Pretzel Hugs

Meg asks for these each year. The recipe is from here, although I find the cooking times need to be extended. The hugs need to go at least 7 min, and the chocolate kisses at least 9 (oven at 200F). Even then, the chocolate kiss versions don't melt well. The Hug version is more reliable, and we all think a bit tastier- stick with the Hug version going forward.

Ready to go into the oven

Fudge

After seeing the new Wow Fudge stand at the MN State Fair (over 70 flavors), I was suddenly having daydreams of quitting my job and opening a fudge store, or maybe just seeking out a fudge apprenticeship. I watched videos of people stirring big copper kettles of fudge with what looked like small boat oars, or manipulating a thick layer of fudge on a marble slab. I imagined the smell, and the joy of people buying and eating fudge. I searched for bulk recipes for fudge businesses and didn't find anything (of course proprietors will guard these carefully) but I did see that a lot of places that sell fudge now do so using pre-packaged mixes, like from Calico Cottage. I'm not seeing that a lot of places sell genuinely homemade fudge anymore. I guess I understand why- the cooking process has to be managed to precise temperatures, and there is a big cash outlay in specialty equipment if you're going to prepare from scratch. 

I decided to try some fudge recipes at home and see what I could create. My first attempt was a recipe for Old Fashioned Salted Caramel Fudge. The recipe called for heating the mixture on the stove, stirring constantly until it reached the temperature of 240F. My batch was taking FOREVER to get to that temperature, and then it suddenly seized. I tried to "rescue" it following directions that call for adding water and bringing it up to soft-ball temperature again. Again, no luck. I tested my old analog candy thermometer using boiling water, and discovered it wasn't accurate. I threw it out and bought a new, fancy, 4-probe digital thermometer that Andy can also use for multiple meats in the smoker. 

Salted caramel fudge- gone terribly wrong

Next, I tried a recipe for pistachio "fudge," but this wasn't really fudge, because it was made with sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate chips, pistachios and Jell-O pudding mix, and you melted things together. It was alright. It did not have the texture of real, creamy fudge.

Pistachio "Fudge"

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook sounds like a reputable place to get a fudge recipe, so I tried that next.

Fannie Farmer Chocolate Fudge

• 4 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 c sugar
• 3/4 c milk
• 2 Tbsp corn syrup
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla

Oil an 8x8" pan. Combine the cocoa, sugar, milk and syrup. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring slowly. Boil with a lid on for 2-3 min. Uncover and wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water (I did this, it didn't do anything). Continue boiling slowly without stirring until it reaches 234F. Remove from heat, add butter without stirring. Cool until it is 110F (this took about 45 min). then add the vanilla and stir without stopping until it loses its gloss and thickens. Pour into prepared pan, let cool/solidify at room temperature.

I found this recipe made a pretty skimpy batch in the 8x8 pan, about 1/2" high. It was pretty creamy, but not especially chocolatey. Using the new digital thermometer was much better, and more precise.  I made this to bring on a trip to Palm Springs with my girlfriends, and it triggered a TSA bag check at the airport. Fortunately it was considered a solid and the agent let me keep it.

Next up, I tried the Old Fashioned Salted Caramel fudge again, this time with the new digital thermometer. It came out much better, but I'm beginning to realize that making fudge is much more time-intensive than recipes imply. When it says bring the mixture to 238F, they don't say that you stand there stirring it for 20 min before it gets there. And to cool to 105 took about 45 min. It did get good reviews at a holiday party I brought it to.

Be careful what size pan you choose- when the mixture boils it expands a lot

The  new thermometer in action

I thought I'd try a fudge that calls for chocolate rather than cocoa, and so I tried this recipe. Utter failure. It never set at all and had the consistency of soft frosting that you'd have to eat with a spoon. I had to throw it away.

The fudge on the left was pretty good. The fudge on the right had to be tossed

Burnt Peanuts

As I was growing up, whenever we visited my grandma Nellie and grandpa Jim, my first stop would be the purple slag glass chicken candy dish in their dining room. It was always filled with some variation of Brach's candy, most commonly spiced gum drops, jelly beans, candy corn or burnt peanuts. It was a sad day when I found the contents were circus peanuts (these candies are an abomination- texture of Styrofoam, shaped like a bloated peanut, colored pastel orange and tasting like artificial banana). When grandma died there was really only one thing I wanted- that purple chicken. I figured EVERYONE would want the purple chicken because of all the good memories so I was overjoyed to learn I could have it.

Even though the burnt peanuts were unnaturally red and a bit waxy, I loved them. Several years ago I started making them at home during the holidays in memory of grandma Nellie. The homemade ones are highly superior (almost addictive) to what you can purchase, and easy to make.

Burnt Peanuts

Note: many recipes include red food coloring as an option. I always omit, as there are health concerns with food coloring and these get a nice umber color on their own. The peanuts are inexpensive to buy at Fleet Farm

16 oz raw spanish peanuts (no substitutes)

1 c sugar

1/2 c water

1/2 tsp (or a bit more to taste) salt

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, salt and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat; stir in peanuts. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes or until peanuts are coated and no syrup remains. Spread peanuts into an ungreased 15x10x1-in. baking pan and separate them with a fork. Bake at 300° for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Skillet Cookies

A skillet cookie is a great quick dessert for 3-6 people. You can prepare the dough in advance, spread it in the skillet and then wait to bake it so it's warm and ready when you want to eat dessert.

The King Arthur Flour skillet cookie recipe (for a 10" skillet) is really good and calls for ingredients I always have on hand. A half-batch of the recipe works well in a 7" diameter skillet.

I've also made a Reese's peanut butter skillet cookie:

1/4 to1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/4 c)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup salted butter softened
1 large egg room temperature
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup Mini Reese's peanut butter cups halved (I used the ones from Trader Joe's )

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars together, then mix in egg, peanut butter and milk. Add dry ingredients and mix well to combine. Gently fold chopped PB cups into the cookie dough.
Lightly grease a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Place the cookie dough into the cast iron skillet and spread out with a spatula until the surface is even.
Bake the skillet cookie for 25-30 minutes, or until nicely browned on top and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the skillet cookie to cool for 10 minutes.

Peanut butter cup

A half-batch in a 7" skillet

Chocolate Melting Cakes

 There are a number of versions of this recipe with slightly different proportions.

Carnival Cruises are known for chocolate melting cakes, and here is a recipe I found shortly after being on a Carnival cruise in 2008:

Carnival Cruise Warm Chocoloate Melting Cake

• 8 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1 c butter
• 7 eggs
• 6 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 c flour

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 8 oven-safe ramekins. Melt the chocolate and butter together over very low heat. Cool 10 min. In a mixing bowl, whisk 4 of the eggs with the sugar. Add flour and whisk well again. Add the 3 remaining eggs and whisk well. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and mix well. Divide among the 8 ramekins. Bake for 15-20 min until just done.

I most recently made the version below, which makes a smaller batch (it also has proportionately more sugar- this could be adjusted). 

Carnival Cruise Warm Chocoloate Melting Cake, V2

• 3/4 c dark chocolate chips (I used semisweet)
• 3/4 c butter
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 c flour

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 4 7oz. oven-safe ramekins. Melt the chocolate and butter together over very low heat. Cool 10 min. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together, then add vanilla and flour and whisk until well mixed. Combine egg mixture into cooled chocolate mixture. Fill the 7oz ramekins about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 14 minutes. The cake should be cake spongy on the top but the middle of the cake should be gooey-the consistency of pudding, not too runny. Do not let it overcook.

Note: When I made this recently, I used 6 smaller-sized ramekins to get 6 servings. It's rich, so this serving size was satisfying.

Front Door Planters

Fall look

I've wanted a nice pair of planters for either side of our front door, but wanted them to be low maintenance, so my plan is to try out a few seasons with clippings or faux plants to see how it goes.
Supplies:

• Pair of 27" by 14" Tierra Verde planters from Home Depot, $120. These are made from recycled rubber tires and are supposed to be cold-weather hardy
• 3 bags of wood chip mulch (only needed 1.5), $12
• Birch branches (scavenged from the ground in Two Harbors)

Fall contents:

• $75 worth of faux fall leaves on stems and garland, faux pumpkins and gourds, faux greens and yellow flowers from Hobby Lobby

Set up

These are large planters, and will be quite heavy if completely filled, so I opted to put in a few empty milk jugs and peanut butter jars, etc. in the bottoms, then filled both with wood mulch. I arranged my faux contents in the planters, mounting the faux gourds on stem wires and anchoring the leaf garland with wire.

Filled with mulch and birch branches

Winter contents:

• $25 worth of faux pine, red berries branches and cardinals (which I mounted on wire stakes) from Hobby Lobby
• Red bows I already owned
• Fresh clippings from Home Depot:
• Pair of white-tipped pine cones with pick, $14
• Princess pine bunch, $9
• Noble fir bunch, $9
• 2 Juniper bunches, $18 (these turned out to be pretty dry and monotone- don't get these again)
• Dogwood twigs, $8

Winter look

Next year I'd like to add some more ornaments on stakes, like in this one at Home Depot.

For spring into summer, I purchased $95 of faux flowers and greenery.

April- some greens, too early for flowers (even faux)

Summer

Sweden, Baltic Cruise, Netherlands

This was a trip we'd originally booked with Tom and Pam for 2020. We considered it again in 2021, but 1-week pre-boarding quarantine mandates were in place. We are so happy we could finally make this happen.

Since we would be boarding the cruise ship in Stockholm, it made sense to add a couple of days to the trip to see some ancestral sites, as Tom and Pam both have ancestors that immigrated from Sweden. I've been doing genealogy research since 2015, and this was an opportunity to do a deeper dive in preparation. I spent many hours researching, and through research and luck (for example, by reaching out to Swedish public officials related to a farm locations, I got connected to one of Tom's present-day 2nd cousins) I connected to current family members on Tom's maternal grandfather's side and his maternal grandmother's side. I was also able to get GPS coordinates for Pam's paternal great-grandfather's farm in Granna.

The first few days were a bit of a marathon. We landed in Stockholm at 8 AM local, took a taxi to get our rental car, then drove 4 hours to Grums, arriving at 1:40 just in time to meet Tom's 2nd cousin on his grandfather's side, Ulrica, at 2 PM at our hotel. She guided us to the Grums church to see the burial site of Tom's great-grandparents Jan Janson and Anna Lisa Jonsdotter. Then she guided us to her home, which is on the ancestral farm where grandpa Axel was born and grew up. We were surprised to have a total of 18 family members there eager to greet us. We had a lovely time in the loft of the family barn where Axel once milked cows. We had marvelous conversations with the inter-generational kin. To our benefit, most of them spoke very good English, and if not, there was a young person nearby who could interpret. The young adults wanted to know about high-deductible health plans and if all Americans owned guns. When we offered that anyone could visit us in Minnesota, they politely professed a greater interest in visiting New York or Los Angeles. We enjoyed fabulous coffee and smørrebrød, and debated the right way to make rice pudding. 

Gravestone at Grums for ancestors Jan Janson and Anna Lisa Jonsdotter

Gathering at the family farm, Halla

Some of the cousins

2nd Cousins Tom & Ulrica

What a spread. Amazing coffee

Our common ancestors, at the Halla farm. Tom's great-grandparents Jan Janson and Anna Lisa Jonsdotter in front. Grandpa Axel on far left

The next morning we drove 1.25 hours to Tocksfors, to meet Tom's 2nd cousin, Ann Marie, on his maternal grandmother Helen's side. To our astonishment, when we arrived at Ann Marie's house at 10 AM, there were 39 family members there eager to meet us, many of whom had driven many hours to be there. They served fika, with coffee and a large variety of home-baked cookies and buns. We met Helen's nephew Kalle, 87 years old, and the last of his generation. We worked our way from room to room, meeting and talking with people, and again getting some translation help from the younger people. The preparation and quality of their coffee was a big topic. We learned they prefer Arabica, and don't be skimpy! They showered us with little gifts like bracelets they'd strung, a folk music CD recorded by a relative and crocheted coasters in the colors of the Swedish flag. When we left, we were a bit jet-lagged and exhausted but so grateful for the opportunity we had to connect with them. We kept marveling that connecting to these two cousins via email resulted in these kind efforts to meet us. What unbelievably wonderful people. 

With Kalle, 87 year-old cousin

2nd Cousin and host Ann Marie

Another amazing spread, and coffee

Great conversations

Common ancestors, Tom's great-grandparents Aron Olsson and Anna Magnusdotter, Tocksfors

Tocksfors church

That afternoon we drove another 4 hours to get to Granna, arriving about 6 PM and buying the ubiquitous peppermint sticks then getting dinner by the lakefront after checking in to our charming hotel, Amalia Hus.

The Amalia Hus breakfast was AMAZING

Granna church

We stopped at a local grocery for some Swedish specialties, then put the ancestral farm GPS coordinates into the phone and made our way on increasingly narrower dirt roads until eventually arriving at a place that had an old house that looked like it might be used part time like a cabin. Pam's great grandfather August Johannesson (became Johnson) lived here before immigrating to America at age 26 in 1868. His wife Josephine grew up in Horn nearby and immigrated in 1869 at age 23. They married in Owatonna, MN.

Ancestral farm of August Johnson- we understand this structure is more recent

Pam's great-grandparents Josephine and August Johnson (front). Pam's grandfather Albin Johnson on far right

We then drove about an hour to the Gamla Linkoping open air museum, which was really cool, then drove another 2.5 hours to Stockholm. We dropped Tom and Pam at the Victory hotel, then Andy and I returned the rental car and walked back a couple miles to the hotel. On Tues morning, Andy and I took a self-guided walking tour of Gamla Stan (Stockholm's old town). 

Stockholm

Stockholm

At noon we all took a taxi to the cruise port for our 1 PM boarding time on the Norwegian Dawn. Getting 2,400 people on a boat is always an ordeal, as this was. Getting wheelchair assistance sped us through part of the process, but also meant we had 5 pieces of luggage to manage ourselves. We also had to wait around on the boat, with the luggage, until our rooms were ready at 3.

Happy hour

Norwegian Cruise route

Our first port was Helsinki. We visited the cathedral and market together, then Andy and I went on to the National History Museum.

Helsinki Cathedral

Helsinki Market

Next was Kotka, Finland, which was the new stop replacing St Petersburg on the itinerary because of Russia's attack on Ukraine in 2022. We got coffee together in the market square, then Andy and I caught a bus to the Czar's Imperial Fishing Lodge, then walked in the water garden.

Coffee in Kotka

Kotka Water Garden

Czar's Imperial Fishing Lodge, Kotka

Visby is on the Swedish island of Gotland and still has many of its medieval walls in place, and a beautiful cathedral on the top of a mountain.

Visby Cathedral

Visby

Visby

Next was Tallinn, Estonia. Tom and Pam stayed on the boat, Andy and I enjoyed the great old town and medieval walls. This turned out to be one of our most favorite stops.

So many of Tallinn's walls are intact, and you can walk on sections

Cafe Maiasmokk, Tallinn

Nevsky Cathedral

Raeapteek- oldest continuously running pharmacy in Europe, opened 1422

Russian restaurant for lunch. I had sauerkraut soup, Andy had dumplings in mushroom sauce. Pickle platter with honey, which turned out to be a great combination, complementary horseradish vodka

In Riga, Latvia, we had a bus tour. Our guide Helen was very informative, and described what it was like to live under Soviet communism before Latvia achieved independence in 1991.

Town Hall Square, rebuilt after WWII

Gdansk, Poland

Andy arranged for a golf cart tour of Gdansk. What we didn't know is that actual Gdansk is about a 40 min drive from where the boat docks. Fortunately, our guide Noris, a former Cuban professional volleyball player, was willing to drive and pick us up (in her car, we got in the golf cart later). The golf cart tour was 2 hours, including a stop at St Bridget's Cathedral to see the amber alter. Gdansk was very badly damaged during WWII, so most of the buildings we saw were substantially repaired or reconstructed. The most memorable part was when the guide's planned route was blocked by sudden construction, and she had to drive us quickly in reverse the wrong way down a highway about 3 blocks, and kept saying "Don't look! Don't look!"

Our guide with Tom

Amber alter at St. Bridget's

The shipyard where the Solidarity movement started in 1980

Gdansk

Gdansk

Coffee break in Gdansk before catching an Uber back to the boat

The night I got 3 appetizers

Final night of Blackjack tournament. Both Pam and Andy lost

Warnemunde and Berlin

Andy and I caught a 7:58AM train that took us to Berlin (2.5 hour ride), where we had a quick 5 hours. We started at the Pergamon Museum (good thing Andy booked our tickets in advance or we would not have been able to get in). The Babylonian Gate was incredible. Next we went to the Berlin Dom (cathedral) and paid to climb the 267 steps to the top. We finished at the Gemaldegalerie, where there was a great collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings we loved. We arrived back in Warnemunde at 6 PM and didn't have to be on the boat until 8, so we had dinner overlooking the water.

Roman temple, Pergamon

Babylonian gate, Pergamon

Babylonian gate

Berlin Dom

Berlin Dom

View from top of Berlin Dom

Currywurst for lunch

Gemaldegalerie, Berlin

Warnemunde

Pork schnitzel in Warnemunde

Kiel, Germany

Our last port of call, and good thing, because there was nothing to do here. Andy had it in his mind that he could find some apple strudel somewhere, but even that was a bust.

Coffee in Kiel

Last day on the boat

Copenhagen to Den Bosch

Embarking on a cruise ship is hard, and so is disembarking. We had to be at the wheelchair assistance area with our bags at 6:50 AM. We shared a big taxi with another couple to the Copenhagen airport, flew the rapid flight to Amsterdam, picked up our Sixt rental car and drove about 1 hour to Den Bosch where the kids are living. Meg had cooked a lasagne dinner for us. We enjoyed two full days together, visiting Kasteel Heeswijk, the Hieronymus Bosch museum, a private canal boat tour, the Noordbrabants Museum, a steakhouse dinner and the cute town of Housden. 

Kasteel Heeswijk

Kasteel Heeswijk

Steak dinner

One of many coffee breaks

Another coffee break

Coffee and Bossche ball pastries

Lunch at Bolwerk

The market

Canal tour

A walk between coffee breaks

And another coffee break, another Bossche ball

Heusden

Heusden

Pannekoeken in Heusden

Heusden

We drove back to Amsterdam and stayed the night before our flight the next morning. I took a run that morning, and there was a large rainbow, which I took as a good sign.

We made it back safely, although we learned within a day or two that 3/4 of us had Covid. Fortunately, everyone recovered. What a wonderful trip.