I don’t know where October went and even November seems to be running by us. We have had some nice days, some cold, rainy, miserable days and some warm, rainy days.

Below you will find a menu that we finally settled on for the Wine Weekend. I forgot to include it before. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal.

When I was first married, our cook was Aggie Jackson. She had learned to cook in logging camps and worked at Gunflint for many years. She always said that it didn’t matter what people said about the food. The real question was whether or not the plates came back clean. Well, I can tell you that the plates for this meal were clean. So here is the menu:

Clam Spread with Crostini
Spinach Timbales with Fonduta
Asian Vegetable Soup
House Salad with Grated Fresh Beets and a Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing
Cheese Topped Walleye and Marinated, Grilled Shrimp
With Steamed Asparagus
Sorbet Medley
Chateaubriand of Beef with a Choice of Blue Cheese Sauce or Bearnaise Sauce
Mashed Potatoes with Chives, Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Bits
Roasted Acorn Squash, Butternut Squash, Carrots and Onions
Dilly Bread
A Flight of Desserts: Chocolate Bread Pudding, Apple Tart and Pumpkin Cheesecake

Now I am researching for the Chocolate Lovers Weekend this winter. You can’t imagine the dishes that can contain chocolate. We will have fun trying some of these recipes.

Last Sunday was one of those miserable fall days we get sometimes. It was cold and rainy. Bruce still has a little draining to winterize cabins for two summer home owners. Sunday he decided to do the last one. He had been worried that the water might freeze in the cabin. So here he is just starting his project.

Draining water systems used to be quite a project here at Gunflint. Virtually every cabin, the main lodge and the outfitters had to be drained. After all these years, Bruce has it down to a science. You start by turning off all the electricity to the cabin so the electric hot water heater will not burn out an element. Next you disconnect the incoming water. Then you open up all the water faucets and flush the toilet. Any water left in the tank and bowl of the toilet is sponged out. A hose attached to the hot water heater drains that outside. Don’t forget to pop the heater’s pressure relief valve so all the water drains out. Next step is to pour one cup of antifreeze in every drain, the toilet bowl, and the toilet tank. If you have done it all correctly, next spring you just need to attached everything together and start it up.

If you have missed something, things get a little dicey. Probably the worst place to break a line is when that line is hidden behind some paneling or in a shower. The only thing to do is to start taking everything apart until you can get to the broken line and repair it. About 35 years ago we had someone other than Bruce drain the cabins and lodge. They did not do a particularly good job. The following spring it took Bruce two weeks to put the water in rather than his normal two days. The air was a little blue during those weeks.

Monday and Tuesday were surprisingly warm days. So Bruce and I spent a little time driving around looking for those little partridge. Monday we got skunked but on Tuesday we managed to find one. Here is the mighty hunter with his bird.

It will make a great dinner for us.

On Saturday Bruce and I leave for an outfitting convention in Florida. We won’t be back until the following Saturday. The outfitters at the convention are lots of old friends. In addition to Bruce’s talks and seminar, we will spend some time socializing. On Sunday we go canoeing on a Florida river. The real fun day will be on Wednesday. That is the day that we have been talked into playing golf. If you need a good laugh on Wednesday, just think of us making fools of ourselves on the golf course.

I’ll try to write again on Sunday or Monday when we get home.