Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Healthy & hearty dining at the retro Highland Cafe in southeastern Minnesota October 22, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:42 AM
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A side view of the Historic Highland Store and Cafe.

FROM THE EXTERIOR, a side view of the Historic Highland Store and Cafe in unincorporated Highland in rural Fillmore County, Minnesota, presents a mishmash of angles, work in progress and a corrugated metal roof that seems more fitting for a machine shed than a restaurant.

Face on, the front facade is rather plain and unassuming, until you aim your focus upward to the weathered wooden sign: “Highland Store est. 1894.”

The unassuming front of the Highland Cafe.

That single simple sign hints at the treasure you’ll discover once you step inside this combination cafe, mini-store and Seventh Day Adventist mission outreach next to County Road 10.

A vintage pop sign and a neon OPEN sign next to and on a front window.

Enter this historic building in Highland and you just have to stop and take in the novelty of this place which once served as a general store in this strong agricultural and tourism region of southeastern Minnesota.

A dining room overview with a mini gift shop tucked in the back.

The cafe’s charm and good, home-cooked and healthy food draw not only locals, but tourists/users of the area’s state recreational trails and regional diners from Rochester some 50 miles to the north and west.

My husband and I have come here for lunch early on a Monday afternoon in early October while on a day trip to view the fall colors. We prefer one-of-a-kind small-town cafes to chain restaurants and are thrilled with the unique, down-home atmosphere we discover at the Highland Cafe. It’s as if we’ve walked into the kitchens of our childhood, minus the red-and-white checked linoleum floor.

This is the scene near the front of the dining room where vintage tables and chairs are drenched in sunlight on an October afternoon. This is the kind of spot where you can read a book, work on your laptop or chat it up with the locals or others.

This eatery features the original wood floor topped by a mix of 1940s and 1950s vintage laminate chrome-legged/edged tables and chairs that set the mood for casual dining. There’s nothing matchy, matchy perfect about the décor here and that unpretentiousness suits me perfectly.

The absolutely fabulous lunch counter.

If you prefer to dine at a lunch counter, you’ll find one of those, too, painted in the most unexpected eye-jolting red that contrasts with the dark wood floor and cream-hued wood plank walls.

The main menu offers plenty of healthy choices.

The Highland Cafe, you’ll discover, is as much about the casual country atmosphere as about the food. You’ll read words like organic, multigrain, no sugar, soymilk, super antioxidant and fresh on the whiteboard main menu. You’ll also find comfort foods, like real mashed potatoes and gravy, along with fresh vegetables harvested from the cafe garden out back.

Troy Starks hustles behind the lunch counter toward the kitchen.

Even once mostly meat-and-potato eating local farmers have come around to eating healthier, says Troy Starks who on this Monday is waiting tables while his sister, cafe owner Vicki Hudson, is shopping for groceries. It took some time and convincing, but those stolid farmers are now sometimes ordering the cafe’s super oxidant salads.

The hearty breakfast my husband ordered, even though the hour was well past breakfast: two organic eggs, multigrain toast, hashbrowns and kielbasa. He broke the egg yolks before I photographed his meal.

While my husband and I await our orders—his a plate of breakfast foods and mine a chicken salad sandwich and a bowl of corn chowder—I strike up a conversation with R.J., dining alone at the table next to us. He’s eating a burger. Turns out young R.J. farms just up the road and sells his grass-fed, antibiotic-free beef to the cafe.

When I point out to R.J. that he’s paying to eat the beef he sold to the cafe, he shoots back with a quick-witted, “Well, at least I know it’s (the beef) good.”

My meal: a chicken salad sandwich and tasty corn chowder.

Good and filling most assuredly define the food here. I wished I wasn’t too full to order a slice of pie or bread pudding or a piece of apple crisp for dessert. But I am. Next time…

And this, dear readers, is where I originally ended this post, which has been sitting in my draft box. Now I must add to this story because cafe owner Vicki Hudson announced to me in an email on Friday that the cafe she purchased five years ago will be closing just before Thanksgiving.

Her mother Sharyn Taylor, the cafe’s chief cook, is “getting tired and will not be up to working another year, so we are closing our doors,” Vicki writes. “…we are going to turn the upstairs into a bed and breakfast and then sell it as a combination bed and breakfast and cafe. It would not be the same without my mom and I feel she has done a tremendous job the past five years.”

Vicki continues: “Maybe there will be someone out there interested in carrying on.”

There. If you are interested in carrying on the fine tradition of the Historic Highland Store and Cafe, preserving a piece of southeastern Minnesota history and more, contact Vicki. Honestly, don’t you just love this unique small town dining spot? I do.

The dessert menu on this particular Monday in October.

FYI: The Historic Highland Store and Cafe is located along Fillmore County Road 10 southeast of Lanesboro in unicorporated Highland. Hours are from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. Monday-Friday, closed Saturdays and open from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sunday, until just before Thanksgiving.

Yes, the cafe is closed on Saturdays because the building also serves as a ministry for the Seventh Day Adventist Highland Chapel with Sabbath school beginning at 9:30 a.m. followed by an 11 a.m. church service and vegetarian potluck. Bible study is also held at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and is open to all.

For more information about the Historic Highland Store and Cafe, click here to reach the cafe’s website.

After the lunch rush, Troy Starks and his mom, Sharyn Taylor, sit down to relax and chat. Sharyn is the cafe’s cook.

A comfy and cozy front corner of the cafe.

Even early on a Monday afternoon, the cafe is fairly busy. Occasionally local Amish dine here, intriguing tourists who come to this region of Minnesota. None were here on the Monday we visited. We were told that young Amish women have also worked here on occasion in the kitchen. And at least one  did not show up for work one day, having left the Amish order to “go Englisch.”

The art market and health and beauty aids department behind the dining room offers an eclectic mix of merchandise.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Poets, photographers & penny pinchers connect in Zumbrota October 21, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:50 PM
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FRIDAY EVENING I SUCCESSFULLY read a poem about water before an audience of other poets and photographers and guests in an historic Zumbrota, Minnesota, theatre as part of the “It’s All One Water” exhibit.

I tell you this because I prefer to quietly write and read poetry (to myself) as opposed to standing before an ocean of seats in a darkened theatre with my lips pressed close to a microphone. But practice, practice, practice made all the difference in my feeling fairly confident and comfortable this go around.

(Yes, I’ve read in the State Theatre previously and you can read about that poet-artist collaboration by clicking here.)

My poem,  left, was one of 28 selected and hung in a juried writing competition. Photos themed to water were also part of the “It’s All One Water” show which continues through the end of October at Crossings at Carnegie, 320 East Avenue, Zumbrota.

You’ll just have to imagine me reading my poem:

In which Autumn searches for Water

Water. The wayward word rises in a faint rasp,
barely a whisper above the drone of buzzing bees
weaving among the glorious goldenrods.

I strain to hear as Autumn swishes through the tall swaying grass,
striding toward the pond, yearning to quench her thirst
in this season when Sky has remained mostly silent.

But she finds there, at the pond site, the absence of Water,
only thin reeds of cattails and defiant weeds in the cracked soil,
deep varicose veins crisscrossing Earth.

She pauses, squats low to the parched ground and murmurs
of the incessant chorus of frogs in the spring,
of Water which once nourished this marshland.

Autumn heaves herself up, considers her options
in this brittle landscape too early withered by lack of rain.
Defeat marks her face. Her shoulders slump. She trudges away, in search of Water.

The “It’s All One Water” event included so much more than reading and listening to poetry and viewing photos on the subject of water. It was about mingling with other writers and artists, about connecting, or reconnecting.

Poets, photographers and others mingle over wine and snacks at Crossings prior to the readings a block away at the State Theatre.

I chatted briefly with poet Patrick L. Colemen of Minneapolis, whom I met at Crossings at Carnegie, (the arts venue supporting the show) last spring, and caught up with him on the mystery book he is writing.

I talked with John Calvin Rezmerski of Mankato, a poet who is eons ahead of me, having published several books of poetry and having taught writing at the college level. I met him last year at a poetry-photography show/reading in Mankato. More connecting there and encouragement from other poets.

That is, I have found, the true benefit of attending events like the Friday evening reception and reading in Zumbrota. Connecting. Encouragement for me personally in my writing.

More mingling at Crossings, this time after the poetry readings. To the right is the photo “Tiffany” by Tim Rabe of Rochester. All of the “It’s All One Water” photos are for sale.

Among all the unfamiliar faces was the familiar face of Peter Allen, a gifted Faribault poet who lives several blocks away and a street over from me. Peter and I will be presenting on poetry at Buckham Memorial Library in Faribault in early December. Peter gave me two thumbs up for my poetry reading Friday evening.

I don’t know how Faribault High School English teacher Larry Gavin (he’s taught all three of my children) would have graded my reading. But he was in Zumbrota, too, on Friday evening reading his two poems. He, like Rezmerski, has published several volumes of poetry and reads with the confidence of a seasoned poet who truly has mastered the craft of entertaining an audience.

Likewise Susan Waughtal of Oronoco entertained the audience with her “Farm Water Cycle” poem which resonated with me, a former farm girl. Afterward I chatted with Susan and her husband. They are, she says midlife crisis farmers (farming since 2008) who live and farm on a 10-acre sustainable farmstead, raising chickens (and more), tending bees, operating community supported agriculture, and supporting music and the arts… Susan recently quit her off-farm job to work full-time on the farm.

When Susan told me about the old granary converted into an antique/thrift/arts shop on Squash Blossom Farm and how much she thrills in thrifting, I connected even more for I, too, am a thrifter.

Poets and photographers and penny pinchers. Wonderful company to keep on a Friday evening in October.

The festive exterior of Crossings at Carnegie, a privately-owned art center housed in a former Carnegie library.

FYI: For more information about Crossings at Carnegie, which collaborated with the Zumbro Watershed Partnership on “It’s All One Water,” click here.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Meet 52 South Central Minnesota artists during weekend ArTour October 19, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 12:13 PM
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Faribault artist Julie Fakler’s paintings will be displayed in her JMF Studio at 1212 First Ave. N.W., Faribault, along with the textile art of Deb Johnson. Fakler specializes in animal portraits. Her cow painting graces promotional materials for this year’s South Central Minnesota Studio ArTour.

FIFTY-TWO ARTISTS. Twenty-four studios. And all showcased right here in the Faribault-Northfield-Cannon Falls area this weekend during the eighth annual South Central Minnesota Studio ArTour.

If you’ve never taken this studio tour, I’d encourage you to do so as a) You’ll meet a broad spectrum of talented local artists. b) You’ll view incredible art in wood, glass, photography, textiles, painting, ceramics, jewelry and more. c) It’s free, unless you purchase art, which, of course, you should consider doing. d) You’ll visit three charming communities.

I can’t attend this year’s tour. But I have in the past and here are the photos to prove it.

Just look at the talent we have, right here, in Greater Minnesota.

Meg Jensen Witt will showcase her ceramics at Lillart, 101 E. Fifth St., #209, Northfield, along with the paintings of Lilla Johnson. I photographed this example of Witt’s art in 2011.

At Holmquist Pottery, 11780 90th St. E., Northfield, you will find Lucky Rimpila’s glass art, like this photographed last year. Chris and Sue Holmquist will also display their ceramics and Marsha Kitchel will showcase her paintings.

Last year at Sunset Studio, 10754 Farrel Avenue, Northfield, I photographed the ceramics created by Tom Willis. You will find the work of six other artists at Sunset Studio.

During the 2010 ArTour, I visited Somers’ Studio & Gallery, 9775 Dennison Blvd. S., Northfield, where Fred Somers paints on his rural acreage.

In 2010 I photographed this wood block art created by Carla Thompson. This year she will exhibit her painting, along with Julie Free Heart, at Revisions, 101 E. Fifth St., #302, Northfield.

Animal paintings propped on the floor of Julie Fakler’s JMF Studio during the 2010 ArTour.

FYI: The South Central Minnesota Studio ArTour runs from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 20, and Sunday, October 21. Select studios will also be open from 4-8 p.m. today.

For details, including studio locations and participating artists, click here to reach the ArTour website.

I photographed this scene from the 2010 ArTour marking a Northfield studio.

Click here to read about my visit to Fred Somers’ gallery/studio during the 2010 tour.

Click here to see Faribault artist Julie Fakler’s studio, one of my stops on the 2010 tour.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Cow image courtesy of Julie Fakler

 

Zumbrota exhibit explores water during this year of extreme drought

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:55 AM
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I LOVE THE ARTS.

And I expect part of that passion comes from the lack of arts in my life when I was growing up on the southwestern Minnesota prairie. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, out there in “the middle of nowhere,” as some would say, life focused more on survival than anything.

By survival I mean my father earning enough money to support his wife and six children on a modest crop and dairy farm.

So much depended on the weather, on the rain or lack thereof. Enough rain meant a bountiful crop to feed the cattle and/or sell grain on the market. Too little rain meant scrimping on feed and less money to pay the bills, buy the groceries, clothe the family.

But let’s circle back to my original statement about loving the arts and connect that to water.

Recently I entered, and successfully competed in, an “It’s All One Water” poetry competition sponsored by the Zumbro Watershed Partnership and Crossings at Carnegie, a privately-owned art center in Zumbrota.

This evening a public reception will be held at Crossings, 320 East Avenue, beginning at 6:30 p.m. It is an opportunity to view works by 56 writers and photographers who “explored the aspects of water which fascinate them and created their own artistic expression of this most basic foundation for life,” according to promo info for the event.

At 7:30 p.m., writers, photographers and guests will move down the block to the historic Zumbrota State Theatre where writers will read their works while the water-themed photographs are projected onto a screen.

I will read my “In which Autumn searches for Water.”

My poetic expression about water traces back to my farm roots, to that constant and undeniable link between the land and the sky.

That connection is so much a part of my fiber that I cannot think about water in recreational terms—I can’t swim, don’t like being on the water and grew up in a Minnesota county without a natural lake. Rather, for me, water has always been about sustaining life, about growing a crop, about watering the cows or watering plants or measuring rainfall.

So when I learned of the “It’s All One Water” poetry competition shortly after an autumn walk at the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault, where I found dry ponds, I knew exactly what I would write. I personified Autumn, creating a thirsty woman in search of an also personified Water. It works and I think well, especially given the current historic drought conditions throughout our country.

About a third of Minnesota is suffering from extreme drought. On Thursday the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources issued a news release urging Minnesotans to adopt water conservation measures (no washing vehicles, watering lawns and trees, etc.) as drought conditions are straining our state’s water resources.

Here’s a snippet of my drought-related water poem, verse three of five:

But she finds there, at the pond site, the absence of Water,
only thin reeds of cattails and defiant weeds in the cracked soil,
deep varicose veins crisscrossing Earth.

You can hear me read “In which Autumn searches for Water” this evening or view the entire exhibit from now until the end of October at Crossings. Hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Thursdays; or from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturdays. A limited number of chapbooks are available. Monies from Minnesota’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund helped to fund the “It’s All One Water” exhibit.

CLICK HERE to reach the Crossings at Carnegie website.

CLICK HERE to link to the Zumbro Watershed Partnership website.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW drought conditions in the U.S.

 

Rural Americana: A personal tour of historic Canton, Minnesota October 18, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:34 AM
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The water tower in Canton, on the other side of the roof line seen here in the foreground.

LeROY HAYNES WAS BRUSHING green paint onto wainscoting in the sunny warmth of an October afternoon when I happened upon him in Canton, a town of 328, in southeastern Minnesota near the Iowa border.

He was, he said, in the process of sprucing up Lumber Yard Antiques, the shop he and wife Kathie opened in July. Kathie’s originally from Canton where the couple now lives only three blocks from their antique store.

When the lumber yard moved here, it added the front red part of the building onto the former Masonic Lodge building on the right. The first floor of this complex now houses Lumber Yard Antiques.

They named their business after the lumber yard previously housed in the building complex which some 10-plus years ago was home to another antique shop and before that Canton city offices. The older part of the Haynes’ shop, the Masonic Lodge building, was once rented out by the Masons and used as a grocery store, barbershop and even as apartment space.

See what you learn when you start a conversation. I learned even more when I spotted a cut-out of Tonto and the Lone Ranger and mentioned to LeRoy that I’d seen one just like it in the basement of an antique shop in Stockholm, Wisconsin.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto cut-outs, photographed last fall in Stockholm, Wisconsin.

Imagine my surprise when LeRoy informed me that the cut-out had come from Stockholm, where he once sold his antiques and collectibles at A+ Antiques & Oddities.

It is a small world.

Beautiful 1950 Homer Laughlin china for sale at Lumber Yard Antiques.

LeRoy and I hit it off marvelously and soon he was offering to take me and my husband into the upstairs of the former Masonic Lodge. I had my doubts as this Presbyterian minister led us past a jumble of boxes, over broken glass and finally weaving our way up a steep and dark stairway littered with piles of bird poop. And I was wearing flip flops.

Inside the former Masonic Lodge, the second floor of Lumber Yard Antiques. Can you see the potential here?

But it was worth the climb when LeRoy led us into a spacious room with incredible potential, despite the crumbling ceiling and general disrepair. The wood floor and the step-up small “stages” on both ends of the room—something to do with Masconic ritual, LeRoy said—instantly ignited my creative thoughts. This, I told our tour guide, would be perfect for theatre and/or music.

Canton’s original depot, recently reroofed.

I don’t know that LeRoy and Kathie share my vision. But they have been thinking preservation as has a railroad buff from California who bought the next door vintage railroad depot, sight unseen, according to LeRoy.

Inside the depot.

The depot came next on our tour (LeRoy’s been entrusted with a key) and I was just as delighted to get inside this historic building.

The door LeRoy unlocked into the depot. Love it.

The California man has a vision to create a historic site in Canton and a Canton Historical Society has been formed. Plans are to seek grants to restore old buildings like the depot.

Old elevators like this are disappearing from our small towns, replaced by large, generic storage units. The Canton Historical Society hopes to save Canton Feed & Seed and other old buildings in town as part of an historic site.

And that pretty much ended our tour of the portion of Canton which lies off the main route past town, Minnesota Highway 44. Had we not driven into town via the back way, past the elevator, we may have missed all of this, and that personal, historic tour by LeRoy.

Exterior details on the old Masonic Lodge building.

Outside the back door of the antique shop, this tangerine hued vintage truck contrasted against the gray metal caught my artist’s eye.

A broader view of the scene directly across the street from Lumber Yard Antiques and the depot. Pure rural Americana.

FYI: Lumber Yard Antiques is open from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. “most days,” LeRoy says, but will be closed from January – March. My apologies for failing to photograph LeRoy and Kathie. What was I thinking? Clearly I was not.

CLICK HERE TO READ a previous post from Canton. 

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The corner bar in Canton October 17, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:35 AM
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If you can take your eyes off the vintage phone booth, you’ll notice a beer sign suspended from ZZs Tap (bar) along Canton’s Main Street.

PEER DOWN THE ONE-BLOCK Main Street of Small Town, USA, and your eyes likely will land on a bar or two anchoring a business district comprised of primarily vacant and crumbling buildings.

That’s an over-generalization, of course, but sadly all too true for many once-thriving small towns.

That’s the Canton Pub on the left and the Canton Municipal Liquor Store on the right with an unknown business sandwiched in between.

While hardware stores and grocery stores, even hometown cafes and barber shops, have closed, the corner bar typically endures.

I’ve never been a frequent bar customer and honestly can’t remember the last time I stepped into a small town bar where heads swivel when a stranger enters. You know what I mean, right?

Food and drink and Tuesday night bar bingo can be found at the Canton Pub.

On a recent stop in Canton, a town of 328 nudging the Iowa border in southeastern Minnesota, I spotted the Canton Pub. I didn’t even try the pub door to see if I might slip inside for a cold one on an autumn afternoon.

I was too busy photographing the beer signs.

I photographed this sign at the Canton Pub for my oldest daughter’s boyfriend, Marc Schmidt, who recently relocated to the Twin Cities from LA.

Another beer sign on the Canton Pub.

I almost missed the classic “land of sky blue waters” Hamm’s sign until my husband pointed it out at the Canton Pub.

CHECK BACK FOR ANOTHER post from Canton. There’s more to see in this small town than the bars.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Following the road less traveled, even if you have no idea where you are October 16, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:25 AM
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MY HUSBAND WILL TELL YOU, unequivocally, that I am not a navigator. I cannot read a map nor do I possess any sense of direction when we are traveling in unfamiliar territory.

Given that knowledge, I prefer we both know exactly where we are going before we get going. He plots out roads and I sometimes write down directions and hope for the best. That saves lots of frustration and, ahem, discussion about “maybe we should stop somewhere and ask for directions.”

But occasionally a road beckons and we end up in an unknown locale and I start to fret about where we are and where we’ll end up.

About that time in the journey, Randy will pull over to the side of the road (because we are typically in a remote area) and consult the Minnesota atlas we carry with us. He’ll study it for awhile, then set it down and start driving—without telling me where we are or where we are going.

A view of isolated Fillmore County Road 23 as taken through the front windshield of our car.

On a recent day trip to the Chatfield/Lanesboro/Canton/Harmony/Preston area of southeastern Minnesota, we turned onto Fillmore County Road 23, a scenic route recommended by Jackie, who blogs over at “Who will make me laugh” (you really ought to read her blog by clicking here). I wasn’t expecting the tar road to turn into gravel and twist and turn through isolated backwoods before reaching County Road 10.

I was becoming somewhat agitated, wondering if this really was the road Jackie meant for us to travel and how long we’d be driving in the middle of nowhere.

This lovely old stone house seems to meld into the muted autumn landscape.

Soon enough, though, I became distracted by the scenery and the old stone buildings and the beauty of the place through which we were traveling.

Jackie was right in suggesting we follow scenic CR 23. And my husband was right in realizing that sooner or later, I’d enjoy the ride.

And then, bonus, that stately red barn near the old stone house.

And then further, on a bend in the road, these old stone ruins appeared.

And later I would learn, from Troy at the Highland Cafe (where Jackie also sent me) that this was once a mill.

HOW ABOUT YOU: What type of traveler are you? Are you adventuresome or, like me, wanting to know where you are? I expect some of you will suggest a GPS might be a wise investment. Am I correct?

No matter your answers, taking those backroads always, always, results in wonderful discoveries. Thanks, Jackie, for the scenic travel tip.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

One final look at Door County, Wisconsin October 15, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:29 AM
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DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN, truly is what you make it.

With that in mind, and understanding that I did not even begin to see and do everything a visitor can see and do at this scenic tourist destination in northeastern Wisconsin, here’s one last look at some photos I shot on a recent one-day visit.

You can explore the stunning natural beauty of Door County…

My husband walks along the beach at Whitefish Dunes State park along Lake Michigan on a recent cold and windy afternoon in October.

The harbor at Egg Harbor on the western side of Door County.

A view of the bay while crossing a bridge into Sturgeon Bay, the beginning of Door County.

…or shop the antique and gift shops…

One of the many shops in cozy Egg Harbor.

Nature Works, an Egg Harbor gift shop.

A festive display outside of Nature Works.

A row of flags add a bit of Americana charm to a scene in Egg Harbor.

…or wine and dine…

I just had to photograph the Audrey Grace vineyard at Lautenbach’s Orchard Country Winery south of Fish Creek, even if my middle name is not Grace.

…or take in the arts scene…

I spotted this sign for the Cheeseheads musical inside Julie’s Cafe in Fish Creek.

…or check out the historic buildings…

Look at this absolutely magnificent pink and gray granite church, St. John the Baptist, which I photographed at Egg Harbor. The 1907 church, constructed from stone harvested from local farmers’ fields, is part of the Stella Maris (“Star of the Sea”) Catholic Parish.

READERS, PLEASE VISIT my blog archives to see previous posts I published recently on Door County.

Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Food and (some) photos October 14, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 2:42 PM
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DURING THE PAST 24 HOURS, I have eaten perhaps more food than I would consume in two days.

But three delicious food events fell on the same weekend and I was not about to skip any in the trio.

What I did skip, however, was photographing two of the three, forcing myself to leave my camera at home for one and in the van for the third, just in case. Anyone who knows me understands just how challenging camera abandonment is for me. But I did it, people, I did it.

Four of the 13 chilis/soups served at Lanae and Dale’s annual soup party.

So, instead of seeing photos from Saturday’s Fall Festival in downtown Faribault, which included a buffet of chili along Central Avenue, you will see photos only from my sister Lanae and her husband Dale’s ninth annual soup party Saturday evening.

You also will not see photos from the fall dinner I attended today at Trinity Lutheran Church, North Morristown. I hadn’t even entered the sanctuary when I was asked, “Do you have your camera?” Yesterday I heard the same question several times while strolling Central.

People have come to expect that I will always have my camera around my neck. It was time for me to break free of the camera. Besides, I’ve photographed both the Chili Contest and the Trinity dinner in the past and felt uninspired and maybe a bit lazy. (If you want to see photos from the 2011 church dinner, click here. For past images of the Fall Festival, click here.)

My floral designer sister always has her yard and house seasonally and beautifully decorated.

But, prior to scooping up soup in my sister’s garage, I shot a few photos inside and out and then put away my camera.

I hope you will be inspired by these photos to host an autumn soup party. Guests brought 13 soups/chilis like split pea, potato, Gunflint chili, white chili, minestrone, tomato and more in crockpots. Paired with homemade breads and sweetened with sweet treats, the soups and chilis presented a perfect meal for a fun-filled fall evening with family and friends.

The soup party started and ended with a backyard campfire. Here a few guests and host Dale gathered before we ate.

I was distracted from the food by this gigantic toad in my sister’s backyard.

Then 7-month-old Mychel and her mom arrived and I invited them for a quick photo shoot on the front steps because, well, how could I resist that sweet baby face?

And then I noticed the sweet baby shoes and how could I resist photographing the feet of mom and daughter?

The sweet baby shoot continued as Mychel walked with her mom toward the garage.

In the garage Mychel’s grandpa, Scott, left, and other guests eventually started filing through the soup line.

My niece Cortney and guest Sheila scoop up soup. Casual and warm attire are necessary for this event which is staged in the garage, driveway and backyard. Layers are added as the evening progresses and cold settles in.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

No cherry jackpot this season in Door County, Wisconsin October 13, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 9:12 AM
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REMEMBER THAT WONDERFUL and unseasonably warm weather we embraced last March? Then remember the cold and freezing weather which followed in April, as if the two months traded spots temperature-wise. Not a good thing when you own an orchard.

This sign along Wisconsin Highway 42 south of Fish Creek marks The Cherry Hut roadside cherry business, established in 1949.

I hadn’t thought much about that warm spring until a recent visit to Door County, Wisconsin, famous for its cherry orchards.

The northeastern Wisconsin peninsula experienced the same type of weird warm winter weather we did here in Minnesota, causing the cherry tree buds to form early and then freeze.

The cherry pit spit at Lautenbach’s Country Winery & Market, Fish Creek.

According to the Wisconsin Cherry Growers, Door County’s typical cherry crop of 12 million pounds was expected this year to hover around 700,000.

At first glance you would think this is a cherry product. Not so. This is apple butter sold by The Cherry Hut. I assume the apple crop was also down this year in Door County as it is in Minnesota.

The cherry harvest is long done in Door County. But even a poor crop doesn’t stop this tourist destination from promoting cherries and offering samples of cherry wines and juices and cherry salsa from, I presume, primarily last season’s crop.

And restaurants, like Julie’s Park Cafe in Fish Creek, were still offering up slices of delicious Door County cherry pie.

A $5 slice of tart Door County cherry pie…

…shared by three–my husband, second daughter and me.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling