Scandinavian Rullepolse – Or is it Ribberull?

Life as I know it will never be the same. There are moments in one’s life when the very fabric of your being is ripped apart, leaving you a shell of what you once were. Ok, this may not be one of those times, but I have recently learned an iconic tradition in our family is not what we have thought it to be.

Growing up in a Scandinavian household, there are Christmas traditions unique to our culture. Many of the ones we retain revolve around the food we prepare during the holiday season. One such treat is what we call rullepolsa. It is a rolled lamb and pork dish we serve as a lunchmeat.

Thanks to the internet, we have learned what we have been calling rullepolsa is actually a similar Danish dish using beef and pork. The Norwegians have their own version which is called ribberull, using lamb instead of beef. Thanks for destroying a Soberg family tradition in a few keystrokes and clicks of the mouse. I’ll let YOU tell my 88 year-old mother that she has been deceiving us by miscalling it rullepolsa all these years. Continue reading “Scandinavian Rullepolse – Or is it Ribberull?”

The Future of Natural Beekeeping

What is ‘natural beekeeping’?

The question should rather be, ‘is any beekeeping natural?’ and the answer must be that, in nature, only bees keep bees.

As humans, our interest in them has been primarily selfish: we saw them as the source of a uniquely delicious, sweet substance and paid little heed to their pervasive presence in the natural world, where, largely unnoticed, they went about their business of farming flowers.

Farming? In the same way that horticulturists select plant varieties for breeding, so have the bees and other pollinators selected, over millions of years, the plants that provide them with food in the forms of pollen and nectar and so have greatly influenced the colours and patterns of our landscapes and the scents and flavours of the herbs and the hedgerow fruits that we have taken and further developed into the food we eat. Continue reading “The Future of Natural Beekeeping”

How to Pick a Stand in Large Hardwoods

Where do you set up your deer stand in big hardwoods?

One big question every rookie deer hunter has is where do I set up my stand? The question really needs to be how do I decide where to set up my stand. Even experienced hunters ask themselves that question sometimes when in new territory.

The answers to the question have a few common rules regardless of the terrain being hunted, but a lot has to do with the specific terrain you will be on. This article will concentrate on what I’m most familiar with, and that’s hunting big woods with no agriculture in the area.

Big woods hunting can be very difficult. There is seemingly an endless amount of places deer can hide. With plenty of oak trees around and a generous mast the past few years, they don’t have to travel far to find food during the hunting season. Chances are there’s a stream or at least a little crick where the deer can get water nearby. So what does a guy do? Continue reading “How to Pick a Stand in Large Hardwoods”

Sticking People Together, Making People “Stick” Out: Honey Farms and Anthropology

Sticking People Together, Making People “Stick” Out: Oh, Honey

Almost everyone around the world eventually discovers that food brings people together and apart. Bread and rice start medieval peasant riots, GMO’s strain or heal international relations, family business for many people happens around the table, and in some countries chocolate may win a girl’s affections for a day. In Charlottesville, VA, the Saturday morning City Market clearly brings people together, but an interview with a local honey merchant shows that homegrown food can form communal relationships while also setting people apart from each other within that community.

The Hungry Hill Farms booth sits next to the popsicle stand, the first booth in a long row of organic and homemade stalls. The couple working the booth first caught my attention when the friendly man complimented my friend’s “I’m no rocket-surgeon” shirt. Other people who stopped by to look at the honey often just stopped by to chat; two ladies paused because, as they said, “I buy your honey at the Cville Market.” The honey they had purchased at the local store had become a way to open up alliance in conversation; it had created a social “debt”, albeit a very small one, between the person at the booth and the customer, and while the customer and the vendor did not know each other, they both acknowledged a small friendly bond. Colin Johnson, the friendly man watching the booth, said that often regular customers will come solely for conversation, not to buy honey. Continue reading “Sticking People Together, Making People “Stick” Out: Honey Farms and Anthropology”

Mother’s Day – Simply Special

Once a year a day is set aside for Mom. But Mom could be Grandma, Auntie, Step Mom, Sister, or anyone who was there in your growing years and made an impact on who you are today.

Stores and shops are filled with ideas for gifts, food, cards, and “items” to celebrate this very special day. However, having been a mom, grandma, auntie, etc. and all of the above, gifts and years have come and gone. Some gifts are very, very special and others you remember and appreciate. The gifts that truly are part of your heart are those that brought memories, visions of the past and the beautiful years you shared, as well as the “details” that you thought no one would ever remember.

Let me just say – I have kept every single gift, card, and picture of my special day with my very special people. All are forever etched on my heart and with today’s and the world’s special needs, the gifts of today’s Mother’s Day are uniquely different. Continue reading “Mother’s Day – Simply Special”

Where Do Great Ideas Come From?

At a Photo Club meeting I attended recently, the President made a comment on another meeting he had attended, where someone in the audience asked the presenter where to find good subjects to photograph. The presenter in question started giving specifics instead of identifying the core issues in question, Attitude and Perspective.

Clients often ask me the same question about ideas, “Where or how does one come up with a good idea for a business or service, for a new product to develop or a theme for an ad?” Oddly enough, the answer is the same; it depends on your attitude and perspective because inspiration is everywhere. Everywhere around you, there are clues to great ideas but you have to be receptive to see or hear them. Once you are open to really listening and observing, you tend to notice things you weren’t aware of in the past. It’s sometimes uncomfortable to look at the world around you and respond to it differently than others do, but it can be very rewarding.

Is the world around you a place of abundance and opportunity or a difficult barren place? Do you think of life as a constant struggle or an adventure?

Continue reading “Where Do Great Ideas Come From?”

Can a Hobby Help You Lose Weight?

How important can a hobby be in your weight loss efforts? Do you think that having a hobby can keep you from gaining weight or even help you to lose weight?
If you think about what a hobby means it could help you in your efforts with any negative behavior.

When you start a hobby there is usually a learning curve. You have to learn how to do whatever hobby you’re starting. If you decide to crochet or quilt you’ll need to take some lessons. Or maybe you’ve decided to take up painting or jewelry making, or playing tennis. If you’ve never done these things before you’ll probably need to spend some time learning how to do them either by self-learning online or by going to some kind of offline classes. Whatever hobby you take up there will probably be a given amount of time allocated to learning about how to do this particular hobby. Continue reading “Can a Hobby Help You Lose Weight?”

What Exactly Is Suet?

Suet is the mildly flavored beef fat from the kidney area. Traditionally this fat was also known as tallow, which was a main ingredient in candles and soap. It has a low melting point and can be easily combined with other bird-friendly ingredients, such as rolled oats, cracked corn, sunflower seed and peanut butter, etc. For an excellent high-energy food that the birds readily accept, suet can’t be beat.

Best suet in my opinion:

Birdwatchers Best Nutty Butter Suet manufactured at Pine Tree Farms, Interlaken, NY, USA
Heath Berry Blast All-Season Suet made by Heath Outdoor Products, Coopersville, MI, USA

Both are concentrated, long-lasting and packed with goodies and not fillers. My birds are very fond of both of them.

Backyard birds that enjoy suet: woodpeckers, including pleated, downy, hairy, red bellied and northern flickers; nuthatches, chickadees, blue jays, finches, juncos, crows, ravens, starlings and grackles. Continue reading “What Exactly Is Suet?”

Three Ways to Travel Without Traveling

What do you love most about travel? I love the feeling of freedom from my day-to-day routine, freedom from pressures, and mostly freedom from stress! Plus, the adventure of seeing new sights, meeting new people, and immersing myself in another culture.

So how do you get that without actually traveling? My favorite way is to read a great book. It can be an old favorite, or a new adventure, but it has to pull me right in and keep me there so snuggly that I can’t even think about anything else! My whole body says, “Aaahh.” Then I get excited about what’s going to happen next. The atmosphere and adventure of another time and place can work its magic to make me feel I’ve left my own home and flown off to some great new experience.

My most recent favorite book for that type of “travel without travel” is Adventures of a World-Traveling Scientist by Stanley Randolf. Imagine discovering secrets of unusual cultures, weird animal species, new perspectives (like “following your Soul Voice”), and scary moments just around the corner! From China to Rarotonga, I felt very-well-traveled, like an aristocrat from earlier lore. Continue reading “Three Ways to Travel Without Traveling”

Can You Guess the Names of These 12 Unique Fruits and Vegetables From Colombia?

Unique Fruits and Vegetables from Colombia

Call yourself an experienced South American traveler? Here’s a quick little quiz for you. Read the description, then try to guess the name of the fruit or vegetable described. You can check your answers later in the article.

Can You Guess The Names of These Strange Foods?

1. I’m long and yellow but I’m not a banana. You can boil me or roast me while I’m green or later when I’m sweet and yellow. Can you guess what I am? That’s right! __________ Enjoy me roasted plantain with cheese.

2. What’s red on the inside and the outside with spines all over on the outside? Even my juice is red. My juice is used in food coloring, body paint and makeup. Do you know what I am? Can you say __________? Continue reading “Can You Guess the Names of These 12 Unique Fruits and Vegetables From Colombia?”