The Merry Lights of Mercer

Stars Line the Streets of Mercer

Well, it may not be Times Square, or even Lake Drive in Milwaukee, but the merchants of Mercer have decorated their businesses and it makes me happy to drive through the downtown at night.

The Associated Bank

The Pocket Park

Dr. Nehring's (the dentist) Office

Baby Jesus at the Dentist's Office

Aunt Esther's Attic

Turtle River Trading Company

Tom's Cafe

Some people say that downtown Mercer is not the most attractive small town they have ever seen, but I agree with Aaron Rose, one of the drivers of the Beautiful Losers art movement. He wrote:

"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary."

Here are some more pictures of the town.

The Anchor Bar 

The Wampum Shop

The Heart of the North Bar

The Chamber of Commerce

I think it might be nice to drive down the streets of Mercer while listening to Christmas Lights by Coldplay.  You can hear it and see the video on their website http://www.coldplay.com/  or on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1rYmzQ8C9Q .  I especially like the last verse:

Oh Christmas lights

Light up the street

Light up the fireworks in me

May all your troubles soon be gone

Those Christmas lights keep shining on

Here is our house at night

"Every dog must have his day."

Or, with apologies to Jonathan Swift, HER day.

Hey, I heard it's your birthday.

Today, December 16th, is Maddie Jo's 10th birthday. Yesterday, December 15th, was Gracie's 10th birthday.  The girls refuse to share anything, so we didn't think they should have to share a birthday party.  We had birthday celebrations both evenings, complete with singing, dancing, games and pupcakes.

Gracie enjoying her cake

       

Do I smell cake?

Maddie making a wish

I made frosted carrot cupcakes for Gracie's birthday, but I got to thinking that there must be a recipe for something dog-friendlier with less sugar and fat.  I found two recipes I liked and combined them.  One was from Liz Palika's book, The Ultimate Dog Treat Cookbook, for Christmas Cranberry Corn Muffins. This recipe called for mixing ground up dry dog food with Jiffy Corn Muffin mix and cranberries.  It seemed the Jiffy mix had a lot of sugar and I didn't want to put dog food in the treats (you never know who might eat one). I found a flour and banana based recipe for Banana Pupcakes on an Internet site called The Poop Pantry (http://www.thepoop.com/pooppantry/bananapupcakes.asp).  Here is the recipe I concocted: 

 Maddie Jo's Cranana Pupcakes

3 bananas

1 C fresh cranberries

2 C generic corn bread mix

1 1/2 C wheat flour

1/2 C milk

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a blender or food processor to chop, mush and blend the cranberries and bananas together. In a separate bowl mix corn bread mix and wheat flour.  Add milk and egg. Fold in cranberry-banana mixture.  Pour batter into a muffin pan lined with paper baking cups. Bake for 20 minutes.

Since no one seems to want this last pupcake. . .

Cranberries can be bitter, but the bananas made the pupcakes slightly sweet and the dogs loved them.  I didn't frost them and I tried not to let the dogs eat the paper, but they think the paper is the best part.

Happy Birthday Gracie and Maddie Jo!

Hey, don't forget me!

Of course not.  We would like to send a BIG Happy Birthday greeting to cousin Hallie in Seattle, Washington.  Hallie turned 8 years old today - she's just a youngster.