Recent Blog Posts

My great-grandmother was Irish, and I'm fortunate enough to have a few of her favorite recipes that were handed down. One that I like to make often is her Irish soda bread. It will make a great addition to your St. Patrick's Day meal this year. One of the original rustic artisan breads, Irish soda ...
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Sylvie is a 17 year old gal from Montana that is living with us this winter to pursue her ski racing dreams.  In Montana she lives on a ranch run by her mother.  Sylvie is a tough girl and as the story goes the day after she was born she was strapped onto her mama's back so her mother could retu...
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Northern Michigan is widely known for its famous whitetails and hunting season come mid-November of every year. What is the first thing you think of when you hear whitetails? I often think immediately of my husband leaving for hunting camp for several weeks and often bringing home enough venison to...
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Happy Monday everyone! I hope wherever you are that you are staying warm! We had another 3 day weekend here in Petoskey due to the temperature being -32 on Friday morning. Brrrrrrr!!!!! Today's blog post brings you something a little different and something a little fun here on the Grandpa Shorter'...
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Your last name doesn’t have to be O'Reilly to dress in green and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. On March 17th, everyone is Irish for a day. Here’s a list of places around Michigan where you can listen to an Irish tune and raise a glass of green beer to St. Paddy. Grand Ledge - March 13th & ...
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Recently my news feed has been filled with a lot of blogs about self-important stay-at-home moms vs. working-moms and vice versa.  Who writes this stuff?  I want to say this in the nicest way possible - Shut Up! We are all moms and dads doing our very best each day to get our children on the best...
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Happy Tuesday everyone! I keep thinking today is Monday. Petoskey had winter break this past weekend so today was technically our Monday and I'm having trouble realizing it's actually Tuesday. The older kids went back to school and the youngest spent the morning in 1/2 day preschool and then helpe...
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Last week I was raving about the weather being mid-30's. Yes, you can thank me. You're welcome. This freezing cold weather was courtesy of yours truly. It was -26 here yesterday evening. At least today the sun is shining. Gorgeous views but geez, it is seriously cold outside! This past weekend ...
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New Orleans has Mardi Gras, but here in Michigan we celebrate "Fat Tuesday" in our own delicious way, by indulging in Paczki. Never heard of paczki (poonch-kie)? Neither had I. Until I moved to Michigan. But once you try one, you’ll understand just why the pastry causes so much excitement in th...
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Life moves so fast these days. It is hard to stop the rat race and enjoy family time without constant interruptions of our smart phones. Slow down the craziness in an act that allows us to enjoy time with our loved ones while making life long memories at the same time. I have never heard...
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