Troy Lightfield

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Last Friday we headed to the 2009 Back to the 50’s Car Show in St. Paul, MN. We paid 10 bucks to get in and I over heard a guy saying it was $25 for the weekend if you had a car which allowed for two people to drive in. Pretty cheap entertainment if you ask me!

If you’re into cars at all this is a must see event. There really is something for everyone, custom rat rods, vintage Impalas, chopped Mercs, you name it (as long as it is older than 1964!).  The Back to the 50’s Car Show is put on by the Minnesota Street Rod Association and from what I read it brings in some 11,000 cars from all over the United States and Canada and over 100,000 spectators. This must be for Saturday! It was nice on Friday though because there wasn’t that many people there but still plenty of cars to look at.

The show offers all the typical fair foods, cheese curds, pork chop on a stick, burgers, etc. Most of the “big” stands weren’t open though, like Famous Dave’s and the French Fry stand but still plenty of food to choose from. The one thing that really surprised us and lets face it, down right disappointed us was the lack of a beer stand. Not sure what was going on there but a beer in hand while checking out the cars would have been nice. One thing to note, there were people walking around with beer but they must have brought it in.

There was a band playing but we didn’t stick around long enough to comment on them. They did have a decent crowd though.

All in all I wish we would have went on Saturday but we had to be out of town. I think the offering of cars there would have been better and hopefully they opened some beer stands!

Please leave your comments below and expand on the info!

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Well, we packed up the kids and dogs last weekend and headed north to go camping at Father Hennepin right off Mille Lacs Lake. It is a beautiful camground and one we will most certainly visit again.

We had anticipated rain but went ahead anyway in hopes of the weather man being wrong! (figured our odds were good). We did get one good night and day of camping in and some fishing, no we didn’t catch anything! Then about 2 PM on Saturday it started to sprinkle. We thought we would wait it out but after a couple more hours of it drizzling on us we called a camp meeting and decided we would pack it up!

It was nice to wake up in our own beds come Sunday instead of a muddy mess! Some pictures and a partial review sure to come!

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Father Hennepin State Park is 2 hours north of Minneapolis St. Paul. The park is situated in the south-east corner of Lake Mille Lacs. We were excited to stay at Father Hennepin as a co-worker had boasted that it was a beautiful park.

At Father Hennepin are 2 campgrounds with a total of 103 campsites. You may also rent the group campsite at $30-$75/night The park has 2 shower buildings & 2 restroom buildings. With regular “vault” toilets located throughout the park.

Upon arrival we were greeted warmly by the park staff. They took our reservations and admitted us into the park with no hassle. The camp office offers firewood for $3.50 per bundle and ice for $1.50?? We were also able to buy a Frisbee for $1.50 and a nicely honed walking stick for only $6.95.

We had reserved campsite #94 – located just a few hundred yards from the shore of Lake Mille Lacs.

Since we’re becoming avid campers, it took a total of 10 minutes to set up our tents. One thing we noticed right away was the large change in temperature at our campsite. The dense tree canopy and close proximity to the lake made it feel a good 20 degrees cooler.

Father Hennepin State Park, the Doorway to Lake Mille Lacs

Most Father Hennepin campsites had special sandboxes for our tent placement. The sandbox area held our 2 room tent nicely and we still had plenty of room in the wooded area to accommodate the adult tent.

After we settled in, it was time to check out the restroom/shower facilities. The ladies were none too pleased. There was a constant musty smell accompanied by literally 100’s of dead mosquitoes on the sinks and rolls of damp toilet paper in the toilet stalls. The ladies promptly decided they would not be showering during our stay.

A walking trail on the back side of our campsite took us down to the shore with a very nice fishing dock. The kids were able to net catch minnows. Just to the left of the fishing dock was a decent sized boat launch and a short distance from the boat launch was a sand beach for swimming with a playground. It started to rain just as we headed to the beach so we didn’t stay to check out the swings.

We were very pleased by the level of service our Park Rangers offered. They drove by once every couple of hours and never stopped. I think they were just checking to ensure no one had started a forest fire.

Although drinking is strictly prohibited in all Minnesota State Parks, we found a few tell-tale beer caps and noticed our neighbor campers were drinking beer in plain sight.

Although we were only able to stay one night, it is definitely a park we will return to. I get the feeling that even in the middle of summer, the tree cover will keep the campsites cool and hopefully the breeze from Lake Mille Lacs will keep those monster sized mosquitoes away.

Popularity: 68% [?]

Pancake perfection, my son was pleased!

I love pancakes!

I am not certain who invented pancakes, maybe my grandma but I am pretty sure that I perfected them! Where they rank in the world is probably up for debate but as far as my son is concerned they are the best in the world. I really do enjoy making pancakes for my family and friends.  I use an improved upon version that has been handed down from my grandfather’s mother which includes flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, milk, water, vanilla, and honey. (please send blood sample to verify you’re a family member for recipe).  Of course there are variations that include nuts, berries and even chocolate chips.

My family is a little different when it comes to pancake toppings and whenever guests are over it becomes a topic of conversation. We start with a good helping of creamy peanut butter followed by some maple syrup, delicious. Ask my brother and he will let you know two over-easy eggs on top are required.

We also like sugar, jelly, ham gravy, and of course just good ole butter and syrup. Generally served with a pork product, hash and/or eggs I would say my favorite is sausage links and pancakes. My son would definitely concur.

Pancake Advice:

Your Griddle. Know your griddle and what temperature it needs to be set on to make the perfect golden brown pancake, no one likes a burnt hard pancake! I use a very nice griddle from All-Clad which distributes the heat very evenly. I would consider a test run or two to really find the sweet spot for a heat setting for your pancake griddle.

Batter. Make your own batter! Hey, I know everyone is busy but once you have a recipe and get used to it you can whip up a batch of pancakes in minutes. If you’re going to use a pre-mixed batter I can not help you.

Mixing. I generally start by mixing my “powder” items first, flour, salt, baking powder. Then I mix in the rest. Don’t over stir your batter, some lumpiness is ok.  I am not real sure how to explain the texture…not too runny and not to thick! You’ll figure out what works.

Cooking. Once you have the batter on the griddle you will start to see it “bubble up”, once these bubbles start to slow down your getting real close to flipping. The side of the pancake will start to look a little “dry”. Take a peak! If they look golden brown give them a nice quick flip. They probably don’t need as much time on the reverse side. give them about half the time and flip it back over and poke your spatula in and make sure it comes out clean, free of wet batter. Sometime I will even poke several slits in the reverse side and flip it back over just to double check but don’t let it get too hard on the reverse side either.

Once you have all those steps in place, throw it on a plate, top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

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