Countdown to a new year

As this year winds down, we are taking inventory of the good, the bad and the unmentionable.

My Top Ten for 2007 Countdown

10. The distance between Northeast Ohio and Colorado shrinks with the flurry of emails, telephone calls, letters, and the publication of our online diary to keep friends and family up-to-date (out-of-sight will NOT mean out-of-mind!)

9. Carol hires her management team and staff allowing us to launch in September.

8. Kate and Carol survive their first cross-country trek in record cold temperatures and snow storms in February.

7. Debbie (in May) and Ebie (in September) get married (not to each other -- but to wonderful men who love and appreciate how unique and amazing they are!)

6. Jane decides to accelerate her swimming abilities during Spring Break '07. She completes the entire Red Cross swim class series in four and a half months. And, decides it's high time she joins a swim team since she's probably too young to become a lifeguard in fourth grade.

5. David graduates from Lakewood High School in June.

4. Kate and David start college in August.

3. Carol starts her new career in Fort Collins, Colorado in February. Still can't believe she gets to implement this amazing body of work!

2. Fort Collins becomes our family's new frontier.

1. Joe and Carol celebrate 26 years of marriage in September (and, live to tell about it!)

We hope that 2008 brings much love, good health and happiness to you and those you love. We count your friendship, love, and support among our many blessings each year.

Happy new year!

c

Hot off the presses!

You know you're living in a small town when your cold weather shopping excursion makes the news.....

As seen in today's newspaper:

Michael G. Seamans/The Coloradoan

Mary Bennis, left, of Cleveland, Ohio and Rita Stigalt, right of Parma, Ohio bundle up and brave the elements as the walk down N. College Avenue in Fort Collins on Dec. 27, 2007

c

I love this article

Link through to read The 10 Step Cure for the Post-Christmas Letdown from Dumb Little Man. It's quite insightful.

Jane and I are going to go ice skating this afternoon (photos may/may not follow based on how successful our trip is!) Joe and I have a date to stroll/window shop Old Town. We'll probably drink too much coffee at BeanCycle or Starry Night and spend a huge part of the afternoon at Al's Newstand.

Hope you are kicking off your post-holiday celebration, too!

Slainte!

c

Merry Christmas!

We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas holiday spent with those you love filled with many laughs, surprises and delights. Our day was lovely. Hope yours was, too.

Peace,

c

xxx

When you visit, we can go on MORE brewery tours!

Just in case you might think that Fort Collins is a one-trick pony -- here's evidence that Northern Coloradans are serious about their beer...

Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Fort Collins


[we'll visit A-B to see the local Clydesdale Hamlet - not to actually drink the beer - because, well, we've become bonified beer snobs...although we prefer "connoisseurs." :o) ]

Odell Brewing Company
[The Odell family hails from Shaker Heights, Ohio! Wonderful people making some really great beer.]

Fort Collins Brewery

Big Horn Brewing at CB Potts

Coopersmith's
[We'll go "poolside" to sample their amazing root beer, ginger ale and cream soda while we shoot a few pathetic games of pool!]

c

One of these things is not like the others...

Dropped Kate off at the dorm last Sunday morning - she spent the day in our quiet house studying for final exams and decided to stay overnight. I was struck by how pastoral and serene her residence hall looked against the bright blue sky and fresh snow. And then, her room caught my eye...

If you double-click on the photo you can find Anna and Kate's room, too.

c

When you visit, we'll go to breakfast...

This morning, Kate, Jessica (one of Kate's dorm-mates) and I had breakfast at Vern's. An institution in LaPorte, Colorado - about 15 minutes north of Fort Collins. [And, again - yes, the sky is really this blue in Colorado! Almost every day.]



Vern's is this amazing little diner with timber walls, booths, etc. and the taxidermied head of just about every animal and bird found in Northern Colorado. It's always full of farming families, cowboys (real ones), and not many fussy people. It's just really comfortable. They serve cinnamon rolls the size of dinner plates ("one roll and three forks, please."), sausage gravy and biscuits, every kind of omelet known to man and some pretty incredible green chile pork sauce. Today, all of the animal heads were sporting Santa hats. The black bear was wearing a Santa hat and a white cotton beard. Vern's is always worth the trip.



Across the street you have a wide open view of the northern foothills right before Rist Canyon.



After breakfast, we drove Jessica to Denver to catch a plane to Texas to join her family before they head out to Buffalo for Christmas. Kate and I enjoyed the trip back north singing, talking and taking in the gorgeous Rocky Mountains against that amazing blue sky!

c

When you visit, we'll take the tour...

We had our holiday party in one of the brewhouses at New Belgium Brewery tonight. It was a great event. We enjoyed some great beer, food and conversation. I can't wait to take the tour - what an amazing facility! Check out New Belgium Brewery

c

Okay, my beloved progeny, the race is on...

As you may recall, we accidently discovered that we are descendants of Daniel Boone = you know, the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" See the July entry titled: You Can't Pick Your Family...

Anyway, I wonder if all of the Bennis, Binder, McIntire kids will take this news report as a personal challenge?

Relative of Davy Crockett, 5, kills bear

Legend has it Davy Crockett killed a bear when he was three. A distant relative of the 19th-century frontiersman has done the ame thing at five.

Tre Merritt, a 5-year-old boy from Arkansas, killed a black bear Sunday, according to his grandfather.

"(The bear) came in about 40 to 50 yards," Mike Merritt, Tre's grandfather, told KATV of Little Rock, Ark, "and when he got in the open, I whistled at him and he stopped and I said, 'Shoot Tre.' "

And that's what his grandson did, killing the 400-pound animal.

"I was up in the stand and I seen the bear," Tre Merritt told KATV. "It came from the thicket and it was beside the road and I shot it."

According to the report, Tre's father said his son began shooting when he was 2 1/2 and killed three deer last year. What else would you expect from a decendant of the "King of the Wild Frontier?"

"His 10th great-grandfather was Davy Crockett," Mike Merritt said. "And Davy supposedly killed him a bear when he was three. And Tre is five and really killed a bear. I really doubt if Davy killed one when he was three."

Source: Fox News 12/11/2008

c

My jingle elves!

Merry Christmas from the Bennii!

hahahahahahahaha! Kate created this.

c

It's cold and flu season...

I know I shouldn't laugh at this but - well, you know...



c

Who would have predicted?

So, we've officially become granola-heads. We love it. We eat it often. Now - we make our own. Scary but true. And, while we haven't become the next generation Euell Gibbons - [a reference which will date most of us..."It's naturally sweet taste reminds me of wild hickory nuts. I call Grape Nuts my back-to-nature cereal."]

it's not bad if I say so myself. This recipe was adapted from a local bed and breakfast recipe. It's fast and easy and better than anything you'll find in a store! [Chivanne this is for you...]

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats


• 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut


• 2 cups sliced almonds


• 1/4 cup canola oil


• 1/2 cup honey


• 1 1/2 cups dried apricots, small diced (I'm not a fan so I usually skip these and add more dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried blueberries or raisins)


• 1 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees for a convection oven)

Combine and toss oats, coconut and almonds together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil and honey until smooth. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until evenly coated. Spread evenly onto a greased sheet pan. (I use Pam spray.) (You will still have dry oats at the bottom of the bowl. Don't worry - when you pour the entire contents of the mixture onto your pan, the oats will become thoroughly coated as you stir the mixture during the cooking process.) Bake in oven until golden brown. Make sure to stir the granola every 5 to 7 minutes to avoid burning.

When you take the granola out of the oven, pour the dried fruit on top of the hot mixture. Cool the granola on the sheet pan on top of the stove stirring occasionally. The granola will get crunchy as it cools. Once granola has cooled, store in an airtight container or large Ziploc bag.

SERVE:
This recipe makes 12 cups of granola. Our favorite way to eat it is in a yogurt parfait for breakfast. 1 cup of vanilla yogurt in a bowl, topped with your favorite fruit (sliced strawberries, blueberries, diced green apple, diced kiwi, etc.) and then top with a 1/2 cup of granola. (Also really good with frozen vanilla yogurt or ice cream.)

c

The Drunkest Cities...excuse me??

New Year's Day 1916 was rough for Colorado residents looking for a little hair of the dog. On that Saturday, the state stopped all liquor sales, predating Prohibition by 4 years. Today, Colorado once again leads the nation in its attitude toward alcohol — but now the mandate seems to be "drink till you drop."

In our second ranking of urban inebriation, Aurora comes in 82nd, Colorado Springs finishes 98th, and, once again, Denver is Most Dangerously Drunk. We looked at annual death rates due to alcoholic liver disease, as well as who's headed there by regularly downing five or more drinks in a sitting (CDC). Next, we factored in drunk-driving arrests (FBI) and the percentage of fatal accidents involving intoxicated motorists (U.S. Department of Transportation). Then, after tallying the MADD report card of state efforts to cut down on excessive drinking, we had our ranking and, for the state of Colorado, an invitation to AA.

The Men's Health article ranks the cities from most dangerously drunk to least dangerously drunk.

While Fort Collins isn't specifically mentioned - the implications (between Cheyenne + Denver) are there. Or, maybe we really did skirt the dubious honor. After all, the Allstate America's Best Driver's Report ranks Fort Collins #2 in the nation for safest drivers and 24.0% less likely to have a collision compared to the national average (13.2 avg. years between collisions) for 2005, 2006 and 2007.

So, maybe we just drink more micro-brew than anyone else on the planet but going to bed at 10pm is paying off!

c