Just Call us the Gerhke’s
Edward and Margaret Gehrke, a childless couple from Lincoln, Nebraska, began traveling together to the national parks in 1915, when they stopped at the Grand Canyon on the way home from a trip to San Francisco.
For the next quarter century, traveling first by rail and then in a succession of new Buicks, the couple would visit all of the national parks that existed at the time. During each summer journey, Edward snapped photographs and Margaret recorded their adventures in her journal. The journals and photographs were eventually given to the Nebraska State Historical Society.
In the 1930s, Edward built a “house-car,” but he died in 1939 before they could drive it to a national park. In 1948, Margaret traveled once more by train to Rocky Mountain National Park, the couple’s favorite destination.
The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (PBS)
Gerhke’s journal pages from Nebraska Historical Society
Mr Chiots and I enjoy traveling, especially by car. We tend to go camping, hiking and all those kinds of activities while vacationing. We favor traveling on the back roads and talking to local people. A while ago we decided that we were going to visit all the National Parks. I visited many of them growing up, as my family enjoyed long driving/camping vacations seeing all the wonderful things this country had to offer. There are a few parks that our minivan never made it to, so I’m excited to add those to my list, especially Crater Lake. Mr Chiots is super excited to see all of them, but is especially looking forward to Mr Rushmore.
We have visited the Smoky Mountains several times and were able to visit Acadia on our trip to New England this past fall. We live fairly close to Cuyahoga National Park and have spent a lot of time hiking/driving around it.
This summer we will be spending a week in Seattle with friends, so we decided to drive out through the Northern States, visiting Theodore Roosevelt, Glacier and North Cascades National Parks. Our friends will fly out and meet us in Seattle. While there we’ll visit Mt Rainier and Olympic National Park. On our way home we’re planning on coming down through Oregon to finally check Crater Lake off my list and then head back through Idaho and Montana to visit Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, the Badlands and any others we can fit in.
Of course we’ll be driving our MINI and hopefully pulling a little teardrop trailer we’re hoping to build this spring. We’re planning on starting a new blog just to document our travels, a journal of sorts and we may make a video diary our trips, since that’s what we do for our day jobs. I’ll be sure to let you know when that is up and running so you can check it out and see what we’re up to.
The only problem with taking three and half weeks off in the summer is that it severely cuts into my gardening time. But driving out through the northern states isn’t an option in the winter. Since you all had such great tips for our trip to New England, I figured I’d ask for any great tips, restaurants, places to see and things to do on our trip. We have yet to nail down our exact route home and we’re pretty flexible with time on that portion of our trip.
So any great suggestions for things to see/do while in Seattle? Any great recommendations for our travels to out west and back?
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A Great Excuse for Good Food
I’m not a football fan, I grew up in South America so soccer is more my speed. Every year though we get together with friends for a super bowl party. It’s not so much about the football but about the food. I always enjoy having an excuse to make a bunch of delicious things.
I spent the day yesterday baking away. I make two batches of kaiser rolls, one whole grain, one white. I made some enriched dough to wrap around little smokies (one of Mr Chiot’s favorite Super Bowl snacks). Some whole grain olive oil crackers were also pulled out of the oven, they were quite tasty (I’ll share the recipe later).
I also used some of those lovely Meyer lemons to make a lemon pound cake. Ina Garten’s recipes never let me down, I find then to always turn out beautifully.
The cake was fabulous of course, not too sweet, perfectly tart and deliciously lemony. I took lots of photos and will share the recipe with you later this week.
Do you attend a Super Bowl Party? What kinds of food do you eat?
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Quote of the Day: Wayne Winterrowd
“A garden that is not worth a little trouble
is not worth anything”
Wayne Winterrowd
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Wayne Winterrowd this past fall, his gardens have always been inspirational to me. The first book I ever read about the Gardens at North Hill was Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill. It was the book that got me thinking about living a more seasonal life. Savoring things, especially foods, in their season when they’re at their best. This book is out of print, and I wish I had purchased a copy back when I could get one. I’ll keep my eyes peeled at used books stores for it as I’d love to add it to my bookshelf.
photo courtesy of Cheryl Pedemonti a Flickr friend
I’ve been wanting to visit the garden at North Hill ever since I read the first book by Wayne and his partner Joe, but I have yet to make the journey. I was really hoping to attend their kitchen garden symposium this summer, but sadly I’m busy that weekend. Now that the gardens are going to be open to the public on the weekends, I may have to make a trip up there during one of my free weekends this summer.
Who’s been inspirational to you in your gardening career? Is there one book, person or event that you can pinpoint as having a big influence on your life?
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Winter Baking
Most of the time I love to cook more than I love to bake. I enjoy chopping lots of veggies for soups and rolling out pasta for lasagna. In the winter however, I enjoy baking, especially when it’s really cold outside. In The past couple weeks the oven’s been working overtime making all sorts of wonderful things. Today I’m going to be busy baking a few things for the Super Bowl party we’ll be attending tomorrow.
When I do bake, I generally prefer to make bread. I make all kinds of bread, but nice crusty sourdoughs come out of the oven more often than sweet breads. Every now and then Mr Chiots talks me into making cinnamon rolls for him, the ones above were made for his birthday (they were topped with maple caramel made with our homemade maple syrup).
I’m not a big cookie baker either, much to Mr Chiot’s chagrin. Every now and then I feel like some chocolate chip cookies so I make a batch. My favorite recipe at the moment is this one from Nosh With Me. I made a batch this week to eat while reading through the new 2010 USDA nutrition guidelines. I happily munched away on my butter laden cookies and drank my whole milk latte without any guilt while reading their recommendations to drink skim milk and remove butter from your diet.
Last night a delicious four berry pandowdy with the zest of four of those lovely Meyer lemons came out of the oven. Didn’t get a photo of that, I was too hungry, and tired. I have to admit, if I could only bake one thing for the rest of my life, it would be a good loaf of sourdough. I’d happily give up all cakes, cookies, brownies and sweets for a good piece of bread any day.
Do you prefer cooking or baking? What’s your favorite thing that comes out of your oven?
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Friday Favorite: Pucker Up for Free Lemons
I’m a big fan of all things lemon, always have been. When I was a little girl I ate lemons like other kids ate apples. My taste for the lemon hasn’t changed, I find myself adding lemon zest or lemon juice to anything that will take it. I also love grapefruit, must be something about that tartness that I love. Several years ago, when I started becoming more of a local eater I quit buying as many lemons (which was very sad). Then I discovered the joy of supporting small farms around the country for things I can’t buy locally like olive oil, grapefruit, oranges and of course lemons.
Last year I found the Lemon Ladies Orchard and was thrilled with the box of Meyer Lemons I received. They’re not like regular lemons, they’re sweeter, since they’re a cross between a lemon and a mandarine orange. The Lemon Ladies orchard was started in 2004 by Karen. She decided to name each tree after a lady who had inspired her and helped her achieve her dreams. She grows her trees with organic fertilizer, lots of sunshine and fresh water and they flourish under her care.
I received my box of lemons in the mail last Thursday and have been enjoying sliced lemon in my tea every day. Tonight I plan on making berry cobbler with lemon juice and lemon zest. I’ll make another batch of preserved lemons for sure and meyer lemon marmalade to keep the flavor of these all year long. I might even make a lemon cake with lemon icing, if I do I’ll share with a friend of mine who also has a love for all things lemon.
Earlier this week, Karen, contacted me to thank me for mentioning The Lemon Ladies on my blog and she offered to give a Meyer Gift Bag to one of my lucky readers as a Valentine’s Day Giveaway. So PUCKER UP and comment below, you could win a dozen lovely freshly picked Meyer Lemons from a small orchard in California.
What’s your favorite kind of fruit?
