Keeping Up On Phases in Life

The blog-writing has had some interruptions lately.  Some of those time-robbers have been very pleasant and planned….others were not so welcomed.
Winter hit our condo in Indianapolis with a staggering punch!   But there’s recovery in this story.  Our ice maker on the refrigerator decided to go nuts and spray water everywhere while we were wintering in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Tim came to the rescue when he found the disaster.  He got the water shut off, brought in the guys to tear up the flooring and stabilized things until it warmed up enough for us to get back with the motorhome.   There’s not much use crying about it now.  The homeowners insurance kicked in and we got things livable as quickly as possible.  We’re once again settled in on Cape Drive in Indy. 
Meanwhile, during the repairs, we had our old parking spot for Ferd at Tim’s house.  Somehow this situation seemed appropriate, depending on Ferd the Foretravel as our home again for a spell.  So, things were very comfortable when they could have been treacherous.
We arrived in Indianapolis, and were all setup a day or two in advance of the March celebrations.  To start off right, we joined a few family and friends at the neighborhood Murphy’s restaurant on St. Patty’s Day.  It was fun to tip a few and chow down on corned beef and cabbage, while catching up with our peeps who had weathered the long, frigid winter in Indy.
Two days later I was treated to my birthday lunch and a really cool time at the Indianapolis Museum of Art by Krissy.  Here I am inside the bamboo exhibit in the three-story lobby.  This is one art exhibit that you can touch. Imagine these reeds hanging from about 50 feet(??) up, just a few inches apart, in a huge circular design that you can walk through.  Oh well, it's hard to explain. The photo doesn’t do it justice!What a fantastic mother/daughter day we had. Krissy found a small, white-table-cloth restaurant for us to try with great food and nice atmosphere.  We saved our birthday brownie deserts for later when we knew we’d have restored our appetites after walking the museum.  The featured exhibit currently is Robert Indiana, “the Hoosier state’s most famous living artist.”  The exhibit includes his most iconic works, such as, the Love statue and his Numbers pieces.  There’s a good deal of background from interviews with him that bring some light to the motivations for his work.  It’s very interesting to learn about his history and what influenced the pieces he created. We used the audio tour to walk through while we heard all about Robert Indiana.  Plus, we roamed through more of the creations on other floors in the museum before our feet were beat. For instance, look at this unusual piece of artwork - it’s actually wearable!  Want to try to order a McDonalds wearing this?!  Krissy and I thoroughly enjoyed my birthday browsing both contemporary and ancient works of art.  http://www.imamuseum.org/ 
About the time we got settled back into our condo at Cape Cod Village, April started out with a treat.  Mary Jo (friend since high school) came to visit from New Mexico.  Of course, she has other folks to see besides me.  But I was lucky enough to have some time with her on three occasions during her week in Indiana.  Thankfully, we never lose touch.  Between visits on our travels, her occasional trips back to Indy, email and phone calls, we keep each other up-to-date pretty well.  But these times when we can just talk together like old times are the best.  We had a super time on our day in Nashville, IN, with her cousin, Nancy, (great gal). It was a blast for the three of us to make the trip to Brown County, cruise around the state park we all love, and then browse for the afternoon in the shops in Nashville.   Here are Nancy and Mary Jo with a furry stuffed friend we found outside a local establishment.   And I had to stop to say hello to Abe at the woodcarver’s shop, too.

The latest celebration was just a few days ago with Grandson Ben.  He’s 19! It seems incredible that he’s grown from that little boy drawing pictures in our living room to this 6-foot-something young man on the road to being an electrician.  We sure enjoyed having a birthday evening at Applebee’s with Ben and his sister, Caroline.  Here’s Ben and Gramps having one of those special moments.
Our lives seem pretty fluid right now.  We’ve given Ferd the last sprucing up.  He’s awaiting the anticipated transfer to a new owner.  We’re just moving into a new phase in our lives -- whatever it turns out to be.  For sure, we plan to roam some more.   Who knows where, when or how.  Keeps life interesting!

Last Hurrah in Alabama and More

The winter weather in the north is finally finishing up  -- taking its sweet time!  We’re enjoying the last few days of temps in the 60s and 70s in Alabama while the weather in Indiana keeps improving. We’ll be winding our way back home soon.  So, I thought I’d write the “Last Hurrah in Alabama.” 

We’ve enjoyed being in the community of Gulf Shores, becoming used to the surroundings as you do over a three-month stretch.  There have been many sunny, 60-deg. days, but also some tremendously wet days. A few days the rain pounded so hard on our roof it hurt our ears.  I’ve written about some of our days when we checked out the beach, the parks, and the various goings on. (See Alabama link on right)  We even made it to a movie - American Hustle was a great surprise!  We’ve had some good times trying out the local cuisine, the seafood and sausage dishes are great.  I’ve walked the routes around the 496-site campground many times, observing the array of license plates from Alabama to Ontario.  Many of the people we’ve been parked with in the monthly-section here have made this their winter home for a number of years.  They reserve their spot for next year as soon as reservations open.  You see gatherings of old friends everywhere along the roads as you are coming in or out of the campground.  We are surrounded by folks from Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, as well as from Florida and Alabama, and the many Canadians.  They all agree that this winter has been colder than usual.  But, it’s a very nice place to be.

I do have one more food story.  In our exploring of the great seafood in the Gulf Shores area we noticed that there are “Reds” on the menus.  Since we haven’t spent any time in this area we weren’t really sure what this was. Red snapper first came to mind, but they wouldn’t call it that, right?  So, we googled it. We learned that these are a special kind of shrimp found in the deepest areas of the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. They’re very popular for their lobstery taste.  The other day we decided it was about time to try them. We were planning to share an appetizer of a pound of Royal Reds that we found on the menu at Mikee’s, one of our favorite spots.  Then, we inquired about how they were served.  And you know how Jerry doesn’t like to “work on his food,” unless he’s the chef.  When the waiter explained that the “Royal Reds” were served whole, with heads, tails and shells, Jerry said “never mind for me.”  Well, I decided they sounded too good not to try them. I ordered the pound as my meal and got busy pulling off the heads and peeling the shells. Yes, they are pretty messy.  But, Oh My My!!   They do taste like lobster, mild and juicy.  And they are served with the melted butter, too. Yummy, yummy.  I think the waiter was surprised I ate them all.  But I thoroughly enjoyed my feast!

To wrap up my Last Hurrah I wanted to post my video of the ocean, lapping away at the shore.   It’s really beautiful - spectacular! (LOL)  But, for some reason I can’t get YouTube to upload it.  Tried it from my phone and from my laptop…no luck.  It’s frustrating.  I’ll figure it out later.  (Instead I guess I’ll post my selfie at the beach!)

As we’re making plans to sell Ferd soon, we’ve been talking quite a bit about how fortunate we’ve been.  These years on-the-road in the RVing lifestyle have been tremendous for us.  The fun experiences, the fabulous people, the beautiful scenery and unique places - they’ll never leave us.  Thanks to everyone who shared with us and made our time special.  And thanks to our families who encouraged us to enjoy ourselves!  We’re winding up this phase of our lives, but not Hurley Travels.  There are more travels to come, just a different type.

We could never choose the best of all those memorable stops, people and events. Many of them are in our posts for this blog in the right column, all fixed up with a title and attached photos.  Some of them we have to remind each other about.  Then we can smile again, sometimes even there’s a cringe,  while we describe what we each think we recall.  But, just for fun, here’s a brief photographic sampling of the last ten years at Hurley Travels:

 

Hurley Travels Memories VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  Be safe.

Hoosier Outdoors and Hurley Rides Again

These past 30 days have included the usual happenings, but also a few unique ones.   For instance, our 13th wedding anniversary, our Niehaus family reunion, some good and bad recipes in Jerry’s smoker, and visiting with a friend that I haven’t seen in way too many years. (Good to see you, Melissa!)  And even though I don’t have details here on everything, those memories are cataloged in special places.
So, I'm doing my usual overview on the space here at Hurley Travels with two of our newsy pieces.  We've been enjoying the Hoosier Outdoor Experience and Jerry’s new toy, Bruno.
On September 21 Krissy and I had a very pleasant, sunny day of volunteering and roaming at our local state park.  This is one of those roundabout happenings.  My girlhood  (really really longtime) friend Mary Jo, who now lives in New Mexico, forwarded an email to Krissy from the Hoosier Back Country Horsemen. Mary Jo’s a former member.  They were looking for volunteers during the Hoosier Outdoor Experience at Fort Harrison State Park, just around the corner from our house. We both, of course, enjoy getting out into nature.  And since Krissy has never lost her horse-loving spirit since the days she spent her free time riding and grooming Snaz (her favorite horse), we both were happy to take part.  Turns out the Hoosier Outdoor Experience is two days of learning and doing everything outdoors, from fishing to gold panning and off-roading to tree dogs.   Volunteering for us meant acquainting people with information on the riding trails in Indiana, showing them the Dutch Oven cooking and making sure kids didn’t put their hands in the horses mouths.  Some young people learned to saddle the horses, clean hooves, etc.  Susan, one of the horse owners, taught visitors how to tie knots and do knot tricks. 
One of the highlights of having some time with the Hoosier Back Country Horsemen group was that we both got the chance to visit with a friend, Yvette Rollins, that we knew years ago from riding trails.  Horses are a primary part of her life.  Many people understand that. There sure were lots of folks enjoying the horses here.   Yvette and other members of the group taught everyone about how they conserve the outdoors, whether it’s cooking without scorching the ground or leaving no trace with their special mats for the horses.  We learned about cooking in a volcano Dutch oven that circulates the heat, while stacking the cast iron pots with various types of food, one on top of the other.   They shared some delicious chili and cinnamon coffee cake and other goodies with everyone passing through!
Then, after our few hours of volunteering, we hopped on a shuttle bus to experience a little more around the park.  There were families everywhere, canoeing, shooting, fishing and learning about trees, birds, dogs and on and on.  For instance, strolling through the many exhibits we chose to spend some time watching the demonstrations of the tree dogs.  Very fun to watch them focus, focus, focus!  After some time at the lake and feasting on a  huge hot dog and elephant ear, we took the bus back to our car for a short ride home.  What a great day!

But what else have we been up to at the Hurley household?!  Just another addition in the Hurley garage!  Bruno, the Suzuki Burgman 400, joined the group about three weeks ago.  He’s getting along pretty well with Ole Yeller, Ruby and Ferd so far.   Of course, Jerry contemplated, researched, calculated and reviewed before deciding that it was time and the Burgman was the choice.  Oh yeah, first he did the appropriate shopping and debating. Tim helped, too.  When Jerry found what appeared to be the best deal, age, color, and so on, Tim was ready with his trailer hooked to the pickup -- they made the trip to southern Indiana.  The father/son trip was a special part of this story, too.  (Yes, guys, I think so!)  Wish I had a better pic of the two of them in the garage after they unloaded it in the rain. But Tim didn’t stop cleaning the bike long enough.  So, here I have the top of their heads as they investigate another doohickey!
Without going into a great deal more explanation or description, here’s the new means of transportation at the Hurley place.  Yes, he says he’s come full circle: At 17 years old he had a Vespa that he attempted to ride from Indianapolis to Phoenix.  (That’s a story for another day.)  About ten years ago we had a Harley, before our fulltime RVing days.  There were some good times on “Cherry” too.   And today, Bruno is getting Jerry around town, to the post office, hardware store, and the long way around to wherever he decides to go. 

Lastly, for those wondering, we are getting ready to make our exit from the cold climate in mid November.  Ferd is waiting patiently for us to load clothes, supplies and fuel for the trip.  Things are different now that we have a stick home to button up.  You know, storing the grill and the flower pots and turning off the Internet and TV services, etc., etc.  But we’ll be watching the weather as November moves along.   There are roads to the south that are holding more experiences for us. 

Thanks for visiting us at Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

Six Weeks Worth of Living

Okay, I’ve heard that I’m really failing at the updates on this blog.  That’s true.  So, here goes Tim!   I’ll see how well I can do at covering our lives for the last six weeks.

Since arriving back in Indianapolis in late April, we’ve been involved in several gatherings for birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and those no-special-reason occasions, too.   Most of the time I take a few photos, but some pass by without getting recorded.   We really enjoy them all.  Let’s see if I can describe a few….

In early May we had a nice time celebrating Krissy’s birthday with a yummy Italian lunch at Bravo.  She chose a visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art as a birthday activity.  Here’s a photo of some bicycle art in the lobby - where cameras were allowed.  We spent some time in their gift shop too, browsing the wide choice of interesting items.  There really wasn’t enough time that afternoon for appreciating all the exhibits in this exceptional museum,  so it’s on our list to revisit this summer. 

Of course, May brings Cinco de Mayo and a good reason to have Mexican with the granddaughter and her best friend.  Thanks to Caroline and Kelly for another pleasant evening.  These two college girls always keep us smiling.

The following Sunday was Mother’s Day and Krissy created a very nice brunch. Her frittata was delicious and she made roasted veggies, Sangria and this delicious fresh fruit dessert in our photo below.    By the time the day was over we had Ben, Caroline and Jenny all joining in on the visit. But we were so busy talking and eating dessert that I didn’t get any pictures of them.   I have to say it was a very nice Mothers’ Day.

 

Early in June I was lucky enough to be with my Aunt Peg for a birthday lunch including our Aunt Ruth, my sister, Marti,  and cousins Marilyn and Bill.  After taking her out to lunch, we returned to her kitchen for some of her Jell-O cake and the usual lively conversation.  We always enjoy our gab fests with her, laughing about old times and sharing the latest events in all of our families. The photo below has  Aunt Peg peeking over the top of one of her family memory quilts that she’s in the progress of completing. Her daughter, Rosie, and our cousin Marilyn are helping to show off her work.  Peg is 89 years young and we are all hoping to have her energy and independence.

 

There have also been the occasional lunches, dinners and hanging out with friends and family that season everything.  For instance, the other night we went over to sister-in-law Margie’s to have a glass of wine and go out for dinner since we haven’t had the chance to see her in the six weeks we’ve been in the city.  Well, once we started our talk-fest we didn’t stop.  Six hours later we were still there in her living room, had ordered a pizza and finished the second bottle of wine.  None of us realized how much time had passed until I looked at the clock and it was 12:45 a.m.   We had lots to share!

 

Then…..I have to mention the most recent birthday celebration for another one of the youngsters in the family.   Jerry and I drove out to Greenfield, about ten miles east of Indy, to take part in the festivities for Chase’s (my niece, Angie’s, son) tenth birthday.  There were about 20 people of all ages getting together to say Happy Birthday with cake, ice cream and presents.  One of Chase’s presents was this nifty go-kart.  There were lots of rides for all of his party-goers, including me.  He even taught me how to drive it myself.  We had a super time.  Chase is a very nice young man and we’re glad to see him enjoying these times in his life.

To put the topper on this list of happenings, Father’s Day was super for Jerry.  He always says “I don’t want  anything special. Every day is Father’s Day.”  We thought Tim would be too busy with work to be able to get together.  And then Jenny somehow lost her voice and felt too nasty to take part on this Sunday.  But,  I put a roast in the crock pot and Krissy was going to stop by for dinner.  Our surprise was that Tim’s customer canceled and he got a few hours free.  He decided to get on his Harley and come over.  The four of us sat on our little patio for a couple of hours and enjoyed ourselves.  Those unexpected times together can be some of the special ones.  (No, I didn’t post the photo with your holey t-shirt, Tim. Next time. )

Interspersed within all of the planned events are the unplanned happenings.  We treasure the impromptu activities, such as when we get a text “Are you home? I’m in the neighborhood.”   Caroline might have time for a Subway sandwich after class or needs to use the Amazon account or the Internet. Or someone wants to just stop by to say Hi.  Or a son calls with a last minute cookout plan.

Jerry and I are happy to have our little place in Indianapolis so that family can stop in, our friends can come over for a drink and we can take our turn at having some small gatherings at our place.  And we enjoy going to everyone’s place to have a swim, ride a kart, sip a glass of wine or taste a yummy new recipe.  There’s so much to be thankful for in our lives.  I’ve probably missed a few events over these six weeks, but I think this represents the overall picture anyway.   

Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

What’s Up After Our Winter Travel ?

We did a “study” this winter -- just low key and personal, that is.  A few of our questions are at least partially answered.  Do we want to continue our RVing now that we have another home in Indianapolis? Is the lifestyle still as attractive?  Or are we ready to hang up Ferd’s keys?   

How did we feel about taking to the road again?  Did the traveling still have its attraction? 

Honestly, after the 18 months break in 2011-2012, we easily readjusted to our life in the motorhome last Fall.  Seeing some old friends and traveling to a few new places was very enjoyable.  And missing the ice and snow in the Midwest was a no-brainer!  We had a great time out on the road over the past five months.  Ferd continues to make a nice home for us and is comfortable for traveling.  Leaving the condo seems to have worked out without problems…at least for this winter. 

Results of the study are: We are still feeling fortunate to be able to move around in Ferd at our leisure.   We’ll continue to maintain this two-sided way of living for now. 

So anyway, we are resettled into our little place here in Indianapolis for a while. Unpacking Ferd was not fun, but we survived.  There are many projects on the to-do list for our condo.  One aspect we were considering was a new TV satellite or cable service. Whether we wanted to put the Dish Network TV satellite “on vacation” and get something different for home.  Check that one off! We investigated, evaluated, arranged and overcame the headaches of the process. We not only have a new Uverse modem and DVR, we are enjoying new selections on our Amazon account.  Thanks friends for the input we received this winter from those of you who were way ahead of us on these options. It’s great!

We’re also  busy remembering where everything might be and finding those things that we left undone or developed over the winter.  For instance, the weeds went crazy with all the rain. I’m pulling weeds and planting.  Jerry’s fixing indoor lights and planning a workbench in the garage.  No hurry though. We’re taking it slow.

One of the projects that was on my agenda was to scan, organize and backup computer files, especially the scads of photos that were in storage. I’ll never really finish this little endeavor.  But, I always have fun looking back at the oldies. 

So now, my brain’s busy coming up with other ways to have fun with these old photos. Some of you know I’ve started using these days-gone-by pics to create  cards with a little different wrinkle. Now, I’ve decided to reuse a few as Facebook cover and profile pictures.  I started with one of Jerry and me with Ole Yeller from a few years ago.  You can see it on my FB page. 

But all this scanning has to lead elsewhere, right?

How about we do some time travel to the past here on the blog?!  I’ll dig out one or two old photos each week for a post. Who knows what will pop up!

Since this special lady’s birthday is this weekend, I’ll kick off with Krissy.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Krissy.  Love you lots!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

A Friendly Day in Congress (AZ)

When people reach out to include you they make you feel so good.  That’s how things are going here for us.  We have been visiting with our friends, Jerry and Dee Thomas, at their place in Congress, Arizona , at North Ranch RV Park.  It’s an outgoing group of folks that make this their home for various amounts of time during the year. (These guys to the left are included in that group.  But, hold on. We’ll talk about this splendid vehicle later.)
This morning Dee invited a few girls to her house for Christmas cookie decorating. She baked Jerry’s great grandmother’s cookie recipe, about five dozen delicious sugar cookies.  Then Marla and I got to create designs with icing and sprinkles.  Part of the fun was licking the delicious icing off our  fingers, of course. The guys took care of various “projects” all day long, too.  There always seems to be a project or two.  But first and last, there’s lots of good conversation, discussing the how to’s and why not's of it all. 
As we move around the country we are blessed to encounter people that are outgoing and enjoy life. This afternoon, as we were heading back to the lot where we’re parked, we stopped to say hi to Marla and Rick and found we had a mutual friend from their hometown of Sheridan, Wyoming.
By the early afternoon we had shared stories, sampled cookies, tweaked motorhomes, shopped for Christmas groceries and retrieved packages and mail from the local post office.  We received Krissy’s Christmas baked goodies gift today.  We aren’t finished sampling the new assortment for this year. But I have  to say the lemon truffles are exquisite.  And Jerry still loves the spiced nuts.
And, oh yeah, there was even time today for Jerry (Thomas) and his brother, Tom, to relax and reminisce as they looked cool in their family heirloom truck, “Big Red.” This 1955 Dodge (in the photo at the beginning of my post) worked for the Thomas's in their RV park business for many years.  I think that this vehicle might tell a myriad of tales of these two with their Dad back in Ohio.  Memories!
Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

Germany and Mexico - A Taste of Two Cultures in One Day

Travel, travel, travel…. so many places to be. The other day we made a visit to Germany and Mexico in one afternoon.  Really!

There’s more to this story, of course. About a year ago, after we got situated in our new home base here in Indianapolis, we started thinking of the local spots that we’d like to revisit, or initially explore, after eight years of being mostly out of the city.  There are old and new restaurants, parks, museums, old haunts and various areas of the city and state that we want to re-explore.  Then there were the Hurley injuries . We were sidelined for a while; but now we’re starting to play again.  

What first? Since we plan to start our low-fat diet again soon, we kicked off our travels with one of the most (ahem!) appropriate places, the German meat market that we were very curious about.  This traditional market used to be named Klemm’s and is now the Claus German Sausage & Meat Market.  Jerry and I both remember Klemm’s from the days of our youth….the great bratwurst and braunschweiger…..oh yum.  The original location was in the City Market, established in 1913. The current location is a couple of miles south of downtown and still in the same German family. Our lady butcher was also an immigrant and she made our visit special with her samples and advice.  We had fun choosing from the pigs feet, Thueringer, frankfurters, and other selections of fresh and smoked meats. Since that day we’ve consumed the bratwurst, kielbasa and cajun sausage on the grill, with some braunschweiger on crackers sprinkled in between.  I don’t know if we can choose one favorite because they were all singularly tasty, but I’m thinking the bratwurst might rank high. Thankfully, the old style homemade sausage still brings in the customers after nearly 100 years in this city. (www.clausgermansausageandmeats.com)

After our German experience, we headed home to have a braunschweiger snack.  But wait….on the way we remembered that we heard from a cousin recently about a gargantuan Mexican market/restaurant that we would be passing by on our way.  Why not mix it up a little and replenish our hot sauce supply.  Carniceria Guanajuato here we come!

What a fun visit to an outstanding market.  The immaculately neat aisles are lined with every Mexican style food, toy and other cultural item imaginable.  The fresh meat selection is unbelievable.  Butchers were lined up working at a feverish pace to keep the stock of meats that mostly, for us gringos anyway, needed translation or explanation. But there was plenty of friendly help and they took a chopping break to give us a friendly wave. We thought we’d return to try some of the fajita mixture or freshly-made chorizo, or maybe get adventurous and choose from one of the unknown items.  Besides, we’ll need to come back hungry for lunch so we can try the highly recommended tacos and carnitas in the restaurant.  For today, we made a selection from the mucho beans and hot sauces to add to our crock pot next week.

This turned out to be a totally pleasant visit to both a culture that shaped our hometown in it’s beginning and one that is having an impact today. It’s good to remember that we are a mixture of all kinds of people.  And it’s fun to enjoy the tastes of them all.

Thanks for visiting at Hurley Travels.  Be safe!

Technology Addiction or Enjoying the Ride?

Today Caroline came by to visit, which is always great fun for us.  Since I had some work to do, she and her grandfather, Gramps, “talked among themselves”  while I finished up so we could go to a new lunch spot. Soon, the scene in our living room involved five or six digital/technological mechanisms.  That’s not unusual for us, but it just struck me funny today, realizing how much we ‘need’ the technology fix and enjoy it. 

The two of them, Caroline and Gramps that is, were talking about her college courses as well as today’s momentous Supreme Court decision on the Health Care Act . Specifically, it was mostly Gramps informing Caroline and pushing her to get registered for this coming semester (her sophomore year).  She says “I will soon, Gramps.”  He says, “Why not do it right now.  You can use Nancy’s laptop.” 

Fast forward to when I take a break to see what’s happening with them in the other room.  Here’s the scene:  Caroline setup with the laptop selecting her 15-hours of courses (with her trusty Blackberry and iPod close by); Gramps reading the news and opinions on his iPad (Maude); me (Nancy)  with my digital camera photographing the two of them while reading a text on my Android. We all had what we needed immediately.  Can we remember a time when we didn’t have these instant results?  Do we want to?  Not really.

Addicted to technology?  No, don’t think so.  I might call it cruising along in the fast lane enjoying the ride. 

Thanks for using your technology to read Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

Family Recipes Taste Better and Mean More

Recipes with a dash of family history are more tasty.  They can please the palate and bring back unique memories at the same time.  This could be as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich made with care by your grandpa or time-consuming canned goods of Aunt Minnie’s that are yummy in the winter months.  Passing these recipes down adds so much to the flavors.

Over the past couple of months I’ve been reminded of what’s included in this tradition.  At our family reunion in August a cousin’s homemade salsa with the recipe attached started a friendly bidding war.  Another cousin won that item for his mother, Aunt Peg, and she used it to can salsa with her neighbor’s homegrown tomatoes. We are enjoying the salsa and the fact that it has that special family touch.  Then Krissy kicked off the NFL season a couple of weeks ago by making the old recipe of cocktail meatballs that we always prepared at family holidays. You know, the one with chili sauce and grape jelly. Talking to me before the game she said: “Mom, it smells like Christmas in my apartment.” 

Then, there was a recent occasion when Jerry and I took another short trip to south side Indianapolis. We were sitting around the kitchen table at my Aunt Peg’s with my cousin Marilyn having a great conversation. Peg was telling us about slicing cucumbers to make homemade pickles. We started picking her brain about the recipes she used for her canning this summer and her favorites for potato salad, etc.  She grabbed her recipe card box and began relating to a few that were passed along by family and friends.  By the time Marilyn mentioned an idea she had to put together a collection for her daughters and grandchildren, the ideas were running through my head for our next project.  I would scan Peg’s trusted old recipes and add others from the family so that we could all savor them.

I had the opportunity to setup my scanner and computer on that kitchen table last week.  What fun! Aunt Peg added tidbits of memories and people surrounding the recipes as we sorted and scanned.   I gathered the tested lists of ingredients and her personal experiences with them.  Her comments were the icing on the cake.

The plan is to see how many more “historical” recipes we can gather, saving some memories too.  Of course, this isn’t a new idea.  Many of us have those cookbooks from fund raisers and they have very good contents. But, there isn’t one from my family, yet……

Right now, however, I wanted to share a couple of those recipe recollections that came from Aunt Peg’s memory bank. The first recipe I’ll post is the best kind ever -- in her own handwriting on a small piece of paper with a story of how and why it’s special.  Peg says she really doesn’t like hushpuppies.  But, her brother-in-law, Richard Stull’s hushpuppies were always the exception for her.   “He was a great fisherman. Whenever he and his friend had a good day fishing he would fry up his hushpuppies with the fresh fish. I loved his because they had lots of onions.”  This is one that has a time-tested, irreplaceable ingredient as well.  Read the last line on the recipe to the right to see what I mean.

I could go on and on with potato pancakes, hot peppers, spaghetti and meatballs, German potato salad, bread and butter pickles, dumplings, etc., etc.  But for now, I’ve chosen to include the St. Jude Biscuit Recipe.  The story behind this one is that Aunt Peg used to work at the cafeteria at St. Jude’s, her parish school that’s about two blocks away from her home.  She liked those biscuits so much that she has used the recipe in her own family cooking for years.  But, notice the size when this one is assembled in its full portion. On the back of the card it says: 1 gallon, 1 1/4 qts.   Can you see the ladies in the school cafeteria sifting the 16 cups of flour and dry ingredients five times and cutting in the shortening to make 100 biscuits.  Then they would cut them out individually. We don’t know how many times they duplicated these ingredients for one lunch either. Wow, the love that went into cooking for those grade-schoolers!

Hope I’ve made you think of a few family stories that go with something you ate for years. I would love to hear your best recipe and its story.  In fact, we are on the hunt for a “Yeast Coffee Cake” recipe that was in the family many years ago that is lost now. This was melt-in-your-mouth scrumptious.  Anyone know one??? 

Well, my mouth is watering.  It’s time to see what special recipe Jerry’s cooking for dinner.

Thanks for stopping by at Hurley Travels.  Talk to you later.

Technorati Tags: Indianapolis,Family Recipes

Way To Go Wes!

You know that happy surge in your gut when someone you care about tells you of a great accomplishment?    Right!…the goose bumps, then a big smile and the high five! That’s what happened to us when my nephew, Wes, gave us some fantastic news the other day. He won the 2011 Ultimate 64 Challenge at the Edgewater Sports Park in Cleves, Ohio.  Great job!!!

Wes and his dad, Gary, (Nancy’s BIL) race at this track often. Drag racing, that is.  As my sister, Lin, says: “We don’t do the round-y-rounds, straight tracks only.”  Well the latest win for Wes is something to make Lin and Gary pretty proud parents (and gives Aunt Nancy some braggin rights, too.)  We were sure excited the other day to hear his news. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Wes has given us very generous assistance with our plumbing and air conditioning needs for our Indy home base. He is sales manager for Winnelson Plumbing Supply in Indy.  When he stopped by with our new air conditioner, he brought along the evidence (below) of his victory to share with us. I think I’d carry this with me for a while, too. Wes has been tuning, tweaking and racing his 1982 Buick Regal since he was 15 years old. He’s had his share of wins, but this one will stand out for a good long time, I’m sure. Don’t have a picture of him winning the latest one yet. But we have a news release that tells the story of how he worked his way into the winner’s circle, defeating NHRA champions along the way.  Here’s the link. 

Wes and Gary and Lin’s  whole family spend many summer days at the tracks around the Midwest.  They’ve had great family times along the way. But the win at Edgewater a couple of weekends ago was definitely a super high.  And Wes’s family was there to celebrate with him as he lit up the green light.  Now that’s a real turn on!  And here’s a photo of the May family after Wes took the prize:

 

And I have a few photos of Wes and Gary at a Muncie, Indiana track that include super action shots.  To take a look, click on the album at the end of the post.    Okay so once I got started looking around and uncovering everything, it was fun to add it all into this post. So, here goes.  I found a YouTube video of Wes racing at Edgewater track about a year ago. If you want to hear some great rumble and roar, here’s that link: Wes runs in May 2010

We plan to fire up Ferd and roll on over for a few races this summer.  Should be more stories to tell then.  Meanwhile, glad you stopped by here at Hurley Travels. Talk to you later. 

May Drag Racing VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The Graduate

High school graduation….a momentous time. We were happy recently to be able to participate in the celebration of the graduation of one special young woman in our lives. We’re proud of you, Caroline!

Wherever your path takes you, we wish you many exciting days.  And we are confident you will find your own way to a happy future.

Love,  Gramps and Nancy   

		Caroline VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL