The Mr. and I took the kiddos camping. What fun! The wildlife was... er... friendly. We had multiple nocturnal visits from Swampy the Raccoon and his sidekick Stinky, near-constant daytime companionship from Nutso the Insanely Brave Chipmunk, and we even had a pair of slugs (Sluggy and Leroy) attach themselves to the side of our tent. Ahhh, wildlife.
I guess that campers in Wisconsin State Forests are doing their part to embolden the raccoons. On the first night, one or two of them were noisily trying to break in to our second tent (we always put up two - a larger one for sleeping in and a smaller one for the kids to play in. It keeps all the dirt and sand from their darling little feet off of my pillow). On the second night, as The Mr. stayed up tending the fire, Swampy provided the distraction while Stinky opened our cooler (yes, the raccoon opened the cooler. Without benefit of opposable thumbs even) and absconded with an unopened package of English muffins. I almost heard him shouting "Victoryyyyyy!" as he fled into the woods. Almost.
Same goes for the chipmunks. Nutso stationed himself in the firewood bundle under our picnic table, and darted out (sometimes directly under Wunderkind's chair) to catch the crumbs. Pretty smart to target the 4 1/2 year old. I can imagine the Chipmunk Gathering Committee's Annual Strategy Meeting. "Hang out by the short ones! They're less dangerous and they tend to drop more! Plus, they're more likely to give you the peanuts out of their trail mix." Evil (and cute!) genius.
Speaking of the peanuts from the trail mix, we observed and recorded Nutso stuffing thirteen (yes, 13) dry-roasted peanuts into his cheeks. It was unreal. His head was bigger than the rest of his body. When I asked Wunderkind what he thought Nutso was going to do with all those peanuts, he replied, "I think he's going to eat them while he watches a movie!" Oh, didn't you know? Apparently chipmunks now have some pretty impressive home theatre technology available to them.
The mosquitoes were, of course, out in full force. I've most likely started some sort of genetic anomaly in my children, given the amount of DEET I applied to their little bodies in the past 3 days. No ticks, though, so that's good.
We had such fun. I'm home every day with the kids, but there's something about camping that really seals the bond. The forced togetherness without benefit of technology may have something to do with it (thank you, Wisconsin, for not offering WiFi at any state parks. Good call.) or maybe it's the novelty of hiking in the woods ("the ominous woods," Wunderkind corrects me) and playing in the crashing surf of Lake Michigan ("I'm going to call it the ocean," says Wunderkind) for the first time this year. Could be the extra hand holding and snuggles around the campfire. Maybe it's the magic of s'mores and pudgie pies. Could be any of those things, most likely it's all of those things, plus getting to see all of it for the first time all over again through your child/ren.
I'm glad to be home and clean and sleeping in my own bed tonight, but I'd be lying if I told you that I won't be thinking fondly of Swampy & Stinky... and Nutso... and even Sluggy & Leroy tonight. May they feast upon English muffins and peanuts all of their days.
Showing posts with label Wunderkind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wunderkind. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Get Your Durkenunder On
When I was a kid, my dad used to fry up these things called Durkenunders. I have no idea if I'm spelling it right, but it doesn't matter, because it seems like our little family is the only one in the world that has these fabulous little hunks of scrambled pancakey goodness. I have Googled and Googled, but I've never found even a single mention of them. And more's the pity, really. So, here you go, World Wide Interwebs. Get you some Durkenunders.
My dad's mom used to make them... her mother and mother in law made them... their mothers made them... they're apparently an old German recipe that's (maybe) somewhat common to the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. I know that my grandmother's great-grandmother (that's... uh... 5 generations back?) came over from Bavaria when she was 4 years old, and she made them. That's about as far back as I can trace them, given that we are most likely pronouncing and spelling the name wrong.
We always had our Durkenunders with pure maple syrup from Jasper's Sugar Bush (best maple syrup in the world, hands down!) but I'm told that they can be served with gravy, with vinegar, with jam... whatever you would put on pancakes or potatoes. My favorite ways to top it are with Jasper's Sugar Bush maple syrup (for breakfast) or with a sprinkle of vinegar (for a quick side dish when you realize you forgot to scrub the potatoes), but you can do what you want with the toppings.
The recipe is very simple.
DO NOT change the recipe to make it healthier or lighter or whatever. If you do, don't call it Durkenunders, 'cause it just won't be Durkenunders if you mess around with it. I don't much care what you decide to top them with (if you can resist munching on them right out of the pan), but please, for the love of all that's delicious and good in this world, don't screw with the recipe unless you're going to rename it.
Take about a cup of flour, two eggs, a pinch or two of salt, and enough milk to make a thick batter. It will look like pancake batter, but it should be thicker. The more you beat it up, the better it will be, so don't wimp out.
Now, melt some butter in a frying pan. Yes, it has to be butter. Again, don't go trying to low-calorie-ify my childhood, please. It's best if you use real salted butter in a real cast-iron frying pan. If you absolutely must use something other than butter, please stop making this recipe right now. If you can't help yourself, fine, proceed... but don't call whatever you're making Durkenunders!
OK, so you've got your butter melted in your cast iron pan. Dump all the batter in. Yes, all of it. It should be about 1/2 inch thick in the pan.
Wait for the edges to get bubbly. Keep waiting. No, not bubbly enough yet. OK... now.
Attempt to flip the whole thing over. If you get it over in one piece, hats off to you! If you don't, don't sweat it; you're going to start hacking away at the whole thing anyway.
Start hacking with your spatula and break the Durkenunder into a lot of little Durkenunder pieces. Get them to about the size of pieces of scrambled eggs. When they're all hacked up, they should be just about cooked through. Stir them around while they finish cooking, and then turn off the heat. They can stay in the cast iron pan to keep warm. If you're cooking on an electric cook top, make sure you remove the pan from the heating element you just used.
These are the absolute best with maple syrup. Get some from the Sugar Bush!
Happy breakfasting!
My dad's mom used to make them... her mother and mother in law made them... their mothers made them... they're apparently an old German recipe that's (maybe) somewhat common to the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. I know that my grandmother's great-grandmother (that's... uh... 5 generations back?) came over from Bavaria when she was 4 years old, and she made them. That's about as far back as I can trace them, given that we are most likely pronouncing and spelling the name wrong.
We always had our Durkenunders with pure maple syrup from Jasper's Sugar Bush (best maple syrup in the world, hands down!) but I'm told that they can be served with gravy, with vinegar, with jam... whatever you would put on pancakes or potatoes. My favorite ways to top it are with Jasper's Sugar Bush maple syrup (for breakfast) or with a sprinkle of vinegar (for a quick side dish when you realize you forgot to scrub the potatoes), but you can do what you want with the toppings.
The recipe is very simple.
DO NOT change the recipe to make it healthier or lighter or whatever. If you do, don't call it Durkenunders, 'cause it just won't be Durkenunders if you mess around with it. I don't much care what you decide to top them with (if you can resist munching on them right out of the pan), but please, for the love of all that's delicious and good in this world, don't screw with the recipe unless you're going to rename it.
Take about a cup of flour, two eggs, a pinch or two of salt, and enough milk to make a thick batter. It will look like pancake batter, but it should be thicker. The more you beat it up, the better it will be, so don't wimp out.
Now, melt some butter in a frying pan. Yes, it has to be butter. Again, don't go trying to low-calorie-ify my childhood, please. It's best if you use real salted butter in a real cast-iron frying pan. If you absolutely must use something other than butter, please stop making this recipe right now. If you can't help yourself, fine, proceed... but don't call whatever you're making Durkenunders!
OK, so you've got your butter melted in your cast iron pan. Dump all the batter in. Yes, all of it. It should be about 1/2 inch thick in the pan.
Wait for the edges to get bubbly. Keep waiting. No, not bubbly enough yet. OK... now.
Attempt to flip the whole thing over. If you get it over in one piece, hats off to you! If you don't, don't sweat it; you're going to start hacking away at the whole thing anyway.
Start hacking with your spatula and break the Durkenunder into a lot of little Durkenunder pieces. Get them to about the size of pieces of scrambled eggs. When they're all hacked up, they should be just about cooked through. Stir them around while they finish cooking, and then turn off the heat. They can stay in the cast iron pan to keep warm. If you're cooking on an electric cook top, make sure you remove the pan from the heating element you just used.
These are the absolute best with maple syrup. Get some from the Sugar Bush!
Happy breakfasting!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
You Don't Have to Know What You're Doing, Just Get In There and DO IT!
Wunderkind and I love to go thrifting. I love being able to say YES! when he asks me if he can have something. I also love to bring home projects. There ain't nothin' Wunderkind loves more than a project. He gets that from me.
Last June, Wunderkind and I found this chair for $5 at Goodwill.
And I thought to myself, "This upholstery is hideous! This finish is hideous! This chair is beautiful! This chair is $5!" And so, I hauled it home. Wunderkind and I were going to reupholster it. Pretty ambitious project for a hugely pregnant woman and a 3 1/2 year old kid.
It sat in my basement.
Six months later, after the birth of Sweetie Babe, I bought some white spray paint and some yellow upholstery fabric (I don't know the actual technical name for the type of upholstery fabric, so don't ask me). Wunderkind and I ripped off the light purple velvety stuff and I sanded down the wood portions. I had The Mr. spray paint it white.
It continued to sit in my basement.
I was so scared of screwing up the upholstery portion of it, I just didn't start. And didn't start, and didn't start... until finally today, I decided to give it a go.
Wunderkind is my self-appointed helper in all things. He and I headed down to the basement workshop once Sweetie Babe was down for her morning nap, and we got to work winging it. Wunderkind held the hammer and acted as my cheering section (you have not lived until you've had a 4 1/2 year old cheering you on whilst you staple the living hell out of a piece of furniture) for Phase 1, and he held the hot glue sticks and acted as my cheering section (again, you seriously ought to look into getting a cheering section for all your hot glue gun related activities) for Phase 2. He also claimed responsibility for testing the buoyancy of all seating surfaces.
He declared the seat bounce-worthy and informed me that it didn't even break when he used all his muscles on it. Sweet. I love a bounce-worthy seat that is also impervious to muscles. All of 'em.
It took a couple of hours, but we were able to get all of the reupholstering done during Sweetie Babe's naps. (We had to take a break when she woke up early from her morning nap. That's OK though, 'cause Phineas & Ferb was starting. We needed our Agent P fix.)
And now I have this beautiful "new" chair.
Last June, Wunderkind and I found this chair for $5 at Goodwill.
It sat in my basement.
Six months later, after the birth of Sweetie Babe, I bought some white spray paint and some yellow upholstery fabric (I don't know the actual technical name for the type of upholstery fabric, so don't ask me). Wunderkind and I ripped off the light purple velvety stuff and I sanded down the wood portions. I had The Mr. spray paint it white.
It continued to sit in my basement.
I was so scared of screwing up the upholstery portion of it, I just didn't start. And didn't start, and didn't start... until finally today, I decided to give it a go.
Wunderkind is my self-appointed helper in all things. He and I headed down to the basement workshop once Sweetie Babe was down for her morning nap, and we got to work winging it. Wunderkind held the hammer and acted as my cheering section (you have not lived until you've had a 4 1/2 year old cheering you on whilst you staple the living hell out of a piece of furniture) for Phase 1, and he held the hot glue sticks and acted as my cheering section (again, you seriously ought to look into getting a cheering section for all your hot glue gun related activities) for Phase 2. He also claimed responsibility for testing the buoyancy of all seating surfaces.
He declared the seat bounce-worthy and informed me that it didn't even break when he used all his muscles on it. Sweet. I love a bounce-worthy seat that is also impervious to muscles. All of 'em.
It took a couple of hours, but we were able to get all of the reupholstering done during Sweetie Babe's naps. (We had to take a break when she woke up early from her morning nap. That's OK though, 'cause Phineas & Ferb was starting. We needed our Agent P fix.)
And now I have this beautiful "new" chair.
This little baby is far from perfect, but you can sit on (remember, Wunderkind even bounced on it) and it seems to hold up OK. I love how it looks and for my very first try I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Project costs:
Chair - $5
Fabric - $15 (excellent deal from Hancock Fabrics. I love that place!!!)
Spray paint - $6 (it took 2 cans and multiple coats to get the finish right)
Tools:
Sand paper
Pliers (for ripping out upholstery staples)
Staple Gun
Staples
Hammer
Scissors
Total time spent (not including the months and months it sat in the basement): 5 hours
- 1 hour to rip off upholstery
- 1 hour to sand it down
- 1 hour (total) to apply the spray paint (not including resting time between coats)
- 2 hours to reupholster
I wish I'd taken pictures of the whole process. Next time for sure!
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