What's next...

Still here.

After months of silence, three friends, Kyle, Bricker and Patrick, have busted my chops enough to update. And so much has happened. We’ve been to Eastern Europe, the caldron of my formative years, and Minneapolis has endorsed candidates for School Board. Oh yeah, and that Barack Obama guy seems to do well also. I’ll try not to focus on my consumer beefs of the past, and instead focus on what I’m doing to shed light on great ideas. Check in, as I think I’ll be writing more.

Boycotting Murray's

I need to share with extraordinary disappointment the treatment that I, my Wife, my Father and my Stepmother recently received from the iconic Murray’s restaurant in Minneapolis.

My birthday and Christmas fall relatively near each other. It has been the practice of my Father these many years to ensure that I have a special dinner in December. This being Minnesota, Murray’s is the natural selection for such a joyous occasion. My wife and I, and my In-laws from Pennsylvania, have dined at Murray’s over the years, so my Father knew this to be my favorite spot.

Unfortunately, the gift certificates mailed to me, over $200 worth, were stolen from my mail. I was not concerned because, as the gift is personalized with my name on the certificates, I thought certainly a call to Murray’s would ensure first, that the thieves would not gain from their commission of a Federal Crime. Second, that I would be able to have new certificates issued. Recently the Guthrie was able to conduct a similar transaction with me, and they spared nothing in ensuring that I remain a happy customer. Good for the Cue.

Murray’s offers no such happy story. After reporting this mail theft to Postal authorities I contacted Murray’s. My Father contacted Murray’s. My Stepmother contacted Murray’s. Finally my wife went to Murray’s over lunch. Not only will Murray’s, full well knowing four times over that the coupons with my name on them are stolen, give us the standard response “you’re out of luck,” but they are also rewarding the thieves by honoring my stolen gift certificates. Murray’s is in no uncertain terms receiving my stolen property.

How on Christmas, for my birthday, can my favorite restaurant in the world (I’ve taken mail across America and in two foreign countries) treat me and my family so rudely (I’ll not get into the barbaric details) and simultaneously facilitate the commission of a federal crime by knowingly accepting these stolen gift certificates? Talk about absolutely killing Christmas.

The Twin Cities are a great place for steak. Manny’s, Rossi’s, Kincaid’s, the chains, and I can even drive to Bergen Minnesota for incredible aged steaks. I don’t need Murray’s. Murray’s has always been part of what is special about Minnesota. Part of that specialness just died.

I want to share with you all the following warnings: Don’t send gifts through the mail uninsured, only buy gift certificates from companies that will stand by their gifts and record keeping to ensure that you do get your gifts. Murray’s has lost my business, and the business of everyone I know forever because of their barbaric behavior. Perhaps telling stories such as mine can save Christmas for others.

Jeremy Wieland

The Party Itself

25 pounds of meatballs, 30 bottles of wine, a case of San Pelligrino, four quarts of tyttebaer, and the count continues. All said and done some 65 folks came over and had a heck of a time. The last folks took a cab about 5 AM and we packed it up and hit the hay. Good times. Most of the photos are in the lefse 2007 photo album, but a few are right here.

t-Minus...

We're about thirteen hours away from kick-off. It's been busy. By now we're thoroughly into the Spirit of Giving. Traditionally, I'm a Grinch. But this party always turns me around and gets me excited about the Holidays. We don't ask folks to bring donations or anything. But if you're in the spirit, go here. There seems to be a shortage of food for the Holidays, and no one should go without.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah.

On the 4th day...

Tonight was Tyttebaer night, more commonly referred to as lingon berries. The tyttebaer are a very red, sweet berry that cooks up nicely into a sweet sauce that we put on lefse, which we made earlier in the week, and will continue making over the next several days. Putting together 4 quarts is pretty simple, most of the labor being waiting for the large pot to come to a boil. Karlene threw in again to help, in between moving furniture around and setting up a spare room for our friend KC. She's coming in from Pittsburgh to enjoy the weekend. Check out the photos below. Also, don't know if there will be a post tomorrow. We'll see how the evening goes.

Also, I've included a final photo of our refrigerator. It's a little full so we're pretty much eating out every day.

3rd Day sees a change of food groups

Day three has passed. Thanks to Karlene, Charlie and Chris for stepping in to help prepare 35 pounds of meatballs. The going was tough at first. If it wasn't for the 2001 Chateauneuf-de-Pape we might not have made it. The first dozen disintegrated before Chris addressed the problem by turning down the heat. Karlene isn't in the pics because she took them. Needless to say, the party has started and we're cooking now. Tomorrow night, lingonberry sauce.

By the way, and unrelated to lefse, there is crazy stuff going on. A DOT Staffer in dutch for being absent for the bridge collapse, an Arch-Bishop alienating his congregation, and that Senate race that seemingly few people are talking about. Read the papers. Also, Wells-Fargo is still a terrible place to bank and I'm shopping for a replacement.

Lefse, it begins

Just some pics today from the early preps. The first day is making lefse batter so that I can start flipping tomorrow. The big question is whether I have enough. Tomorrow will tell after we've flipped a bunch. Karlene has already set up the dining room and we've stocked up with plates, glasses, cups and silver ware. Just trying to be environmentally friendly and not throw stuff out. For the curious, the tree goes up (a surprise until we kick off) and we dive into the batter. Check out below.

Moving on...

Wow is the only way I can put it. I started work at the Utne Reader on March 29th, 2000. It was a heady time before September 11th and I was preoccupied discovering a Minnesota that was completely different from the one that I left in 1988 to go East for college. Today, June 28th 2007 I tendered my resignation. It was time, and a wonderful new company, Tiger Oak Publications, just offered me such a ripe opportunity to cultivate new intellectual ground. So I'm moving from Utne Reader and Ogden Publications, where I formed a strong affection for Natural Home, Herbs for Health and Farm Collector, to TO where I can now rediscover regional publishing.

P.S. I did get some grief for not updating here in months. I'm working on being better.

I'll miss Utne and the bonds that were formed there, but I can't wait to get started on my new challenges.

Lefse making

Wow, I didn’t realize that it had been so long since I last posted. Well, simple stuff tonight. We had some folks over to make lefse the other night. Afterward I was thinking about the last time that I had posted, and couldn’t remember when that occurred. So this is one tonight. Check out the lefse photo album if you want to see pics.

Back from the fair

Well, I’ve certainly been busy. The new job has me running around like a crazy man trying to figure out how to sell fair trade organic shade grown coffee. If you’re interested, click here to learn more about the product. I’ve taken a liking to the medium roast. We also...