Just the Two of Us

Arnie figured that 15 years of marriage deserved something special, so he drove us south and east to Sisters, Oregon. It is such a quaint little destination town. Adorable shops - we'll get some of that scenery for you tomorrow. We are staying at this beautiful resort called Five Pines- although right away we noticed there are more than five! I think they are Ponderosas for the most part. It is very rustic, log cabin on the outside, but very swanky on the inside. We arrived at dinner time, sat out on the back deck and had a glass of pinot gris and then headed over to the 3 creeks brewery for dinner. Oh my. We started with a sampler from their brewery - I like the beers with a more hoppy flavor, like the IPA and the Red. Arnie likes the lighter ones - the wheat and the rye.

Next we each ordered something from the menu made with one of the beers. Arnie ordered a pork chop cooked in the Anvil Amber with mushrooms, butter, and lemon. It was tender and delicious. I ordered the Porthouse Ale Chipotle Sausage Sandwich which they cure here at the restaurant. I tell you, it was delicious. Perfectly spicy served smothered in grilled peppers and red onions. Sweet and spicy. I had sweet potato fries with it. They were crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.


We polished off the meal with a Brownie Melt Down. A soft and chewy, rich and chocolaty brownie with ice cream and hazelnuts. Oh boy. I'm looking forward to the next few days. The resort has a movie theater - think we'll go see Grownups. There is a spa and I already have a massage appointment, and check out out soaking tub. It's in the floor. Crazy huge for soaking luxuriously. We have our own private cabin. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow. My guy, he knows how to pick them, doesn't he?

Washington, My Home

One of my favorite parts about summer in Washington State is all the fresh fruits and vegetables. A person would be foolish to ignore all the variety of things we can grow in Washington. As I age, I have learned to preserve these lovely flavors of summer.

When the kids were little, my friends Dorrie and Nancy introduced me to canning. They canned green beans and invited me to help. Dorrie's son, Tanner, was a rather picky toddler who actually liked green beans, so Dorrie and Nancy would can them because it was cheaper than buying them all winter. Especially since Tanner wouldn't really eat any other vegetables, so Dorrie found herself opening beans every night.

I grew beans in my own garden, so that summer I experimented with Dorrie's pressure-canner and my garden beans. They were amazing and I felt so healthy and confident, knowing where those beans were grown and how they were canned. I also canned some peas - what a lot of work that is! And carrots, beets, and squash. Guess how Robby ate his green beans when he was a toddler? Yes! With ketchup.

As the years have passed, my canning skills have grown. I now own a water bath and a pressure-canner (thanks to my mother-in-law's excellent ability to choose gifts for me). I not only can vegetables from my garden, but when the roadside fruit stand goes up, I can fruit, too.

This week the lovely strawberries are out from Spooner Farms. Yum. I bought a flat and started down my jam road. My first batch never seems to turn out as I expect it to, so I will make at least one more. Here are my steps, according to the Ball Blue Book.

Set everything up! I love the canning tools. Such a sucker.

After washing and hulling and mashing, boil the strawberries, pectin, and lemon juice.

Add the sugar and bring back to a boil for 1 minute.

Ladle into clean and sterile jars, wipe the rims and place warmed lids and bands on them.

Boil in covered water bath for allotted time (see the Ball Blue Book).

I'm not happy with this batch because the fruit is floating which probably means I boiled too long or my fruit acidity did not match the amount of pectin I used. Tomorrow I am going to try my recipe with no pectin. It takes longer and makes a darker jam, but I usually don't have trouble with floating fruit with it.

I will make jam with raspberries and blackberries. We will actually go pick the little wild blackberries because they make wonderful jam. Gives us a chance to explore the back roads and spend time as a family, too. Mostly we just make jam and then give it away as gifts all year long. We, of course eat some of it, but we make way more than we can eat. Teachers, coaches, neighbors, and family all receive jams and applesauce on holidays. I forgot about applesauce. How could I live in Washington State and not can applesauce? I don't just gift the applesauce. We eat it and cook with it as well.

I still can my green beans and my beets out of the garden, but now I freeze the peas and carrots. We all think they taste better that way. I will freeze some of the green beans, too. I buy fewer frozen vegetables in the middle of winter this way. The whole family has come to appreciate the nights that the summer garden ends up on the table in the middle of winter. Both kids have said they now know when they are served store-bought canned vegetables. They are pretty good vegetable eaters after all these years of growing our own.

I will also order small pickling cucumbers from a local farm and make old fashioned dill pickles with garlic, dill, and vinegar. So good. My friend, Yvette's husband, and I both eat the garlic when the pickles are all gone. I love pickling time. The vinegar and dill permeate the house for days.

The only meats I can are tuna and salmon. Dorrie and Nancy and I did tuna together. We buy it fresh off the "Tuna Hustler" in Westport, whisk it home and can it that day. Every summer we replenish our tuna. I tried salmon on my own when a friend brought us two enormous Chinook one year. We ate some, froze some, and can some. Yum. Well, I could go on. Instead, I will share more canning experiences in later blogs. If anyone has canning tips and tricks, I'd love to hear them. I'm always looking to expand my repertoire.

Swim Meet Madness

We teach our kids to be healthy. That includes team sports, no matter how much time and energy those sports take. Our community has an excellent YMCA that encourages swimming. As our kids have grown up, they've always been swimmers and have been on the YMCA team for about 2 1/2 years. We go to most of the meets, both home and away, which can be a lot of work. The closest team is 45 miles away from us, so when we travel...we really travel.

Away meets have become an adventure for the kids and me. Several of the meets every year are two day meets or so far away that you have to spend the night, so they take some planning. One of our favorite two day meets has become the Yakima Meet, across the mountains in sunny Applewood Park in Naches, Washington. We drive over and stay in a hotel in Yakima. We spend all day, from eight in the morning to 4 in the afternoon at the outdoor pool at Applewood Park. An EZ up (pop up, cover, tent...lots of words to use here) is a must since it is always sunny and hot on the eastern side of the mountains in June. We pack coolers of water and cold food to help us get through the day and be somewhat healthy with our diets. The kids swim 3 or more races each day for two days in 95 degree weather, so health and feeling good are important. Look at them go!

We pack lots of water. This year they each got a "Gatorade" style beverage on the first day. Also, we took Grandma and she bought us a couple bottles of delicious sparkling lemonade and limeade. That was a big treat. We pack simple sandwiches made of lunch meat and cheese on wheat bread, mozzarella cheese sticks, bags of carrots, and this year garden radishes, apples, and strawberries. I let them pick a salty snack and a sweet snack as well. The food keeps us going and is great stow and go food.

Besides being healthy and feeling hydrated all day, the kids must also keep comfortable and relaxed between races. They each pack a bag with electronic devices, books, cards, balls, and other items to relax with. Katie is usually socializing - moving from tent to tent, chatting with friends. Robby goes between his DS and kicking the soccer ball around with his buddy.

We always have a great time in Yakima. The kids come home exhausted but happy, strong, and healthy.

Inspiration From Uncle Johne's Farm

My mother's dad started a farm in a little tiny town in Eastern Washington in the early 1900s. After he died when she was little, my mother's brother, Johne, took over. He was much like a grandpa to me when I was growing up. My mom would take us over to see him and his family a couple times a year. We would have so much fun, chasing chickens, petting horses, staring down cows. Once my cousins, who were all much older than me, let us watch them slaughter a cow. It was pretty exciting. Morbid, I suppose, but it didn't bother me. It definitely explained how all the beef got packaged into those little white packages so neatly from that big slobbery cow in the field.

My Aunt Mary had a great big garden. In fact, I remember there being several great big gardens. We loved to stand in her cellar and count her jars of home-canned goods. She even home cans the chickens! I think her canning has served as inspiration for my own canning hobby. I remember how pretty her jars looked and how much fun it was to pop them open and eat the yummy contents or maybe watch her bake them up into a pie...

I took my kids to see the farm today along with Mom. I decided to take some of my home-canned tuna and salmon for Aunt Mary and my cousin Kay to try. I think Aunt Mary was tickled that I brought her canned goods. She is very elderly now, so Kay does most of the canning, but they still have jars of peaches and cherries and rhubarb and apples...and more. The kids and I ogled the shelves for quite a while, each of them picking out their favorites. Robby liked the apple chips, but Katie wanted to try the Rhubarb sauce.

Finally and of course, we fed the horses. They have three now, all beautiful and strong animals who come right up to the fence to be petted and fed. The kids had a great time offering the different grasses and weeds outside the gate. I love how kids especially will just talk to animals. "How's it goin'?" Robby asked Charlie the horse. The horse snorted a response and tried to get his head through the bars to get more grass. "I'll get that for you," Robby said. Meantime, Katie was busy snuggling up to Bobby the horse. She climbed the bars of the gate, so Bobby put his head on the top rung to be right next to her. She asked him how he liked the farm and then told him about her small town near the ocean. So fun.

I'm glad we got over to experience the farm. Another great life memory.

Grandma's Tuna Turnovers

What do you remember from your mother's cooking? I remember meatloaf, spaghetti, pot roast...and tuna turnovers. I've talked before about mom and her Betty Crocker 3-ring notebook. I remember that book being on the counter in our kitchen and a lot of recipes being used from it. In my memory, Mom used it for everything. Recently, however, this memory has been corrected.

The kids and I came to stay with Mom for a few days. I am attending a class at Seattle University for a few days and the kids are hanging out with Grandma while I'm at class. It's perfect - no hotel charges (thanks to Mom's Inn); carpooling with a friend who lives by Mom; and fun for the kids while I'm busy. After talking with Mom about our stay, I thought - what a perfect time to share Grandma's tuna turnovers with the kids. Much to my surprise, Mom remembered making them, but did not remember where the recipe was. Much to my greater surprise, when I suggested the tried and true Betty Crocker binder, she admitted that she had thrown it out after buying the updated version! Wow. However, loving and creative Grandma that she is, she thought she could recreate the recipe.

So tonight, sans ketchup or any other condiment, we ate tuna turnovers. They were indeed as wonderful as my memory of them. Light and crispy crust. (Mom makes a great pie crust. I think I need to practice with her.) Creamy and delicious on the inside. Katie said, "I love these." But really, Katie loves Grandma and cannot get enough of her. Robby said, "I like the insides." Grandma and I ate them all up and then tried our best to write down her "recipe".

Grandma's Tuna Turnovers

For the Filling

1/2 can condensed mushroom soup
1 can (5 oz) Tuna, drained (Mom uses tuna packed in water)

1/4 cup diced cheddar cheese (This was Robby's favorite part of the filling)

1 chopped green onion

dash of pepper

1 1/2 small potatoes, thinly sliced

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside while making crust.

For the Crust

2/3 cup and 2 Tbsp butter flavored shortening

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

4 to 5 Tbsp cold water

Cut the shortening into the flour and salt until the pieces are the size of peas. Sprinkle in the water, 1 Tbsp at a time, tossing the mixture with a fork until all the flour is moistened and the pastry almost cleans the side of the bowl. Gather the dough into a ball. Divide the ball into four equal parts. Roll each out into a circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Scoop 1/4 to 1/3 cup of filling onto one side of each circle. Fold dough in half over filling, crimping the edges together. Pierce the top of each turnover with the times of the fork. Mom used to make the first letter of our names with the tines of the fork.

Bake at 400 degrees for 23 to 25 minutes. Let cool! The insides are sooo hot. But sooo yummy. These definitely created memories for me. Now my kids and I will have to try them on our own.

A Creative Father's Day

Truth be told, Arnie is the creative cook. When I first met Arnie, he would brag about his chef experiences, detailing his cooking expertise with many cuisines. Over time, I've figured out that he was a prep chef at a young age - he prepped plates and salads and I'm really unclear how long he did that. He also worked with the catering chef for Marriott at our university, and again, his exact duties and the length of this job are unclear. Nevertheless, he is a pretty good cook when he puts his mind to it. Salty, though. Hang on, I need a glass of water.

Okay. I'm better. One of the first meals that Arnie prepared for me was Swiss Steak. He braised cube steak in tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce with lots of onions and garlic salt. He has never made it exactly the same way twice because there really is no recipe. It is always delicious, though, and I drink a lot of water afterward. Especially when he serves it with a red wine. For a long time I was afraid to make it myself, but one year, I decided that it was important for me to make it for him for Father's Day. Now it is tradition for me and the kids to make him Swiss Steak on Father's Day. I load it up with Worcestershire and garlic salt just for Arnie. He usually tastes it a couple of times to help me season it to his taste. By the time we serve it over rice, it is rich, salty, and declared perfect by the master himself. Arnie's own creation but made by me!

Tonight we had some appetizers before the steak because we went to see Toy Story 3 - excellent movie as rated by the Lewises, and we got home late. Arnie bought his favorite snacks. Smoked Guyere cheese and chips and salsa. He looked over his new fishing lures as they munched on the appetizers.

I hope he knows what a great dad he is.

From the Yard to the Table

Here's what I love about summer. We had freshly picked salad yesterday right out of our garden. Several types of lettuce, endive, arugula, and radishes. As the summer progresses, we get to add bunching onions, zucchini - both yellow and green, carrots, cucumbers, and herbs, too. Delicious. Pour on the Goddess dressing, and...even yummier! Okay, more healthy would be some freshly squeezed lemon juice. I still choose the Goddess dressing. Last night we added cheese to the salad. Sometimes we chop up leftover meat, too.

Robby and Katie both help pick, wash, and eat the garden salad! Very cool. Robby is a Thousand Island man and Katie is a Ranch woman. I'm working on expanding their dressing repertoire, but definitely is the least of our worries! They eat salad willingly!

Bedtime for Anakin

I love this. This is how Anakin, the cat, goes to bed every night. First I put Katie to bed and Anakin follows us in and rubs against Katie. He flops himself down as close to her head as she will let him, which is not very close. I turn on her music, kiss and hug her, tell her "God Bless You", and pet Anakin on my way out. He doesn't stay long in there, because Katie is wiggly. Pretty soon, he is meowing and following Robby around, as though he is remonstrating Robby that it is time for bed. When Robby and I finally make our way into his bedroom, Anakin runs ahead, meowing. He jumps up on the bed - not an easy feat since he is overweight and has no tail. Besides, Robby's bed is a pedestal bed; much higher than normal. Usually Robby has to catch him and boost him up. Anakin will usually head right for the pillow, looking at Robby as though he is taking up too much space. Robby and I laugh because we think Anakin believes it is his bedroom, not Robby's. Robby let's Anakin cuddle right up, even letting Anakin lick his face a few times. If I had not started this piece out with Anakin, the cat, wouldn't you think I was writing about a dog?

We had a great night - Arnie is now officially on summer break, too. Katie and I cooked up a huge batch of chicken and rice. She is such a great helper. Stirring away at the vegetables for me. The food was yummy and we had a fun conversation during dinner. I love it when all four of us are there. Lots of laughter and love, and of course, Anakin meowing at us like we forgot to pull up a chair for him.

Decisions, Decisions

This morning we went to the daily Mass, a perk of the summer months for us. The experience was strange. No one was there. The church was empty, lights off. A couple of other people stood around and wondered aloud. "Where is Virginia, the sacristan?" "Wouldn't someone hang a sign if there were to be no Mass?" Remember, we live in a small community, so everyone knows everyone, especially in a faith community in that small community. I decided to walk down to see if anyone was in the office yet. Probably all faithful people think this, but I think our church is beautiful. I walked down the garden path, past the glass parish center doors that peek into the gathering space, down the grandly curved stairs at the front of the church, to the office door. After ringing the bell, one of the office staff came to the door and seemed as surprised by the news that no one was at the church as the rest of us.

She asked another office staff member, my friend Judy, to come up and open the church while she called the priest on the schedule. We all went through our routines, praying and lighting candles, while we waited. Robby served the Mass with his classmate and I could hear them giggling in the sacristy by themselves, so I snuck pack there to shush them and encourage them to try to do some things to get ready. Light candles, set out vessels, books...

When the priest got there it was obvious that he had not realized it was his day to say Mass. We started 10 minutes late. Funny for late arrivals. The church had lots of people in it by the time we started.

Our priest is such a great homilist, it didn't matter that he had not prepared. We read about Elijah divided the water and about Jesus asking his followers to be humble - pray in privacy, hide fasting, etc. Father reminded us to always be accepting and to keep Jesus close. Okay, his version was a little longer, but inspiring.

After Mass, the kids and I went to the store and I tried to by them a treat at Starbucks. They didn't want one! Silly kids. I decided to be accepting and save money, so we skipped the treats. Something wrong with this picture? Isn't the mom supposed to be the one saying no? Funny.

Gifts from Great People

Well, I still have those cranberries - a great gift from a great person. And another great person gave me another recipe for a granola bar cookie that uses cranberries. You guessed it - Yvette, again. We also received a big bag of tortilla chips from Yvette when she cleaned up her kitchen at the end of the school year. She gave out some food that wouldn't wait for summer to be over.

So last night we worked together to create pork nachos with those crunchy chips and white chocolate and cranberry granola bars. They both turned out yummy and my helpers were quite fabulous. Robby and Katie grated mounds of cheese and Robby helped me pull the pork apart while Katie chopped vegetables for salad. It was great - especially with Goddess dressing on the salad.

What is definitely more fun than eating that delicious dinner was preparing it together and giggling a lot.

Pot Luck and Parent Pride

The concept of the pot luck is funny. Everyone brings a "pot" and if you are lucky, most of it will be great. If you are unlucky, you won't find anything you like. Sometimes I love pot lucks. Especially when I have time to think and prepare a dish.

Tonight we went to the "Knights of the Altar" pot luck and awards dinner for the altar servers at our church. Robby is an altar server. He loves it. I think he has learned more about our Mass and other prayer services now that he is involved in them. And he is proud to be serving and showing his Catholic faith. Our pastor works really hard to make the servers feel connected to our church as well, which is why we held the pot luck.

The downside of the pot luck was that the dishes were assigned. Robby's grade level was "rolls and chips". So I made a trip to the store, boring. The upside was that there were some delicious hot dishes. I had a delicious meatloaf that was filled with lovely vegetables - carrots, onions, even pieces of tomato. Also, we have many Hispanic families in our parish, so there were a couple of delicious Spanish dishes. I ate a wonderful chicken dish that was flavored with a red pepper spice served over Spanish rice that had pieces of tomato in it. Mmmmm. Someone brought salsa from a local restaurant which they own. At the end of clean up, everyone else had gone, so I got to bring home the leftover salsa. Yum. I also ate a fresh spinach salad with roasted soy nuts. Really, there was something for everyone. Arnie had fried chicken; Robby ate Dominoes pizza; Katie ate several scoops of homemade Macaroni and Cheese made by our dear friend.

The best part of the whole night was that Robby received an "Excellence in Altar Serving" award - only two were given from a group of 25 servers. Also, the older students who were on this years Knight Commander Council voted to make Robby a Knight Commander for the 2010 - 2011 school year. This is quite a privilege as the rule has previously been that students needed to be 7th or 8th graders to be a commander. Robby is just a 6th grader. He was very pleased. As a parent, watching your child learn the hard-work-and-dedication-pays-off lesson is very sweet.

Crockery Cookery Cockamamy

An acquaintance of mine ranted about how much he hated crock pots. "That's not cooking. It's just a mess in a bowl." Apparently his mother slow cooked a lot and not well. He remarked that maybe some foods were okay in a crock pot, but I should never have him over for dinner when I am using the crock pot. Duly noted! Not sure I would ever have him to dinner, crock pot or no crock pot. As I've said before, I think some meals are excellent slow cooked, which is the opinion I shared before his rant. Fewer, though, look appetizing out of the crock pot, so I can understand someone not being thrilled with the crock pot.

Beef - especially beautiful roasts seem to do very well slowly cooking throughout the day. Last night before I went to bed, I opened a couple cans of pinto beans, cubed a defrosted roast, added some barbecue sauce and thanked Mable Hoffman for Barbecued Beans and Beef. I covered it with plastic wrap and stuck it in the refrigerator overnight. This morning before leaving for work, I put the crock pot on low and slow. By the time we got home tonight, the lovely smell of beef and barbecue sauce was wafting around the house. I heated some store bought garlic bread, made a garden salad - yes, out of my own garden - and cooked up some rice. Tasty, warm, meat falling apart in our mouths. Very satisfying.

Time to relax and think about which fast food restaurant we will go to on our very busy Wednesday night. Have a good one. I hear there are some cranberry recipes coming my way. I look forward to them!

A Home-Spun Meal

What a great day! Despite the rain that came back after only one beautiful day of sunshine. The kids and I got home from church to find Arnie's truck gone. On a Sunday from June to October that translates to "Gone Fishin". We cleaned and worked around the house while he was gone. The kids both did a great job of sorting through their rooms because we are gearing up to have a garage sale next weekend. I made banana bread muffins with some bananas that no one would touch anymore - as a sweet surprise I put white chocolate chips in them. They were so delicious. Katie and I both ate too many in row. Thank goodness I made mini muffins.

I set a roast out to defrost and went to work folding laundry and sweeping the kitchen. About 20 minutes after I set that roast out, Arnie called. Good news! He got a fish. Yahoo! Usually when he calls, he has a small trout or whitefish that we fry up and have as a side dish. Always delicious, but just a morsel. This time! Yow! Arnie brought home dinner. That trout must have been about 4 pounds. This is one of the biggest he's reeled in. I threw that roast back in the freezer and searched the Internet for interesting trout recipes. I found a site called Boston Chef. It is a blog that seems to be mostly about seafood - check it out at bostonchef.blogspot.com/. They had a great recipe for barbecuing the trout wrapped in bacon. Oh my. The fish was amazing. And so is my handsome fisherman.

Breakfast in Training

Breakfast is not a meal I'm very good at - eating or cooking it. I like breakfast; I just like simple breakfast. I like oatmeal or cream of wheat, cheerios or granola, grapefruit or bananas - but not a lot of it and not usually more than one item. However, as I show signs of aging, My body yearns for the pillow by about 1o p.m. and wakes up by 6 a.m. without an alarm clock. I'm not old, just adjusting to another year gone by. Anyway, getting up so early on the weekends means I have a lot of time in the kitchen by myself, so I've tried a few breakfast dishes. German pancakes, for example. Yum. Robby and Katie loved these. Served up with powder sugar and lemon juice. I made hasbrowns one morning. Stood there grating potatoes and frying them crispy. They were yummy, too.

This morning I perused The Family Circle Cookbook for breakfast recipes and kept turning back to a quiche recipe. Wow. Several of my worst baking experiences involved pie crust. Could I convince myself to try again? I've never made quiche. Mostly because of those ruined pie crusts. I took a deep breath and got out the shortening. Maybe the coffee helped, because the pie crust looked pretty normal. I did use 1/4 cup of wheat flour, but the consistency of the dough still seemed fine. The egg mixture was easy, full of grated carrots, green onions, and cheese. It smelled wonderful while baking and looked terrific when out. The crust wasn't quite right, but the egg mixture was fabulous. Katie ate all of the fabulous part and most of her crust. Robby, my hesitant-about-unfamiliar-foods kid, picked at it, said he liked it, but mostly let it sit on the coffee table while he watched TV. The cat, though, really liked it. We had to throw Robby's piece away after the cat got on the table and started licking it.

I'm definitely going to try quiche again - maybe Quiche Lorraine. What other breakfast dishes should I try at 6 a.m.?

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Where, oh, where has our lovely spring gone? Oh, where, oh, where, can it be? The Northwest has had so much rain lately...three weeks straight, maybe. We have short bursts of sunshine every few days, but really, it has been dark, dismal, and wet. I can't wait for several days in a row of sunshine. My garden is soggy and needs some rays to feed itself to a healthy, green, bushy quality.

I buy seasonal vegetables (cheaper and tastier), much like other smart shoppers. This weekend I bought asparagus, which I don't grow in my own garden, yet. I know people who grow asparagus successfully around here, but haven't tried it yet myself. Tonight when we got home, we decided on comforting spaghetti and meat sauce with garlic bread. And asparagus. The kids have had asparagus before - they are definitely familiar with it. When you have a toddler, doctors and magazines tell you that a child needs to experience a food ten times before it becomes familiar enough for them to like it. We evidently have had asparagus enough times, because neither of my kids said a negative word. They both took a stalk of asparagus and ate it. Katie said she loved it, even though she only had one.

Robby gave me a very dramatic monologue that went: "The asparagus was...(dramatic pause) crispy. The asparagus was...(slightly longer dramatic pause) green. The asparagus was...(hear the drama?) fresh. The asparagus was...(quicker delivery on this one) good."

I roasted the asparagus at 400 degrees, drizzled in olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkled with salt, pepper, and tarragon. Yummmm. Let's see...what to introduce next. Eggplant. Any ideas?

Here's a shout out to my followers. Thanks for reading. Have any of you come up with more cranberry ideas?