Jenyfer Matthews

I got a newsletter from Adele Parks this week, one of my favorite British chick-lit authors, in which she is running a contest: describe your favorite summer indulgence in 50 words or less and win a year’s worth of ice cream. I was thinking about it and since 50 words wasn’t nearly enough (not to mention I’m not a UK resident), I decided to write mine here instead, most of which revolve around gorging myself on things I can’t easily get in Cairo. Besides which, I think after you read about my favorite indulgences you’ll agree that I don’t really need a year’s supply of ice cream anyway!

Bacon – I love love love bacon but I don’t eat much during the year. What cruel twist of fate had me marrying a vegetarian and moving to a Muslim country? I don’t care what they say, beef bacon just isn’t the same.

Fish – I don’t think I’ve yet found a variety of fish I haven’t liked, and one of the nicest to have here in Minnesota is Walleye. Deep fried or sautéed, the only way to describe its light and flakey goodness is yum.

Red wine – I really like a glass of wine (or two) in the evening but the wine selection in Egypt leaves something to be desired to say the least.

Beer – but not just any beer – microbrews. I truly enjoy browsing the labels in the store and try new varieties. I just tried Foster’s Premium Ale for the first time last week and it was wonderful. Beer in Egypt? Not as bad at the wine, but not so wonderful either. I’m practically on a first name basis with the clerks at the liquor store here though.

Cheese – I can actually get a fairly decent selection of cheese in Egypt, particularly European cheeses, but I’m really enjoying Muenster and Monterey Jack right now.

Dessert – I don’t know if my step-mother bakes like this all the time or if she saves it all up for when we visit, but man I am getting spoiled! Not only is there a constant supply of homemade cookies in a container on the counter, she has my favorite ice cream bars in the freezer, AND she frequently makes a special dessert besides. I had no idea that vanilla custard filled homemade cream puffs topped with real whipped cream were so wonderful! What’s a girl to do? I mean, I don’t want to offend her after she’s gone to all that trouble – that would just be rude!

There are probably other things I could add but those are definitely at the top of my list but I’m going to stop before I give the wrong impression. As I said, I don’t eat like this ALL the time! Unfortunately the weather lately has been rainy enough that I haven’t been able to hike it all off as efficiently as some years so it’s a good thing I brought my baggiest jeans with me.

What about you? What’s your favorite summer indulgence?

It’s been a busy week here in the woods. We’ve seen foxes, deer, many varieties of birds, a wolf, and a moose! Unfortunately the moose and the wolf were too quick for the camera but it was still fun to see them. Instead I’ll share of couple of pictures of the “yard pets” as my father calls them.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

I like to call this guy Curious George – he practically walked right up to the window while I was taking pictures, trying to figure out what I was up to. Unfortunately, it was dusk and most of the pictures were as fuzzy as his new antlers!

Another of the yard pets, with her baby. I only wish I had a bigger zoom on my camera!

The “pet” fox coming to collect his dinner. Unless you happen to keep chickens, there are certain advantages to having a yard fox – they aren’t very picky about what they eat and are happy enough to take away any leftovers that you yourself aren’t so keen on eating, including years old freezer burned pita bread. Better than having a dog begging under the table, and if they do happen to get sick I suppose they go puke in the woods and not on you slippers!

It was a wet, drippy weekends. But we didn’t let it stop us.

It didn’t stop the Dragon Dancers at the Dragon Boat Festival in Grand Marais either.

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The frequent showers didn’t stop the hummingbirds either.

The rain made for a magnificent waterfall at the Brule River as well.

And you never got a rainbow without a little rain.

The weather improved on Sunday. We took advantage by hiking 3.5 miles up Eagle Mountain over a boulder strewn trail. The attraction? It’s the highest point in Minnesota. Not a bad view either.

As much fun as we had over the weekend, I’m kind of glad it’s Monday. We have some things to do in town over the next couple of days – now I can get a little rest!

One of the things I miss living I’m in Egypt is driving. I enjoy driving, but not only that, driving was always the time when I was able to listen to music. Since I don’t drive in Egypt my music listening habits have been much curtailed. Not that I’m missing much in Cairo. The one Western music radio station I’ve heard plays a bizarre mix of old and new pop with the occasional Arabic track mixed in and certain times of the day seem to be dedicated to techno dance music or other themes – honestly, I’ve never listened long enough to discern the pattern.

Now that I’m back in the US and on vacation, I’m driving again. But I still can’t listen to the music I like. There isn’t much in the way of radio reception way back here in the woods. That doesn’t faze my children at all, however.

Way back when I was a child, my musical choices were pretty much dictated by my parents – particularly when traveling in a car. I listened to what they listened to, which given the technological limitations of the time period pretty much meant that we listened to the radio. One of the earliest songs I can remember singing along to was “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell. I have a vast repertoire of lyrics from Barry Manilow, Billy Joel, and Neil Diamond to name a few, and there was one memorable summer when my father tortured me on a cross country drive with tapes of Woody Guthrie. Though I might have made other choices myself – and very likely made some disparaging remarks about their choices in my adolescent years – I never managed to impose my own music on them.

Somehow, that all seems to have changed. I regularly end up listening to CDs my children select instead of things I might prefer myself. Last summer, that meant that we listened to the Grease soundtrack on an endless loop. This summer was threatening to turn into the summer of the Jonas Brothers. I don’t actually hate the Jonas Brothers but I’ve heard “The Year 3000” more than enough times, so I decided to take charge and broaden their musical horizons.

Inspired by a recent trip to a bowling alley, I bought three CDs of hits from the 1980s. The bowling alley was playing music videos from that time period and we were all enjoying the music, a rare occurrence. These CDs haven’t done anything toward introducing me to any new popular music, but they seemed like a good idea at the time.
“We Got the Beat” by the GoGos, “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves, and “Walk Like an Egyptian” by The Bangles were all big hits. And then I heard the lyrics to “My Angel is a Centerfold” by the J. Giles Band coming from my six year olds mouth and it put a new spin on things. And that wasn’t as half as bad as “My Sharona” or “Good Girls Don’t” by The Knack:

You’re alone with her at last,
And you’re waiting til you think the time is right.
Cause you’ve heard she’s pretty fast.
And you’re hoping that she’ll give you some tonight.
So, you start to make your play,
Cause you could’ve sworn you thought you heard her saying…

And it’s a teenage sadness
Everyone has got to taste.
An in-between age madness
That you know you can’t erase
Til she’s sitting on your face.

They haven’t asked for any interpretation of the lyrics so for now I’m just going to enjoy the music. My alternative is either more of Grease, The Jonas Brothers, or the two High School Musical CDs my daughter got for her birthday. I think I’d rather take my chances with the 80s for now…

I finally bought a fishing license so we decided to try our luck this morning out on Lake Superior. Not only didn’t we catch anything, but we were lucky to find our way home again! It’s very disorienting to be driving a boat around in a cloud bank.

Couldn’t see the shore til we were nearly driving up on it – thank goodness for compasses, GPS, and depth finders!



At the end of a couple of hours, we had no fish and I had wet, Medusa-like hair. But fishing is a bit like gambling I guess. It only takes a bit of luck once in a while to keep you coming back. And since I love eating fish and have got a license now, I’m sure I’ll be out there again – though I hope it’s a clear day!

Here’s a freaky fact that might just come in handy the next time you need to bake an emergency carrot cake and find that you are out of carrots – you can substitute the same amount of shredded POTATOES and still get a totally awesome cake out of it! Sure, it’s more of a spice flecked beige than orangey-brown but the cake is just as moist and wonderful. How do I know? I ate some over the weekend. I would never have believed it otherwise.

But because I’m me, now I’m wondering what would happen if you substituted beets for the carrots. Pretty in pink or just plain yuck??

Someone commented to me over the weekend that the children must be bored out here in the country, being used to city life. In a word, no.

Here’s my son, always up for a long walk with his dog-cousin

And here’s an eagle we saw while at a family picnic at an inland lake.

If only I had had my camera with me while we were out in the paddle boat – it swooped so low over us I thought perhaps it was contemplating snatching my daughter!

I am often cold up here, with my desert-diluted blood, but I am rarely ever bored!

Sometimes people ask me why I keep going back to the same place summer after summer. Part of it is my family of course. But the rest is just the place. Just look at it:

Wild mint – not only beautiful but appeals to the forager in me…

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I’m not often up here early enough to enjoy the wild roses in bud!

This year I get to see the lupins in bloom as well.

My step-mother’s “pet” deer taking an early morning drink. You’d have thought that this was the intended use of the bird bath!

It’s been an average of mid-50s (F) all week long, with intermittent rain showers – a much needed change of pace from the heat and dust of Cairo. Plus they have a Dairy Queen in town. Great weather, wild flowers, Lake Superior, and ice cream. Can’t really ask for more!

How long have I had my new ring? About a month? Well the settings were as bad as I thought they were – a stone already fell out! It is currently in jewelry hospital with a local jeweler who is going to not only change the settings but also change all the stones. Presumably they will all be set level and arrive chip free.

We won’t talk about the fact that the fix is going to cost more than the original ring did! It really will be one of kind by the time we’re done…

At last, the squirrel photos I mentioned Friday. Click any photo to enlarge. This little guy is a neighbor of my father’s. Cute isn’t he?

Not sure how well the hummingbirds are going to like this arrangement, however.

He was looking in the picture window chucking at my daughter – I think he wanted her Honey Nut Cheerios!

The rare coyote squirrel!

There are also a couple of resident foxes in the neighborhood, but they tend to be a bit sneakier. I’ll post a picture if I get any decent ones!