I'm lucky in so many ways, but one of the biggies is that I married into a fantastic family. And we get to see most of them regularly, since Doug and I planted our flag here. Doug's parents live in Chicago's west suburbs and since the 1960's his family has vacationed in northern Wisconsin in a tiny little town called Phelps on a lake called North Twin Lake (Otherwise known as big twin. It's connected to little twin). Doug's parents always had a ski boat, which they would tow up to Phelps for a weeks' vacation every summer. It's a long haul (350 miles), but many Chicago area families do the same thing every summer and long standing friendships began and have thrived in that environment of minimal traffic, gorgeous pine forests, clear water and loooong summer days on the lake. Why Phelps, you ask? Well, I'm glad you did, because it's a great story.
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| Phelps wayyy back in the day. photo c/o Linda Holt Bender |
Grandpa (Ed) Holt had a brother Stanley and a sister, Edna. Stanley and Ed both had long and successful careers at Western Electric, where young Stanley met Lydia. Lydia, as it turned out, grew up in Phelps, but as a young woman headed to Chicago looking for work. Wasn't that ballsy of her? I love that. Now Phelps for us is a 6 hour drive on highways and two lane roads. In the 20's, when Lydia and Stanley first got married and when Grandpa and Grandma started going up there, this was a three day drive on gravel roads. Grandpa once told us that the first time he drove it he telegrammed home to say he'd made it to Milwaukee!
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| Stanley & Lydia and the cottage up north |
Eventually, Stanley bought a place of his own up there, where his son, Stanley Jr (aka Uncle Bud) and his family now live year-round. And Doug's family, after decades of renting and limited time up there, bought a place of their own in 1993, just a year after Doug and I were married. So now this amazing place is an integral part of
our kids' lives and of their childhood memory bank. Doug celebrated his first birthday in Phelps. So did Corey.
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| Uncle Stanley, me and Grandpa (Ed) Holt, 1993 |
It's hard to get big families together, but with amazing consistency, the Holt clan assembles in Phelps every 4th of July. Our max number has been 24, I think, but it's usually somewhere around 20.
And unlike those who use their vacation as an excuse to go out or to feast mostly on burgers and brats (which a friend once referred to as
cabin food), we eat tremendously well up there. Menu planning starts about two weeks before the 4th of July. My sister-in-law, Sue Vasko, and I start conferring about menus. She starts to nail down who will arrive and leave when, then she sketches out the menus. This is a ritual, and it's part of the magic of Phelps.
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| See how early we get going? |
My mother-in-law and Sue do a monster Costco run to bring up the meat and staples, then we supplement the rest up north. We
grill a lot and, as everyone knows, with grilling it's all about the
marinade. So each day, when we get up, over many cups of
coffee, Sue and/or I will get that night's main course prepped and marinating.
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| Sometimes we have helpers. Thanks Adam! |
Our work done for the morning, we then run or bike or swim or ski or tube or play games or
read on the dock all afternoon. Sounds grueling, doesn't it?
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| Cousin time rules supreme at the lake |
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| Movies and board games abound |
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| big cousins and little cousins |
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| man, dog and kayak |
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| Sue and John |
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| Doug skiing on his feet! |
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| Dylan and me after annual flips off the pontoon boat |
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| Shirley & Dick, matriarch & patriarch |
Summer days are super long way up north, so dinner prep doesn't usually start until about 6 or 7pm. But then it's all hands on deck. We'll pour a glass or wine or whip up a batch of this season's favorite cocktail, and we chop and sautee and drink and laugh, and the kids set the table and John or Doug or Eric work the grill. And each night, we all gather in that lovely room with a view of the lake, and we enjoy a veritable feast.
All week, last week, I reminded myself to get my camera out and
document the morning prep, the evening prep and the finished product.
And every night, just as dinner was ending, I'd remember. And sigh.
But here are a few of the delicious feasts we conjured up last week that I did manage to capture before they were gone:
(thank you Lisa Levy)
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Pulled Pork Sandwiches (not shown) with
Spicy Red Cabbage Cole Slaw (recipe below)
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So now, a couple decades later, in addition to these indispensables:
We have this -
which contains each year's menus and all the supporting recipes. Here are a few samples for you to use and enjoy!
Thursday: July 30 (17 people)
• Entrée: Spaghetti w/
red pasta sauce
• Sides: Green Salad, Garlic
Bread
• Dessert: Cookie Assortment/Rice Krispies
Friday: July 1 (18 people)
• Entrée: Tuscan Lemon
Chicken
• Sides: Brocollini & Rice Pilaf
• Dessert: Brownie Pudding
Saturday: July 2 (19 people)
• Entrée: Flank Steak
• Sides: Arugula Watermelon Salad
• Dessert:
Stewed Berries w/ Ice Cream
Sunday: July 3 (19 people)
**Cook’s Night Off**
Alexander’s Pizza
Monday: July 4 (19 people)
• Entrée: Brats and
Burgers
• Sides: Corn Salad
• Dessert:
Flag Cake
Tuesday: July 5 (19 people)
• Entrée: BBQ Chicken
• Sides: Roasted Summer Vegetables & Potato
Salad
• Dessert: Strawberry/Rhubarb Crisp
Wednesday: July 6 (19 people)
• Entrée: Herb-marinated
Pork Tenderloin
• Sides: Oven-Roasted Vegetables
• Dessert:
Honey Vanilla Pound Cake w/ fruit
Thursday: July 7 (20 people)
**Cook’s Night Off**
Friday: July 8 (20 people)
• Entrée: Baked Ziti
• Sides: Green Salad & French
Bread
• Dessert: Cranberry Apple Pie
Saturday: July 9 (20 people)
**Birthdays Celebration for Doug,
John, Dan**
• Entrée: Surf &
Turf
• Sides: Roasted Asparagus & Baked Potato
• Dessert: Lemon Cake
Sunday: July 10 (16 people)
• Entrée: Turkey
Vegetable Chili
• Sides: Julie’s Salad & Crusty Bread
• Dessert: Carrot Cup Cakes
2012 Summer Menus
Wednesday: 7/11 (12 peeps)
Molasses Pork
Roasted summer veggies & potatoes
Grapefruit
pound cake
Thurs. 7/12:
most at
camp for
dinner...
Friday 7/13:
(15 peeps) ( Jane,Dylan,
Andrew in)
Tuscan chicken
Couscous & Broccolini
Brownie
torte
Saturday 7/14 (15 peeps) ( Carrie gone Doug in)
Slow cooked BBQ ribs
Potato salad & Pear/walnut green
salad
Chocolate peanut
butter ice cream
cake
Sunday 7/15 (15 peeps) (Doug out Noah in) ( happy golden bday Dan!!) Baked ziti
French bread
Green salad
Stewed berries
with ice
cream
Monday 7/16 (13 peeps) (John and sue out)
Soy lime chicken
Rice pilaf & Green beans
Cookies
Tuesday 7/17 (15 peeps) (Corey in sue hopefully in)
Alexander's Pizza!!!!!!
Wednesday 7/18 (15 peeps)
Lebanese feast!
Lava cakes
Thursday 7/19 (16 peeps) (Doug in)
Shrimp
orzo
Greek salad
Blueberry cake or brown
butter cupcakes
Friday 7/20 (17-‐18 peeps) (John in) (johno?)
Cabin food: burgers/brats
Corn avocado
salad
Beattys chocolate
cake
Saturday 7/21 (18-‐19) (happy bday Doug!) (johno?)
Flank
steak
Roasted potatoes/fennel/ asparagus
Rhubarb strawberry crisp
Sunday 7/22 (18-‐19 peeps)
Brunch... Sausage/rosemary strata Fruit Coffee
2014 Phelps Menus
7/3:
Thursday (9): OUT
7/4: Friday (15):
Ribs
Potato salad, Tomato and feta salad
Flag cake
7/5: Saturday (15)
Brats and Burgers (4 lbs beef 2
boxes brats)
Roasted potatoes
Corn salad
Ice cream! (out)
7/6: Sunday (18)
Chicken Chimichuri (16 chicken
breasts)
Argula and watermelon salad
Herbed rice
Lemon cake or blueberry lemon cake
7/7: Monday (16)
Kabobs (steak and chicken) (6
chicken breasts, 6 steaks)
Rice pilaf
Zucchini Salad
Strawberries with balsamic and ice cream
7/8: Tuesday (16)
pulled pork (10 lbs pork shoulder)
red slaw & corn bread watermelon
brownie torte
7/9: Wednesday (14)
Baked Mostacolli - Garlic bread
Salad
Rhubarb cake or crumble
7/10: Thursday (14) Alexanders
7/11: Friday (13 or
15 or 16)
BBQ chicken (15 chicken breasts)
Lemon fusilli
with arugula (home p 120)
Roasted asparagus
Pistachio rose blondies
7/12: Saturday (15 or
16)
Grilled steak and arugula (easy p
143) (6-8 lbs steak)
Baked potato
Corn or roasted summer veggies
Grapefruit cake
7/13: Sunday (10)
sloppy joes (2-3lbs burger)
salad
ice cream!
RED CABBAGE-JALAPEÑO SLAW
½ small red cabbage, halved and sliced crosswise into thin strips (about 3 cups sliced cabbage)
¼ red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 small jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced crosswise
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime
½ cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
Place the cabbage, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro in a
medium bowl. Slice the lime in half lengthwise and then cut one half
into 4 wedges; set aside for serving.Juice
the remaining lime half into a small bowl. Add the vinegar, sugar and
salt and whisk to dissolve, then pour the vinegar mixture over the
cabbage mixture. Toss and squeeze with your hand to combine and set
aside. Stir and squeeze the slaw every 5 to 10 minutes.
To cap off this outstanding summer week, my sweet husband
turned 51 yesterday. Doug is a big sailor. It's pretty much his
favorite thing to do. I am not so fond of flying across Lake Michigan
on a Hobie 16. I'm not a fraidy cat in the rest of mylife but there's something decidedly uncomfortable to me about heading away from shore and bobbing around on that giant lake. But at least once a year I suck it up and don my sailor suit, and it's
usually on Doug's birthday. So Monday night our dear friends the Sheridans joined us for a
birthday sail and beach dinner.
And cupcakes 
