Category — Linda

Some of you asked if I plan to post more about our trip to Germany and down the Rhine River. I’m sorry to have started with a few posts, then abruptly stopped.

The problem with being away for a couple of weeks and then getting home and blogging about the trip, is that I actually have recipes I want to post and other events that come up, such as the 7th Blogiversary.

My solution is a new feature called Travel Tuesday. This way, I’ll be able to share pretty photos and fun travel info without allowing the travel posts to hijack the entire blog.

So we’ll pick up here…

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Thank you to everyone who participated and left comments for the 7th Blogiversary.

My special guests arrived yesterday morning to draw the winning names out of the saucepan. I made two videos, one for the Grand Prize Winner and the other for the Seven Individual Cookbook Winners. Unfortunately both videos were too large to post here and I have not idea how to fix that, so I’ve posted them to YouTube. They are fun, so be sure to click on the links and watch.

The special guests were Tram and her sweet twins, Zoey and Zak.

We’ll begin with the Grand Prize Winner drawing.

The eligible contestants are Amy K., Nancy B., Amy G., and Sheila C.

Please click on THIS LINK to watch the drawing and discover who won.

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Incredible! This blog is 7 years old! Last year, on the 6th Blogiversary, I was on a “wedding break” so I missed that celebration. That means that this year we need to go all out!

As such, there will be Seven Individual Prizes and One Super Cool Grand Prize.

Before I explain how to enter and what exactly it is that you can win – a little history.

Two and a half years ago, I posted THIS… all about how I cleaned out and reclaimed a large part of the kids’ playroom upstairs as my new craft room. At the time, Connor still lived here, so about half of the room had his stuff in it. Three months after the reclamation, Marissa and Jeff got engaged.

Photo

Slowly but surely the room became the dump-room for all things bridal shower, wedding, and after-wedding brunch related. In other words, I trashed it.

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There will be a contest.

For Prizes!

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Our last night before joining the land-tour group was spent in Germany, in the resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

On the way there, from Munich, we stopped at Ettal Abbey, a beautiful Benedictine monastery.

One thing I noticed was that the monastery gift-shop sold not only wine but also beer. It was a pretty great gift-shop!

We stayed at Hotel Zugspitze, which is named after the highest Alps peak in Germany.

I really wanted to take the cog-wheel cable up to the peak, but at 49.50 euro per person (about $126 total) … on second thought… no thanks!

I can just image how packed this sweet hotel must be during the popular ski season.

Just as in Oberammergau, many of the buildings are covered in beautiful frescoes.

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As I mentioned in the last post, before we joined up with the land-tour portion of our river cruise, we were on our own. First in Munich with Hope & Nick and then in a rented car as we traveled toward Switzerland.

We visited two of the three castles of King Ludwig, king of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886.

First, we toured through the Rococo-style Linderhof Palace.

The grounds were especially beautiful with a breathtaking fountain.

Next, we went through the fairy-tale Romanesque-style Neuschwanstein Castle.

It honestly looks like Sleeping Beauty’s castle!

Not surprisingly, my favorite part of this castle was the kitchen.

I’d love to get my hands on all those copper pots and the vast variety of vintage molds!

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Hi there! I had planned to be posting all along our #europeanvacation. Now, more than ten days in – it turns out that I should have taken advantage of the opportunity while I had it. That opportunity would have been during our stay in Munich or during the Switzerland land-tour portion of our scheduled Rhine River Cruise. The problem was, I really didn’t have a moment of downtime. I assumed that I’d have plenty of time and great internet access while we cruised down the Rhine River.

Wrong! The internet access has been spotty, at best. That red sad-faced icon is what I mostly see. We are now docked in Mannheim, Germany. Dave is off for a look around the city, while I’ve stayed behind. I decided this was my chance, maybe my one and only, to get a post put up.

Time is limited, so it will be a pictorial, for the most part.

We flew British Airways from Phoenix to London, changed planes, and arrived in Munich the next day. We were greeted at the Munich airport by Dave’s cousin, Hope. I’d never met Hope and Dave hadn’t seen her since he was a teenager. Luckily, they’d connected on Facebook a few weeks prior, so at least they recognized each other.

Hope took us to our hotel, The Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, in the heart of Munich.

The hotel is beyond lovely and the included daily breakfast is “just beyond!” I knew it would be when I spotted this adorable bicycle at the entrance to the restaurant!

The next morning, we were off and running with Hope and her charming husband, Nick. Hope, Nick, and their two sons, Dylan and Owain, have lived in Munich for the last nine years. We could not have found better or more gracious hosts and city guides.

Their knowledge of the city and country was more than we could have ever wished for. Nick and Hope showed and shared with us EVERYTHING! We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.

Our one…

and only…

regret…

is that…

we did…

NOT…

plan…

and spend…

more than…

three days…

in Munich!

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I’ve been busy nursing my dad back to health so this is the first post since last week. I returned my dad to his home on Wednesday afternoon, after a nearly 2-week stay with us. He resisted because staying at my house and having me wait on him hand and foot is his ideal lifestyle. He is healing well, so it was time for him to get back to doing things for himself and time for me to get back to my own needs and routines.

Need numero uno was to go to opening day at the March Sweet Salvage event and did I ever find something SWEET! It may not look all that fabulous from this side…

…but turn it around and this huge 2-sided sign is downright fantastic, especially in the shadow of my fig tree.

And even more spectacular under the actual blooming tree! I am not yet certain where the sign will hang, but it will definitely be somewhere in the backyard – AKA “Linda Land” as my dear friends, Steve and Tram, call it.

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Do you like liver and onions? I do not! But my dad and Dave are fans, so every now and again, I treat them. Valentine’s dinner was one such occasion. Although I enjoy pâté and a few other liver dishes, the bad taste of liver and onions has stayed with me from childhood, when we were forced to eat them.

Oh, the stories I could tell about how I would “dispose” of the food I disliked from my childhood. The various methods I used to get rid of my oatmeal, on nearly a daily basis every winter, are genius by my account and legendary in my family.

The liver was more difficult to avoid, the dogs were my only saviors and my parents picked up on that one early and the dogs were put outside during the dinner hour when the liver or other undesirables were served. My list of undesirable food was long; lima beans, sauerkraut, all cereal (cold and hot but especially oatmeal) spinach, most vegetables (they were all canned) with the exception of corn, and the list goes on.

Liver and lima beans were at the very top of the list. So the fact I even make liver for others is a testament to my love for them.

I will admit that this gravy smells darn good though. The addition of Worcestershire sauce is the trick.

It’s difficult to make liver, onions, and gravy look good in a photo (all that brown on brown on more brown) so please look beyond that. If you or your loved ones crave liver, give this recipe a try, I’m told it’s excellent. I wouldn’t know, Connor and I had beef tenderloin for Valentine’s dinner this year.

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My last post, back in mid-May, was nearly six months ago. It, and the seven posts preceding it, were all about Marissa’s bridal shower.  Prior to that, on March 25, I let it be known that after 5 1/2 years of consistent blogging, I’d be taking a break.

Doing so was scary. But it was the right move. I needed the time to focus on my daughter’s wedding and to focus on myself.

Even so, I’ve missed this! And yet, I don’t know where or how to restart.

Honestly, I don’t know if I should just dive in with a recipe.

Or share with you all the changes around here.

Or show you little (and big) things I worked on while I was away from my keyboard.

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