Shameless Plug: Candlepin Bowling

Himself has gone off sailing with a friend in Florida, so the kids and I had a little end-of-February-break excursion today.  Started off at a big antiques show in Brunswick, where Thing One scored a WWII-era crush cap for his collection; grabbed Chinese for lunch; ran a few errands and then wound up at Oakland Park Lanes for some candlepin bowling.

Candlepin bowling is kind of a regional thing, I think.  The pins and balls are smaller than regular bowling, and each turn is three throws so the scoring is different.  

It's a lot more challenging than it sounds, and to be clear, I totally suck at it.  The kids are marginally better than I am.  It does not matter because it's simply a blast.  And at $2.75 a string, it's a heck of an affordable way to pass an hour or so. 

Oakland Park Lanes is exactly the sort of funky, retro, kind of shabby place you would want to go for this sort of entertainment. 

One finds serious league bowlers there, families with itty bitty kids tossing gutterballs, elementary kids having birthday parties in the arcade, and everyone in between.  

Thing Two came out on top today, edging out her brother by two points and blowing me completely out of the water.  

At least her brother has that crush cap as a consolation prize...

"Thank you for choosing Cape Air"

Earlier this week my colleague K and I visited our sister plant in Maryland and we left from Rockland, which is much more convenient, and often cheaper, than flying out of Portland.

Cape Air operates a few flights a day between Rockland and Boston on well-used nine-seater Cessna 402s.  Until quite recently the Knox Regional Airport was a double-wide trailer, with baggage claim being a wooden rack on the tarmac and the TSA staff doubling as ticket agents.  I'm not making that up. 

Flying with a tiny air service is a much more personal experience than the big commercial carriers. (Apart from the whole unpressurized and very cold cabin thing.)

"Welcome aboard!  My name is Skippy Junior, and I'll be your co-pilot in training today.  Don't worry, I may look like I'm nine years old but I have in fact been through flight school."

"Our little plane here is much older than I am, but perfectly safe - Cape Air hasn't had a crash since 2008.  Ah, you all accurately reported your body weight when you checked in, right?"

"Please note the emergency exits, any one of which you can reach out and touch, and up front here about six inches from your knees is a fire extinguisher in case we need it.  Buckle up, everyone!"

"And thank you for choosing Cape Air."

Because we have, like, so many other options when we fly out of Rockland.

For the record, Skippy Junior - like all the Cape Air pilots - did a fine job, and his landing was particularly skillful.  The aerial view of the coast is always breathtaking, both in daylight and in the dark when the lights of the coastal towns sparkle against the black water. 

The new Knox Regional Airport is very nice, too.  But I kind of miss the old double-wide.

Not quite sure where the last fifteen years went

Here are a few of the events from the last week:

1. Thing One took a girl on a date to the Banff Film Festival.  When they got in the car, he opened her door for her.  Where does that come from?  I mean, he sure as hell didn’t learn that from his father.

2. Thing Two discovered that my shoes are too small for her.  This means she’s no longer asking to borrow my favorite black Mary Janes with the 2” French heel.  Like I ever let her wear them anyway.

3. Thing One decided, finally, to part with what he has been affectionately referring to as the “ferret” on his upper lip.  His father got him a Gillette Mach 3 and some shaving cream and provided suitable instruction.  (Shaving, Himself’s got covered.  Chivalry not so much.)

4. Thing Two is learning a Chopin Mazurka.  I’m jealous.  Chopin and I never quite came to terms.

5. Thing One’s schooner captain offered him a summer job.  An actual job.  With wages.  For the whole summer. 

6. Thing Two made banana chocolate chip nut bread.  Just because.  She was home alone and bored.  It was really really good.

                                                                             

For the record, I’m far too young for any of this to be happening. 

I’m still 24.

Just so we’re clear on that.

2012 Toboggan Nationals, Day 2

This day dawned bright, crystal clear and wicked cold.  Air temp was 11, wind chills flirting with negative numbers. 

Last night the Snow Bowl iced the chute, which had been growing slushy in the middle of the day yesterday, so it was fairly well-groomed and frozen solid.

"U.S. National Toboggan Championship Official Zamboni"

The mood on the second day is always a bit less festive, more serious - a lot of the party crowd has already gone home, and the competition gets intense.  8.30 on a Sunday morning when wind chills are below zero, well, it takes a certain type of crazy dedication to be out in that.

For the second qualifying run, the boys' strategy was to be 15 sleds back in line, to let the first teams knock the bumps down.  They practiced their luge form and argued about weight distribution and brainstormed how to gain time coming out of the gate.  Nothing riding on this but the finals.  No pressure.

That's right, 8.94 seconds - the boys broke the 9-second mark.  Maybe fast enough to send them to the finals this afternoon.  They were pretty stoked.

We're dedicated parents, but not so dedicated that we would stand around outside in those conditions for three hours waiting for the results, so we went home to monitor things in real time on line.

Technology is a wonderful thing.

And sure enough - they made the cut, one of the top 50 out of a field of more than two hundred four-man sleds.

To give you a sense of how tight the competition is at this level, the spread between the first and last of those 50 qualifying teams was eleven hundredths of a second.

So back we went at noontime for the finals.

The boys finished firmly in the middle of the pack, with a combined time of 18.12 seconds.

They hit 39 miles per hour.

This is why I drink.

Okay, one of the reasons.

It wasn't all seriousness this afternoon - the Dutch team failed to qualify but they were still there drinking beer, manning the airhorns you hear in the video clip above (they really liked our guys' team), and divesting themselves of bits of their costumes they didn't want to take back on the plane.  Thing Two is now all set for the next time Crazy Hat Day rolls around the middle school calendar.

As is T's little sister.

The boys, the sled and the moms:

Not that you can tell between the helmets and goggles and Michelin Man clothing, but Thing One and I are the two on the right.

I seem to have become very short.

Stay warm, y'all.

2012 Toboggan Nationals, Day 1, more pics

My friend B is a much more creative and intrepid photographer than I.  These are some of her shots.

Random pictures from around the ice:

This guy is just grooving out with some penguins:

The Schleddy Balls dudes again:

And the Royal Dutch National Toboggan Team, which wins the costume competition every single year:

Here, Thing One and his friend T are being interviewed by a reporter from the Bangor Daily News about their fundraising scheme.  They made $127 running sleds up that hill:

After their first qualifying run, they are coming off the ice while a couple of younger sibs are running out to congratulate them.  They have quite a little following of groupies after doing this for five years, in addition to quite a bit of name recognition after having their homemade sled featured in the local paper last week:

And here come the (justifiably proud) team dads:

Inspecting the sled for damage:

Though their run of 9.47 was excellent for the conditions at the time, the temperature fell and the chute got faster later in the afternoon.  Second runs were this morning, and the lower of the two times determines if the boys will qualify for the finals.

Yes, I know what happens next, but I'm not telling just yet!

2012 Toboggan Nationals, Day 1

The night before - loading up the sled to be inspected and registered.

We got there around 8 this morning.  Temps throughout the day were in the upper 20s with persistent sleety snow and winds gusting to 30 mph.

Our little entrepreneurs.  Quite a success, this, carrying other people's sleds up the hill for them, and all for a good cause - next year's band trip to Virginia Beach.

Good turnout...

...and good costumes.

These guys?  Team name was Schleddy Balls.

Clever.

The Royal Dutch National Toboggan Team did not disappoint.

Our little patch o' heaven on the ice.  Plenty of hot chocolate, hot chili, and hot fire.

  

Taking the sled up for its inaugural run



And coming off the ice after a cracking first time of 9.47 seconds, well placed to qualify for the finals if they can repeat on their second run tomorrow morning.

I'll let you know the very minute I can feel my feet again.

Things I Have Inherited from my Mother

My stepfather brought over some jewelry yesterday and I found this locket:

The initials are my grandmother's.  Before her marriage.

Inside is this:

On the left, her brother, my Uncle Lew, who passed away last week...

..and on the right, her husband, my grandfather, who died in 2001:



I think I'll be wearing this quite a bit.

Toboggan Building 101

Thing One's friend T and his dad, with some help from their neighbor, have been building a sled for this year's Toboggan Nationals.

Previously, the boys have raced on one of the Snow Bowl's well-used (and exceedingly slow) loaners.

This year, they will race on a superbly crafted, highly engineered work of art.

Here's the finished sled, waiting to be waxed.

And here's a closeup of the turquoise inlay. 

That's right, I said turquoise inlay.

Next weekend, the race...

Recipe: Pierogi and Bratwurst with Roasted Vegetables

I believe I have mentioned before that Himself is of Bohemian extraction and brought to our union several concepts which were utterly unfamiliar to me (like making sauerkraut - who knew?).  Before we met, this New England girl wouldn't have known a pierogi if one had jumped down my blouse. 

Yesterday was a fussy kitchen day so I made mine from scratch using this dough recipe and a filling of mashed russet potatoes and a bit of shredded Cheddar.  If you use the frozen kind this would go together with very little effort; it's just a matter of timing everything to get done at once. 

Seriously, you must try this. 

Pierogi and Bratwurst with Roasted Vegetables

24 pierogi with potato & cheddar filling
1 lb. whole button mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
2 large yellow onions, sliced lengthwise and cut in 1/2" wedges
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
10 oz. baby spinach
6 Roma tomatoes, halved
Olive oil
6 bratwurst
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Salt & pepper

Cook the pierogi, drain and set aside.

Heat oven to 425.  On one baking sheet, spread the mushrooms, onions, and garlic.  On a second baking sheet, spread the spinach and tomatoes.  Drizzle all the vegetables with olive oil and toss to coat.  The mushrooms and onions take longer to roast so put those in the oven first, turning every now and then.  Put the spinach in when the mushrooms look about 15 minutes from done.  Keep stirring everything periodically.

Meanwhile, heat two tablespoons of butter in a large covered skillet over medium heat and brown the bratwurst well on all sides.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until done; remove, cover and keep warm. 

In the same skillet over medium heat, brown the pierogi on both sides.  Work in batches, removing the browned pierogi to keep the bratwurst company as you go.  When all the pierogi are browned, add the chicken broth and cream to the skillet, along with a bit of salt and pepper; turn heat to high and scrape the skillet to stir up the brown bits and reduce the liquid a bit.  Stir in the Parmesan.

Return the bratwurst, all the pierogi and accumulated juices to the skillet, reduce heat to very low, cover and simmer to reheat.

When the vegetables are done, turn them all into a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. 

Serve the bratwurst and pierogi drizzled with the cream sauce, with the roasted vegetables alongside.

Serves 6.