Soon winter will be just a sleeting memory. With the advent of spring comes an ever-changing cornucopia of newly-sprouting varieties of vegetation. Lilies of the Valley, Fiddlehead Ferns, Dutchman’s Breeches, Bluebells, and Jack in the Pulpit abound in the woods around the Driftless Region. One finds the spark of new life in the cultivated gardens of the area as well. Asparagus loves to nudge its pointy little head out of the earth at the first advent of frost packing it in for another season. Freshly planted onion sets strive mightily to reach out and touch the sun. Lettuces frolic with wild abandon, seemingly screaming out “Pick me! Pick me! And slather me with homemade Green Goddess dressing!” But the most formidable spring garden plant just has to be rhubarb. Once it takes hold, it is just like the Energizer bunny. It keeps growing and growing and growing.

So let me share a story from the McCaffrey Family Chronicles. A tale of rhubarb deception or at the very least, a mother’s indiscretion. I grew up the son of a father who went through the Great Depression and a mother who escaped with her sister from East Germany during World War Two. Together my parents some how came up with the down payment on an 80-acre farm just west of Decorah. I’m sure making the ends meet while raising five children and sending them to the Catholic school as well was no picnic in the park. After all, my dad was a rural mail carrier and like most families at that time, he was the sole wage earner. In order to make do, we had a couple of large gardens and raised various species of livestock that graced the table throughout the year. One year we raised 400 chickens in the garage. We spent an entire weekend butchering and pulling feathers. We then proceeded to have chicken for supper six days a week. On the seventh day we rested and had hamburger. I still do like chicken in spite of that experience. Needless to say, a lot of effort was necessary to keep the farm above the waterline.

We pretty much lived out of the gardens year-round. What wasn’t eaten fresh was preserved in one fashion or another. Potatoes and onions were piled on pallets in a dark abyss of a corner in the basement. To this day I can remember distinctly the raw spud aroma that permeated the basement air. Hey, my father was Irish, so 400 pounds of potatoes hanging out in the basement was not uncommon. We also amassed a trove of canned vegetables and pickles that were stored in a large floor-to-ceiling cupboard in the cellar. Mom was the “preserve principal” in our family. She had a small wooden-handled paring knife that she used for her culinary cutups. As a chef I marvel at the amount of food she processed with that knife. Bushels of sweet corn were voided of their kernels by several swift strokes. She spent hours at the kitchen table being the human vegematic. I can just see her slicing strawberries, chopping up rhubarb, and cutting green beans French style.

Rhubarb was usually the first of the yearly harvest. Mom would slice the stalks into small pieces and freeze most of them for when the strawberries were ripe and delicious. She then made some delicious strawberry and rhubarb jam and pies. My favorite of her desserts, however, was her so-called Rhubarb Upside Down Cake with a sweet butter sauce. Mom passed away a couple years ago and no one can find that recipe. I decided to use some Irish ingenuity and see if I could come up with something close. So I Googled Best Rhubarb Upside Down Cake. “What is wrong with this picture?” In fact, “PICTURES.” Every recipe with a picture of the cake had the rhubarb on top. Even Martha Stewart’s. (One can’t argue with America’s culinary maven). Mom’s rhubarb was on the bottom. My childhood conception of upside down cake has been completely shattered. Mom, how could you have led me so astray? OK. Take a deep breath and breathe easy, breathe easy. Time to come up with a plan. In the future, I will call it Rhubarb Upside Upside down cake and the heck with Martha. I plan on making this for my family in honor of my mom on Mother’s Day this year. It isn’t the original recipe but it is close. Oh, and Mom, I still love you.
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Jim McCaffrey is a chef, author, and co-owner with his family of McCaffrey’s Dolce Vita restaurant and Twin Springs Bakery just outside Decorah. He is author of a humorous cookbook titled “Midwest Cornfusion”. He has been in the food industry in one way or another for 40 years.

Ed. note: Benji made this delicious – seriously delicious – cake for these photos and halved the recipe, baking it in a 9” round cake pan and two eggs. It worked beautifully. (Sorry, Jim, it’s not upside upside down, but we served that way, and MAN was it good.)

Rhubarb Upside Upside Down Cake

8 Tbl butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
8 cups cut up rhubarb
3/4 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbl baking powder
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 Tbl vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 8 Tbl butter in large skillet or pot.
Add brown sugar and stir until blended. Add rhubarb and mix until well coated.
Grease an 11 X 18 baking dish. Cover the bottom evenly with rhubarb mixture.
Cream butter with sugar in an electric mixer. Add the rest of the ingredients.
Mix until smooth. Gently pour over the rhubarb mixture and smooth with a rubber spatula. Bake 40-50 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Sweet Butter Sauce
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup cream or 1/2 and 1/2
2 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan on medium low.
Cook and stir for about 10 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.
Pour warm over cake slices and enjoy!

These paper chicks are a fun spring project for the young and young-at-heart!

Supplies:
Construction paper or card stock in whatever colors you want for body, beak, and eyes (scraps work well, but make sure you have at least one piece that is 10-11 inches long)
Glue stick
Scissors
Sharpie or black pen or marker
Ruler
Pencil
Toilet paper roll or other similarly round object (for tracing)

1. Mark an inch-wide strip along the long side of the paper with your pencil. Cut. Repeat to get a second strip.

2. To create the body, roll first strip and glue at the bottom, leaving roughly three inches at end for start of tail.

3. Cut second strip in half. Roll and glue at bottom to create head.

4. Glue head to body…you can position further up the body so the chick is looking up, or down if you’d like it to be pecking the ground!

5. Mark a 2-inch by 3/4-inch strip on your beak paper (mine’s traditional orange, but do what you want to make it your own!). Cut.

6. Fold your cut piece in half and trim the corners, making the middle attached part the small side.

7. Fold in the bottom sides so there is a little lip to attach glue.

8. Glue the beak to the head wherever you’d like the beak positioned. Little fingers are handy here – I find securing the bottom, then the top is easiest.

9. Cut the remaining half strip of paper (mine’s yellow) in half again. Then cut in “feathers” – just snip your scissors into the strip multiple times, the long way, leaving some space for glue at one end. Snip into the bird’s current tail as well.

10. Glue feathers to tail and then curl with your pencil (if desired).

11. Use something circular to draw a circle on your paper for the wings (I used a candle holder, but a spice jar or toilet paper roll would work well). Cut out, then cut in half.

12. Like the tail feathers, snip your scissors into the rounded sides to create wing “feathers”. Fluff up if you’d like.

13. Glue, slightly overlapping, to the body.

14. Cut two small circle for eyes (I used white paper, but you can certainly have colored eyes!). The Sharpie works well to trace. Cut out, then mark the pupil (black part) with a marker or pen.

15. Glue eyes to body, and then you’re done! Happy Spring! If you’d like to share a photo of YOUR spring chick, please tag @Inspire(d) Media on Facebook (and like us at facebook.com/iloveinspired). Thanks for making our Spring 2012 Paper Project!

Illustrations by Natalie Moore

Originally printed in the Spring 2011 Inspire(d) Magazine

So you want to start a garden? There’s no time like the present to get those hands dirty… or at least start planning to get your hands dirty… once there is some dirt to get at. And there’s nothing like fresh _____ (fill in the blank with your favorite veggie) picked straight from your garden to make your day!

As the snow is piled in your yard begin to notice the sunny areas and then once the snow has gone rip up some sod, get the soil ready, and get going. Make friends with your neighbors who garden and ask questions. Find the gardening books at the library and check out embarrassing numbers of them. Some of your veggies will produce so heavily they’ll knock your socks off. Others may flop. There are many factors that play into a happy, productive garden, so don’t beat yourself up if something doesn’t do well this year. Take notes – consider a garden notebook – and do it differently the next time around.

It’s helpful to know that the average last frost date for the Driftless Area ranges between May 1 and May 31. And first frost date ranges between September 1 and September 30.

This is an outline for a basic kitchen garden. The size isn’t mapped out because everyone has different spaces – the layout can change, but some plants have been placed next to each other because they are allies and companions. The marigolds and nasturtiums, for example, act as replants to trouble-causing insects and enhance the growth of other vegetables. Basil is another example of an ally. It enhances the flavor and growth of tomatoes.

There are two gardens here, but they are really the same garden at two different times of the season. The early plantings will taper off and need to be pulled – lettuce, spinach, peas, radishes – and the later plantings – tomatoes, beans, peppers, basil – will easily fill their spaces.

***

Nasturtiums: Sow directly one week after last frost, space 6 – 12” apart, ¼” deep. The flowers are edible and will add good color, spunk, and spice to your salads.

Marigolds: Plant directly into the garden two weeks before the last frost. 6 – 12” apart just below the surface of the soil.

Beets: Plant these versatile (you can eat them raw in salads, roasted, steamed), mega nutritious (with vitamins A and C and more iron and minerals than spinach) veggie a month before the last expected frost, or as soon as you can work the soil. Sow ½” deep and space 2 – 4” apart. Fun fact: Beet seeds contain 8 true seeds. You’ll need to thin these plant clusters so toss the tiny tender leaves into salads or cook ‘em up. Beets are yummiest when they’re 1 ½ – 3” in diameter.

Lettuce: Fresh garden salads are magic. There are many lettuce varieties. Some favorites are butterhead, leaf lettuce, and romaine. Mix your choices – the textures and colors are fun to play with and make beautiful salads. Soil temps only need to be 35 degrees to plant outside. Mark your lettuce patch and sow seeds closely ¼” apart, rake lightly to cover. Plant every two weeks for a continuous harvest.

Spinach: Here is another early bird green veggie. Plant as soon as you can work the soil, up to six weeks before the last frost. To keep a continuous harvest coming make small plantings every 10 days until mid May. Plant ½” deep and 2” apart. Thin to 4 – 6” apart once they have two bigger, or true, leaves. Enjoy in salads, or add it cooked to pasta or grain dishes.

Sugar Peas: Snow and snap peas have edible pods. If you choose other varieties look forward to a new hobby of shelling peas. You also get to use your creative juices to fashion a trellis for your peas to climb. Plant 4 – 6 weeks before the last frost when the soil is at least 40 degrees. Plant 1” deep and 1” apart. Yumm!

Radishes: These are quick growing, instant gratification-type veggies. Some will be ready in as little as three weeks. Plant 4 – 6 weeks before the last frost, as soon as the soil can be worked. Space ½ “ deep 2” apart. Keep watch and dig around the tops a bit to check if they’re ready for eating.

Carrots: Plant three weeks before last frost is expected. Carrot seeds are tiny. Mark your rows and sprinkle the seeds 2 – 4” apart. They can take one to three weeks to sprout so toss a few radish seeds in to help mark the row and pull them after the carrots sprout. You can harvest some as soon as they are big enough to eat or leave them to pull in one harvest.

Cucumbers: Cucumbers enjoy warm soil and will germinate faster with warmer temperatures. Wait until the soil is at least 70 degrees. There are bush and climbing varieties. If you decide on the climbing varieties you’ll get to build some beautiful trellises. Plant ½” deep and 1’ apart.

Beans: Beans, beans, the magical fruit… These guys need warm air, 70 – 80 degrees, and soil temps of at least 60. Sow at least one to two weeks after the last frost. Spacing depends on if you’ve got bush (3- 6” apart) or pole beans (1 – 3” apart). Sow 1” deep with soil pressed over them to make sure of soil contact. Harvest almost daily when beans are pencil sized. Steam them up or eat as you pick them.

Tomatoes: There are gobs of variety when it comes to tomatoes. Many sizes, colors, and shapes. You’ll need to find a good source for tomato transplants unless you want to give starting tomatoes from seed a go. Plant the transplants out when the soil temps are nice and warm, 70 degrees. Space tomatoes 1 – 2’ apart with trellises already in place. Plant at a depth so the lowest set of leaves is at soil level. As they grow, tie them up loosely every 6” with soft twine. Keep watch, water as they need it, and enjoy keeping tabs as YOUR tomatoes bloom, set fruit and then as they ripen and you get to eat them.

Peppers: Like tomatoes, find transplants to purchase. Find happy plants, ones with strong stems and dark green leaves. Soil temps should be at least 60 degrees. Space peppers 1’ apart, and plant the transplants as deep as the lowest leaves. Most peppers become sweeter as they mature from green to their truly ripened colors of reds, yellows, oranges, browns or purples.

Basil: Sow seeds directly two to three weeks after frost when the soil is warm. Seeds can be planted just below the surface of the soil. In a patch, plant basil thickly or space them more generously – 1’ apart – in a row. You can encourage bushy growth by pinching the plants back. Basil can be chopped fresh and put on tomatoes, in salads, sauces and other dishes. Pesto is another very delicious option for basil to use throughout the year.

Chives: A permanent herb garden is a great thing to start. Chives are easy to find in yard sales, garden stores, or neighbors who need to split the chives they have. Oregano, thyme, rosemary, and lavender are herbs to work up to.

1. Out of the paper bag, cut a band wide enough to fit your (or your friend’s, child’s, spouse’s) head.

2. Wrap the paper bag band around your head and mark or make note of where it needs to be glued. Then, of course, glue it!

3. Next, cut a circle for your turkey’s face. You can use the template on the Inspire(d) page if you like, just cut out the whole circle and trace.

4. Cut out pieces, as directed, from Inspire(d) Magazine (you may choose to back the “feathers” and “wings” with cardboard if you want them to not flop. If so, and if you’re smarter than me, glue the cereal box cardboard sheet to the entire turkey page before step 4, then cut just once).

5. Glue the feathers in place – they go on the inside back of the headband, and it might help to line them up along the back so you know how you want them spaced.

6. Glue the eyes and wattle to the paper bag circle. Fold the beak where it says “fold here,” and glue just the side with the writing (it will read upside down) to the turkey face. This way the beak can open and shut. Now on the opposite and outside of the band, glue the face in place.

7. Center the wings around the face, and glue on each side.

8. You’re done! Place on head. Maybe do a dance. Happy Thanksgiving! XO – A & B

Tutorial and one-handed photos by Aryn Henning Nichols

Read an inspiring story about Decorah’s Spencer-Berg family and their four-month sabbatical in the Summer 2011 Inspire(d) Magazine, online, starting on page 20. The Spencer-Bergs are folding cranes for a good cause. Here’s how it began, from the Spencer-Berg’s themselves:

“The crane project actually started over a year ago when Anna and Aidan were looking for a way to raise money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti. They made earrings using tiny cranes that are smaller than a dime (the square of paper that you start with is 3/4” square) and also made strings of cranes interlaced with colorful glass beads. When the earthquake and tsunami happened in Japan it seemed a perfect time to bring the project back with a few changes. And after Anna and Aidan and their family experienced the massive earthquake in New Zealand, they had renewed interest in the plight of people suffering from natural disasters and especially earthquakes. The sisters have been organizing crane-folding gatherings, so far bringing together more than 40 people. Collectively they’ve folded about 800 cranes. Anna’s goal is raise $1000 with the proceeds going to earthquake/tsunami relief for Japan.

Inspiration for the project came from the story a real-life girl named Sadako who died from leukemia after the bombing of Hiroshima.  She folded cranes while ill with a goal of reaching 1000.  These cranes were folded from anything she could get her hands on including the labels from her IV medications and wrapping paper from gifts received by fellow patients. She died before reaching 1000. A memorial to her stands in Hiroshima.  Her efforts to bring about healing for herself and her nation through the simple act of folding peace cranes has been an inspiration for Anna’s project and the many other crane-folding projects across the country.

Anna’s hope is that more crane projects will continue to form. It’s so easy to forget about a natural disaster within a few weeks as new disasters come along to grab our attention, but the people of Japan will be suffering for years to come.”

Join Anna Spencer-Berg on her crane-folding mission. You can adopt a “family” of beautiful beaded cranes that are strung in smaller sets of three to five. (Suggested donation is $5 per bird – so a string of three would be $15). Adopt a “flock” of cranes – simple garlands of cranes without beading. (Suggested donation is $1 per bird.) “Adoptions” come with a lovely picture and thank you message that can be displayed in your home or business along with the birds. Offer to host a “sale” of cranes. More information is coming soon at thousandcranesproject.com.

Tips from the Spencer-Bergs on starting a crane project and folding origami:
• Be in it for the long haul. It takes a looooong time to fold 1000.
• Consider playing some quiet music from Japan in the background (itunes or pandora are nice sources)
• Number your cranes so you are accountable to yourself for getting to 1000
• Before starting the crane take a minute to pause and reflect, write a simple message on the blank side of the paper and sign your name. It will not be visible but the message inside will be carried with the bird where ever it goes.
• Be creative with paper sources. We’ve used opera scores, postage stamps, maps, old books with Sanskrit poetry, and traditional origami paper. One time Aidan was in the bathroom longer than usual and emerged with a lovely gentle white crane folded from a square of toilet paper!
• Take time to get the angles of the neck and tail just right. Gently shape the wings into a gentle arc rather than creasing them into a harsh flat shape. Treat each bird gently and with respect, appreciating the delicate beauty. Don’t give into the temptation to be in “assembly line mode”.  It’s not about getting to 1000 so much as it is about the journey along the way.

Upload pictures of your cranes to Inspire(d) Media’s Facebook page when you’re done, pretty please!

1. Cut the page out of Inspire(d), or use any square piece of paper (fold a piece of printer paper diagonally and cut the extra – that will make a square!).

2. Fold in half one way.

3. Fold in half the other way.

4. Fold diagonally.

5. Fold diagonally the other way.

6. Open up your sheet. Turn it so it’s a diamond, not a square.

7. Take the right hand corner and fold it into the bottom corner, using the folds you’ve made.

8. See! Like this!

9. It will then be square with the right corner tucked inside the square (make sense?).

10. Run your finger down the middle to make a strong crease.

11. Take the left corner and do the same thing, folding it down to meet the bottom corner.

12. See! Like this!

13. You should now have a smaller diamond, with two corners folded in.

14. It’ll look like this from the bottom.

15. If you’re using the sheet from the magazine, you’ll see there are many fold lined inside. That’s because we’re going to be making folds on these parts of the diamond.

16. Take the right corner and fold it over to meet the middle, like you’d fold a piece of New York pizza.

17. Do the same on the left side.

18. Flip the diamond and repeat on the other side. It will look like a little kite.

19. Open up the flaps you just folded (I know it seems silly, but trust me).

20. Do the same on the other side.

21. Now this is the tricky part. You’ll pull up the bottom point.

22. And bow the edges in, following the folds you’ve made.

23. It will look a bit like a boat as you’re bringing the sides together.

24. I find it helps to make sure the bottom of the boat is creasing here at the back.

25. Then bring the sides together and flatten the boat out.

26. Do the same on the other side, remembering how the boat folds together.

27. Make sure your creases are strong.

28. Your crane should now look like this – more a tooth than a crane. The bottom half can separate, the top can’t.

29. Now pull the right flap up…

30. And fold it into the middle, like that pizza before.

31. Do the same on the left side.

32. And repeat on the other side.

33. Now it’s a skinnier tooth!

34. Pull the right flap toward you and look at the crane from this side (basically turning it 90 degrees).

35. Pull the bottom fang up …

36. And invert the fold.

37. This can be the tail! Make your crease strong, having the tail lean toward the back a bit.

38. Now look at the tooth from the other side…

39. Repeating what you just did.

40. This can be the head!

41. Use your nail to fold down the head, flattening out the crease.

42. Fold down the wings, making arches in each.

43. Carefully pull on the wings to puff out the center part. Continue to tweak the wings, head, and tail to be the way you want, and you’re done!

Sure, summer is all about festivals and swimming and canoeing and fairs, but what do you do when it’s raining? Or when it’s hot, humid, and sticky in a way that only the Midwest can be – like you’re trapped in a hot tub and there’s no time machine. Right?
Right. So in all our infinite wisdom, we hatched a plan: let’s learn more about some cultural, educational, fun, air conditioned museums in the Driftless Region. We asked each museum to submit a little entertaining information about what’s waiting within their walls for people like you and me. And boy did they deliver. Your kids can go rock climbing. You can see a clock someone once wanted to buy for $1 million dollars, a sailboat that actually crossed the Atlantic, and the place where the modern tractor was made. It’s all pretty cool. Literally and figuratively.

Check them out. Explore. If you’re a tourist, get the most of your stay. If you’re not – pretend you are!

Vesterheim Museum, 520 West Water Street, Decorah, Iowa

Hours:
May – October open daily: 9 am – 5 pm, Thursdays ‘til 8 pm
November – April: Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm, Thursdays ‘til 8 pm
Admission: $10/adult, $8/senior over 65, and $5/children age 7 –18
www.vesterheim.org • 563-382-9681

With 24,000 artifacts and 16 historic buildings, this national treasure uses the Norwegian-American experience as a lens to explore the diversity of an immigrant nation. Step inside to discover stories of courage and beauty. You’ll find a cabin made from a single tree, a sailboat that crossed the Atlantic Ocean, elaborate costumes, colorful painting, silver wedding crowns, woven tapestries, and even intricately carved butter molds. The lives of the people who settled our nation were often as colorful as their folk art, and their stories speak through the objects they left behind. Come and see what they have to say. “USA Today” named Vesterheim one of “10 great places in the nation to admire American folk art.” Vesterheim also preserves living traditions through classes in Norwegian culture and folk art, events, tours to Norway, and educational programs for children and adults. Preserving a heritage. Connecting us all.

The Porter House, 401 West Broadway Street, Decorah

Hours: June – August open daily: 10 am – 4 pm, and Sundays 1 pm – 4 pm.
Admission: $5/adult, $4/seniors, $3/children age 6–16, Children 6 and under free
www.porterhousemuseum.com
563-382-8465

Near the turn of the century, Grace Young fell in love with the “boy next door,” Adelbert (Bert) Field Porter, and married him in her parent’s music parlor in June 1904. They lived out their lives in the Italianate Villa that previously belonged to Grace’s parents – it now houses their personal furnishings, collections, artwork, photographs, and library. A.F. Porter’s collection of exotic butterflies, gathered over seven trips around the world, is the focal point of the museum, along with Grace’s piano in the music room, and her painted china collection. The museum grounds include a unique rock wall designed by Bert and built from his extensive collection of rocks and minerals. Fountains, birdbaths, planters, and a water garden enhance the gardens surrounding the house. In July of 1968, Bert conveyed the house and it’s contents for preservation as a public museum.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, Burr Oak, Iowa
(Off Highway 52, 12 miles north of Decorah or three miles south of the Minnesota state line)
Summer Hours:
Monday – Saturday: 9 am – 5 pm, Sunday 12 – 4 pm
Admission: $7/adult, $5/children age 6-17, Family Rate $25
www.lauraingallswilder.us • 563-735-5916

Question: Who has 10 eyes, no income and was forced from their previous life by an invasion? Answer: The Charles Ingalls family when they moved to Iowa in 1876 and Laura was nine years old. Laura’s family left the Banks of Plum River in Minnesota, fleeing the horrible grasshopper plague, to find a better livelihood. In Burr Oak, they helped run the Master’s Hotel and they moved twice more during their year in the small village. The building where they first lived opened as a museum, 100 years after their move, in 1976. The third site where they lived was the birthplace of their fourth daughter, Grace. Knowledgeable guides – familiar with Laura through Burr Oak history, her widely-read books, or the popular television series – help guests from around the globe understand the Ingalls’ Iowa life and times. Come explore the story of one of our country’s most beloved authors.

Children’s Museum of La Crosse, 207 5th Avenue South
in historic downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin

Hours:
Tuesdays – Saturdays, 10 am – 5 pm; Sundays 12 – 5 pm (closed Mondays and major holidays)
Admission: $6/person (Sunday Savers: $1 off admission!) Infants and members FREE.
www.funmuseum.org • 608-784-2652

Learning and fun…rolled into one, for the young and the young at heart! Spend some affordable, quality time with your kids at the Children’s Museum of La Crosse, where you’ll explore three floors of hands-on exhibits, a climbing wall, gift shop, and much more. Lots of new exhibits added in recent months, including the heart-pounding NEOS game, Whoosh, Toothy Tango, kid’s crane, and a two-story rescue center. Memberships include a full year of admission + other benefits, starting at only $50! The $120 Passport level membership includes admission to over 425 participating museums nationwide! Ask about birthday parties, field trips, summer camps and other programs: convenient and fun – and kids will even learn something!

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Drive, Winona, Minnesota

Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday 10 am – 5 p, Sunday 11 am – 5 pm (Closed Mondays and Holidays)
Admission: $6/adult, $3/students age 5 – college, 4 and under free, $20 Family Rate
www.minnesotamarineart.org • 507-474-6626

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum is not what you expect, or where you expect to find it. Next to a working Mississippi river port in the beautiful “historic island city” of Winona, the Museum houses one of the best collections of art inspired by water in the United States. A place where everyone is welcome (no art degree required!), the Museum is a year-round destination that hosts ongoing events and programs for kids, families, and adults including our popular Toddler Tuesdays and Family Fest.

Rochester Art Center, 40 Civic Center Drive SE, Rochester, Minnesota (on the Zumbro River)

Hours:
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm; Thursday: 10 am – 9 pm; Sunday: 12 – 5 pm
Admission: $5/adult $3/senior (62 and over); Free to children, students, members & Olmsted County Residents
www.rochesterartcenter.org • 507-282-8629

Then: Founded in 1946, the Rochester Art Center presented local and regional art for nearly 30 years. For the next 30, RAC became a national focus for arts and crafts, particularly ceramics.
Now: Today, RAC is a venerable organization in cool new digs. In 2004, we built an ultra-modern building, presenting contemporary art. We’re famous for Free Family Day (1st Saturday/month), Total Arts Day Camp; 3rd Floor Emerging Artists Series; national and international artists; FLUX (late evening music/art/performance for young-adults), and as a top 10 place in Minnesota for weddings and receptions… the view’s that beautiful.

Bily Clocks Museum/Antonin Dvorak Exhibit, 323 S. Main Street, Spillville, Iowa (12 miles south of Decorah)
Hours:
May – October: Monday-Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm, Sundays, 12 – 4 pm
April – November: weekends only
Admission: $6/ adult, $5/senior 65 and over, $4/youth age 6-17, $16/Family
www.bilyclocks.org • 563-562-3569

Why did Henry Ford in 1928, offer $1million for one of the Bily brothers clocks and why did they refuse the offer? Take a tour of the Bily clocks museum, located in the quaint village of Spillville, and you’ll find out! Experience for yourself this one-of-a-kind collection of 40 hand-carved clocks created by Frank and Joseph Bily (bee-lee), farmers by trade and carvers by night. And why did Antonin Dvorak, Czeck composer from Praque, find his way to Spillville? That answer is found on the second floor of the museum. You’ll just have to come to find out!

Froelich Tractor Iowa John Deere Museum, 24397 Froelich Rd., Froelich, Iowa (4 miles east of Monona on U.S. Highway 18)

Summer Hours:
Open six days a week (closed Wednesdays): 11 am – 5 pm
www.froelichtractor.com • 563-536-2841

The Froelich visitor experience includes an 1891 general store museum, an 1866 restored country school, a l903 dairy barn, a rebuilt railroad depot, a turn of the century blacksmith shop, and a mini-grain truck display (new in 2009).
The highlight of the summer is the Froelich half-scale model tractor display and video of its historic development. In 1892, in this tiny village, John Froelich invented the first farm tractor powered by a gasoline engine that operated in forward and reverse. It became the Waterloo Boy and the current John Deere tractor division in Waterloo, Iowa. Historians credit Froelich, Iowa, as the birthplace of the modern farm tractor. (Photo by Danny Eilers)

Villa Louis, 521 North Villa Louis Road, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

Hours:
Open May 1 – Oct 31: 9:30 am – 5 pm. Guided tours on the hour from 10 am to 4 pm
Admission: $9/adults, $7.75/seniors, $4.50/youth 5-17, $24/family
villalouis.wisconsinhistory.org • 608-326-2721

The Villa Louis, also known as Dousman Mansion, is located on St. Feriole Island in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Today the site is restored to its late-19th century grandeur, when it was the estate of the prominent H. Louis Dousman family. At the center of the estate is the elegant Villa Louis mansion, designed by E. Townsend Mix and built in 1871. Earlier it had been home to Louis’s father Hercules L. Dousman, and before that the land was occupied by Fort Crawford. Prior to this, in 1814, the Siege of Prairie du Chien was fought at the site by American and British troops hoping to control Fort Shelby during the War of 1812. Still farther back, the site was of importance to American Indian tribes, especially the Mound Builders. Today the Villa Louis is the finest example of a British Arts and Crafts interior in a rural setting in the United States.

Calendar time is always an exciting time at Inspire(d) Headquarters. “Just how much can we fit on there this month?!?” Up to this point, what we’ve chosen for these lovely pages has been entirely editorial and subjective. We figure, hey, you like our magazine, so you’ll probably like the fun stuff to do that we pick out from around our region. But we’re running out of space and want you, our lovely readers, friends, and fellow event-planners, to be able to tell us a little more about your fun.

Thus we’ve implemented a simple, expandable list of events for the pages following our regular calendars. Those who are planning “fun stuff to do” get a guaranteed spot on the calendar and in the event listing by purchasing “25 Words/$25 Bucks.” We know it’s a tough racket to put on live music, activities, and special events, so we want to give you a chance to get the word out without breaking the bank.

See – we told you about our amazing fictional party in just 25 words! On the visual calendar (like the one at left), your event will be listed along with a number that corresponds. People can just scan on over to the following pages to get the details!

First things first: 25 Words/$25 Bucks is available for only events. Sorry, folks: no exceptions.

Here’s how you submit your event:

1. Click this link. It will open a form in a new window.

CLICK HERE FOR FORM

2. Enter your information – I suggest you submit it like this:

       Choose the appropriate start date (ongoing dates, write “through [insert date]” first in the form).

       In the form, write: Event name! Fun extra details, location, price, website.

Then follow the link (it appears after you type more than six words) to Pay Pal to settle up.

Thanks! We can’t wait to hear more about the fun stuff you’re planning!

Having trouble? Here are a few more submission tips/information:

Type or paste in your words in the form. Once you get past six words the “pay now” button shows up (so people don’t accidentally pay before they start typing), but if you go over 25 words, the “pay now” button will disappear (so people don’t go over the word limit).

After you’ve entered your words, you’ll hit the pay now button and be directed to our PayPal page.

You can either sign in to your PayPal account or click the line that says “Don’t have a PayPal account?” This will take you to a page where you can enter your credit card info and submit!

Inspire(d) Magazine 25W/$25B Schedule:

Summer – June, July, August. 25W/$25B deadline April 25, 2012.

Fall – September, October, November. 25W/$25B deadline July 6, 2012.

Winter – December, January (2013), February (2013). 25W/$25B deadline October 26, 2012.

Spring 2013 – March, April, May. 25W/$25B deadline January 25, 2013

Any questions email aryn@theinspiredmedia.com

By Aryn Henning Nichols

In my adult life I’ve often found myself grateful to my crafty mother for teaching me her crafty ways. While my siblings and I complained during 4-H Fair Time as we cut out patterns and sewed our own dresses, skirts, etc., re-covered old chairs and learned to use cameras, I’ve found these things to be incredibly useful – and fun – in real life. (Thanks, Mom!) There’s another crafty thing my mom taught me that I’ve also used again and again to impress friends and hosts: the homemade paper bow. For the Spring 2011issue of Inspire(d), I adapted it to be a paper flower for May Day Baskets. I find it is charming like this, but remember – as you’re wrapping your next present, don’t forget your scrap paper bits! You can make a super cool bow too! Leave it as one layer (like the flowers shown), or make more bow “flowers” to stick on top of the first (starting with smaller and smaller squares) to add more dimension.

Whatever your plan, here’s how you start!

Supplies:
Wrapping (or any other) paper
Scissors
Tape
Straw or stick (only needed if you’re making a flower)

1. Cut your piece of paper into a square .

2. Fold the bottom corner up to the top, making a triangle.

3. Fold the left corner to the right, making a smaller triangle (imagine you’re making a paper snowflake…)

4. Fold one more time. Keep the inside tip down (this is the center of the flower).

5. Cut the end of the triangle, rounding it off.

6. Cut all the seams up to about half an inch to an inch from the center. Do not cut all the way or your flower will fall apart.

7. Open the flower – it should look like this!

8. Get eight pieces of tape ready to go.

9. Flip over the flower and bring each petal’s ends together. Tape.

10. Cut a small strip of paper and make into a roll. Tape, then roll a piece of tape, sticky side out, and attach it to the paper roll.

11. Attach to your flower (or bow).

12. If you’re using as a flower, attach a stick or a straw, like we did here. Enjoy and Happy May Day!

By Aryn Henning Nichols

Originally published in the very first Inspire(d) Magazine, October 2007

Things are born. Life cycles. You live. You die.

But somewhere in between you meet people who make you feel like you’re not just living; you’re alive.

Those people can be anyone, anywhere. They are children, teenagers, peers, co-workers, grandparents, neighbors. They make inspiring acts look so completely effortless that you think, “Hey, I could do that. I could.”

This story begins with birth – the most literal start possible – and a person who has always made me feel like I could do anything. This story begins with my sister, Beth Knudsvig.

April 26, 2007, 4 a.m.
Beth was in labor. There were two doctors and three nurses in the room, plus my sister, of course, and her husband, Dan, manning one of Beth’s epidural-numbed legs. Then there was me. I didn’t want to get in the way. But when they told Beth to push, she also had to grab hold of her unmanned left leg. Multitasking is not something a woman in labor should have to undertake. I saw an opportunity to be useful.

“Should I get on a leg?” I asked the doctor at home plate.

“Sure, get in there,” he responded. So there I was. “In there,” unabashedly watching the tiny head of my newest nephew push through a portal between my sister’s legs. I was witnessing the reproduction plan in motion: two people, creating another person who will hopefully someday create another person.

That day, Wyatt was born. He is the second son of Beth and Dan, but the third child to whom Beth has given birth. A little less than a year before, my brave sister pushed a baby into this world who had not one piece of her DNA – the final duty in her term as a surrogate mother.
Pregnancy is something that women are supposed to be able to do. Not all can, unfortunately, and some are better at it than others. Beth should have plaques and ribbons for her pregnancy ability. She’s good at it, and she likes it.

When the first Knudsvig child, Henry, who’s now three, was just six months old, Beth read an article in Parents magazine about surrogate mothers. In the story, a woman was talking to her hair stylist about her problems conceiving. By the time the haircut was finished, she said, “I want to be your surrogate.” A fire was lit in Beth. She wanted to do more with her life, make a difference. She could do this.

“Nine months is a short time to give such a gift,” Beth said.

June, 2004.
The resourceful then 28-year-old began researching how to become a surrogate herself.

The process was interesting. Like online dating, sort of. On the Internet, Beth created an ad for herself to answer questions for agencies that arrange surrogate mothers. Why should she be the one to have your baby? How was she most qualified to have your baby? And Beth had stipulations: she would only allow them to implant two embryos and she wouldn’t selectively reduce or abort because of problems.

“It was my choice, not the parents,” she said. “It’s my body.”

Because of this, Beth was denied by the first agency to which she applied. But she listened to her intuition and moved forward.

“If I wasn’t supposed to do it, I’d feel it was over,” she said, gesturing with her hands.

So she applied to a different agency, IARC, which represents the couple who eventually chose Beth to carry their child.
It wasn’t until after she decided to go for it that she had some reservations.

“I finally started to worry about how unusual it was and what people would think,” she said.

When our family found out what she was going to do, they weren’t terribly supportive. But one can understand a level of awkwardness related to this idea. This is not something that happened in the era of our parents – at least not in this scientific way. The fact that technology allows us to put an egg from another couple into a woman who is no way related seems like a wild idea. Their reactions were normal, and Beth expected them.

“It’s not that they weren’t supportive,” she said. “They have always been supportive of me. They just weren’t supportive of this idea.”

December, 2004.
Beth interviewed with a couple but they wanted to abort if the baby had Down syndrome. Beth refused.

March 2005
An Australian couple came on board, and they were in a hurry. A trip to America was already scheduled, so they added some extra time to meet Beth. In Australia, surrogacy isn’t illegal, but it’s illegal to compensate for it, so it’s more difficult to locate women who are willing, and who match each other’s requirements. The couple had to look to other countries.

IARC, the surrogate agency they were working with, signs a lot of international couples. In America, many surrogate agencies are in California because it’s the most surrogate-friendly state. California is just that much further for international couples, so IARC uses this as their niche.

Australia isn’t the only place that makes it hard to arrange surrogates. Beth had to travel to Canada for all of the exchanges involved in the process because there are no clinics in Minnesota that will work with surrogates. And in some places, omission was easier than explanation.

“Canada is also not surro-friendly. When I went there I was not to tell customs I was a surrogate. I also was not to tell the reproductive clinic that I was a surrogate on anything I signed,” Beth said. “I didn’t believe in telling a lie for this, I just never went beyond explaining too much.”

June 2005
The couple and Beth interviewed each other on the phone, and, once they were matched, the whole process went very fast. Eleni’s Greek, her husband, Darko, Croatian, and they had been married for 18 years. The couple got pregnant early in their marriage with triplets, but each embryo died at 19/20/21 weeks. They got pregnant again. And miscarried again. After years and years of trying, they had a successful pregnancy – a daughter. Eleni had seven miscarries in total. When she finally carried to term again, the middle-aged Australian was on bed rest the entire time until her second child, a son, was born.

At first, Beth didn’t want to work with a couple that had kids. It seemed like they already had a family. But then she thought some more about it.

“Who am I to decide who gets to have kids or not?” Beth remembers asking herself. In the end, her reservations about this became gratitude.

“She was already a mother, so she wasn’t going to be freaked out about motherhood or if there were problems in pregnancy,” Beth said. “She knew about kids and was more experienced.”

May, 2005
Beth had to take a Lupron shot, a drug used to suppress her cycle for about three weeks, three weeks before the transfer and she was on suspension from sex for six weeks before they inserted the fertilized eggs the first time. The eggs didn’t survive, so a second procedure was scheduled. This time, no sex for eight weeks and Beth also had to take progesterone to boost her uterine lining. And for the second try, the reproductive clinic decided not to have Beth take Lupron.

“The suppressed cycles just felt so unhealthy,” she said.

She also decided that if it didn’t work, she was not going to try again. She wasn’t going to be a surrogate.

“August would be the last month I wanted to get pregnant so when we were trying to have our next child, the ages between our children wouldn’t be too spread apart,” Beth said. “Eleni talked me into early September, for both of us – the last try.”

September, 2005
They kept Eleni’s fertilized eggs invitro for five days for the second procedure instead of three, as they did the previous time. When Beth took a pregnancy test after, she had a feeling it was going to say negative, but she was wrong. One egg survived: the future baby Aaron, “Ari.”

“I wasn’t that excited,” the bright-eyed woman said. “I had in my mind that it wasn’t going to work, so then we’d concentrate on our family.”

Ever optimistic, Beth got more excited as the pregnancy continued, but it was very unlike her own.

“I knew he wasn’t mine, so I treated him differently,” she said.

She of course took good care of him, sort of like an incredibly early kind of childcare, but the usually very belly-involved pregnant woman didn’t spend a lot of time talking to the growing baby or touching her stomach as she did with her own sons. She felt a little sad for baby Ari because of this – when he came into the world, he wasn’t going to have the familiar voice of the woman who had been carrying him for the last 40 weeks cooing to him – it would be a completely new mother.

When Beth’s pregnancy started to show, she, of course, wasn’t stamped with a surrogate sign, so people assumed she was carrying her future son or daughter. She didn’t bother correcting the strangers.

“Yep, yep. I’m pregnant. It wasn’t worth going into,” she said with a laugh.

It was with family that she made sure to clarify. And they seemed to be getting it, and even being supportive. “At Thanksgiving it was cool – siblings and wives there, excited about it, thinking it’s a great thing,” she said.

Health risks were the main concern of family members. And there were some: the medications she was taking could have permanently restricted her cycle (which was not the case, as she has already given birth to her second son), and there could have been uterus scarring. Also, she felt the medications were unnatural and unhealthy, including the hormone booster she was supposed to take every three days. She stopped doing this when she was 12 weeks pregnant. And, as with every pregnancy, there are risks with delivery, but Ari’s went well.

May, 2006
It was an amiable delivery room, with a mélange of people just like the birth I witnessed. Dan was holding a leg, a nurse the other, and Eleni was holding Beth’s hand.

“She said, ‘You have the right to scream,’ but I said, ‘I’m not that kind of girl,’” Beth said with a smile.

Beth talked with the nurses before the birth and made sure they would take the baby to his biological mother, not the woman who just pushed him into the world.

“I wanted her to cut the cord too,” she said. “He wasn’t my baby.”

After Ari was born, Eleni said something to Beth that she’ll remember forever: “Now I feel my family’s complete.” This statement validated the whole experience for Beth.

A connection was solidified between the two that day, but they weren’t best friends. Beth knew they weren’t going to be and had heard some surrogate mothers look for that and expect too much. Wisely, my sister established her frame of mind early on.

“I’m doing this for myself and helping their family,” she said. “It wasn’t business, but we were realistic and practical.”

Details were ironed out in the weeks before the birth. The hospital saw Beth as the birth mother, so she technically had to give him up for adoption. But it was fairly easy – they just went to court and had the paperwork amended so Darko and Eleni were listed as the parents. It took only two weeks to finalize everything and get Ari a passport so he could return to Australia with his parents. When they said goodbye at the hotel, Beth had her first sad moment.

“The relationship would be changing. He wouldn’t be accessible. They said they were going to maintain contact, but I didn’t know if they really would. I didn’t know if I would be able to see him at different ages,” she said.

When she began this process, she convinced herself that it would be okay if they didn’t keep in touch. But they have been in contact, sending photos and updates from Australia as Ari grows. And Beth feels that what was such a huge gift for this family was not such a big deal in her own life.

“I want this to be a testimony for others. I don’t want people to think this is something great that I did,” she said. “I just found a way to make a difference in someone else’s life that was so insignificant in my life. Nine months is nothing. You too could do it.”

She’s currently doing it again by donating breast milk for newborns and cancer patients and is also volunteering at a local hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. She likes feeling that she’s affecting the world in a positive manner and doing something important with her life.
“I just feel really happy,” she paused. “Yeah. I feel really happy. I can’t think of any other way to describe it.”

While she was pregnant with Ari, she said no way would she do this again, but now, in retrospect, she says maybe. The biggest drawback was that it took two years instead of one as a result of a poorly organized surrogate agency and failed egg implantations.

“It was a longer journey than I expected,” she said. “But still, if you think about it, it’s really not that much time.” No matter how you look at it, the negative aspects don’t outweigh the positive.

“Now we have a little baby in the world that wasn’t gong to be there any other way,” she said. “I feel silly that people act like it’s a big deal. It wasn’t a super hardship. I want people to think, ‘I could do that.’”

Aryn Henning Nichols likes feeling happy and motivated, and tries to find inspiration in as many places as possible. She hopes others will do the same, and perhaps even find it in this magazine.

My brother, Pete, loves a good party. Especially on May 5th, his birthday. Coincidentally, it’s also the date of the Mexican holiday Cinco De Mayo. Primarily a regional holiday in the Mexican state of Puebla, it celebrates the unlikely 1862 victory of an under-armed Mexican militia of just 4000 troops over a French army that was double its size and vastly more equipped. Significant for the United States, the defeat stopped Napoleon III from supplying arms and money to Confederate rebels engaged in the Civil War against the Union Army. That helped the Union defeat the Confederates in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Worldwide, Cinco De Mayo has become a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. Beyond the flamenco dancing and mariachi bands, it is a wonderful opportunity to experience local cuisines from different regions of our southern neighbors. Brenda and I have been fortunate enough to have traveled to Mexico several times. Our first trip was to Mazatlan on the Pacific coast. We stayed at the Riviera Beach Resort otherwise known as “Party Central.” An ice-cold bucket of beers (8) was $6. Every other hour was Happy Hour and you got TWO buckets of beer for $6. No extra charge for slices of lime. Having not studied Spanish, we felt that it was of immediate importance to immerse ourselves in the language. Hector Cortez, the head bartender, graciously accepted the role of teacher. The two phrases of greatest significance he taught us were, “Dos cervesas, por favor” (Two beers, please) and “Donde este el bano?” (Where is the bathroom?). A wise man, that Hector.

All joking aside, Brenda and I have found the people we met in Mexico to be warm, gracious, and very giving. Family and friends always seem to be at the core of life there. When a party happens, everyone is invited. Aunts and uncles, matriarchs and patriarchs, siblings, nieces and nephews, etc., etc., etc. People dress up in their Sunday best to pay respect to the family putting on the extravaganza. Food is always the star attraction, shared by one and all. I think one of the reasons that Cinco De Mayo is so popular in the United States is that it affords Mexican immigrants and descendants an opportunity to remember and carry on their family cultural heritage. And lucky for all the rest of us, we can participate too.

Since Napoleon III and future French attempts failed to colonize Mexico and turn the Gulf of Mexico into The New World French Riviera complete with little bistros serving baguettes and lattes, Spanish and Portuguese influences on local cuisine were more predominant. One of these influences was the introduction of limes in the mid 1600s. Limes could be used for many purposes but one of the most significant was the ability to pickle fresh fish and other seafood with their acidic juices. A combination of lime juice and local indigenous ingredients such as chiles, tomatoes and avocado produced the Mexican version of ceviche. Ceviche is a wonderful appetizer served up and down both coasts of Mexico as well as Central and South America. I like to serve it in footed sundae glasses accompanied by tortilla chips. Throw in a few Corona or Dos Equis beers complete with wedges of lime and you will have a great beginning for a Cinco De Mayo party of your own. And don’t forget to invite my brother, Pete.

The daily bread of Mexican cuisine is the tortilla. It has provided sustenance for hundreds of years. Actually, evidence has been produced that a basic version of the tortilla dated back to 10,000 B.C. The versatility of the tortilla is seemingly endless. It is the backbone for tacos, tostadas, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, and more. The primary ingredient is corn but in Northern Mexico wheat has been introduced as an alternative ingredient. The age-old dilemma of what to do with leftover bread, in this instance, tortillas, exists in Mexico also. In French cuisine, day-old crusty baguettes are sliced, put in a rich hot sautéed onion beef broth, and covered with gruyere cheese that is then placed under a broiler. French Onion soup becomes a fantastic venue for leftover bread. Lesser known – but equally fantastic – is Mexico’s favorite son, Tortilla Soup. When Brenda and I stayed at the Riviera Beach Resort for the first time, we found it necessary after a couple hours of “Happy Hour” festivities to head over to the resort restaurant, El Ancla. Proper nourishment was in order. Brenda chose soup and salad, her custom request. I opted for chicken fajitas. When our food came, Brenda had a spoonful of her soup and said, “Jim, you have to try this.” I did. I felt I had just grabbed the brass ring on the merry-go-round at the county fair. It was Tortilla Soup and the taste was out of this world. I had to have the recipe. I asked our waiter if I could speak to the chef. “Si, Si.” The head chef, Ignacio, came out. He could speak about as much English as I could speak Spanish. I eventually went out and corralled Hector, who was able to convey my request. A couple of days later, when we went down for breakfast, Ignacio slipped me a piece of paper handwritten in Spanish. The Holy Grail of soup. It took me a couple of years to get it translated correctly but it is certainly worthy to adorn your Cinco De Mayo table.

Hasta la vista! Time for me to round up a few Coronas and a Mariachi band for Pete’s birthday. Anybody know any flamenco dancers? Have a great Cinco De Mayo!

Jim McCaffrey is a chef, author, and co-owner with his family of McCaffrey’s Dolce Vita restaurant and Twin Springs Bakery just outside Decorah.  He is author of a humorous cookbook titled “Midwest Cornfusion”.  He has been in the food industry in one way or another for 40 years.

Seafood Ceviche
8 oz. precooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 small red onion, sliced thin 2 ripe avocados
8 oz. bay scallops
2 tsp. Mexican oregano 8 oz. fresh or thawed haddock or cod cut in ½ inch cubes
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
10-12 limes
Fresh parsley or cilantro sprigs
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
Tortilla chips

In a 9 x 13 non-metallic baking dish, combine seafood, tomatoes and onion. Cover completely with lime juice. Cover and refrigerate for about 4 hours. Drain. Place in large bowl. Cut avocados in half lengthwise. Twist sides and remove pit. Scoop out avocado meat and dice into ½ inch pieces. Add with oregano to seafood mixture.

Salt and pepper to taste. Plate up, garnish with sprigs and pass the tortilla chips. Serves 6.

Ignacio’s Tortilla Soup
3 T olive oil
32 oz chicken broth
2 garlic cloves, minced
white pepper
1 medium onion, diced fine
1 can evaporated milk
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 lb shredded Chihuahua cheese
1oz.fresh basil, shredded small
1- 28 oz tomato sauce (fresh or canned)
2 avocados, peeled and sliced
24 tortilla chips

Saute garlic and onion until translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add chicken broth, tomato sauce, oregano, basil and white pepper to taste. Simmer twenty minutes. Place 3 tortilla chips in the bottom of a soup bowl. Add some milk and cheese. Pour soup over top. Garnish with avocado. Serves 8.