Without shame, I admit that I have never made a pumpkin pie from scratch. Maybe you haven’t either? Now, before you get testy and mad at me please let me explain. I have never purchased a frozen pie crust. My “never fail pie crust recipe” lives up to its name. My husband says it is even better than his mother’s. Please don’t pout, Myna, everything else you make is better … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – Wrestling with God…
By Pastor Kevin Barnhart Spring Grove Evangelical Free The steady thrumming of the rain beating down on the windows matches my heartbeat. I am struck with an oppressive feeling that sometimes life seems to be one big valley. Do you understand this feeling? The news is teeming with so much sadness and sorrow, people shouldn’t die, marriages shouldn’t end, homelessness, … [Read more...]
The snows of November came early
“When does winter start in Minnesota?” I was a guest on a radio show whose host posed that question. The station was located where winters are different from here in the frozen foods section of the country. I won’t say kinder or gentler, but the temperatures are higher and snow is lacking. My lame answer was, “When last winter’s snow has finally melted.” This assured … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past After dark in Black Hammer, “Mathias with the Fork”
Sometime before Minnesota became a territory in 1849, there was a tale of a trapper who roamed the area that included what later became Black Hammer and Yucatan Townships in Houston County. During extreme weather, he would ask for food and shelter overnight at whatever settler’s cabin he could find. Other information about him, even his full name, was not known. But when asked … [Read more...]
Knowledge is power and Francis is Bacon
I could have waited but I couldn’t wait. I mumbled the nursery rhyme, “Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye, four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing – wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king?” My parents were visiting the neighbors, which involved drinking copious amounts of coffee and eating brownies. They … [Read more...]
A Goodly Heritage
After-beaver clean-up I once wrote you a story called “A Beaver Tale.” Unfortunately, to my point of view, the story was not over. Mr. Landowner returned to his little cabin on a small lake in the north woods of Wisconsin. His aim was to improve the cabin itself by cementing in several stunning split rocks from the fireplace and chimney. The past 50 years had taken a toll … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – “The Freedom of a Christian”
By Pastor Jeff Jacobs Unity Lutheran Parish - St. Paul, Saetersdal and St. Matthew’s, Granger In this month of Martin Luther’s birth (November 10, 1483), I share from one of his important early works, “The Freedom of a Christian.” While his other writings in 1520 were quite polemical, this aimed to be more conciliatory amid growing tensions between Catholic hierarchy and … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Wild animals gave way to an iron Lion, wings of steam power
The following history of Spring Grove was written in 1880 by Sven H. Ellestad in the Spring Grove Posten, the town’s first newspaper, published weekly in Norwegian for approximately a year. An annual subscription cost 50 cents. There has been no change in the punctuation from a 1947 reprint in English as translated by his niece, Clara Johnosrud Torvik: Spring Grove, … [Read more...]
The Plant Lady
Tips for a successful garden Winter is coming, but now is a great time to plan for a new garden! The most important step to any successful garden is planning. Often times, novice gardeners will wander around a greenhouse, filling their cart with items that look pretty. This technique might work, but sometimes the garden fails. A few things to keep in mind when purchasing … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Commemorating those who could not come home
“What a pleasant experience to be halfway around the world and see someone I knew. It made Houston County seem a little closer,” recalled Ron Strub about one treasured memory from his mid-1960s service as an Army medic in Vietnam. “There were a lot of times I knew someone was looking over my shoulder and taking care of me and keeping me safe.” During a Sunday church service in … [Read more...]