Pic Today 10/1/11

THE ART OF GREAT APPLE BUTTER

(A Conversation with Mrs. Odelehr)

The best of anything is always the result

of quality, detail and the passion of one person.

In the case of apple butter,

for which I am admittedly a connoisseur,

that person is Jeanette Odelehr,

from Brussels, Illinois.

The Odelehr family farm is located on an isolated

piece of prime farmland, between Missouri and Illinois,

reachable only by river ferry boat at a junction

of the Mississippi River (north of St. Louis.)

During a recent visit with Mrs. Odelehr,

she passed along a story of how her apple butter

was first started and the secrets of her award winning recipe.

"We were a hard working farm family, growing wheat, corn and soybeans,"

she says, "and about 30 years ago I asked my husband for a new clothes dryer."

"He said no," she adds, "we can't afford it . . . so I decided I needed

some extra income. And my neighbor suggested making apple butter,

and gave me an old copper kettle. So I gathered our fall batch

of apples (tart Jonathans), cored and peeled 'em, and

cooked them down over an outside wood fire."

"It took lots of patience and stirring, and practice" she says proudly,

"but I figured out a simple recipe with sugar and cinnamon.

And after years of learning and keeping things clean and simple,

they told me my apple butter was 'better than most.' I gradually

found some more copper kettles, and put up more butters

in jars, and sold them at our roadside market.

Our fame and reputation has spread over the years,

and now we get traffic from all over at this time of the year."

Mrs. Odelehr now sells her apple and peach butter at area

farmers' markets, and has won awards for her time proven recipe.

"I'm proud of our product and our family name,

and want my children to carry on our old world recipes," she adds.

"I tell my children I'm putting these old copper kettles

in my will, and how each child will get one.

I'm not sure they understand", as she laughs,

"but I sure earned that new clothes dryer."

This is the best apple butter this blogger has ever tasted.

Pic Today 9/30/11

A FISH RESTAURANT

WHERE THE FISH LOOK BACK AT YOU

There's a fish restaurant on the Mississippi River

where you can enjoy a fresh fish meal

while some really big fish come to your table

and watch you eat!

Welcome to the Fin Inn in Grafton, Illinois,

on the banks of the muddy Mississippi,

where each table has a window on

an 8,000-gallon aquarium . . .

stocked with local river fish who love

to watch you eat your fish dinner.

(Kinda spooky, kinda fun!)

Among the fish stocked in the Fin Inn aquarium

are huge catfish (including a rare albino cat),

aligator gar, 100 pound bass,

and a 100-year-old snapping turtle.

A most unusual "fish restaurant."

Pic Today 9/29/11

IT'S APPLE PICKIN' TIME

Red Delicious, Golden Delicious,

Jonathans, McIntosh, Cortland, Honey Crisp.

They're all ripe for the pickin' . . .

for pies, apple sauce, cider, apple butter

or just eating right out of your hand.

Better hurry.

They're falling off the trees!

Pic Today 9/28/11

FALL FLOWERS,

AUTUMN COLORS

Final flowers of the season

make their last stand,

as the days get shorter

and the nights get colder.

Water lilies will soon be moved inside.

Golden blooms give their final pollen to busy bees.

Dogwood fruit and beauty berries show color of their own.

Then there's the changing shades of autumn leaves.

It's show time, folks.

"Autumn is a second spring

when every leaf is a flower."

-- Albert Camus

Pic Today 9/27/11

DAWN BY THE RIVER

Dawn's first light,

A chill in the air.

Fresh brewed coffee,

A quiet moment.

Before a misty hike,

Down to the river.

The world's in a cloud,

Before the sun cuts through.

Foot steps on the gravel bar,

And wild birds calling out.

The only sounds.

Alone.