A Bloy and his Blog

Several years ago, I wrote about how much I enjoyed my Grandmother Bloy’s Pfeffernüsse when she was still around to make them. When I was a kid, it just wasn’t Christmas time if I didn’t have some of those small, crunchy, spicy cookies.

Also several years ago, I got a copy of my grandmother’s recipe from my mother, with the intention of trying to make them myself. This year, I finally did. I should probably mention, these are not the same pfeffernüsse you often see in the grocery store this time of year (which are much larger and covered with powdered sugar). Apparently my Grandmother followed a different traditional German recipe.

read the rest of: Grandma Bloy’s Pfeffernüsse recipe

My family had a couple of get-togethers over the past few weeks.

From left: my brother Steven, my sisters Barbra and Christine, and myself.

read the rest of: Family photos

Dad came with me on my trip (he wanted to spend some time at the National Cathedral and the National Archives). It was good having a traveling companion along.

read the rest of: A rainy Sunday at the Cathedral

I got to see my great nephew Adam in his Halloween costume tonight. Here he is with his Grandmother (my sister-in-law), who made the swashbuckling jacket.

Say it with me now… “Arrrrrrrr!”

I’ve got running water in my kitchen! This is not a bad thing (it only runs when I want it to). Four days ago I wasn’t so sure that would be the case.

A while back I decided to get rid of my 23-year-old kitchen counter. Of course you can’t have a new counter and keep the 23-year-old sink and faucet. The disposer was also in serious need of replacing. So, I purchased the new stuff, and signed up with a contractor to install the counter. In order to save some money (I hate to think what a plumber charges per hour), my brother and I ripped out the old stuff, and had planned on installing the faucet and garbage disposer ourselves. After all, Steve and I have both watched a lot of This Old House episodes, and the two of us replaced his garbage disposer last winter.

read the rest of: Adventures in kitchen remodeling

I was telling some friends about my Mom’s situation (currently in hospital), and they asked about her name (which is Allegra). When they asked me where the name came from, I didn’t know.

So today when I stopped by to visit Mom, I asked her if she knew how her parents chose her name. Mom said she believed it came from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who had a daughter named Allegra.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

Mom told me she heard this story much later in life, from her sister. Apparently there is some question as to how true it is. Nevertheless, I thought it was an interesting story and worthy of posting here.

If you’d like to read the entire poem, here’s a link to The Children’s Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

An excursion train with Milwaukee Road Engine 261 (an old steam locomotive) ran from Milwaukee to the Wisconsin Dells today.

read the rest of: Engine 261