Helen & Hazel, circa 1915 give or take...

Gram & her twin sister Hazel, gram's on the left. People used to come over to their house to stare at the twins!

Happy Birthday Take 2: Odie

Happy Birthday...

Granny Through the Ages...

I'm having some trouble uploading the movies, here's some pictures of granny through the ages while I figure out some deets on the video:

Granny is officially overwhelmed (as are we!) by the well wishes from all of you! I'll be posting highlights from the project and video from our trip in the coming days.

T-MINUS 4 DAYS...

Submissions are coming in fast for the Granny Project! Thank you all, for your thoughts and stories. We never imagined this much! Stay tuned for good stuff...
xoxoxo-kate

Morels...

Each January-February, Pete steels himself for the premature morel banter he'll overhear me ranting about over the phone, "I know! The snow is deeper this year. What do you think this means for our estimated morel time of arrival (e.m.t.a)?"
Into March, the discussions will get more excited, "I know...I saw that online too. Texas is already having sightings. Have you seen any lilacs yet? Hmmm...what kind of rain have you been getting...?"
Forget April. It's a near-daily ritual of talking and now texting updates on morels. What we think about them, where we may find them, our hunting strategies, possible recipes, whatever.
May brings action to the talk. We make an annual pilgrimage back to IL to go to some choice locations where we've found morels in the past. As Pete will attest, the weekend is completely focused on mushrooms. I even dream about them.
Where did this fixation begin...?
Gram's husband Louie successfully foraged for mushrooms for years with his brothers. Gram will tell that he had an uncanny way of locating possible spots and identifying them. She tells of years of cleaning and cooking the mushrooms and how she missed them after he passed. A few years ago, my mom, sister and I got the idea that we could find them, after all, we had the genes, right? Erin and mom scouted some prime locations and quickly enjoyed some big hauls over the years. I tagged along, finding some along the way.
The best part of the search, certainly is the spoils. Presenting the spoils to Gram, that is. We trudge in with our muddy shoes and bedraggled selves to show her what we've found. She appraises them carefully, and in a congratulatory tone, usually suggests they'd be great either deep-fried, or with a steak later that night. Whatever the recipe, when she eats them again for the first time that year, she'll close her eyes and savor the woodsy memory.

Friend of Granny-Part 5

Meet Erin, Granny's elder granddaughter. Erin lives in Woodstock, IL with her fiance Bob and their menagerie of animals.
An favorite early memory of Granny from Erin: On summer vacation, Kate and I would spend a week or two with Gram. She makes the most amazing patty melts, hamburgers with cheese-no bun, simple and awesome. Back in the pre-vegetarian days, Gram would make them as quickly as Kate and I would put them down while we watched MTV.