Oregon BeerFactoids . . .

• Oregon is the only state in the union that has officially declared it's local appreciation for craft beer with a Craft Beer month (July).


• The second largest producer of craft beer in the USA is Oregon. 80 breweries in the state 29 in Portland alone.


• Oregon's beer production grew at a rate of 16% in 2006, employing over 4500 workers.


• 11% of all beer consumed in Oregon is produced here.


• Oregon ranks 2nd in hop production in America.


• Hops rank 24th in commodities, with a value of $20.7 million.

Now the good part . . . health benefits

• A growing amount of medical research is pointing to craft beers as the most nutritious of all alcoholic drinks.


• Moderate alcohol consumption (ie. one daily women, 2 daily men) have positive effects on heart health, cholesterol levels, memory loss and dementia (thank gawd!).


• Oregon State University researchers have discovered that hops have been found to inhibit prostate, breast and colon cancers, as well as bringing relief to women during menopause (ALLELUIA!)...


• Better news . . . dieters have typically turned to wine instead of beer thinking it is lower in calories, but per ounce beer is actually lower in calories than either wine or distilled spirits...(hmmmm...then why don't people get Margarita bellies?)

To celebrate the month here is a recipe I am sharing that was published by Patrick Mullen - Widmer executive chef...Bon Appetit !

Widmer Beer and Cheese Soup

Ingredients: 1 bottle Widmer Broken Halo beer, 1qt +1cup chicken stock, 1qt +1c. half & half, 6oz. whole butter, 6oz all purpose flower, 1 small white onion, finely chopped, 3 stocks celery stock, finely chopped, 1 1/2 lb grated Tillamook extra sharp cheddar cheese (plus another cup for garnish) 1t. freshly ground pepper, salt to taste.

Heat butter, onion and celery in large saucepot at medium heat until onions are translucent. Add flour and stir until completely blended. Set aside, in a separate pot, bring beer and stock to a boil. Bring celery, onion and butter back to medium heat. Using a fine wire whisk, slowly whisk in heated stock and beer until any lumps disappear. Turn to a low simmer then stir in cheese and half and half until smooth. Lower heat to simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pepper, then salt to taste if needed. Strain the soup for a smoother texture, then garnish with more cheddar cheese and chopped scallions or chives. Yields 1 gallon. lots of soup!

Sites to visit during Oregon Craft Beer month.....enjoy!

http://www.beervana.blogspot.com/

http://www.pdxbeer.blogspot.com/

www.bsbrewing.com/blog

http://www.hailtheale.com/

Where does time go?

Blah..Blah..Blah...I'm not going to get all sappy about how time flies or about the fact that the boys have all grown up. BUT, it does seem like only yesterday that we were having HeMan or Ninja Turtle birthday parties in the backyard, splashing away in the kiddie pool or hiding Easter eggs, etc. etc. We still have crates...not one or two..but many..crates of baseball, football and basketball cards in the attic, that do need to be gone through and removed from "our" premises. We know better though than to have them come get "their" cards only..ha.....they cannot be trusted.

It will need to be a group gathering with all parties present for the separation to begin. Chad for the Jordan/Bulls cards, Josh for the Marino/Dolphins/Cubs cards..and Andy for the Bears/Sox cards. With some Garbage Pail Kids cards and Magic cards thrown in the mix. Sooo many card shows and sooo many cards. Hmmmmmm......perhaps I should go into the attic and work on my early retirement income via Ebay......

How did we do it?. . .

Anyone who has received a baby shower invitation that mentions "we are registered at Babies R' Us." and you have never been there yet....look out! It is an enormous store filled with nothing..I mean nothing but stuff for babies. There is a stroller aisle (yes, only strollers), high chair aisle, car seat aisle, portacrib aisle, baby bouncers aisle and I am not talking short aisle..I am talking Costco size aisles...Who would have thought that picking the "right" car seat would be like buying the car. There are soo many choices. That's not even addressing the thousands of sheets, blankets, comforters, doodad's that you simply cannot live without if you are to have a normal baby (yeah, right!). As a new parent it would be overwhelming to think that you really need all that stuff. You can spend all kinds of time in there browsing at all the very cute baby things and I'm sure that is what they want you to do. New parents have enough things to be stressed about without worrying about if they should really buy a blanket warmer or not . . . .We had a fun baby shower this weekend and I think the kids got alot of great things for the baby. To our guests that made the dreaded aisle walk...thank you :)

Where did the neighbors go?

In the last month we have noticed that two families of neighbors across the street have put their houses up for sale. We have lived on the same street for the last 20 years and have been fortunate to have really great people in our neighborhood. These families are not moving because of job changes, graduating from school or taking care of family, but divorce. It's sad when you get to know people, socialize with them as friends and then discover they are divorcing. I guess you feel kind of blindsided, like you should have seen it coming. We really didn't. Then of course (being a person that suffers from Catholic guilt syndrome) I start thinking maybe they are moving because of something we did?? ie. too many cars parked at our house (true), too many garage sales (false), too many times we left the boys at home on the weekends and they "probably" had loud parties (TRUE), not being neighborly enough, being too neighborly??? Who knows..but I will miss them. There will be new people moving in soon, so maybe I will make a pie and welcome them to the neighborhood, and say "Please don't get a divorce".

They are coming!!!

The kids are coming from Arizona this weekend (picture was taken a couple weeks ago when they were camping in Sedona, that's her niece)...pretty excited to see them. We are planning a baby shower for family & friends to welcome the new baby boy into the world. Due date is still August 13th. Shower is happening on Saturday and of course after having great weather all week it is suppose to start clouding up on that day. Oh well, we will still have a BBQ (and of course the guys are welcome) & cake, sip punch, and play silly shower games (maybe) before opening gifts. Poor Nicole will probably (most definately) have to listen to alot of stories about pregnancies, baby sizes, deliveries, cravings, sore boobs, raging hormones, etc. (oh yeah, this is the crazy, no comment is too inappropriate, Christopherson family you are talking about!), and other interesting tales. Just know that this little guy has all eyes waiting on his arrival. . . we can hardly wait!

It doesn't get much better than this . . . !!!!

The best Read in Portland . . .

Well, Dale left to go golfing in Salem with the boys today for Father's Day. So I decided to take a trip into Portland for a stroll through Powell's Bookstore on Burnside. If you have never been there it is a must see for any reader and just a really cool place to browse through on a quiet Sunday afternoon or anytime actually. The store is huge and if you can't find something here....you won't find it anywhere. I have become a big reader of late, I just cannot seem to find many programs (on the gazillion channels of cable we have) on night time TV. Or the clearer explanation is I cannot agree on the same programs to watch that hubby does, so he wins I read. So off to the other room I go, curl up on the couch with my afghan and bury myself in a good book. I am trying a couple new authors this time..I am a big mystery and romance/suspense fan. The couch is calling so off I go . . . . check it out http://www.powells.com

Especially on Father's Day . . .

I miss my Dad..... I miss him alot, not just on Father's Day but many other times during the year. It doesn't have to be a holiday or special occasion, sometimes when I am driving I will think about something and really miss that he's not here anymore. It sucks. I wish he could have seen the boys get married and start their families. He would have been sooo excited to know that he would have been a Great Grampa soon. Dad was always young in spirit to me. He never really seemed old. I miss his advice, not that I always took it OR believed it OR always asked for it :) but just that he was there to talk to about stuff, Dad stuff. As the years go by, it gets slightly easier that he's gone, but I still miss him. I remember what he said to me the night before he passed, "Go live your life". So here's to you Dad...you may be gone, but you are far from forgotten. . . .love always.

End of another school year. . . .

The class of 2007....at the end of each school year..this happens to me. I give lots of hugs and encouragement to seniors that I am going to miss. This year was no different. Since I work in the Athletic Office I see alot of the kids who would be in the "jocks" category I suppose. As a high school goes you have the various groups whether its the drama kids, AG kids, Latino kids..whoever..they are all groups of kids trying to find their way through high school. It's no different than when I was in high school ____ years ago.. All the kids are in general GREAT kids and I enjoy them alot. There are some bad apples..but that should not taint that there are a majority of kids who genuinely love to compete in athletics AND get good grades.
This year there were a great group of girls that played basketball and softball that I became especially close to, I will miss them alot. I think maybe since I had all boys, I have really enjoyed getting to be apart of experiencing some of the daily lives of teenage girls at the high school. We talk about music, IPOD video viewing, tanning, after school jobs, frappachinos, prom dresses, projects due, boyfriends, dance moves (yikes), movies, my "hot" son's (as they refer to them when they see their pictures on my desk), and hopefully I have been able to give them some "motherly" advise. I think I missed something by not having a girl, but I have been able to get a nice sense of it through them....I will miss them alot, but as with every year, a new group of freshman girls will stop by the office and say, "Hey, Mrs. Christopherson..what forms do I need to fill out to play volleyball".....so it begins...

College boy moves home . . .

So the time has come...WOU checkout day is June 14th....Andy completes his first year of college. This is big, huge... Especially for a kid who was very anti-college post high school. He was anxious to move out with his buddies, work, make money, party and buy stuff. So he experienced that for about 2 years and decided he couldn't work in banking another minute and couldn't get where he was interested in without a college education. So to have the first year down is great. He starts a fulltime summer job on June 18th..so that is even better! Then back to WOU this fall.
I do think part of his previous worklife did follow him into his college life. That would be the "partying" aspect. It might be the message across his MySpace page that reads,
"Beer Pong should be in the Olympics"
that leads me to believe it wasn't all about studying. Regardless, he made it, one down three to go. Welcome Home!

To the beach...with the paint ladies!

It's that time again....every 3 months or so a small group of girlfriends (we all tole paint) get together and head to the beach. We usually rent a house in Lincoln City, but sometimes we go to Nehalem. Most always someplace close to the beach so we can see the oceanview while we paint or take a walk when we feel like it. A couple of us like to play the slot machines a little :) so the place we stay in Lincoln City is also a convenient walk to Chinook Winds casino. Where the Indians are always happy to see us as they know we will leave them money.
We are so nerdy about painting that we even attended the "National Decorative Painters" convention this past March in Las Vegas. It was WAY fun, we didn't paint but we bought lots of cool things from the convention and we were able to meet alot of the artists who illustrate and author many of the books we buy. Our emails usually start to each other about a month before our trip. It always involves meals, (what to bring, how much to bring) and what we plan on painting. One of us usually always brings some wonderful homemade soup and a fancy salad, another gal always makes her yummy breakfast casserole, and we always have to go out to eat at least one dinner while we are there. Of course we always bring way too much food and spirits. We like to talk big like we are going to party it up! without the husbands around, but we end up always bringing most of the liquor back home. My husband said, "I think you have taken that six pack back and forth now for the past 2 trips". We are just serious painters, what can I say!! an artist cannot be distracted by food or drink :) !!

It's a great weekend of painting until midnight, reading, walking on the beach, laughing, talking, watching chickflicks, wearing grubbies and no makeup, eating whenever or whatever we want. Sometimes, it's just really great to just hang out with girlfriends and be silly again.....and again...and again....

I hate hay fever . . .

So it begins.......since the summer of 1972 when I innocently walked through a field behind our house to see my friends horse, the sneezing started, the eyes started itching and watering, the nose started running. Little did I know then that it was going to continue to be an annual ritual for years to come. I don't know why they call it hay fever..it should be called grass fever. Of course I have tried every medication you can buy - Zyrtec (doesn't work) - Claritin (white tab, red tab whatever tab doesn't work) - any and all over the counter allergy medicine that they try to sell you, etc. ....doesn't work. I did the whole allergy shot routine in my 20's..with the understanding from my doctor that it would boost my immune system to the little pollen bast __ds...but no...all that did was make my kids now suffer bad hay fever too, because I had the shots when I was pregnant with them.. Sorry boys, the doctor said it wouldn't do that. I'm also just so happy that now since our strawberry industry is shrinking in Washington County, we have now decided that the next best thing to grow is grass...ie. to produce grass seed...ie. WHICH PRODUCES MORE STINKING POLLEN FOR ALLERGY SUFFERERS....sorry..but I get crabby when I can't see out of my left eye because it is so red and watery and itchy I can't stand it! The only thing that has ever worked for my hay fever was when I went to the doctor in a rather demanding manner and said, "I am not leaving until you can give me something so I can breathe....NOW!"..that the doctor gave me a shot of Kenalog..(ie. a form of steriod)..but apparently now they say that is not safe (after many studies...whatever) to give anymore....GREAT...just GREAT...something that worked...finally...and now they can't give it to me anymore............who cares what my testosterone levels were becoming...I COULD BREATHE......

The Park . . .

For 35+ years my parents have lived across the street from "the park". When we first moved to the new house on Willamina it was the place in the neighborhood kids went to play (hangout). They had the newest playground equipment back then, like the animals that bend back and forth on a big spring, the merry go round, a big slide and of course the swings, really cool swings with long chains so you could swing really high. We were always trying to touch the tree limbs. We would spend hours going between our house and the park. When I was a teenager, it was a place I would sneak out of my bedroom window at night (don't read this part Mom) and hang out with my boyfriend who lived next door. Won't mention what happened there, but it didn't have much to do with talking :0/ .

Today the big trees are being cut down at the park. An arborist has deemed some trees are diseased and the remaining trees would be at risk to fall, so they are all being cut down. It's kind of sad I think. I am not a big treehugger environmentalist type person, but it did kind of bother me a little to see them being stacked up like firewood. The city plans on landscaping and replacing them with new trees, and I'm sure it will look nice, but they will be someone elses memories. Funny how little things like trees being cut down can get you thinking about the past. . . .

STATE CHAMPIONS!

We were due!!!!.....for the 1st time in the 100 year school history we have a team state champion..finally!!! The Forest Grove Viking Softball team defeated the Central Catholic Rams in 8 innings with a score of 5-1 !!!! On an 89 degree day at the OSU softball field in Corvallis...It was sweet!! Great crowd I think the Grovers filled 3/4 of the stadium. Congrats to a team of great girls both on the field and in the classroom.. GO VIKS!!

http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonianpreps/2007/06/6a_softball.html