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Memories

None of it was perfect, but what is?

Listening for the Weather

Listening for the Weather

Coffee Klatsch, Memories, StearnsMarch 23, 2023

Minnesotans understand a funnel cloud, a menacing sky, the gusts of wind that mean business.

On the Bench Where You Said You Were Dying

On the Bench Where You Said You Were Dying

MemoriesFebruary 28, 2023

You inspired me to buy a sausage maker, which I never ever used. As if I would, without you.

Candles In Memory

Candles In Memory

Cuisine, Memories, StearnsJanuary 22, 2023

All families have secrets. As people get older or pass away, the secrets come to light. Like Grandma Lena’s.

Dairy Queen Delights

Dairy Queen Delights

Coffee Klatsch, Cuisine, Memories, Stearns, Wobegon TrailJanuary 15, 2023

Some things change, some stay the same.

Hat Hair 101

Hat Hair 101

Memories, Oh Ja, Stearns, Wobegon TrailJanuary 8, 2023

I’d forgotten about hat hair.

The Year That Santa Forgot

The Year That Santa Forgot

Coffee Klatsch, Memories, Occasions, StearnsDecember 25, 2022

When you have many children, it’s easy to forget one at Christmas. It hurts if you’re the forgotten one.

Dark Shadows Blue

Dark Shadows Blue

Coffee Klatsch, Memories, Oh Ja, StearnsDecember 21, 2022

Collinwood, home to the Collins family, features gothic architecture and many candles in Dark Shadows Blue.

Pickled Parts

Pickled Parts

Cuisine, Memories, StearnsOctober 30, 2022

We creatures of the earth shouldn’t eat each other’s lips. That’s my firm view.

For Mary and Sue and Sue

For Mary and Sue and Sue

Memories, StearnsOctober 14, 2022

You’d be crazy to cross Mr Smith’s garden. But one night I had to.

The Secret Under the House

The Secret Under the House

Coffee Klatsch, MemoriesOctober 13, 2022

Things were being moved. Things were being eaten.

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The LenaMina Record

Join to receive our secret MN recipes, bullcrap, and Stearns style news. Enjoy it over a little lunch. Or something. Sometimes.

We of Wobegon

Lena and Mina were my grandmothers – Stearns County, Minnesota women who grew up and raised families in small towns around the Lake Wobegon Trail. Born in the USA, they spoke German and had German accents. As did my parents, who spoke only German until they went to school. As do some of my cousins, who have never lived anywhere but Stearns County. We’re quirky folks, like those in Garrison Keillor’s fictional Stearns town of Lake Wobegon. I’m Laurie Hilsgen, and if you’re reading this, you might be Wobegonian, too. Let’s celebrate our loony ways. Oh ja!

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Featured Posts

  • Riding the RailsAugust 3, 2023

  • Lake Wobegon Summer RidesMay 28, 2023

  • Listening for the WeatherMarch 23, 2023

  • Poopers & Wiener PlantersMarch 5, 2023

  • On the Bench Where You Said You Were DyingFebruary 28, 2023