First Peek at the New Home!

Hi, everybody! And welcome to our new home!

The place is a mess, but come on in and I'll show you around.

Keep in mind that we've only been here for a week. You'll need to use your imagination...pretend you're reading a Better Homes and Gardens magazine article and the house is beautifully decorated!

That means you'll just have to ignore the pile of boxes...but we love the floor!

We'll start in the kitchen...

Oops! I don't have the dishwasher installed yet! We'll come back to the kitchen later. 

Let's start downstairs, instead.

This will be my office for now. I'm currently working in the corner where you see my desk chair. Not much more will be done to this room until my current book is finished! Priorities!

Eventually, this space will be a third bedroom and bath (pipes for bathroom fixtures are already in place.) It will be perfect for guests.

The other part of the basement is the family room. Not very family-friendly yet, is it? Another work in progress!

The former owner left this room divider/bookcase for us, and we love it. On the left side is a tiled area that leads to the patio (it's a walk-out basement). It will be a perfect place to take Jack out (when we bring him home in a few weeks!) 

We'll get the rest of this room sorted out eventually. Let's go back upstairs.

This is the living room portion of the great room. The house has an "open concept" arrangement, so the living room, kitchen, and dining room are all in one big space. The master bedroom and a second bedroom and bath complete this level, along with the laundry room just off the kitchen.

Here's the dining room. We need to get a light for above the table...and a table.... Meanwhile, we're eating most of our meals out on the deck!

Speaking of meals, let's check on the kitchen again...

Yay! The dishwasher is installed and the kitchen is beginning to look usable! And look at that! My Instant Pot is busy cooking chicken for tomorrow's salad.

And now that evening has come, we have to go out on the deck.

Ah! Dusk in the Black Hills. Across the road is one of the many ranches in this area. There is another one behind us. Lots of beautiful empty space.

We'll just turn to the west to get a picture of Mt. Rushmore...

...and just like that, it's sunset! Mt. Rushmore is there, I promise. In another 30 minutes it will be completely dark and we'll be able to see the white granite lit up for evening visitors. Too bad that doesn't translate to a photograph!

We'll continue to work on the unpacking and settling in, but writing comes first! We hope to be ready for our annual Thanksgiving dinner in November, but meanwhile we'll enjoy our new home just the way it is!

Thanks for coming along for the tour!

Jan Drexler spent her childhood dreaming of living in the Wild West and is now thrilled to call the Black Hills of South Dakota her home. When she isn’t writing she spends much of her time satisfying her cross-stitch addiction or hiking and enjoying the Black Hills with her husband of more than thirty-seven years.

Moving-In Day Means a Recipe Rerun: Pico de Gallo

Jan here on the day we've been looking forward to all summer and part of the spring. Four months of waiting, capped off by four weeks of staying with friends in their various houses (a big thank you and shout-out to Mike & Mel, Bret & Katie, and Art & Janet for being such gracious hosts!).

But today we'll be able to start unpacking those boxes and start living in our own home again. *happy sigh*

I've been dreaming of what I would cook for our first dinner in our new home...then came to realization that in the midst of moving chaos, we'll probably order pizza from Lintz Bros. - "soon to be world famous" and the closest restaurant to our new home (only seven miles away.) It is the best pizza ever! Check out the "pizza of the month" video on their Facebook page!

But looking forward to the future...I get to restock our pantry and freezer in the next week or so and start planning meals again. One thing that will be a change for us is that we're 30 minutes to the nearest grocery store. So that means careful planning and no more last minute running to the store for a forgotten item!

We're also "empty nesters" for the first time, so stay tuned for a new way of cooking and eating for us!

That brings me to today's rerun recipe from seven years ago. Tomatoes are in season and I've been so hungry for this yummy dish! Give me some Pico and tortilla chips, and I can make a meal out of it!

* * *


We’ve been talking about cilantro quite a bit the past few weeks, and it made me start craving Pico de Gallo. There are tons of recipes for Pico, but one thing all of them have in common is cilantro.

*Rabbit trail warning: Did you know that when the cilantro goes to seed in your garden, the seeds are called coriander? Another delicious spice, and it’s mentioned in the Bible: “Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Exodus 16:31 – now doesn’t that sound delicious?

A couple things about the ingredients – 

I use Roma tomatoes because they have more flesh and are firmer when you chop them. I always get rid of the tomato guts when I make Pico – just slice the tomato in half and hollow it out. The flesh that’s left is firm and will hold its shape in the mixture.

If you aren’t familiar with tomatillos, they’re like little green tomatoes wearing jackets. You know a tomatillo is ready to use when its papery jacket is dry and starting to split. To use the tomatillo, take it out of its jacket, wash it, and remove the stem with the point of a knife. Then just slice and chop it. (2019 note: I usually skip the tomatillo these days - one less step!)

I used Anaheim chilies in this batch of Pico, because that’s what I had in the freezer. You could use any hot pepper – jalapeno, Serrano, habanero – as long as it isn’t so hot you don’t want to eat it. The Anaheims are a bit milder than the others. Oh, and make sure you wear gloves when handling hot peppers (I keep disposable latex gloves on hand), and remove ALL the seeds.

And the final hint – when I’m chopping veggies like tomatoes (firm skins, tender flesh), I always use a serrated knife – actually an old steak knife from who knows where (I had it before we were married thirty years ago). The serrated knife cuts through the outer skin without crushing the more tender flesh of the fruit or veggie.

Ingredients (makes about 4 cups of Pico de Gallo):

3 Roma tomatoes

2 Tomatillos

1 Jalapeno pepper, Anaheim Chile or other hot pepper to taste

¼ Bell pepper (green, yellow or red)

¼ onion – yellow will be stronger than white

¼ cup chopped Cilantro, or more – I tend to use more like ½ cup

1 Tablespoon lime juice

Salt to taste

Chop the tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers and onions to uniform sizes – I like anywhere between ¼” to ½”.  Stir together. Isn’t it pretty? Like Christmas, or the Mexican flag!

Stir in the chopped cilantro, and then the lime juice. Taste it, and salt it if needed.

Cover the bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving to let the flavors blend.

Serve with chips, or on tacos, or as a garnish for enchiladas, or as a topping for salad …

What’s your favorite way to use Pico de Gallo?

* * * 

Back to 2019!

As we prepare to dive into our new life in our new home, tell us - what meal would you eat for your first meal in your dream home?

Jan Drexler spent her childhood dreaming of living in the Wild West and is now thrilled to call the Black Hills of South Dakota her home. When she isn’t writing she spends much of her time satisfying her cross-stitch addiction or hiking and enjoying the Black Hills with her husband of more than thirty-seven years.

The End of a Long Summer...and Hot Dogs!

Jan here, welcoming you to my last post of the summer!

Yes, I know that summer doesn't really end for more than a month, but Saturday was the last day of the Rally (the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally!) and that is a true sign of the end of the summer in the Black Hills.

Once mid-August comes schools begin to start their fall semesters, the tourist season winds down, the weather begins to cool down, and the birds start gathering for their annual trip south.

But this year, I'm READY for summer to be over! It's been a crazy, hectic, stressful time. Here's a quick recap:

1. Our oldest son and his wife moved 12 hours away (Jacob and Katie)
2. We lost both of our dogs - Wynter in April and Thatcher in May
3. Our middle son graduated from college and moved away, leaving us with an empty nest
4. We sold our house (in 6 days!)
5. We put all of our belongings into a storage unit
6. We had to find temporary housing for the month between selling one house and buying another

And with all this going on, I've been working on my next book - deadline October 1st!

We're so thankful for our wonderful friends and the help they've given us! We close on our new house on Friday and move in a week from today. I can't wait!

You might be getting tired of this view,
but I never do!

Did I mention the empty house? Exactly one week after our son moved away, my husband and I moved out of the house. The last house our family of six lived in together.

With that in mind, I remembered this post from four years ago - before either of our older children were married, before they started moving out, back when the house was bursting at the seams. :-) Good memories!

Enjoy this end-of-the-summer, full-house post!

Hot Dog Extravaganza!

Does your refrigerator have enough space for your family's needs?

Ours doesn't, and it is a constant source of frustration.

Go ahead. Blame my disorganization, or the size of our family, or that I go grocery shopping too often (or not often enough). Or like my husband, you can blame the refrigerator itself.

Me? I blame my family's love affair with condiments.

I thought about taking a picture of the condiments on the table during our recent Labor Day Weekend Hot Dog Extravaganza, but it was pretty embarrassing. You'll just have to imagine what it looked like to give us the end results pictured below.

We started out well enough.

My daughter is a no-frills kind of hot dog eater. Meat. Bun. 'Nuff said.

And then one of her brothers chose the ketchup (catsup?) route for one of his dogs.

Here is his other one. Chili, cheese and horseradish. Mmm...

My husband was traditional. He chose mustard, relish and onions for one dog, and chili for the other. Again, Mmmm....

But now we get to the real condiment hounds. My oldest and youngest sons LOVE things like this -

And this (notice the quart size jars!) -

And here is what they ended up with -

Using multiple condiments on hot dogs really isn't a problem, until you try to put the four different kinds of mustards, two kinds of ketchup, hot sauce, relish, chow chow, sauerkraut, two kinds of cheese, etc. back in the fridge.

I'd say we're probably out of control.

I think we've come up with a new reality show idea, though: Refrigerator Horders!



Wait, what? I didn't share a picture of my hot dog?

I eat mine with coleslaw and onions. The best hot dog ever!

What is your favorite way to dress your dogs?

* * *

Back to 2019! After reading this post, we might have to do another Hot Dog Extravaganza this Labor Day. We'll invite the family members who still live in town out to the new place and break it in!

I hope we've unpacked a little bit by then!

Jan Drexler spent her childhood dreaming of living in the Wild West and is now thrilled to call the Black Hills of South Dakota her home. When she isn’t writing she spends much of her time satisfying her cross-stitch addiction or hiking and enjoying the Black Hills with her husband of more than thirty-seven years.

A Story of Poverty and Redemption, a summer rerun

It's that time...

Jan here, coming to you from a house of empty rooms and piles of boxes!

We're in the last days of packing...

...and the place looks like it!

The pots and pans are packed, along with all my cookbooks, measuring cups, baking dishes, and small appliances. The dishes are going in a box today.

The moving van comes on Thursday. Our goal is to have everything ready before Wednesday - it's our anniversary and we really need a day off!

So while I'm busy packing boxes and cleaning, you get to read this post I wrote five years ago. Enjoy!

A Story of Poverty and Redemption

A few weeks ago, I shared about my grandmother Ethel's family and the rich tradition my cousins and I inherited from her. You can read about that family here.

But today I have a different story to tell. It's about my grandfather Guy - the one who married Ethel.

Guy didn't have a happy childhood.

Etta Maude, around 1900

Guy's mother, Etta Maude, was an orphan. She and her brother were raised by a childless Swedish couple who lived northwest of Topeka, Indiana. When Etta Maude learned she was pregnant in the spring of 1901, one of the men she had dated, Eugene, went ahead and married her. He didn't know who the baby's father was, but there was a possibility it might be his.

Guy was born in 1902, and his brother Orville in 1903. In 1908, against her doctor's advice, Etta Maude became pregnant again. She died on November 4, 1908, not knowing she had given birth to a daughter the previous day.

Guy (left) and Orville (right), 1905.
Don't you love the curls and dresses?

Grandpa Eugene did as many others did in those days and in his situation. He placed the baby and his two sons in an orphanage. The baby was adopted and the boys remained in the Rogers Home for the rest of their growing up years.

Grandpa Eugene, Orville (left) and Guy (right), just a couple
weeks after Etta Maude's death - the day the children
went to the Rogers Home.
Guy later told my grandmother that he remembered
this day..."he could hardly keep back
the tears long enough to have the picture taken."

The Roger's Home for the Orphaned Poor near Topeka, Indiana

During the next several years, Grandpa Eugene (the boy's father) worked as a day laborer, living in hotels as he moved from place to place around northern Indiana and southern Michigan. He seemed to be quite popular with the ladies, and was known as "Slim."

The front porch of the Topeka Hotel. "Slim" is the young man with
the suitcase on the left.

Meanwhile, once the boys were old enough to work, they were sent out to area farmers as indentured servants. They attended school (through eighth grade) and Sunday School in Topeka.

Once he reached the age of sixteen, Guy was on his own. He worked here and there for a few years, but then found a job working for a farmer in a neighboring county. This job changed his life.

John and Barbara Pancake in front of their home south of
Topeka, Indiana. There's no date with this photo, but I would guess
it was taken around 1915.

This farmer and his wife, John and Barbara Pancake, became substitute parents for Guy and they treated him like an adopted son. Even after John Pancake died, Barbara remained a second mother for Guy and "grandma" for his children.

Of all the people who influenced his life, the Pancakes seemed to have had the most profound effect. First of all, they provided a loving, stable home for him - his first - during his late teen years when it was so sorely needed. Second, they prepared him and helped him to be reconciled with his father. Third, they helped lay the spiritual foundation that prepared him to meet Pastor C.C. Cripe, of the Bremen Church of the Brethren.

Pastor Cripe had an even further influence on the troubled young man. He became Guy's mentor and life-long friend.

Later, when he moved to Shipshewana, he met Pastor George Sherck - my great-grandfather, and the father of his future wife.

But that isn't the end of the story. What about the other players?

Orville, Guy's younger brother, ran away from the Roger's Home when he turned sixteen. After years of working and traveling, he eventually moved back to the mid-west to be reunited with his father and brother. The brothers' early life affected both of them differently. Orville's daughter wrote, "...the two brothers agreed that they were mistreated in the Rogers Home. It carried over into their adult life. Uncle Guy reached for the Bible and my dad reached for the bottle."

Grandpa Eugene married one of those many girls who knew him as "Slim" in 1913. But in February 1914, they were invited to a revival meeting at the Topeka German Baptist Brethren Church (now Church of the Brethren). Eugene and May were baptized into that church, and it changed their lives completely. Grandpa Eugene enthusiastically embraced the church's Plain dress and strict lifestyle and served as deacon. It was said that when it was time to pray, it was a race to see whose knees hit the floor first - Grandpa Eugene's or the pastor's!

Grandpa Eugene and May in the 1920's. This smiling
man is the Grandpa I remember.

There's one more player in this story. Do you remember that baby girl who was born on November 3, 1908? The one who Grandpa Eugene put up for adoption during those dark days?

Guy told Ethel that he was working on a car in a garage in 1926 when Orville came in and said he wanted Guy to meet his wife. Guy cleaned up a little and went out to the car. He didn't know until he was told that this was his sister. They had written to each other and exchanged gifts after Ruth was told she had been adopted and had two brothers. Because Orville traveled around so much he had often worked in or near Chicago and had looked up his sister, but Guy hadn't seen her since a couple years after she had been adopted, when she was only a toddler and he was eight. They had been apart for eighteen years, but from that time on they were very close.

The reunion! From left to right: Orville, Ruth and Guy.
This picture appeared in the South Bend Tribune along
with the story of their reunion.

 Even though my grandfather's childhood was rough, sad and at times tragic, I can see God's hand working in his life. He and my grandmother didn't have an easy time - they married in 1928 and struggled all through the Depression and during the years afterward - but they raised a wonderful family.

Back row, left to right: Martha, Guy, James, John, Ethel.
Front row: Waneta and Nancy.
If you've read A Mother for His Children, you might recognize
some of those names :)

Guy passed away before I was born, so I never met him. I do know that he had only one real regret - that he didn't have enough schooling to learn to be a minister. It had been a desire of his even before he married. But he instilled a love for the Lord and service to the church in his children, along with a desire for education. All of them are active in their churches, and both of his sons became ministers.

And since here at the cafe we talk about food, I searched and searched to try to find out what his favorite food might have been. But, you know, as poor as he was as he was growing up, I don't think he had the luxury of being fussy about food! However, I did find this quote from an essay my grandmother wrote for her children after he died:

"By the time he was old enough to help do chores on a farm he was taken out of the home by Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman. They had no children of their own so needed some help with their work. They thought of adopting him but Grandpa didn't want to sign the papers. They were good to him but lacked the personal feeling people have for their own. 

Mrs. Kauffman was 'old-maidish' to put it in Daddy's words. She never seemed to understand a growing boy needed more to eat than her husband. Grape-nut cereal was just on the market and Daddy was very fond of it. She only dished out a small portion, just what she thought he needed.  He could hardly wait until he could eat as much as he wanted."

Every time I see a box of Grape-nuts, I think about my grandfather, his childhood, and the wonderful story of redemption told in his life.

And it's stories like these that made me want to be a writer. The more I read and hear about my family history, the more stories start taking shape in my imagination.

And then I start wondering - what stories am I living that my grandchildren will tell about me? Hmm.....

* * * * *

Back to 2019! You know, I did write Guy's story - at least, a fictionalized account. It was published in March 2018 by Love Inspired Historical, and the title is The Amish Nanny's Sweetheart.

You can purchase this book HERE!

While writing this book, I delved deeper into Guy's life and thoughts. I am privileged to be the keeper of Guy's diaries, and his short daily jottings gave me an insight into the young man he was before he met my grandmother. I'm in the process of transcribing them, and I hope finish that job someday!

Meanwhile, I'm going to keep packing!

By the way, I'm also blogging on Seekerville today. What is the subject? "Managing Chaos to Encourage Productivity!" Appropriate, isn't it?

Jan Drexler spent her childhood dreaming of living in the Wild West and is now thrilled to call the Black Hills of South Dakota her home. When she isn’t writing she spends much of her time satisfying her cross-stitch addiction or hiking and enjoying the Black Hills with her husband of more than thirty-six years.

Craving That Delicious Chicken Dish

Jan here, and the countdown is on. Three weeks and two days from now some nice men (who we'll be paying) will come to our house and start putting our stuff in their truck...whether we're ready or not...and haul it off to a storage unit that we're renting for a month before they come back and take it to our new house.

I won't be able to get enough of this view. I don't
think we'll ever close the curtains!

Does that sound complicated? You have no idea! But I'll give you week by week updates as we go!

Meanwhile, like I said last week, we're eating out of our pantry, trying to lessen the amount of stuff we need to move...but that can get a little "ho hum." And then this week the craving hit. I just had to have that delicious chicken dish commonly called "Crack Chicken."

I had the chicken in the freezer, and some ranch salad dressing in the pantry, and some cream cheese in the fridge... a quick trip to the grocery store for some bacon, and we were in business.



Jan's Semi-Cracked Chicken

ingredients:

2 - 3 chicken breasts, partially frozen
1/2 bottle Ranch salad dressing
5 slices bacon, cooked (I bought the pre-cooked kind)
8 oz. cream cheese

This was an easy-peasy recipe! Pre-heat your oven to 375°.

First, I cut the chicken breasts into cubes (much easier to do when they're partially frozen - mine had been thawing in the refrigerator for about 24 hours.) I thought about browning the chicken first, but I was short on time. So I just dumped them into a greased 9" x 13" baking dish.

(The next time I'll brown the chicken pieces first. This batch was a little heavy on the fat from the chicken.)

Next, cut the bacon into pieces and scatter them over your chicken.

Third, pour the ranch dressing over the whole thing.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes at 375°.

When you get close to the end of the cooking time, cube your cream cheese. After 45 minutes, take the casserole out of the oven and distribute the cream cheese cubes evenly over the chicken.

It smells great already, doesn't it?

Bake for another 5 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is soft. Remove the casserole from the oven and stir everything together.

Note: this would work better in a mixing bowl. My bowls are already packed, except the one my son is still using...

I served the chicken over pasta for hubby and son, and ate mine all by itself. When I make it again this week, I'm going to cook some zucchini noodles to have with it.

Was it good? Well, there were no leftovers and no complaints!

What else did we do this week?

This mess is our garage on Friday night before our Saturday morning garage sale (or rummage, as they call it around here.) On Saturday morning we hauled all this stuff out into the driveway and got rid of it! We put ridiculously low prices on everything...we really didn't want to move it. The new place is a condo, so no yard work in our future, and no outside house maintenance.

I know, I know. Sometimes I'll miss mowing the lawn. But I still get to have a flower garden and other plants. And the big win? More time for hiking in the Hills and writing!

But the big downside to this moving business is that we haven't been able to go hiking yet this year. Maybe we'll take a day off soon and head into these beautiful mountains!

Jan Drexler spent her childhood dreaming of living in the Wild West and is now thrilled to call the Black Hills of South Dakota her home. When she isn’t writing she spends much of her time satisfying her cross-stitch addiction or hiking and enjoying the Black Hills with her husband of more than thirty-six years.