Twinkle Twinkle Twinkie -- Brunch

We have had a few inches of rain this week and are expecting more in the coming week. Supposedly Thanksgiving Day may be spared. In a way it's like life in the Northwest, you just deal with it and try
not to let the rain impact everyday activities.

Speaking of activities we were treated today to a brunch at the home of my brother and his wife. It was a very enjoyable occasion along with a very tasty assortment of goodies.

It was a nice chance to get-together before the main events of the coming week -- Ian and daughter Kate were down from Oregon and it was a pleasant chance to visit. Kate is quite the young lady and impressed us all with her at least four ward-robe changes within the couple of hours that we were there.

In addition we enjoyed the food without the preparations aspect allowing us to eat a small lunch later in the day so as to not interfere with dinner . . .

A Sad Sad Event

It seems that we the public for the most part were kept out of the loop until the fateful day, Friday the 16th.
I had no idea of the struggle going on behind the scenes at Hostess Brands -- makers of several food items that kids of my generation were raised with . . . the two items that I recall the most are Twinkies and of course Wonder Bread -- icons of our era . . .

Twinkies came into being in 1930 and have continued successfully through to the 16th of Nov 2012. I remember carrying a sack lunch to school and really being lifted in spirit if when I opened that bag at lunchtime -- it contained a Twinkie. I loved the light cake and the creamy insides and never ever got tired of them. I have not had a Twinkie now in years but wouldn't mind enjoying one "for old time's sake" . . .

Going through the "images" section of Google there are pages and pages of Twinkie related photos and each
one has a message. It is like "White Castles" though, if you don't have a history of enjoying them how could you relate to the passing of the brand. There's no message about White Castles, is there.

Dino's Week

Dino has not experienced a lot of rainy days in his almost 14 months. But this week has put a damper on enjoying the outside -- so how does he handle it all -- pretty much the way he handles football as evidenced by his demeanor during a recent Bears game . . .

Dino, in one of his four beds totally relaxed while the rain came down and so did the Bears -- actually along with their quarterback. Dino pretty much blocks out all noise and distractions while he naps except if you make a noise that indicates that you may be changing room locations or going outside at which point he is "right there" ready to go.

I feel bad sometimes when he is asleep peacefully and I get up to get more coffee or something and he feels obligated to get up too . . .

While we did not have a "puppy training session" this week we did take Dino out to many stores and other places of business. Next week we will also have a GDB training session at the 4-H center.

On This Date 158 Years Ago -- From Our Tree

So many stories stem from the Gillett side of our tree and today would be the 158th anniversary of the marriage of Cyrus Gillett and Sarah Norris. The wedding took place in Viroqua, Wisconsin where the local cemetery houses several of our ancestors.

Interestingly too is that one child of that marriage -- James Norris Gillett -- became the 22nd Governor of the State of California and served from 1907 to 1911.

If you click on the above you can see the "B" that indicates just where Viroqua is -- and the other interesting fact is that my nephew Jeremy and his family live there today. Jeremy would be the 4th Great Nephew of Cyrus Gillett.

The tree structure shows those relationships -- I wish that I had pictures for all the participants. Another interesting fact about Viroqua and Jeremy is that he moved there because his wife was from there and he did not know before that, that he had ancestors that had lived there before him.

Also From our Tree

My Grand Niece, Olivia, was featured in the local paper a week ago as a standout tennis player on the Healdsburg High School Team. As you can see Olivia is a Senior and is in the throes of working through selecting the college where she hopes to attend next year -- my how time flies . . .

The process of selecting the school for her higher education is a lot different than when I went through the process -- and the expenses associated with the education has changed dramatically.

Happy Holidays 2012

There is about 37 days until Christmas and only 4 days til Thanksgiving. These days go so fast and once Thanksgiving is here it seems like immediately it is Christmas . . . 

Growing up the days seemed to drag by til Christmas. But I sure do remember the great Thanksgiving Holidays that we spent at my maternal grandparents house in Chicago -- Dayton & Hildred. The aroma of the cooking bird and the occasional peek at it's progress was really special. Mamie did most of the original cooking along with help from her daughters. Grandpa B was in charge of carving the bird and then later after several games of "rotation" at the downstairs pool table -- Grandpa B carved enough turkey to make into delicious sandwiches . . . those were the days.

Even though these days we are "going out" for Thanksgiving dinner, we roast a turkey so that we can enjoy turkey and turkey sandwiches in the coming days. This year it is a little different -- because our oven has gone the way of the Twinkie, we will roast our turkey in pieces. 

I  will use my old meatcutting skills to cut the turkey into pieces including a boneless breast that will be rolled with stuffing and sausage inside. We then will roast the legs, thighs and wings for other meals including soup and sandwiches. All in all the bird will provide several meals for which we are thankful.

Last Minute Update . . .

Unbelievably while checking -- one more time -- e-Bay has some very interesting activity as does the news.

First the news -- Hostess Brands may sell the Twinkie Brand and another baker may take it over and produce Twinkies -- thank goodness . . . 

A brand like Twinkies should not just disappear as long as there are folks that want to purchase the product -- in other words, the demand is still there for Twinkies.

Check out two of the "offers" I just spotted on e-Bay:

It may seem that we have lost perspective on the value of things . . . the first ad is offering Twinkies at $1000 per Twinkie . . . the second ad, I'm not sure how much the asking price is per Twinkie since there is no quantitiy specified. But I wonder if they'd come down to maybe $9,000,000 . . .

Have a Great Thanksgiving !! See you in a few . . .