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Decadent Chocolate Cake.
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FEATURE S January 2016 Volume 11, Issue 1
14
Get inspired!
It’s January. Time for a new you.
18
Listen up!
Personal trainers offer advice to start you new year off right.
22
Grave lessons
Author Rebecca Fjelland Davis finds warmth six feet under.
About the Cover Stephanie Howe, director of healthy living at the Mankato Family YMCA, poses in the free weight room. She was photographed by Pat Christman. MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 3
DEPARTMENTS 6 From the Editor 8 This Day in History 9 The Gallery
9
Ellen Schofield
10 Beyond the Margin Let Freedom Reign 12 Day Trip Destinations Celebration of the Lakes 26 Then & Now Schuyler Colfax 29 Food, Drink & Dine 30 Food
32 Wine
12
Hot cocoa Cabernet Sauvignon
33 Beer Light can be good 34 Food
Coffee Hag, v2.0
36 What’s Cookin’? Nuts! 38 That’s Life My dream job 40 Garden Chat Big plans for 2016 42 Your Style A ‘balmy’ time of year 44 Coming Attractions
26
42 4 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
38
44
45 Faces & Places 48 From This Valley 50th reunion
Coming in February Cabin Fever! Relax ... We’ll get through this.
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307 McKinzie Street So. Mankato, MN 56001 507-345-4828 507-289-4874 www.paape.com MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 7
This Day in history
May your 2016 be Filled with color and delight.
By Jean Lundquist
Friday, January 3, 1890 Magnificent Showing for 1889 Over $70,000 Expended on Streets, Waterworks and Sewers (compared to 2014 dollars, this could amount to as much as $86,000,000 dollars) The most important of the public works accomplished this year is the construction of a pumping station, the purchase of a magnificent holly pump and the completion of the large one-million gallon reservoir. The discovery of a suitable water supply was made last year, but it was left to be developed this year by the sinking of two large artesian wells to a depth of more than 600 feet. The next is important as having over a mile of sewer on second street. Other improvements: Completion of the Tourtellotte Hospital and the purchase of additional hose for the fire department. Friday, January 7, 1910 County Board is Wrestling with Bills in Ledbeter Case Thiel Detective Agency wants to be paid for booze and treats entertaining deputy sheriff and farmers; Lady Sleuth was employed on job Thiel Detective Agency employed a woman? Paid for parties on the County dime? In 1910? Though not mentioned in the printed story, Mrs. Ledbeter was accused of murdering her husband, Holland, several years her elder. The County Board met this afternoon wrestling with bills that had been presented to it for services rendered in connection with the trials of Frank Smith and Mrs. Grace Ledbeter. County Auditor Weaver states the cost of these trials will be between $8,000 and $10,000, but he won’t know the exact figure for several days. The Thiel Detective Agency has put in a bill for $498.35 for services largely consisting of railway fare, hotel bills, etc. One of the items under date Nov. 23-30 and Dec. 1-4 is “drinks, cigars, etc. with Deputy Sheriff, $4.05.” The next item is “treats and expenses with farmers and others during investigation. $22.15.” A lady detective seems to have been employed on the case for a time, making a trip to St. Louis and other places. Tuesday, January 3, 1961 Twins are first ‘Bago Births of the year Fraternal twins were the first births in Winnebago at the Community Hospital in 1961. Mr. and Mrs. Eldren Jaeger’s boy was born at 10:55 Sunday, and the girl arrived at 11:15 AM. The boy weighed 5 pounds, 8 1/2 ounces. The girl hit the scale at 5 pounds, 2 and a quarter ounces. The Jaergers, who operate a farm at rural Amboy, have seven other children ranging in age from Sandra, 18, in nurse’s training at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Mankato, to 4-year-old Joel.
Corporate Graphics Your Printing Solutions Company
1750 Northway Drive North Mankato, MN 56003 800-729-7575 www.corpgraph.com
Tuesday, January 3, 1928 Cafes and Dance Halls, Scenes of Gaiety, Quiet for New Year’s, Police Report; Cold Wave Sends Revelers Home at Early Hour Minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit is just too cold to have fun on New Year’s Eve Liquor that did not flow too liberally, and the extreme cold weather, conspired to make the celebration of the coming of the new year in Mankato not too boisterous. “It was a quiet time,” commented Chiefof Police Jake Hilgers. “Probably quieter than last year.” Only one arrest was made as against 3 last New Year’s. The arrest was of a man found lying in the railroad yards intoxicated. The tips of his fingers were frozen, and it’s believed if he had not been discovered, he would have frozen to death.
The Gallery: Ellen Schofield Story by Nell Musolf
Ellen Schofield teaches at Minnesota State University.
Thinking Made Visual
A
f t e r g r a d u a t i n g f ro m t h e University of Minnesota in 2012 with a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in graphic design, Ellen Schofield was delighted when, three months later, she was offered a teaching position at Minnesota State University. She expected that she would have to move elsewhere and was happy that she would be able to stay in her own state. “There were about 10 positions open around the time I graduated,” Schofield said, “which was really quite a lot. I expected that I’d have to move so it was great to be hired by MSU.” Schofield teaches introductory level graphic design classes as well as a special concept class that helps students fire up their creativity. “In the special concept class we do mind mapping, brainstorming and once a semester I bring in an improv comedian because studies have proven that improv comedians have the most creative ideas of any other profession,” Schofield said. “The class does theater warm ups and they really seem to enjoy it. We also focus on the ‘yes and’ theory in that class.” The “yes and” theory agrees with an idea and then expounds on it with enthusiasm — the “and” part. “College students often want to look cool all the time,” Schofield remarked.
“The ‘yes and’ theory pushes past that and opens up creativity.” Schofield defines graphic design as thinking made visual. “Graphic design is everywhere. It’s logos for businesses and icons and even the tax return papers given out by the IRS are examples of graphic design and had to have been designed by some poor person,” Schofield said. “A goal of a graphic designer is to create something that anyone can understand as soon as they look at it.” Before becoming a graduate student, Schofield ran her own graphic design business and has continued the business on a smaller scale now that she is teaching. Her personal preference in graphic design is to create icons. “I tend to like iconography,” Schofield said. “Icons can be — and I think should be — simple and elegant and tell whoever sees them something about the business they represent.” Schofield worked with the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota to create its icon, an experience she enjoyed. “I wanted to make it something that would appeal to kids and their parents as well. The Children’s Museum has such a cool space — it needed an icon that would let people know what a truly cool place it is,” Schofield said.
When working with a graphic design client, Schofield likes to have “lots and lots” of conversations. “Getting to know clients is important. We talk a lot so that I can find out what a client feels passionate about when it comes to their business. The goal is to find something that makes them unique and then create a graphic design that reflects that,” Schofield said. Shofield said her favorite artistic tool is the art department’s laser cutter. “It’s like the world’s fanciest scissors,” Schofield said. “It can cut just about anything and does an amazing job. It’s so much fun to work with.” Schofield is working with MSU colleague David Rogers on a project using the laser cutter called “Paper State Flowers.” Schofield and Rogers are using typographic state abbreviations combined with paper flowers. Their progress can be viewed at www. paperstateflowers.com and the final results will be shown at an art gallery in Hutchinson in October. Schofield originally planned to become an engineer but after taking a class in graphic design she changed her mind. “I’m a visual personal and I fell in love with design,” Schofield said. “Really, I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 9
10 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
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Day Trip Destinations: Celebration of the Lakes By Leticia Gonzales
Hot air balloons are just one of the many attractions this festival has employed over the years.
Hit the Lakes! Lindstrom has plenty of fun waiting for you
T
he Celebration of the Lakes has been a family tradition for Erin Thorvaldson, Chisago Lakes Chamber Board Member and Community member for Celebration of the Lakes, for more than 20 years. Thorvaldson was about 10 years old when her grandmother introduced her to the event, which takes place Jan. 30 on North Center Lake in Lindstrom.
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“So I helped way back then when she was part of the chamber,” said Thorvaldson. “And having a business in the community, as I got older, I also wanted to give back.” Born and raised in the Chisago Lakes area, Thorvaldson has served on the celebration’s planning committee for nine years. She said the event first caught her eye not only because she loves winter, but because it focuses on the outdoors, “even though many people in Minnesota cringe once we get to 20 degrees, so it kind of gets you out and lets you do something fun.” Watching the celebration grow over the past two decades has also been fun for Thorvaldson. “It was very tiny at that point,” she said, as she reminisced about the early days of the event. “It was just a few hay bales at the ice.” Being an active part of the planning has been equally exciting. “The committee’s always trying to come up with more ideas that the community would perceive as something fun to do in the winter time,” she said. “There have been the sled dogs, there have been hot air balloons, and there have been kitty cat races, car races.” While past years have even included BMX bike races where people dressed up in costumes, the snowmobile radar run and the vintage snow mobile displays have been the “main staples” of the celebration. Organized by the Wild River Snowmobile Club of Chisago City, the snowmobile radar run features nearly 200 riders who race upwards of 120 miles per hour on a track. “Sometimes they will have souped-up snowmobiles that go incredibly fast,” Thorvaldson said. “We had a world record one that raced on the track, so it’s pretty amazing to see how fast some of them go. They break them up into categories and there are prizes for the fastest one in each category.” Originally introduced as a memorial radar run for a rotary member, the radar run has become one of the celebration’s most popular events. “We started with just a sheriff’s radar gun, and now they use different timing items like cones and announcing,” she add. “It’s kind of something that has evolved too.” With the draw of the surrounding lakes in the area, Thorvaldson said ice fishing has also grown in popularity, and has become embedded in the annual celebration. “It’s like little villages out on the lake,” she said.
“That is kind of the big that that people do. There are people who drive up from all over the place, the Twin Cities, all over, just to come spend the weekend ice fishing on the lake, so that’s a big, big thing.” Greg Shaleen, who has also been on the planning committee for the celebration for more than 15 years, affirmed the celebration’s growth when it comes to activities offered. “We have done kind of bizarre things,” he said. “We do a smoosh race, which is where you take 2-by-4s and strap four leather straps on it and you do a little bit of a race.” Shaleen also credits the event for bringing people out to the lakes during the coldest month of the year. “Everyone is all cooped up in the community, and it just got to the point where they wanted to do something fun in the winter and get people out and about and enjoy the winter sport,” he said. From kitty races and sled dog races, to a concession tent and a family fishing contest that draws anywhere from three to five hundred people, Shaleen said the Celebration of the Lakes brings people together in the outdoors. “We are basically more interested in getting people out of the house, visiting with friends and neighbors and visitors to the area, and enjoying each other’s interest in snowmobiling or ice fishing, or whatever the events are taking place or going on,” he concluded.
Go If you
What
Celebration of the Lakes Lindstrom, MN
I-35 North to Hwy 8 east to Center City. Located on the North side of Hwy 8 on North Center Lake. When Jan. 29-31, 2016
Admission Free; additional admission required for some events, activities, food and rides Visit www.chisagolakeschamber.com MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 13
Here’s to a
healthy
new year, a healthy
new you By Nell Musolf | Photos by Pat Christman and Darren Gibbins
J
anuary. The holidays are over along with all of the season’s excuses for overindulge in food and drink and under-indulging in any form of exercise (other than lifting one’s hand to one’s mouth.) After stowing the presents in the closet and taking down the tree, many people choose the New Year as the perfect time to begin a serious diet and exercise program to shed the extra pounds they put on over the past few months and to begin eating more healthfully. Mankato Clinic registered dietitian Erin Gonzalez says a hearty “yes” to healthy, mindful eating and definite “no” to any extreme “do or die(t)” approach. According to Gonzalez, 95 percent of all dieters regain the weight they lost within five years. It is her belief that such yo-yo dieting only creates more frustration and stress which can lead to emotional eating and binge eating which leads to another cycle of dieting-losing-weightgaining-weight ad infinitum. Gonzalez speaks from experience. After losing 70 pounds since the time she was a teenager, Gonzalez is now at a weight she considers healthy and one that she hasn’t deviated from in years. 14 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
Erin Gonzalez and her son prepare a healthful meal.
Erin Gonzalez
“I struggled with weight issues when I was growing up,” Gonzalez said. “When I was 16 I went on my first ‘serious’ diet—one of the fast diets that were popular in the 1990s.” Gonzalez said that she stuck to her diet religiously, having a shake in the morning, one for lunch and a sensible meal at night, just as she was instructed to do. She also walked for approximately two and a half hours a day. Over the course of one summer she lost 70 pounds but she was also, she now realizes, flirting with an eating disorder. Gonzalez says this scenario is not uncommon considering research shows 35 percent of “occasional dieters” progress into pathological dieting, (disordered eating) and as many as 25 percent advance to full-blown eating disorders. “My food intake was very restrictive and I was always extremely conscience of what I ate but just the same I slowly gained back 30 of the 70 pounds
that I lost,” Gonzalez said. “I was always looking at food as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ instead of something pleasurable to be enjoyed.” It wasn’t until she was working at her dietetic internship that she had her “aha” moment. “I was blessed with a teacher who taught her students how to enjoy food,” Gonzalez said, “instead of being obsessed by it. Gonzalez learned about a program called Am I Hungry that specializes in helping people heal their relationship with food and their bodies so they can relearn to trust their internal hunger cues instead of having to follow arbitrary rules and broken promises of diets. Gonzalez facilitates a program at the Mankato Clinic that teaches the Am I Hungry philosophy. “I have two children,” Gonzalez said, “a 10-month-old and a 4-year-old. They know how to eat naturally and they stop eating when they are no longer hungry. That is what most adults need MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 15
need to relearn: how to eat.” The method has worked for Gonzalez. Gone are her extra 30 pounds and she no longer diets. “Diets simply aren’t sustainable,” she said. “It’s so hard in our society because we are surrounded by cues to eat all of the time. At buffets where you want to ‘get your money’s worth,’ when you’re out with friends, when you sit down at the end of the day and turn on the television to relax and are bombarded with ads for food. Food has become a reward for a bad day or a good day or anything else we can think of. But if you look at how you eat as a journey instead of as a destination, you can learn to enjoy food a lot more.” So what should someone who wants to start the New Year in a more healthy fashion do? “Pause before you eat,” Gonzalez recommended. “Ask yourself if you’re really hungry or if you’re actually thirsty or stressed instead. Try not to be emotionally disconnected from what you are eating.” Gonzalez emphasized that “mindful eating isn’t naive to say nutrition isn’t important. Of course it is! Mindful eating is what allows us to take charge of our decisions of why, when, what, how, and how much we choose to eat instead of battling being in or out of control.” Instead of following the latest short-lived diet Gonzalez encourages people to make the healthiest choices possible that don’t leave them feeling deprived.
Paulette Tonn Booker
For Paulette Tonn Booker, the Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating (AIH?ME) program has been a game changer. Said Booker, “I’ve tried several diet plans over the past 40 years, including some well-known plans, and I lost weight on each plan. However, keeping the weight off eluded me and resulted in yo-yo dieting.
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The ‘rules’ of whichever plan Booker was on became the norm and after years of trying to live by those rules, Booker was no longer able to discern what her body was telling her about hunger, often leading to out-of-control overeating. “I always knew there was something else going on, yet no one had an answer for me,” Booker said. When Booker first heard of the AIH?ME program two years ago, she was relieved to discover that there were other people who felt the same way when it came to healthful eating. The program taught her the skills she needed to recognize her body’s hunger signals, thoughts and feelings and actions to help manage the physical, emotional, and environmental stresses of everyday life without resorting to eating to cope with those stresses. “I no longer have to be in control of everything; I only need to be in charge of my decisions at any given moment. When I choose to overeat (which everyone does), I no longer beat myself up. I try to reflect on what happened and then plan for ways to handle the situation differently the next time it occurs. Old habits are hard to break; it takes concentrated effort and dedication to rewire the brain with new habits ... and it can be done,” Booker said. About weight loss as the end goal of healthful eating, Booker shared the following: “The only time I get on a scale is at the doctor’s office. I know what the experts say I should weigh. A number does not define a person’s self-worth nor does it say anything about who we are and how we feel as we make changes in how we nurture our bodies. The number on the scale is just a number; bodies come in all shapes and sizes, as does health. I will never diet again. Instead, I will continue to work on developing mindful skills and, in the meantime, eating what I love and loving what I eat.”
Eric Ziesmer says he’s got plenty of motivation to get healthy: two nephews to whom he wants to be a good role model.
Eric Ziesmer
For Eric Ziesmer, he is in the middle of his weight loss journey, a journey that began last July when the 32-year-old learned that he weighed 330 pounds. The time had come for Ziesmer to make some healthy lifestyle changes. Ziesmer decided to lose weight because of his family — both present and future. “I have two adorable nephews and I would love to be able to chase them around the yard or pull them in a sled during the winter and basically to be active and see them as they grow,” Ziesmer said. “And even though I’m currently single, if it is in my cards for marriage and kids I would like to be there and not be too tired or not in shape. A clean and healthy lifestyle is what I am striving for in my coming years.” With the help of a dietician, Ziesmer has started his cleaner and healthier lifestyle. Since July he has lost 40 pounds and has decided to have weight loss surgery. To help his post operation phase go as smoothly as possible, Ziesmer eats fresh fruit every day, has cut out chips and cookies, among other things. “I have totally cut out soda. Soda was a big one to cut out. In my huge climb to 300 there were days when I would consume two 2-liter bottles of pop in a single day and maybe cracking open a third,” Ziesmer said. “I try to listen to my stomach instead of my eyes or eat because I’m bored or stressed. I eat slow and sip instead of being the guzzler I have always been.”
Another tactic Ziesmer has adopted has been to stop drinking liquids 30 minutes before a meal and then wait 30 minutes after eating before sipping again. “When my stomach rumbles and says it’s hungry, I feed it. When my brain or boredom drives me to want to eat, I take a second to see if my stomach feels empty and if not it gets denied,” Ziesmer said. Ziesmer has noticed that he is more successful at healthy eating when he eats at home. When he does dine out, he’ll cut a sandwich in half, eat half and save other half for a future meal. “As far as exercise goes, it went from zero to at least two if not three times a week going for a 3.27 mile walk and have recently made my way back into the gym,” Ziesmer said. He has been able to keep track of his walks with accuracy thanks to an app called MapMyRun. Ziesmer knows that his healthier living journey will continue for a long time. “I plan on continuing to live healthy by continuing my exercise and eating right and by saying that it’s not only for me and feeling better but also because there are two little guys that look up to their uncle. Staying motivated is at least my key to keeping up this lifestyle. I want to live a long and healthier life, feeling better and being there down the road for family and friends is what means most,” Ziesmer said. MM
MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 17
CHANGE?
Stephanie Howe says it’s best to have realistic goals when starting a fitness program.
Ready for Here’s your guide
By Robb Murray | Photos by Pat Christman
18 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
Y
ou’re ready. You ate the ham and turkey and potatoes and Christmas cookies. You drank the wine, beer and eggnog. You’ve spent the last few months pondering a life change. You’re on the verge of a major transformation. This time, it’s happening. You’re going to get healthy. It’s going to be a new you. And then ... January arrived. And you have no plan. Luckily, we here at Mankato Magazine have got you covered. It’s not uncommon for people to make a New Year’s resolution or some similar vow this time of year. It usually comes with goal weights and promises to hit the gym X number of times per week, and trips to the produce and organic sections of the grocery store because, this time, you’re serious. Right? OK, easy tiger. Getting healthy is a great idea, and we’re wishing you all the best. But we’re also coming at you with some sensible advice. Maybe setting unrealistic goals isn’t the best way to go. Maybe just
heading into the gym and trying to get it all done in a week isn’t a great way to go, either. “Fine,” you say, “then what should I do?” We’re so glad you asked.
Let’s get started
The first thing you need to remember when starting an exercise program is that, if you want to lose weight, you need to change the way you eat, too. “No matter what you say, you can’t out exercise a bad diet,” says Stephanie Howe, director of healthy living at the Mankato YMCA. Howe works in what might be the busiest fitness hub in the Mankato area. So she’s seen her share of people come through the doors with plans to change their lives. Some of them succeed. Most do not. One of the biggest mistakes people make, Howe says, is not really having a good grasp on how much time they’ll need in order to incorporate a good workout into their day. It doesn’t have to be a twohour commitment every day, she says. It can be 30 minutes of planned, effective exercise several times per week. What’s more important is just getting there, and that’s an obstacle that is bigger than most people realize. “Most people want to ‘people please,’” she said. “You can say you’re going to get up and work out every day, but most people are built to need external accountability.” Think about hiring a personal trainer. “When you spend the money on a personal trainer, you have an appointment, there’s someone waiting there,” she says. A personal trainer is a great way to immediately know you’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, and you’ll have no doubt whether you’re working hard enough. There are plenty of personal trainers in town — at the YMCA and other gyms — who would love to help you. Of course, they don’t work for free, and for many people the cost of a personal trainer is more than they’re willing to spend. Fortunately, there’s a trend in fitness to offer the whip-crack of a personal Jo Radlinger urges her clients to not sabotage their fitness efforts with poor eating over trainer while staying the weekend. MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 19
affordable. The Y now offers something called “trainer led” exercise sessions where you work with others in a group, but have access to a trainer nearby who can push you, motivate you and make sure you’re, you know, doing it right. They’re $3 a class. “You’re still expected to be there, but it’s much cheaper,” Howe said. “The group environment pushes you, and we have tons of trainer-led classes. It’s the best of both worlds.” Across town, Jo Radlinger runs Jo’s Garage, a fitness center where she’s the one pushing you to succeed. Radlinger’s goal, she says, is to bring out everyone’s potential. “I want to make sure everybody that comes through my door has success. I want them to be the very best version of themselves that they can be.” Like Howe, Radlinger acknowledges that the financial side of hiring a personal trainer can scare people away, but she says there are several reasons why it shouldn’t. “It’s never a bad investment when you’re investing in yourself,” she said. “Meet with a trainer who is just as passionate about your goal. ... My goal is not to train you intensely, but to show you what you’re capable of, and then take you to that next level.” At Jo’s Fitness Garage, there are no membership fees. Radlinger doesn’t believe in them. Instead she charges $5 per visit, and in that time, she said she pushes you to have a great workout.
your body moving while at the same time have fun and meet those people who will notice when you don’t show up. And about that weight room? Yes, it can be intimidating to walk in and see people who look like they live there. But Howe says that, while it can definitely be a psychological barrier, focusing on those people is the wrong strategy. “No one cares what you’re doing,” Howe says. “Focus on you.”
Take it slow
It can be tempting, when you finally get up the nerve to get back in the swing of working out, to go hardcore. But just like setting unrealistic goals, trying to achieve your fitness goals in a day is impossible. “People start out really gung-ho, and reset their diet so aggressively, and most people just simply can’t do this,” Radlinger said. “When you’re looking at making a lifestyle change, I want you to do it slowly and incrementally rather than do it all in two months.” Rushing into the weight room and trying to lift the same weight and number of reps and sets that you did 10 years ago is a great way to make sure you can’t work out for a while. Going from a sedentary lifestyle to two hours of pumping iron can leave you sore enough to not be able to lift anything for days. Maybe even weeks. Ease into it. The gym’s not going anywhere. Think marathon, not sprint. “Sometimes people have Gymtimidation an all-or-nothing attitude,” Setting goals is a great Howe said, “and they idea. Setting unrealistic make themselves sore and Jo Radlinger runs Jo’s Fitness Garage goals is the kind of thing they can’t continue.” that results in a gym Speaking of all-ormembership card laying nothing, Radlinger says dormant in a junk drawer by February. some people bring that kind of intensity to their So set those goals, but set them smartly. food intake over the weekend. Bad idea. “Accountability is huge. Even if you can’t hire “As trainers, we help people be accountable. We someone,” Howe says. “Make specific goals — say do success measurements, help them prepare and you’re going to workout X number of times, but plan ... And we’ll do weigh-ins on Monday,” make those numbers realistic. Set goals that are Radlinger says. “We’ll find that people do really well within your control.” Monday through Friday, then do what I call Do this, and you’re likely to feel a lot better about sabotage Saturday and Sunday. At some point you’re how things go. going to get so sick of hitting that reset button every “Most people just want to feel better about Monday.” themselves, they want to feel more confident,” Howe Whatever you choose to do, both trainers say it’s said. “This way, even before any physical changes never a bad idea to sit down with your doctor and happen, they’ll feel better. They’ll start to feel like run your plans by him/her. Your personal safety they’re in control again of their life and their should always come first, and getting the green light choices.” from Doc can give you some peace of mind as you Taking an exercise class is a great way to both get start this new chapter of your life. MM 20 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
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ay Ess
Grave Lesson in Winter By Rebecca Fjelland Davis
T
hirty-three years ago, I stood inside a grave. A lifetime ago, when I was a pastor’s wife. In Nebraska, we served a parish of barely over one hundred members. A picture-postcard white church with a hand-carved white wooden altar from Germany sat at the top of a hill, next to it the parsonage, and next to that, the cemetery rolling down the hill toward a wooded creek. The first death in the congregation after our arrival set off a flurry of activity. I’d never met Alma because she was in a nursing home before we arrived. However, my husband visited her on several occasions. She was mother, aunt, grandmother, great-aunt, and greatgrandmother to half the congregation, so there was no question about whether or not I would attend the funeral. With my two little kids in tow, I attended every event at the church: every Sunday morning service, of course, but also every funeral, every confirmation, every baptism, every meeting of women’s circle, and even every family reunion that was held in the church basement. At twenty-six, I perfected the art of making gracious small talk with people I’d never seen before and would never see again, and at taking tiny portions from each confirmation buffet so I would neither be sick by the end of the day nor offend any of the mothers who had slaved away over their sumptuous spreads of food. 22 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
Attending the little white country church was physically easy. I picked up one-year-old Josh, took three-year-old Nikki’s hand, and walked out the front door, down the sidewalk and next door. The only things I didn’t have to attend were church council and the men’s meeting. Archaic? This was in the 1980s. It doesn’t seem so long ago. All the available babysitters in the community would attend Alma’s funeral, too, so this was to be my kids’ first funeral. The afternoon before the service, salt-snow fell. Hard little crystals pelted down as if the heavens had up-ended a Morton’s salt canister. Within a few hours, the hard snow was six inches deep and still falling. In the middle of the salt-snow, the gravedigger arrived. The Ditchwitch roared around the cemetery to the family’s plot, and my kids’ noses pressed against the upstairs bedroom window pane. “Mommy, can we go watch?” Glad for an excuse to get out of the parsonage, I bundled them in snowsuits, put them on the sled, and pulled them across the house yard and garden, to the fence that bordered the cemetery. The Ditchwitch made short work of the grave, and all three of us were mesmerized, watching the mound of gray-black dirt grow in the crystal-white snow. When the hole was finished, the gravedigger turned his tractor on idle. He hopped off and came over to the fence. His eyes twinkled in a weathered face. “Want to come look?” I backed up from the fence a step. “No, not really. I think this is close enough.” “Yes, Mommy, go look!” “Pleeeease!” So Nikki and Josh got back on the sled and I hauled them along the fence, through the gate, over to the grave and looked down. Six feet seemed deep, bottomless. Dark. A sharp contrast to the pelting snowflakes all around us. “Wanna get down in there?” the gravedigger asked. I shuddered, hung onto the kids, and backed up again. “No. No, that’s okay. This is close enough. I just want to look from here.” “Yes, mommy,” the little ones said. “Let’s!” “No.” “Please?” “Really, ma’am. I think you should. You’ll be surprised. I wouldn’t suggest it if it I didn’t think so.” “How would we get out?” The sides were deeper than I was tall, and there certainly weren’t footholds or a ladder built in, for Alma’s soul to use to climb out. “Like this.” The gravedigger laid his shovel diagonally across a top corner of the grave and jumped down. He grabbed the middle of the shovel handle and swung himself back up and out with the agility of a gymnast. “Nothin’ to it.” “I can’t do that.” “Yes, you can. I’ll boost you. And we’ll lift the kids. You’ll be amazed. I promise.” I shivered. The idea of being inside a grave seemed much colder than the snow crystals biting at my face. “Come on,” he said and jumped back in. Nikki and Josh willingly stepped over to him to be lifted down. I had no choice but to follow. I couldn’t let my kids alone in a grave with a man I didn’t even know.
So I jumped. The earth on the bottom made a soft landing. The soil around me was warm and steamy. It was moist and dark, but it enfolded us in an earthy hug. At least fifty degrees warmer than the air above ground, it felt as if the earth were offering shelter, respite, a comfortable place to snuggle down and rest. Tiny roots dangled, full of life, from the smooth edges of the hole. Tears sprang to my eyes. I couldn’t help them. My eyes met the gravedigger’s, and he smiled. Gently. “See?” he said. Nothing more. I couldn’t speak. A few minutes later, he gave me a stirrup with his hands, I scrambled out, and he lifted Nikki and Josh up to me. Then he flipped himself out as easily as a trapeze artist. “Thank you,” I said. “I would never have guessed.” He nodded. “Nobody does. But it helps somehow. I wanted you to feel that.” Why? I wanted to ask, why me? You don’t even know me. Why were you willing to take time for us? “Thank you,” was all I said. I shook his hand, and he hopped on the Ditchwitch and drove off into the snow. I never saw him again. Someone else dug the next grave required in that cemetery. I remember only bits and pieces of the funeral. I’m sure I baked a boxed cake mix for “lunch” afterwards. I remember answering Nikki’s questions about the body and sitting in the back row of the church in case Josh didn’t want to be quiet. I do remember looking at the unfamiliar face in the casket and thinking, you get to rest in a warm, cozy place. Ten winters later, we buried my dad on just such a day. Wet snow crystals pelted us and piled up so deep the funeral home limousine got stuck in the cemetery. By the time the pallbearers pushed it un-stuck, their suit pants were caked in slush and mud. We stood at the graveside in the bleak, wet, icy day and lowered my father’s body into the ground. “Too bad it’s such a miserable day.” “Sorry about your dad. Sorry the weather’s so bad, too.” And even, “Such a good man. He deserves better weather than this.” But the weather, I thought, was just right. Losing my dad, my kids and their cousins losing their grandpa, my mom becoming a widow, my brother losing his farming partner and best friend changed our lives—that part was too heavy to carry. The only part that was okay for me was to let Dad’s worn-out body be wrapped in that welcoming, warm, enfolding soil—the very soil he’d loved to till, the soil he’d planted and tended all his life, the soil that gave us all life—that was the only gratifying part of the day. The only comfort I had was letting Dad go from the cold, wet, biting snow into that warm and restful place. And I still wonder who that gravedigger was ten years earlier, and how he knew how much I would MM need what he gave me that bleak winter day.
Rebecca Fjelland Davis is an author from Mankato MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 23
Reflections By Pat Christman
24 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
T
here are few things as inevitable as snow during a Minnesota winter. Big cotton ball-like snowflakes cover the ground in a white blanket whitewashing the Midwestern landscape. We struggle against it. Some hope the snow never comes. It always does, filling the sky with floating snowflakes that cling to the ground but melt as soon as they hit the small bits of face or hands that peek out from winter clothing. It is often quite beautiful, especially when viewed from someplace warm and dry. MM MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 25
Then & Now: Vice President Schuyler Colfax’s Death By Bryce O. Stenzel
Vice President Schuyler Colfax’s Death in Mankato O
n Jan. 14, 1885, one day after his death, the New York Times carried a headline that read, “Schuyler Colfax Dead; He Drops Down in a Railway Station.” While most Americans today would have tremendous difficulty in even recognizing this man’s name 26 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
(unless they were paying close attention to Stephen Spielberg’s epic movie Lincoln and made the association), Schuyler Colfax was a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and Vice President of the United States under President U.S. Grant. He died in Mankato’s Chicago, St.
Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railroad depot from a massive heart attack. Schuyler Colfax, Jr. was born in New York City on March 23, 1823. His father died of tuberculosis five months before Schuyler was born. His sister, Mary, died four months after his [Schuyler’s]
birth. The young Schuyler attended school only until he was 10. He then began working to support his family. Schuyler Colfax never attended any kind of secondary school or college. His mother remarried when Colfax was 13, and the family moved to New Carlisle, Indiana. By the time he was 22, Colfax was the editor and owner of a pro-Whig newspaper. He was elected to Congress in 1854 and joined the newly formed Republican Party after the Whig Party disintegrated. Solidly anti-slavery, his colleagues elected Colfax as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1863. His election came soon after the death of his wife, Evelyn. The couple had no children. Colfax was President Abraham Lincoln’s first and last visitor on the fateful day Lincoln was assassinated—April 14, 1865. Early that morning, Colfax arrived at the White House while the president was having breakfast. Colfax wanted to know whether or not Lincoln planned to call a special session of Congress for later that summer. Lincoln’s answer was a polite but firm “no.” Lincoln preferred a lenient approach in reconstructing, as well as readmitting, the former Confederate states to the Union now that the Civil War was over. This approach put Lincoln at odds with the more “radical” congressional members of his own party, who preferred harsher measures be taken against their former enemies. Lincoln had already made up his mind how he wanted to proceed with reconstructing the former Confederate states, and he didn’t want any unnecessary interference from Congress. Calling a special session was the last thing Lincoln wanted to do. Colfax returned that same night to see Lincoln again, just before the president left for Ford’s Theatre and his appointment with destiny. This time, Colfax came upon Lincoln’s own request. The president had a long message for the silver miners of the Comstock Lode in Nevada, thanking them for their loyalty to the Union, that he wanted Speaker Colfax to deliver in person, since Colfax was leaving by train for the West the next day. Colfax was the last person Lincoln spoke to, besides his wife, Mary, before he
was fatally shot at 10:15 p.m. Colfax never forgave himself for turning down Lincoln’s invitation to be part of the theatre party that night. In 1868, Republicans selected General Ulysses S. Grant as their presidential candidate. Grant, a military man his entire life, had no political background. Colfax was placed on the ticket because of his prior experience as a congressman and Speaker of the House (he resigned the position in 1869). Grant and Colfax won an easy victory in November, 1868. Only two weeks later, Colfax remarried—this time to Ellen Wade (niece of Ohio Senator Benjamin Wade). Their only child, son Schuyler Colfax III, was born in 1870. Colfax is best remembered (if at all) for his involvement in the corruption that beset Grant’s entire presidency. Specifically, the Credit Mobilier scandal broke in 1872, just as Grant and Colfax were gearing up for their re-election campaign. Colfax was suspected of accepting shares of stock and cash bribes from “Credit Mobilier,” a dummy construction company set up by the Union Pacific Railroad. He was by no means the only influential person involved in the scandal. Other political figures investigated included Senators Roscoe Conkling of New York, William Allison of Iowa, John Logan of Illinois, James Bayard of Delaware, and Henry Wilson of Massachusetts. Grant was less popular in 1872 than he had been four years earlier, and many Republicans worried that having Colfax on the party’s ticket would harm the president’s re-election chances. They dumped Colfax from the ticket — only to replace him with the also-tainted Wilson. Grant won re-election, and served his second and final term from 1873-1877. After being forced out from the vice presidency, Colfax traveled the country as a popular lecturer, often speaking about his interactions with Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. He rebuilt his tarnished reputation and commanded speaking fees as high as $2,500. At 10 a.m. on Jan. 13, 1885, Schuyler Colfax arrived in Mankato aboard a train from Milwaukee. Mankato was just a
brief stop for Colfax, who was on his way to Iowa for a speaking engagement. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul as well as the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railroads both had depots in Mankato; but because they were separate, competing railroad lines, Colfax was required to change trains by walking threequarters of a mile from the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul depot at the foot of Hickory Street to the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha depot at Fourth and Washington Streets (now Washington Park), from which the next leg of his journey would depart. Despite a reported temperature of 30 degrees below zero, Colfax walked from one station to the other. Within five minutes after he arrived at the Omaha line’s depot, Colfax entered the waiting room, looked at a map on the wall, sat down, and died. It was 10:35 a.m. No one in the station knew who the dead man actually was until they searched his pockets and found a letter with his name on it. His death was likely caused by a heart attack brought on by the physical exertion of walking almost a mile in extreme cold. Colfax was only 61 when he died. His remains were returned to South Bend, Indiana, for burial. Today, few Americans are aware that anyone named Schuyler Colfax ever lived, much less served as vice president of the United States. In this era, in which officeholders are often treated as celebrities, imagine how surprised people would be to learn that a former vice president died cold, alone, and unrecognized in a train station 131 years ago. Before 24-hour news channels, smart phones, and social media, it was possible for public figures like Colfax to live – and die – in relative obscurity. Ironically, Colfax loved the railroad; but in the end, it was the cause of his undoing. Mankato has the distinction of being the location where the last man to personally speak to Abraham Lincoln in a private conversation took his last breath.
MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 27
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28 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE 4.95”x4.95”
Mankato Magazine January
B
Enjoy! — Robb Murray, Associate Editor, Mankato Magazine
southern mn style
y now you’re probably thinking, “Oh my gosh, the last thing I want to think about right now is more food, more drinking and more dining.” Fair enough. We get it. The holidays are murder on the metabolism of many, many Minnesotans. But we also know that those metabolisms are hardy, and soon enough they’ll be hankering for a hunk of something yummy and full of fun. And what’s more yummy and full of fun than a big glass of Cabernet Sauvignon? Our wine guy, Leigh Pomeroy, takes us on a tour of all that is tasty and wonderful about big red wines, the kind that leave their mark, the kind that really announce their presence on your palate. And just in case you’re super serious about a healthy lifestyle — and that seriousness extends to the kind of beer you choose — Bert Mattson, our beer guy, has just the selection for you. Best part is: It’s light! Oh, and under the category of “Did you hear about this?” ... We’ve got an update for you on the Coffee Hag, Mankato’s original coffee house and one of the most popular hangouts in town. Seriously, some days it’s hard to find a seat in that place! Enjoy! P.S. We know that, baby, it’s cold outside — that’s why we’ve thrown you our absolute best hot cocoa recipe.
food, drink & dine
OMG … More food and drinks? OK, sure.
Food southern mn style
Simple homemade
hot chocolate beats the winter chill By The Washington Post
G
rowing up, my mother always encouraged her children to cook. So when I found a recipe for hot chocolate on the side of the Hershey’s Cocoa can, it was easy to convince her to let me give it a try. What I discovered was that hot chocolate doesn’t have to come from an envelope.
FAVORITE HOT COCOA
This recipe has been a favorite of mine to make on days when winter weather has convinced me stay home and off the roads. It’s the perfect way to kill time and have a nice hot drink to warm you up on those chilly days. Although you can top it with whipped cream, I prefer marshmallows.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE HOT COCOA
1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder Dash of salt 1/3 cup hot water 4 cups milk 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Whipped cream or marshmallows (optional)
2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder Dash salt 1 cup milk 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Whipped cream or marshmallows (optional)
Mix sugar, cocoa powder, salt and water in a sauce pan. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil (about 2 minutes.) Stir in milk and heat. Bring the hot chocolate to the desired temperature but do not boil. Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract. Divide into mugs and top with whipped cream or marshmallows.
30 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
Makes 1 serving
Mix sugar, cocoa powder and salt into large mug. In separate microwave-safe container, heat on high for 1 to 1 ½ minutes or until very hot. Carefully and gradually add milk to dry mixture. Stir well. Add vanilla extract. Top with whipped cream or marshmallows.
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MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 31
Wine & Beer
wines
By Leigh Pomeroy
January is Cabernet Time W
southern mn style
e’ve celebrated nearly every January edition of Mankato Magazine with a paean to BIG REDS. And since there are so many wonderful examples, why stop now? Last year I wrote about the powerful big reds of Italy. This January we’ll focus on Cabernet Sauvignon, known to many as “the king of wines.” Most oenophiles (wine lovers) consider the quintessential representations of this grape to be the classified Bordeaux of southwest France, near the city of Bordeaux. The five First Growths (or best wines, according to a classification made in 1855 and updated in 1973) are Ch. Lafite Rothschild, Ch. Margaux, Ch. Latour, Ch. Haut Brion, and Ch. Mouton Rothschild. All have a cabernet sauvignon base, but they are blended with merlot and often a little bit of cabernet franc and petit verdot as well. In the early 1970s I was able to buy these wines for around $22 per bottle — about $120 in 2016 dollars. Yet with the popularity of “collectible” wines on a worldwide basis, they sell today for anywhere from $400 on up. Contrary to popular belief, these wines are not that massive. Rather, they combine cabernet sauvignon power with structure and finesse, yielding wines that become, with time, elixirs that are greater than the sum of their parts. Both California and Washington state have taken up the Cabernet Sauvignon challenge and are producing world-class wines at sometimes world-class prices. Napa Valley is the recognized leader in this arena, and rightly so. Napa Valley’s top Cabernet
32 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
Cabernet Sauvignon is the black Labrador of wines — it comes up and licks you.” — Winemaker Scott Rich Sauvignons rival the great wines of Bordeaux for quality — I’ve tasted them side-by-side —and yet can sell for a fraction of their price. One such example is the 2013 Tulocay Cabernet Sauvignon from my old friend Bill Cadman. We were young bucks in Napa Valley and had a tasting group in the early 1970s along with nowfamous wine luminaries Bruce Neyers (Neyers Vineyards) and Mike Richmond (co-founder of Acacia Vineyard). Bill’s Cabernet is from an old and relatively cool growing area east of the City of Napa called Coombsville, which, because of industry political issues, only recently received its AVA (American Viticultural Area) designation. It is priced at $60 per bottle, yet compares with any top-flight Bordeaux as well as the more expensive offerings from Napa Valley, which can cost from $100 on up. Not currently available at wine stores or restaurants in Minnesota, it can be purchased by contacting the winery directly via its website, tulocay.com. The winery is so small that Bill will probably answer the phone himself. There is a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon available from California, but — caveat emptor! — not all growing areas (or appellations) are the same. The best Cabernet Sauvignons are from Napa and Sonoma Counties. Cabernets simply labeled “California” or perhaps “Coastal,” while sometimes good values, lack the complexity of the greater Cabernet Sauvignons from the more northern parts of the state. Washington state has also
established itself as a prime producer of Cabernet Sauvignon. But here again quality can vary greatly depending upon the area and producer. While there is no “go-to” appellation for Cabernet Sauvignon in Washington, there are producers that are able to secure fruit from the best vineyards. One such example is the tiny Willis Hall Winery owned by another good friend, John Bell, a former Boeing jet propulsion engineer. Like Tulocay, its wines are only available by calling up the winery and ordering some. (See willishall.com.) But there are many other top quality producers in Washington, like Quilceda Creek, Leonetti, Betz Family and Woodward Canyon. Of course, not everyone can afford Cabernet Sauvignons in the $60-plus category. One excellent everyday drinking example is the Flying Cloud 2013 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon made by Mankato native Stephen Dooley. Normally I don’t like Paso Robles Cabs as they tend to be too fruity and too soft for my palate — almost like drinking berry jam. But this one is quite restrained, no doubt helped by the inclusion of 13 percent zinfandel and 9 percent petite sirah in the blend. In Mankato both the Wine Café and MGM carry the Flying Cloud, but at its price and quality I wouldn’t count on it lasting for long, especially since only 759 cases were produced. So let’s raise a glass of Cabernet and say “Cheers” to the New Year! Leigh Pomeroy is a Mankato-based writer and wine lover.
Beer
By Bert Mattson
Beer Skinny L
ast year, according to Nielsen research, staying fit and healthy was the number one New Year’s resolution. Losing weight was two. Three was to enjoy life to the fullest. Unfortunately, “lose weight and get fit” also topped Time magazine’s list of commonly broken resolutions. Is this shortfall due to tension between the top two and that third one? If so, craft beer may have a role in the compromise. Bad news first. In the context of losing weight and staying fit, beer lovers might seek solace in the fact that fat carries nine calories per gram while alcohol has only seven. The wrinkle is that those seven are “empty” — calories without nutrition, as opposed to those from fat, protein and carbohydrates. Moreover, alcohol’s calories are the first burned when combined with the others; the human body postpones burning fat while it works on alcohol. Furthermore, beer (and wine, and often cocktails) contains carbohydrates, which release insulin and can hasten fat storage. Finally, many drinkers have undoubtedly observed that alcohol loosens inhibitions, after which an eager indulgence in unhealthy foods often occurs. (Bar menus are rarely helpful in that respect). By now you may wonder whose side I’m actually on. Or suspect I’ve led you to this dark place only to offer you a Lite. No worries: a couple craft brewers have been considering ways to keep us true to our resolutions. Evil Twin Brewing’s Bikini Beer drops the alcohol to 2.7 percent, but stays bold by way of hops. A Pale Ale, it hits the nose with citrus suggestive of IPA. The flavor follows suit, floral and lemon. There is an expected absence of malt, yielding to bitterness up front that fades at the finish. An alternative
for those who insist on the full effect, Founder’s Brewing Company’s All Day IPA rings in at a respectable 144 calories. (Evil Twin’s entry comes in at 81). One strategy to beat the beer munchies, and avoid costly impulse eating, is to have suitable chow on hand. With Bikini Beer, try a salad sporting blue cheese and some sort of dried fruit. Creamy, blue veined cheeses echo the hops while balancing bitterness. An occasional bite of dried fruit stands in for malt sweetness. Brooklyn Brewery’s 1/2 Ale weighs in at 3.4 percent alcohol (102 calories). It is alliteratively labeled “Session Saison.” It opens with a waft of citrus and spice and a little lemongrass from Sorachi Ace hops — a hybrid developed in East Asia. The same elements are found in the flavor, which is a bit more subdued than a full-sized Saison. Try it with a tangle of arugula dressed with lemon and a fruity olive oil, tossed with pine nuts, and topped with shaved Parmesan for effect. The greens and cracked pepper reflect spicy phenolic elements in the yeast. Salty cheese counters the beer’s lingering bitterness. Maybe add a few slices of Speck: cured ham and Saison share a certain funkiness. If friends show, and it becomes a session, you may honestly say you spent Saturday working on your six-pack.
Bert Mattson is a chef and writer based in St. Paul. He is the manager of the iconic Mickey’s Diner. MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 33
Food southern mn style
Interview with
Jenn Melby-Kelly,
owner of The Coffee Hag By Sarah Johnson
T
he Coffee Hag, one of the area’s oldest (and coolest) bistros, recently underwent a major expansion and remodeling journey culminating in a large and airy seating area along with a much-improved kitchen and a new menu. Mankato Magazine caught up with a very busy (and slightly exhausted) owner Jenn Melby-Kelly, who weighs in on how it’s going. MANKATO MAGAZINE: Are you personally enjoying the new updates? JENN MELBY-KELLY: It. Is. Fabulous! The new space represents so much more than a remodel to me. It has brought to life a vision for my business that’s been years in the making. It incorporates many, many good ideas from many, many people. I feel so fortunate to get to see that every time I walk through the door. MM: How are customers reacting? JMK: That’s been one of the best parts. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. A few of our most regular customers had the opportunity to get a glimpse of the remodel while it was underway (we gave some informal preview tours while we were operating the temporary stand outside), but many customers walk through the door now and see it all for the first time. It’s especially fun to see and hear that kind of wide-eyed reaction. A few people with special connections to The Hag have had even stronger emotional responses, and I’m so touched and right there with them when I see eyes well up as they see what we’ve done. It’s a very big milestone for a very special place and we’re blessed to have people that care so deeply.
34 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
MM: Do the employees appreciate the new space? JMK: Oh, probably more than anyone! There was a lot that we sought to do with the remodel, but creating a bigger, brighter, better-equipped space for our team was certainly one of the primary goals. We’ve got an incredible team, truly the most spirited and talented people anyone could hope for. Many of them have spent years with me, working hard against the challenge of a small, under-equipped space and just barely being able to keeping up with growing demand. It’s been a special blessing, for them and for me, to finally have state-of-the-art space that’s made for the work that we do. We all feel a special connection to this place and, now more than ever, the place reflects the good energy we all bring here every day. MM: Is the new menu a hit? (The Hag specializes in vegetarian/vegan cuisine.) JMK: Yes, but just wait! Feedback and demand have been excellent with our food offerings already, but we’re just getting started on some of the really exciting things that are coming to our food menu. Remodeling the cafe was just the first major milestone of our two-part expansion plan. Next up, we’re building a state of the art off-site commissary kitchen that will do for our incredible culinary team what the remodeled shop has done for our baristas. They’ve been working day and night on taking our already fantastic food offerings to a whole new level. We’ve already introduced some amazing new menu items, like the Garden Grilled Cheese panini (trust me, it’s like nothing you’ve had before) and some truly outstanding new vegan baked goods. We’ve also improved our classic offerings with house-made
sourdough and whole wheat breads. But, as impressive as it is already, it’s just a taste — literally — of things to come as we bring our new kitchen online. MM: What’s stayed the same? JMK: I’m really proud to say that, while we’ve touched almost every part of this 23-year-old business, we’ve kept even more than we have changed. From the first days of this project, I made it my personal mission and responsibility to make sure that the “soul” of this special place was only enhanced, and never lost, as we made the updates. In every area of the remodel, as we’ve added some necessary new layers of sophistication, The Hag’s colorful, quirky and even rebellious spirit is still very much a part of the space. We did a lot to try to make sure it still looked and felt like “home.” And on a deeper level, every step we’ve taken with the growth of our business has been chosen carefully to honor the core parts of The Coffee Hag’s identity. Our focus on community, our support for local art and music, our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming space for everyone, our efforts to lead the way on social and environmental issues affecting our world near and far — those have all stayed the same. And those will always be at the heart of what we do. MM: Anything else... JMK: I’m so incredibly grateful for the support of our customers and community. And whenever I talk about my business and how it has grown, I really can’t overstate how thankful I am for my beautiful Coffee Hag family. The hard work, good energy and earnest contributions of so many people — past and present — have brought me and my business here. An incredible amount of love has gone into this business and made this dream a reality.
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Food
What’s Cooking By Sarah Johnson
southern mn style
“There’s Nuttin’ Nutty About ” A
s I was pondering my subject matter for today’s column, I started wondering about all the different items the word “nuts” can refer to. Crazy people are called nuts; so are hexagonal metal objects that attach to bolts. Nuts can be the end of things (as in “from soup to nuts”), or they can be the beginning of them (as in “sperm incubators”). Nut can also mean one’s head, or one’s lump of something such as butter. And if you accidentally get a nut of butter on your nut, you can exclaim, “Nuts!” My favorite meaning of the word nut, however, is the dry indehiscent one-seeded fruit with a woody pericarp. And I don’t even know what indehiscent OR pericarp means. But these are the wonderful denizens of the world of edible nuts. Nuts are widely credited with all sorts of health benefits for the heart, brain, male reproductive system, prostate, cholesterol level, fiber intake and avoidance of some types of cancer. And while nuts do contain fat, it’s the “good” kind: heart-healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. Their mix of omega-3 fatty acids, protein and fiber helps you feel full and suppresses the appetite. Nuts are great in desserts and salads, of course, but they also shine in stir-fries, casseroles, soups, chicken, pork, fish and even beverages. Nut butters, nut milks and nut oils add delicious options to our kitchen larders. Breads, cereals, muffins and pancakes gain texture, flavor and nutrition from the addition of nuts. Basically, anytime is a good time for nuts. Which is a wonderful thing, because nuts taste so good you would think they had to be very, very bad. The reason lies deep in their oils: Walnut Oil is strong and flavorful. It’s best when used in uncooked sauces or salad dressing. Hazelnut Oil has a strong flavor and is great for the heart. Almond Oil is very popular and has a much milder flavor than walnut oil or hazelnut oil
Pecan, Macadamia Nut, Pistachio, Cashew and Pine Nut Oils are flavorful and unique. The freshness of the nuts used really affects the flavor. Sarah Johnson is a cook, freelance writer and chocolate addict from North Mankato with three grown kids and a couple of mutts. 36 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
Nuts
Mixed Nut Baklava
I
f you’re under the impression that baklava is much too labor-intensive and complicated to make at home, think again. Anybody can make it; no special skills, equipment or exotic ingredients are required. A word about phyllo dough: It’s sold in frozen packages, so you need to remove the package from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge 24 hours before you want to make the baklava. Then, about an hour beforehand, remove the package from the fridge and let it sit on the counter. Walnuts or pistachios are the most traditional nuts to fill baklava, but using other nuts works wonders as well. Simply layer the phyllo with the nut filling and butter, bake for an hour, and finish with a simple honeyed syrup. If you have leftover nuts from the holidays, here’s your chance to use them up. For the Baklava: 1 pound pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans and/ or almonds, coarsely ground, plus more for garnish 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 cup breadcrumbs 4 sticks unsalted butter, melted 16 sheets phyllo dough (thawed, if frozen), cut in half For the Syrup: 3 cups sugar 1 6 -to-8-ounce jar honey 1 ½ cups water 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
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Position a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Combine the nuts, cinnamon and breadcrumbs in a bowl. Brush a 9x13-inch baking dish with some of the butter. Layer 10 pieces of phyllo in the dish, brushing each piece with butter before adding the next (keep the remaining dough covered with a damp towel). Sprinkle a quarter of the nut mixture over the dough. Layer four pieces of phyllo on top, brushing each with butter before adding the next; sprinkle with another quarter of the nut mixture. Add four more phyllo pieces on top, brushing each with butter, then add another quarter of the nut mixture, four more pieces of phyllo with butter, and the remaining nuts. Layer the remaining 10 pieces of phyllo on top of the nuts, brushing each with butter; brush the top piece with extra butter. Cut into the baklava to make strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Then make diagonal slices, about 1 1/2 inches apart, to create a diamond pattern. Bake until golden, about one hour. Meanwhile, make the syrup: Bring the sugar, honey and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat and cook 10 to 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and boil 2 more minutes, then let cool slightly. Pour the syrup over the warm baklava; let soak, uncovered, at least six hours or overnight. Garnish with nuts.
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MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 37
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MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 39
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422 Park Lane, Mankato, MN | NuStarMankato.com MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 41
Your style
By Ann Rosenquist Fee
January!
Resolve to moisturize. I
Split-open cuticles? I feel you. Except for these Band-Aids, I feel you.
f you have in-laws or colleagues who know you well enough to have given you holiday gifts, but not well enough to know what would’ve truly made you happy, congratulations! Chances are, you’re the proud owner of a bunch of brand-new lip balm. Maybe it’s even holiday themed. That’s the best. Maybe you got the candy-cane flavored kind, or wintergreen with holiday graphics on the label, or something like that. A theme that was irrelevant the moment the stocking was unstuffed, because at that exact second, the holiday was over. And here you are in January with an abundance of wax. Lip balms I have been gifted. And these are just Fortunately, also here you are from last Christmas, “last” as in 2014. in the early weeks of winter with rough red knuckles. Probably also More germane to winter beauty are cracked cuticles although it might the following suggestions: not have gone that far, yet, for you. Keep a tube next to your bed for I’m sure it has for me. This photo was first-thing-in-the-morning use. taken back in November, and even And I mean really truly first-thing, I then, the Band-Aids were for real. I’ve mean smear the stuff on each cuticle learned to cut them in half, lengthwhile you’re still lying there, before wise, so as to retain my ability to type. you start using your fingers at all. If I’ve also learned to play with a range you wake up thinking you’re fine, and of color options: Flesh-toned! Clear! skip cuticle care, next thing you know Disney characters! The colorful strips you’re pushing down the lever on your shown here were gifted to me by my Keurig and the pressure is more than husband. Partly why they’re cut in half your screamingly dry skin can take, is that the text is obscene. This is one and boom, split, blood on the Keurig small trick you can use to make bloody and it’s gonna be a long painful day. cuticles your most exciting accessory If only you had balmed your hands of the winter. before you let your feet hit the floor. Sources like UrbanSurvivalSite.com Keep another tube in your glove and WonderHowTo.com will tell you compartment. If it’s warm enough to that you can use lip balm for a whole take off your mittens in the car — if variety of purposes, such as coating you’re even wearing mittens, given threads of outdoor lightbulbs before that your hands are snagging on screwing them into their sockets and everything these days — the harsh enhancing the burn-ability of most January sunlight will allow you to see kindling. cracks and flakes in high-resolution These are great fun but they won’t detail. You’ll want the balm nearby improve your personal style. 42 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
to cover what you didn’t notice first thing in the morning. Also, a car tube is useful for when you look in the rear-view mirror and notice that your nose and upper lip are flaking as well. It’s because you’re getting over a cold, and the frequent use of tissue has worn away your top layer of skin, but just because you know that doesn’t mean everybody else won’t think “there is something in that nose.” It’s just a fact. It’s what it looks like. Lip balm to the rescue. It’s the only thing dry enough to slick those flakes in place, and nourishing enough to maybe actually get your face back to normal. Keep a couple more tubes in a nighttime kit along with sandpaper. Sandpaper! Yes. Not a pumice stone, not a lame also-gifted sugar scrub. Medium-grit sandpaper is what you need, every night, lightly but with conviction. As follows: 1) Sand, taking care not to do more damage than what the elements have already done. You’re just trying to remove the dry dead stuff. You’re just being hearty and efficient about this, true to the culture of this great state in which you’ve chosen to winter. You are no pansy. Sand your hands. 2) Wash. 3) Blot dry. 4) Dial up the gifted balm, whisper a word of thanks to the person who put so much thought into your well-being that they stuffed your holiday stocking with this amazing gift of self-care, smash a healthy amount down into your palms, massage. Take heart. You just might find yourself with normaltextured, non-cracked, not-horriblelooking hands by morning. Ann Rosenquist Fee is executive director of the Arts Center of Saint Peter and a vocalist with The Frye. She blogs at annrosenquistfee.com.
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(944) 412-7949 | OrthoEdgeMN.com MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 43
Coming Attractions: January 1 Hicktown Mafia
8:00 p.m. — New Ulm Event Center — 301 20th St. S. — New Ulm — $10 — 507-354-4673
7-9 Mankato West Orchesis Dance
29-31
BLC Theatre: Brigadoon 7:30 Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday — Ylvisaker Fine Arts Center — Bethany Lutheran College — Mankato — $10 adults, $6 seniors, children and students — www.blc.edu/events
Team showcase 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday — Mankato West High School Auditorium — $7 adults, $5 students — 507-381-7578
Winterfest St. Peter, Citywide — www.stpeterchamber.org
10 Mankato Symphony Orchestra:
Church of Cash: A Tribute to Johnny Cash 7 p.m. — St. Peter American Legion — 229 W. Nassau St. — St. Peter — 507-934-6435
Music on the Hill II “Minnesota Roots” 2 p.m. — Chapel at Good Counsel— Good Counsel Drive — Mankato — $17, $12 — www. mankatosymphony.com
16 Handel with Care— Handel Goes to Italy 11 a.m.— YMCA Aerobics Studio — 1401 S. Riverfront Drive — Mankato — www.mankatosymphony.com
29- Feb. 7 30 31
Maud Hixson and Rick Carlson concert 7:30 p.m.— Elias J. Halling Recital Hall — Minnesota State University — Mankato — $12 regular, $11 current MSU students ww.mnsu. edu/music
16 Mankato Craft beer Expo
2 p.m. (VIP), 3 p.m. general — Verizon Wireless Center — $45 VIP, $35 general, $10 designated driver — www.mankatocraftbeerexpo.com
23 Joey Flip and Mike Fugazzi Rockin’
at the Embassy 9 p.m. — Blaschko’s Embassy Bar and Grill — 325 S. Minnesota Ave. — St. Peter — 507-934-3903
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Andrea Lyn and Dick Kimmel concert 7:30 p.m. — Elias J. Halling Recital Hall — Minnesota State University — Mankato — $12 regular, $11 current MSU students — www.mnus.edu/music
28-31 MSU Theatre: Antigone
7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday — Andreas Theatre — Minnesota State University — Mankato — $16 regular, $14 discount, $11 current MSU students — www.mnsu.edu
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Faces & Places: Photos By Sport Pix
St Peter Craft & Vendor Show 1. Melinada Busse from Rapidan sold her handmade jewelry at the craft and vendor show. 2. Daryl from Elysian and his hand-carved wood art. 3. MacKenna, age 7, has fun at one of the booths at the St. Peter Craft and Vendor Show. 4. Liz Enter shows off some of her products at the “It Works” booth. 5. Denise Peters of “Young Living” essential oils displayed her products at the show.
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MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 45
Faces & Places: Photos By Sport Pix
Southern MN Christmas Festival 1. A large crowd was on hand during the festivities at the Christmas Festival. 2. Friesen’s Family Bakery & Bistro had tons of baked goods and soups at the Verizon Wireless Center. 3. A children’s choir sang for the audience at the festival. 4. Ron Haefner, owner of Ron’s Auto Repair, displayed some of his services. 5. Garrison Galatz dressed up as Santa for the Christmas Festival.
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Faces & Places: Photos By Sport Pix
Kiwanis Holiday Lights 1. Girl Scout troop 34494 was presented with a trophy by Kiwanis Vice President Kyle Mrozek. 2. Santa Claus even went through the parade route. 3. (L to R) Brooklyn Pomranke, Alayna Lyons, Hunter Pomranke and Lily Lyons get a group photo taken with Santa. 4. Marsha Martig tells Santa what she wants for Christmas. 5. The parade floats were all decked out in Christmas lights. 6. Visitors walk the path around the park to view this year’s lights.
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MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2016 • 47
From this Valley By Pete Steiner
I
On the Occasion of a 50th Reunion: the Class of 1965
was honored to give the presentation for our 50th class reunion recently at West High’s Homecoming celebration. About 120 of our nearly 400-member class showed up. We Baby Boomers, the children of the Greatest Generation had big classes in the late ‘60’s that forced the building of East High. Ours was a dramatic era, and our class did some great things in the face of big challenges. Here, edited, is some of what I said: I am so glad to be standing here today. There’s an old saying: “May you live in INTERESTING times…” The Class of ’65 certainly has! It’s seems like only yesterday, right after lunch, that we were at our desks, waiting for the start of English class, when our charismatic teacher, Harry Fitterer strode in and said, “PRESIDENT KENNEDY HAS BEEN SHOT IN DALLAS!” At first, we didn’t believe him, but it was true. It was November 22, 1963. We were juniors, and as the song says, that was THE END OF THE INNOCENCE. We had lived through the last idyllic time in America. When we first arrived in the fall of 1962, America was still carefree, basking in the glow of victory in WW II. Everything may have seemed “right,” but it was not. Martin Luther King, Jr, had just visited Mankato, pointing out the continuing plight of black Americans, as the Civil Rights movement was gaining steam. The beginnings of the Vietnam War, which would alter the course of many of our lives, were stirring even as we studied history and government. The current generation has no monopoly on forgettable pop music – we had a stupid #1 song called “Itsie Bitsie Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” (unfortunately an ear worm I can’t forget.) But a darker cultural threat was looming: The BEATLES were invading from Britain, and our parents were mortified, because they had LONG HAIR!! Some of the shock of the Kennedy assassination was eased when our wrestling team, in the era when the state still had just ONE CLASS, won the State Championship in front of a packed hall up at MSU; some still maintain that is the greatest single athletic achievement in Mankato history. We were the first high school in Mankato to put on a full-scale musical: “Bye Bye Birdie,” in the spring of 1964. In Fall of 1964, our football team would have won the conference championship outright, except Owatonna’s great Noel Jenke, who would go on to star for the U of M, 48 • January 2016 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
cheated: I watched him trap the touchdown pass that beat us. Does cheating pay? Was that a lesson for life? In ‘65, we also had a fine basketball team that lost our chance at State when our 6-6 center fouled out at Luverne. BUT A FAR BIGGER CHALLENGE AWAITED US ALL. As we rode out to Luverne to watch that game, we couldn’t help noticing, the highway was like a canyon between walls of snow. The legendary St. Patrick’s Day Blizzard had dumped two feet on top of an already large snow pack, and then, April brought rains on frozen ground. Instead of coming here to school, many of us soon got a real-life assignment, to go out in our rain gear, out on the dikes, to battle the GREAT FLOOD OF 1965. Our school became an island as water flooded the parking lot and all of South Riverfront. Our spring play that year was called, ironically, THE DESPERATE HOURS! We had to rehearse at Roosevelt School, up on higher ground. Our class produced three Merit scholars. One of our classmates who did NOT qualify for a merit scholarship, nevertheless was such a whiz at physics, that NASA requested a copy of a paper he wrote on rocketry as a senior. We produced 12 doctors, one of whom earned a fellowship at Stanford seeking how to bring telemedicine to the poor, another of whom became a breakthrough cancer doctor. We had entrepreneurs, one who would go on to be a leader in Solar Energy (and then run for governor of New Hampshire.) Another — a woman, incidentally, when that was not common, founded two biotech startups. Many of us are still working, past normal retirement age. One founded a company on the leading edge of recycling computers, whose clients include the NSA! Another is chief medical officer of a company devising a better tool for colonoscopies. Yet another of our classmates recently completed a concert tour of China! We lived in challenging times, just as you do today, but we muddle through, we make it to the other shore. I remember sitting where you are, 50 years ago, thinking how old those folks up there looked! But remember, Life goes by very quickly. You certainly live in interesting times; as Shakespeare said, “Present Mirth has Present Laughter, Youth’s a stuff will NOT endure.” So I urge you, live each moment to the fullest.
Peter Steiner is host of “Talk of the Town” weekdays at 1:05 p.m. on KTOE.