Kroon Day Update II

4 pm

The Toyota is back on the road.

If you do not know what 'The Toyota' is I will give you a brief background. Several years ago my Dad purchased a beautiful red Toyota pick-up truck that he loves dearly and zooms around in. Also several years ago Leslie and I watched that dear truck get hit by an flying car in Hatcher Pass. Thankfully Wes Keller pulled the bumper out of the wheel well for us and taped the headlight back on (with duct tape of course).

Insurance didn't total the Toyota then, they repaired it much to my Dad's relief. This fall, however, the Toyota began having engine trouble. So Dad and a friend decided to rebuild the engine........and three months later it is back on the road - just in time for Kroon Day!

Dad did miss out on the Kroon Day Donut Banquet at the Donut King to work on the engine, but he figured that was okay. Apparently Donut King is a donut shop worthy of a Kroon Day Donut Banquet - they have even let Uncle Loren in the back to fill his own donuts! They know how to keep their #1 customer happy there!

The AK Kroons are congregating at the Windbreak Cafe - this evening - nothing like greasy burgers to top the day off!

I'll give my final report when I get home today! Keep on celebrating folks! A day like this only comes around once a year.....the folks I work with are already planning their own celebrations....so far there has been talk of a Gates day (to take place later this week - skipping 1/2 a day of school to go skiing - way to go Gates family) and a Bailey Day (although they are aiming for a weekend - they'll figure it out eventually).

Initial Kroon Day Report

The 10:00 AM Report:

I have stopped at Gramma Damma Donuts already and purchased my loot. The number one indicator that this is an excellent donut shop: the girl behind the counter & I were the only two under the age of 70 in the store - everyone was sitting around with brown mugs of coffee and red baskets of donuts. Classic.

Reports came in over the weekend: Leslie was planning a stop at Top Pot donuts in Seattle. Way to go Leslie! We'd hate for that place to go un-visited on Kroon Day. Aunt Karyl was headed to a local Olympia donut shop (or Safeway at a minimum) we knew we could count on her! The Larry Kroons were planning a donut banquet....they do know how to celebrate Kroon Day. Keeton was cancelling two tutoring appointments to be able to fully relish in the Kroon Day celebrations......

My plans have shaped up more fully: Mel & I are going to dinner at Marzinni's - although no steak will be consumed I can drink a bottle of Henry Wienhart's Root beer there and nothing is more Kroon like than that (anyone at my wedding knows that!).

Hope everyone else is getting their Kroon Day off to a great start!

In Preparation

For those of you who did not know - we are soon approaching a very important annual holiday - Kroon Day. March 3 to be exact.

Here is a short refresher course on Kroon Day:

It was determined (by Teagen, Keeton & Sarah I believe) that once a year Kroons should just celebrate being Kroons. As there is no Kroon birthday in the month of March it was selected as the optimal month for Kroon Day (I'm not sure why July & August were passed over, but I usually don't understand everything).

Kroon Day is designated as a day where Kroons are to do 'All Things Kroon.' This generally constitutes eating donuts, watching movies that fit the 'Kroon' motif (The Good, The Bad & The Ugly would be the ulitmate Kroon movie - but most of us can only watch that one once). On Kroon Day all Kroons should call one another and wish each other 'Happy Kroon Day' and all Kroon kids exchange cards & nominal gifts. Dinner plans are best to include either (1) a meal cooked by a Kroon Mom or (2) a nice steak dinner. And such activities as biking or skiing (or kyaking for the Loren Kroons) are also to be included as much as possible.

I'm giving you all warning so that you can participate in Kroon Day if you would like. We are not exclusive and we do not restrict participation. Feel free to partake in any of the above activities as part of 'Kroon Day.'

As Mark is not a big fan of Kroon Day (yet) if anyone would like to participate in Kroon Day with me let me know, I would appreciate the company. As it stands right now, I plan on at least engaging my office in Kroon Day with a box of Gramma Damma's donuts on Monday morning (note to all non-Kroon celebrators out there - donut shop donuts are the ideal selection for Kroon Day - if possible linger as long as you can in the donut shop and drink either coffee or chocolate milk with your donuts).

Now I'm going to work on a plan to sneak a bite or two of donut to Logan....he's young and impressionable and I'm sure the prime candidate to become my fellow Kroon Day celebrator!

Orange Bread

I have been eating at least one orange a day for the last two weeks or so. They are just so good this time of year. I was saving my orange peels in the freezer for quite awhile to make an old favorite treat of mine, Orange Bread. I had to get the recipe from my Mom, and it was a bit more complex than I had thought, but the result was worth it! Here is the recipe if you want to try it (note: you can make enough Candied Orange Peel at one time to make several loaves of bread and just freeze it in 1 c portions).

Orange Bread

1 c. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Butter

1 Egg

1 c. Milk

3 c. Flour

3 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 c. Candied Orange Peel (below)

Mix & bake in loaf pan at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes (My Mom is the queen of concise recipe instructions).

Candied Orange Peel

Shred orange peel in a food chopper (I use a food processor and my Mom uses the Kitchen Aid fine chopper attachement, and it works well if they are slightly frozen). Cover with water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then pour off water. Repeat two more times. Take equal parts of orange peel and sugar. Boil down (until thick and sticky), then cool and store. Freezes well.

Cole's 'Under Construction' Quilt

This summer I found some great little boy fabric in a quilt store (the border fabric below). I was really excited since we were expecting two new little boys in our family this fall! I bought it and then I found the perfect fabric to match at another quilt store (the center of the squares). I worked on this quilt through the fall and gave it to baby Cole for Christmas. You can see how much he loves it in the bottom picture. The part I am proudest of, though, is the fact that I did the machine quilting myself, on my own machine (and no, my Mom was not here to help, I was completely on my own). I just hope it holds together well!

A Brief Review of Maui (We Miss it Already)!

A Tribute to Norma

Mark and I decorated our Christmas tree today! It was a team effort. Mark put the lights on and I put the ornaments on. I'm almost embarrassed to post the picture as we have a much larger tree than we have ornaments to cover, but I guess that gives us room to grow. Mark, being a native Oregonian is rather picky about the type, shape and size of his Christmas trees (if only he could see some of the wild Alaskan trees I grew up with, then he'd understand my apathy =).

As I decorated our tree today I was reminded of some very good friends of my parents, Ben and Norma. I had the pleasure of spending a few extended vacations of my childhood with them and I think they are wonderful people. My most recent memory of them includes Norma rescuing my friend, Leslie, and I from exploring every yarn shop in Seattle with my Mom. And Ben putting away more Top Pot donuts than I ever imagined possible (and he's a runner and a bit of a health nut, supposedly), then 'breaking' into a classic car shop with my Dad. They seem to bring out the extremes in my parents - and they always have a great time together!

When we were growing up Norma would send each of us kids our own ornament for Christmas. They were always beautiful ornaments and getting them out each year was my favorite part of decorating the tree. Often times she'd get similar ornaments for each of us, so we'd have sets of three or four (once Keeton arrived).

Once Mark and I were married my Mom let me take all of my ornaments down to Oregon with me. My favorite is a little golden gingerbread house, although, it doesn't look quite the same without the three other little gold ornaments.

After awhile the ornament tradition faded. But then, for a wedding present Norma did a wonderful thing, she went to a local store and bought me a box of fall and Christmas decorations. I have to admit that about 80% of our current holiday decorations can now be attributed to Norma - and I'm certainly grateful for that!