesota in the winter; it was a funeral. But, don't be too sad. This little lady lived just one month shy of her 99th birthday. No, that's not a typo, Ruth was 98 years old when she passed last Tuesday.

Ruth Dahlke was Todd's gramma. I took this picture of the two of them back in September 2006, the first time I met her and the rest of Todd's family. For a woman, for a woman born when she was, for a woman from a small town, Ruth lived life on her terms. She even planned her own funeral. I was lucky enough not only to be a part of the family's goodbye, but to witness an entire town say goodbye to this woman.

If you want to learn a bit more about Ruth, read on....

From the Fairmont Sentinel

Ruth Nellie McCarron, the daughter of Peter J. and Julia (Whitney) McCarron, was born March 2, 1910, in Sherburn, Minn. She graduated from Sherburn High School in 1927 and attended Mankato State College, graduating in 1929 with a teaching degree. She began her teaching career in East Chain, where she taught for two years. Ruth was united in marriage to Vern "Cy" Dahlke on March 30, 1931, in Rockwell City, Iowa. They made their home in Sherburn, where Ruth continued teaching elementary school for the next 30 years. Cy passed away on Dec. 24, 1967.

During her lifetime, Ruth was an avid golfer, bowler and bridge player. She greatly enjoyed coffeeing with her friends and following her Twins and Vikings. She was especially proud to be mentioned in the book, "Daughters of the Game," which chronicles the first era of Minnesota girls high school basketball. She also enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Ruth was a member of the Methodist Church and the Sherburn American Legion Auxiliary.

Those left to cherish her memory are her two daughters, Carron Klukow of Sherburn, Minn., and Deborah Danielson and fiance Steve Swift of Fairmont, Minn.; grandsons, Todd Klukow of Minneapolis, Minn., and Nicholas Danielson of Minneapolis, Minn.; granddaughters, Trudi Detert and her husband LaMar of St. Michael, Minn., and Courtney Danielson of Brooklyn, N.Y.; great-grandchildren, Brady Paul and Makena Ruth Detert; sister, Celia Forstrom of Fairmont, Minn.; sister-in-law, Doris Krumwiede of Sherburn, Minn.; nieces and nephews and other relatives and friends.


Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Vern "Cy" Dahlke; six brothers, two sisters, five sisters-in-law and three brothers-in-law and other relatives.

Do you live on a Crafty Planet?

I had to break my rule about going to Minneapolis in the winter this weekend. (More on that in a later post, hopefully tomorrow...) But, besides spending time with clan Klukow, I had the pleasure of visiting Crafty Planet.

Oh. Mi. doG.

I don't think I could ever live in Minneapolis (please see previous posts on respiratory issues) but I could live at Crafty Planet. Its in the North East side of Minneapolis (apparently pronounced Nor-East), just a stone's throw from downtown. When I asked Todd to take me I didn't realise it was on the exact opposite side of town from him. Of course, I could have guessed this as he lives in SOUTH Minneapolis and Crafty Planet is in NORTH EAST Minneapolis. Whatever, we were on a craft mission...distance is no obstacle.

We walked in and it was sensory overload.

Crafty Planet doesn't just have yarn, they have fabric. They don't just have all the Sublime Stitchery patterns, they have all the Subversive Cross stitch. They have EVERY craft book I own, have heard of and some I've never even thought of. They have classes and nice people who work there. It was overwhelming. I've already asked Todd if I can go back when I'm in town for HIS BIRTHDAY. He agreed. He's good like that.

But, for those of you who won't be visiting the Metro Area anytime in the near future (pictures here), as the nice owner man told me when he was ringing me up "You can always shop us online!" Now, I doubt they have EVERYTHING I saw online, but they do have the fabric I thought I could wait on. (Isn't that handy!?) Seriously, they have every bolt of fabric I've seen and coveted IN ONE PLACE. They have stuff Michael Levine doesn't! Its upsetting, overwhelming even. They have monkeys and robots and skulls and knitting needles and wood and designers and just, its too much. I love it there.

Where was I?

Oh yes, food at the fair...

After enjoying our "Veggie Fries" we made our way to visit with all of the crafts and veggies on display. (No, not in the same building, in case you were curious...but they are across the street from one another.)

As you would guess, Minnesota takes their crafts very seriously. The sheer volume of knitting, crocheting, felting, weaving, etc... is something to behold. With my trusty cell phone in hand I tried to get a few of my favorites as well as demonstrate the volume. Lets see how successful I was.

That's a lot of blankets. And that's just one case.

Its about 90 degrees out. Need a hat? Perhaps a scarf?

Ok, here's my favorite item displayed. Obviously, I wasn't the only one who felt this way.

If you want to see more of my fantastic reflective shots of the crafts, feel free. I'm getting hungry so lets move to the veggies.

Giant pumpkins!

As you can see in the background, its a whole room of veggies. There area behind the pumpkins are all the largest varieties. On the outer band of the room are all of the best of winners. Todd was impressed by the volume of varieties of pepers. Yes, he's easily amused. Of course, this is coming from the person exicted by the angry granny TP cover, so really its all relative.

Enough with the healthy stuff. Our next new culinary taste were the always popular cheese curds (from a different vendor...we live life on the edge people!). I really wish someone would rename cheese curds 'cause to a west coaster, that just sounds bad. But really, there is nothing bad about deep fried cheese. That is all good. Next was the porkchop on a stick. Not new to the fair by any means but we had never had it before. Apparently we didn't go to the stand that made these famous but ours was pretty darn tasty.

We also had the Nitro ice cream (always a favorite of mine) and Todd tried the Bell Pepper rings. As you would guess, instead of onion rings, they're deep fried bell peppers. Sadly, they're not on a stick but Todd liked them.

As a take home bonus I did a bucket o' cookies. They load up the bucket above & beyond so you can't close the lid. Here's a suggestion to all of you dropping cookies or feeling that you HAD to eat a dozen in the first five minutes to shut the lid...grab a plastic bag from one of your earlier purchases. That way you can take the excess cookies, put them in the bag and then close the lid on the bucket and eat at your leisure. I know this doesn't sound all that ground breaking but you didn't see the chaos with the cookies. It was cookies everywhere...cookie anarchy really. So with our $1 all you can drink milk we enjoyed the overflow of the bucket and I was able to bring home cookies to mom and the nice people here at work who are moving me from cube to office.

See, with cookies and tshirts and a sweatshirt, you can take the fair home with you!

Off to the Fair!

One of the myriad of reasons I go to Minneapolis over Labor Day weekend is the State Fair. Unless you've been there or some other farming state's fair, you've never seen anything like it. You and your closest 100,000 friends in one place. Though, because the fairgrounds are so large, you're not in any long lines or get pushed around too much.

We usually park in the front yard of one of the houses along the fairgrounds in St. Paul. For $20 you drive up, hand them your keys and walk right into the fair. No shuttles, no walking blocks and blocks to your car...just drive and go. Because of obvious traffic concerns, this year we decided to try something different and take the shuttle near Todd's house. $10 for the two of us round trip. And, oddly, as advertised, we walked onto the bus, and left about 5 minutes later. When we took the bus back, we walked onto it, and left about 5 minutes later. It really couldn't have been easier. And, we skipped all the traffic we usually sit in to get near the fairgrounds. Though, the rumors that you get discounted fair admission for taking the bus are false. Don't believe them. They lie. Admission is still $11. I'm just sayin'.

Because we took the shuttle we entered at a different gate over by all the live stock.

(By the way, that isn't the full fair map. I cropped it. There's more.)

Even at 9:30am, just a half hour after opening these areas were crowded. People here take their livestock very seriously....just so you know. First stop...corn dog. I mean, what says healthy state fair breakfast like a corn dog. Because we entered at a different gate, we got our dog at a different vendor. Usually we do Pronto Pup, this year we did Poncho Pup. I know, super exciting right? But, until you've had a corn dog at the fair, you haven't had a corn dog.

After our first food tasting, we did the swine barn. They pigs and sheep were very cute, despite my trying to figure out how to use the camera in my new phone.

Most of the sheep were either wearing their hoods and coats to keep them clean before they were shown, or had just been sheared. I thought it was mean to take pictures of them in their hoods (they look like unofficial members of a certain cult and really, I'm sure the sheep don't want to be seen in that light) or without any fleece. They looked so naked...cool, but naked. So here's a little guy with no hood and with his fleece just chillin'.

Here's the top boar:

I thought I got all of his stats in one picture but obviously not. As you can see Squeaky was quite content, taking in all of the attention.

Next we headed to the cattle barn and watched a few minutes of the milking demonstration. (I got bored when they hooked up the cow to a machine. Wow, watch the machine milk. Milk, machine milk. Not that advances in farming aren't fantastic. They are. Its just not super exciting to watch the machine milk.) We went inside and visited with the nice cows. I had no idea there were so many different kinds. It was cool to see them by category all in the same area..definitely gives you a good appreciation for what cattle people do and the size of these animals.

Outside of the cattle barn were the nice Alpaca people. They had alpacas and yarn and items made locally like scarves and hats and mittens. Everything was just beautiful. I chatted with Pat Hansen who owns Pure Country Alpacas. They doing a farm tour at the end of September...if I were in the metro area I'd totally go. I learned all sorts of things about alpacas and their fleece and the mill she uses the co-op she belongs to. It was pretty fantastic. Of course I had to buy a little yarn for myself, milled from her Alpacas! And, I bought a bit of hot pink roving from one of her friends who gave her roving to sell at the fair. Both are incredibly soft and if I weren't on such a spending spree that weekend I would have bought more. She had both hand spun and mill spun yarn. I'll admit, I went with the mill stuff but it wasn't for the quality. The hand spun was some of the nicest I've ever seen. But, how do you say no to 200 yards of lime green alpaca yarn? I'm so excited to have met the person who cares for the animals it came from.

Here's a (bad) picture of the alpacas they brought to the fair:

After the alpacas we went in search of more food. I mean, we had been at the fair for almost 2 hours at this point and only a corn dog to sustain us. My goal this year was either to eat stuff we hadn't had before, or, if we were going to repeat, like the corn dog, get it from a different place.

While looking for food, and for Raven, we stumbled upon "Veggie Fries." It was their first year at the fair.

As part of our food strategy, we opted to share everything so that we wouldn't explode, er, would be able to try more stuff. As you can see Todd is getting a jump start on the "Veggie Fries." Maybe it was just me, but it reminded me of vegetable tempura. But, it was darn tasty, on a stick and deep fried so it met all of the fair requirements.

Now might be a good time to let you know that Minnesota takes "on a stick" very seriously...and not just their food. I have Change on a Stick for Barack Obama that I got at the fair. They really like their stuff on a stick and take it just as far as they can.

Ok, I'm getting hungry...more food & fun tomorrow.

Minnapolis and a wee bit of shopping

Well Labor Day weekend means one thing to all of us...Minneapolis! What, you didn't go? I thought everyone in California went to the Midwest for the long weekend. Huh.

Anyways, I spent the weekend in beautiful Minneapolis. I kept saying, and I meant it, if it weren't for the (winter) weather, I could totally live there. If you haven't been and you have the opportunity, you really should. They have an incredibly vibrant art scene...plays and musicals and music and modern art and Russian art and all sorts of stuff. I've been traveling out there for 3 years now and haven't even seemingly scratched the surface. And, then there's the shopping. There's a three story Off Fifth right in the middle of downtown, not to mention the Super Targets and boutiques and all of the craft and yarn shops.

Normally, I don't shop in Minneapolis. I confine my spending to food and stuff at the fair. But, the February issue of Lucky recommended several shops in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Oddly, I was able to cut out and keep the page with the recommendations (so not like me) and even remembered to bring it with! I took this as a sign. But, being the level-headed shopper that I am, I immediately crossed off sever shops from my list for this trip...no craft or yarn shops as Regina & I are heading up to Portland in two weeks. Also, no trendy boutiques as I can find that stuff here. That left about four shops I really wanted to hit.

As timing allowed I was able to stop in two, Hunt & Gather and Design Collective. Hunt & Gather is about 3 blocks from the significant other's house. I've driven by this place about 100 times and always wondered about it but never had a reason to go in. So, we kidnapped, er, took his mom's dog for a walk and headed down the street. Todd and Brown Dog hung out outside in one of the many Adirondack chairs while I ventured in.

Hunt & Gather is not for the faint of heart or the claustrophobic. If you're a collector or someone who's looking for that diamond in the rough, this is the place for you. The store is divided into different rooms on two floors separated by the various vendors. Talk about Midwest and honest, when you're walking around this store you are definitely on your own to, well, hunt and gather. No sales people looming over you, no pressure...just wandering through thinking about your grandfather's attic and all the cool stuff you could find there. I didn't find anything I couldn't live without but there were several people having quite a fine time finding their own treasures.

Design Collective was described as off the beaten path in the Lucky article. Uhm, if you mean, one building up from a MAJOR street, one that Todd takes to work everyday, just past the busiest part of Uptown, then, sure, yeah, really off the beaten path. Its a small shop, but the polar opposite from Hunt & Gather. Everything is merchandised beautifully and despite the size of the shop, you never feel too closed in.

The shop has the clothes organized by designer with a little bio at the beginning of the rack. Other than the tshirts, everything was pretty much one of a kind. The shop feels like the various small designer sample sales you find in L.A. And, that's a compliment. The clothes are original and very well made. But, if you're not the size on the hanger, tough luck. There was one plaid skirt, very 50s that I liked but it looked to be about a size 8. So, no need to be a sample size, you just need to be lucky. I will say that if you're in the area and you need a gift or a fantastic card, go here. The cards are incredible and the tshirts, purses, jewelry and odds and ends would make a unique and fabulous gifts. I had to talk myself out several cards as well as some arm warmers. 'cause, you know, I really need arm warmers. So, Todd bought me a very nice tshirt and we continued on our merry way.

In search of the Moose

Yeah, yeah, L.A. city girl blissfully taken with the quaint small-town life. The concept of driving more than 10 minutes (without traffic) for food is just something I don't understand. So, anytime we venture to Southern Minnesota, eating is definately an adventure. One night we drove to Iowa for food. Dude, we went to another state to eat. He!!, I can't make myself drive to the valley for good sushi and we're driving to another state? Well, Southern MN is like a foreign country to me so I just take the same attitude....sure, I'm game for anything.

Here's the latest...

Trimont (about 15 minutes from where we were staying) has a town owned restaurant called the Chocolate Moose. Its the sort of place mom'n'I have joked we should open...cook when you feel like it and close when you don't. Well, we were hoping to eat there on Saturday for lunch (when they usually feel like cooking) but it was Easter "weekend" so they didn't feel like cooking. Seriously, that rules and something that would so not fly in the big city. I told T that is a manditory meal (assuming they're open) for next trip. I mean, a town owned restaurant that serves what they want to serve when they want to serve...freakin' awesome.

Since that was Trimont's only restaurant. (Again, I get crabby when I only have one restaurant per block to choose from here, but when in Rome...) We pushed on, to a "large" town in search of food (Makato for any of you playing along at home). We exit the highway to take the scenic route through town. Uhm, yeah, industry and mini-malls are scenic, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Mankato is a nice place and I just saw the seedy underbelly. Though, I should have had T pull over to take a picture the best adult shop sign ever. Seriously. "Free vibrating egg with purchase of Easter Basket." I mean, what says Easter and Jesus and stuff better than a vibrating egg? Sadly, I had to use the little girls room, so really, stopping at red lights was optional at this point; I wasn't about to pause for a picture.

Speaking of not pausing for pictures, I did not take one that day. Not one of pizza (not that s.ly has been skimping on the pictures of the famed pizza, and btw, Bicko really does live up to the hype), nor one of our dinner companions, (s.ly & Melba joined us for dinner with drinks followed at Herkimer). And, that was d@mn fine pizza followed by drinks at a d@mn fine bar. I mean, color me happy, they had not one but two kinds of cider. Definately picture worthy. Oh well.

Having a rough time

In case you were wondering, there's no Orange Roughy in greater Minneapolis. Word on the street is that its over fished. I'm just letting you know in case you're looking for it and feel like a moron 'cause you can't find it. I'm here to help.

Our food choices that day were odd yet satisfying...bagels for breakfast, Byerly's for lunch and
Torge's for dinner.

Bagels - I really could have lived the rest of my life and never know about Cinnamon Sugar bagels. Soooo good. From someone who swore off bagels, other than an occasional wheat, this was not a good discovery. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Byerly's - For the L.A. kids, this is the equivalent to Gelson's. They have really good specialty food...the soups seem to be a particular favorite in this crowd. As a whole, spendy yet worth it. I'll need to take a bit more time to poke around. We were in a bit of a rush so I didn't get a chance. I mean, any market that offers samples of key lime pie is a happy place in my book.

Torge's - The finest Fairmont has to offer. Well, the finest Fairmont has to offer that doesn't allow smoking. Not that you'll ever go there, but if you do, order the Artichoke Crab dip. I seriously made a mistake by not making this my dinner. It was yum and stupidly I had to not only share but be expected to eat my entree. So yeah, next time, this is dinner.

Mas Por Favor

Thankfully I was in Minneapolis so really, even when going to a Mexican restaurant, I'm not expected to speak any sort of Spanish...which in my life is very important. Really, you don't want me to speak Spanish.

For lunch we did the sky room at Macy's. I was impressed. The space was bright and spacious and food was very yummy. If you've never been there, you have different options, Mexican, salad bar, Asian, deli and grill. I had Mexican, T had salad bar and L had deli. Every one's food looked good. (If L wasn't a good 5 inches taller than me, I would have totally taken her sandwich.) And, seriously, for the Midwest, my food was solid bougie Mexican...a great stop for lunch.

For dinner we went to Maza, more bougie Mexican. Its owned by a local restaurant family and located in downtown Mpls. Its casual yet upscale... expensive but without the pretension or dress code. And you know, they delivered. The wait staff was knowledgeable yet not condescending, which is a tough line. The drinks were yum (if you like girly, do the Cucumber Margarita) and the food was well portioned and very different. Though, one word of warning. If you are a hot wuss, meaning you can't handle spicy dishes, think about your choice of restaurant. I tend to fall into the spice wuss category and this was really in my upper threshold. But, in all honesty, this was T's birthday dinner, not mine, and he loved it, so it was the correct choice. And, all of my friends dig food spicier than I do so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone.

You definitely get what you pay for. Go there. Tonight. Yum.