Schnitzel and the Trout meets Wives with Knives

Almost five years ago, I met Cathy from Wives with Knives.  I did not literally meet her, but we connected as we were both starting blogs and sometimes the technology was a little overwhelming.  We helped each other and consoled each other.  Not only did we read each others blogs, we started emailing each other.  In a true sense, we really got to know each other. 

I contacted Cathy this last winter and told her that we were planning a trip to Oregon when we arrived in Montana for the summer.  An invitation to meet was graciously extended by Cathy.  The Trout and I looked forward to this day for a long time.  We were invited to lunch at Cathy's.  You can imagine how the excitement escalated from there.

When Cathy opened the door, I hugged my long-time friend.  We had some good laughs, some good conversations about how much we all love to travel to France.

This absolutely gorgeous table, outside in the beautiful Oregon sunshine is what greeted us for lunch.  For Cathy's delicious Northwest version of Salad Nicoise, please go to her blog here.

Everything was prepared to perfection.  The fresh mint in the couscous was especially special for me.  I loved it.  We had no problem eating our plates clean.  What a beautiful treat, Cathy.

And you ask if there was dessert?  The Oregon local marionberry in a pie shell that was so flaky.

And that is Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream on top.  Two scoops...do you see that?  I did not feel guilty at all eating this wonderful ice cream.

Thank you, Cathy.  We are looking forward to meeting you again someday soon. 

My 50th Class Reunion

You cannot imagine what fun it was, posing for this photo.  My 50th class reunion from Amana High School, Amana, Iowa.  We were a close class of 18 students, 14 of us starting school together in kindergarten.  We have memories, many happy and funny memories.  At this special reunion, we had 13 students attend.  Unfortunately, 3 of our classmates have passed on.  They are greatly missed.  Two were unable to attend.  They were greatly missed.

Admit it...only in Iowa can a photo resembling "Field of Dreams" mean as much as this picture.  This photo means a lot to me.  I will treasure it always because to me, we do not look our age!!!  Young at heart and in spirit.  We traveled from California, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota and Wisconsin and the rest came from somewhere in Iowa.  Thanks to Facebook, it is much easier to keep in touch.

One of our class members had her nephew bring this 1963 Pontiac Catalina for our posing.  What amazed me is that without direction, we simply moved into a position that we liked and posed naturally.  Our class always worked together beautifully as can be attested by our wonderful high school yearbook.  It was a classic!

The best surprise at this gathering was the unexpected visit of our high school business and art teacher, Mr. Richard Wheeler from Dallas, Texas.   Some of us still have trouble calling him anything but Mr. Wheeler. 
He was just out of college when he started teaching at our high school when we were freshmen.  Richard was a great inspiration to all of us and just put the icing on the cake of this gathering.  Thank you, Richard, for making the effort to attend.

To my dear classmates, I wish you health and love and peace.  May we be so fortunate to gather again.  Please, let us keep in touch. 

Heading West...far West

It is that time of the year again.  Packing up for our summer trip.  The freezer and refrigerator are almost empty.  Plans have been made and now the packing for the next 2 days.  In the next month we will be driving from central Florida to the coast of Oregon.   We are going to see family, attend my class reunion and meet two blogger friends in Oregon.  I have already met Diana from "Voice in the Garden," but this time we will also meet Cathy from "Wives with Knives."  And then, our summer in Montana in our travel trailer.

First of all, I have been very lack in blogging as I have gotten into several knitting projects and you know how it is...you can't do both.  We have also  enjoyed watching a mockingbird lay build a nest and lay four eggs in our oleander bush.  Each time we tried to peek, we were bombed by the mama bird, flying right into our hair.  And then yesterday, we saw one young bird hanging on a branch and chirping loudly and then this morning, all the babies are gone.  It seems odd that they can fly already, but the books say 12 days after birth they are ready for flight lessons.

I also have some questions to answer.  Yes, the bacon jam was delicious.  We ended up finishing it on a cracker with cheese with the bacon spread on top.  Very nice afternoon cocktail treat. Surprisingly, it did not give that greasy feel in the mouth that might be expected.   I will need to make this again when there are more men around.  But, when it comes right down to it, bacon and eggs or bacon and onions sauteed together in any German dish still seems to be my favorite way of eating it.

And the celery we planted a few months ago.  I have actually been using it and it still is growing.  No, it does not have the thick ribs of the celery you are familiar with, but the leaves are beautiful and the taste is good.  It was a great experiment.  Now I will be curious to see if it is still alive when we come back in the fall.

I will be blogging when the moose visit us or if it snows earlier than expected and when the Internet is working up to par.  Enjoy your summer.  I know ours will be busy.