Girlfriends November December

Faribault • Northfield • Owatonna • St. Peter • WasecaIN

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Chatfest: St. Peter women talk about holiday traditions they would and wouldn’t change.

We Time: Enjoy the holiday celebrations taking place throughout the region.

Play Clothes: Mary Closner’s “holiday family” had friends and loved ones scratching their heads. Girlfriends Magazine • P.O. Box 537 • Northfield, MN 55057

Giving back is nothing new

to this circle of friends

Battling celiac diseaseMore and more people

finding it necessary to go on a gluten-free diet.

NOV./DEC. 2009

Holiday bakingEverybody has a favorite

holiday cookie. We’ll share some readers’ choices.

where local women turn

There is a lot of pressure to compete when you’re

single and the festive Christmas season is the worst.

You know you are only one trip to the mailbox away from a barrage of competitive family holiday letters. Pictures of Jimmy Jr.’s soccer championship and little Suzi with her cheerleading trophies are sure to be enclosed.

Worse yet, the family photo with the whole gang in matching sweaters and the family pet sport-ing a set of laugh-out-loud-pee-your-pants-funny antlers. Yikes!

I haven’t taken any trips to Italy this last year. I don’t have a husband who won a sales contest that resulted in my third all-ex-penses-paid vacation to Maui. I didn’t take the kids for a “cruise experience.” And I didn’t gradu-ate magna cum laude. I don’t even have a pet I can dress in an insipid costume.

So, how does a swinging single gal compete? She hires a fake family for her holiday photo, of course. Years ago, I managed to con the 6-foot 6-inch handsome husband of a gal friend to get a haircut and wear a suit in order to pose for a “family” photo with me.

Next came a recently adopted Chinese baby girl (borrowed from a friend of a friend). Another

pal loaned me her aging golden retriever, Zack.

And to round out the picture-perfect family unit, a tow-headed boy with definite hockey potential was added.

One borrowed engagement ring and a blood-red manicure later, I was posed in front of the cheesy fake fireplace mural at the huge chain pet store. The overly peppy photographer kept referring to my “husband” and was quite confused when I mentioned he was married to the woman who was standing in the dog food aisle.

When the photographer asked my “daughter’s” name, I gave the guy standing off camera a quizzi-cal look. “Emma,” he answered. The photographer gave up trying

to understand what was going on and held up a squeaky toy to attract the dog’s attention.

The tragic reality about the final photo is everyone but me is looking directly into the camera. I was mesmerized by the fluffy dog toy and staring straight at it like a deer caught in the headlights.

Once everyone had been suffi-ciently bribed with breakfast and returned to their proper owner/family/household, I prepared to mail my festive postcards. “Happy

Holidays … Love Mary, Steve, Emma, Cole & Zack!” Pre-printed, no explanation, no warning. I mailed those suckers out. And I mean to everyone.

My Mom called im-mediately upon receiving her 5 x 7 enlargement and told me she thought it was sacrilegious. Her main question: “Where did you get the baby?”

My fake spouse mailed a copy to his parents who called in horror thinking he had divorced their beloved daughter-in-law (who they technically like better than him). Grandparents of my fake children were not amused either. My friends called imme-diately clogging my voicemail

with frantic messages all along the lines of “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us/invite us/ introduce us/warn us….” Then the gifts started arriving.

It never occurred to me that my pals would think I was seri-ous. After all, these people know me. But the best was the woman who told me “I knew you were pregnant the last time I saw you…congratulations!” When I admitted the photo was a fake and I had never actually birthed anyone, she was quite mortified. I, on the other hand, thought it was hysterical!

I have never received so much communication as a result of one of my holiday mailings. It was worth it to be able to catch up with all the people in my life who normally never contact me.

Maybe this year I’ll get a Dal-matian, a red-headed husband, and a daughter who plays football just to change it up a bit! Remem-ber, if you don’t have the perfect family, you can just borrow one for the day. It’s all about keeping up those appearances.

Happy Holidays! G

— Mary Closner LOVES the holidays and is in an unsuccessful 12-step program to deal with her obsession for collecting ornaments.

Girlfriends.mn 3 Nov./Dec. 2009

Mary Closner

Keeping up with the Joneses during the holidays Play Clothes

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Happy Holidays

Volume 2, Issue 1Copyright © Girlfriends 2009Published Nov./Dec. 2009 by: I-35 Target Media, P.O. Box 537, Northfield, MN 55057 / 507-645-1136Send releases and story ideas to: Jerry Smith at Girlfriends Magazine, [email protected]

Publisher: Julie Frazier Associate Editor: Jerry Smith Account Executive: Machelle KendrickGraphic Designer: Ashley Ptacek Contributing writers: Kari Berit, Mary Closner, and Amy Roemhildt.Girlfriends make-up artist: Lisa-MarieCover decorations: Forget-Me-Not

Cover PhotoThe more Candy Taylor, Emily Monaghan, Missy Donkers and Jennifer Sawyer volunteer with the Northfield YMCA and other projects, the closer they become. Page 6.(Photo by Kelli Wencl)

About Us

20

Girlfriends NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

Features8 HOLIDAY COOKIES Nearly every woman has a holiday cookie recipe that was passed down from her mother or is a family tradition. We bring you cookies with history.

22 ST. PETER ‘CHATFEST’ Holiday traditions are what you make them. From serving Oyster Stew on Christmas Eve to singing Christmas carols, traditions vary.

28 CELIAC DISEASE MEANS DIETARY CHANGES Celiac disease affects 1 in 133 Americans. With those numbers, it’s getting easier to find gluten-free products and recipes.

34 HOLIDAY HAIR DOS Many women find it energizing to spend a couple of hours in a salon chair. Trudi Connors of Xpressions Salon in Waseca talks about what some women are looking for in a holiday hair do.

Women We Know16 GIVING BACK Gail Kaderlik believes giving back to her community is a privilege and an honor.

38 INSPIRED Nerstrand’s Dennise Feidt doesn’t have to spend a whole lot to make beautiful holiday ornaments.

Accessories3 Play Clothes

5 Contributing Writers

6-7 Covergirls

17 Power of the Purse

18 Unexpected Caregiver

20-21 We Time

28

Look for your next issue of Girlfriends the week of January 4

838

HOLIDAY ISSUE!


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Contributing Writers

Kari Berit

Kari Berit is a freelance writer living in Red Wing. She is the author of “The Unexpected Caregiver.” Mary

Closner

Mary Closner is the humor columnist for Girlfriends. She’ll tell you about her faux family in “Play Clothes.”

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Machelle KendrickSales Executive507-645-1135

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Jerry Smith

Jerry Smith is Associate Editor for Girl-friends. He lives in Northfield with his wife and two boys. Amy

Roemhildt

Amy Roemhildt is a free-lance writer who lives in Janesville. She owns Akorn Creations.


Cover Girls

(From left) Owa-tonna Rotarians Stephanie Olson, Lonna Lysne, Marlene Levine, Susan Petterson, Barbara Jacob-son and Betsy Lindgren use the Rotary Club as a springboard to other

Girlfriends photo

A friendship born out of a call to civic dutyBy JERRY SMITH

Jennifer Sawyer receives the gift of friendship each

and every day from Candy Taylor, Emily Monaghan and Missy Donkers.

The same can be said for the others as well. It’s a group of friends that gives what it gets.

But this is no ordinary group of women. Nor is it an ordinary friendship. Born out of a call to civic duty, this friendship has strong bonds on both a professional and a personal level.

“We’ve come together as business partners with a common mission in mind, and then along the way we have formed an amazing friendship,” said Monaghan, a board member for the North-field Area Family YMCA, the catalyst for this friendship. “We can be completely honest with each other as it relates

to the mission of the YMCA without our friendship getting in the way.”

Monaghan was a relative newcomer to town when she was introduced to the other

women. It was a chance hap-pening that has cemented the group.

“My first experience meet-ing Emily was on a rainy day in a parking lot,” said Sawyer, a former YMCA board mem-ber who now serves on one of the committees. “I knew she was really smart and committed, so I rolled down my window to see if I could recruit her to be the chair of the Governor’s Ball for our sesquicentennial. And just as I was about to get it out, she rolled down her window and said she’d like to talk to me about the YMCA.”

The rest is history.The group has built on its

five-year quest together to bring a YMCA to the North-field community. With the same deep-rooted core values, the four women have called on one another in other com-munity building efforts as well. >>>

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Girlfriends photo by Kelli Wencl of Ginger Snaps Photography

Emily Monaghan, Jennifer Sawyer, Missy Donkers and Candy Taylor have become close friends through their commitment to Northfield.


>>> “We all have the need and desire to live in a strong community and kind of help create one and keep it go-ing,” said Donkers, a YMCA board member. “And I think we all have a strong attitude about volunteering and how it helps our lives and how it helps other lives.”

Friendship is defined by George Elliot as “the inex-pressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words.”

This expression captures the essence of the friend-ship that Sawyer, Monaghan, Donkers and Taylor share. When two or more people share a strong bond of mutu-al understanding and respect, it lays the foundation for an everlasting friendship.

“I think we have a pur-poseful friendship that sustains time,” Sawyer said. “We work every day on a common mission to build the fabric of a part of this community and we’re really proud of that. That happens to be the YMCA. We work with other non-profits, too. We’re building something that will be a part of my life

forever.”With such a close friend-

ship comes admiration and the desire to work together on other projects, and to be a part of one another’s lives.

“I admire each of these women,” said Taylor, a YMCA board member and fundraiser. “I admire their values and the way they raise their children and their commitment to community.

I think it is so cool to have a group of friends that push you to be a better person.”

Donkers says the relation-ship the four women share is different than other relation-ships she’s had born out of community service and volunteerism.

“We’ve talked about having friends outside of what we do together as volunteers for the community and it’s just a dif-

ferent kind of relationship,” she said. “It’s a different kind of girlfriends thing. I respect these women and I’m comfortable calling any one of them if I have a question about anything.”

When asked if this friend-ship will bloom outside the realm of community service, the collective answer was “eventually.”

“That’s our next phase,” Sawyer said. “We work so hard in the community that we don’t often have time to socialize. Sure, we’ve done things together, but not like we should. I have every intention of getting around to it.”

For Taylor, that part of the relationship has existed, but not with all of the women at once.

“We’ve done it, but we haven’t done it as the four of us,” she said. “It’s been in pairs. There is no doubt we’ll have this strong bond and friendship for years to come.

“What we strive to do is share our treasures, talents and gifts with our communi-ty first, then with ourselves. It’s a wonderful basis for friendship.” G

Girlfriends photo by Kelli Wencl of Ginger Snaps Photography

Emily Monaghan, Missy Donkers, Candy Taylor and Jennifer Sawyer (kneeling), have all been called gifts to this community by various leaders. The four friends are a part of an effort to bring a YMCA to Northfield, and are involved in other community projects.

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Girlfriends Winter Mystery Getaway

CookiesRecipes with history Bakingholidaycookiesandtreatsforfamilyandfriendsisalong-standingtraditionformanyaroundChristmas.Thesmelloffreshlybakedcookiesandtheholidaysseemtogotogether. InthisissueofGirlfriends,we’llsharesomeofourreaders’favoriteholidaycookierecipesandlearnthestoriesbehindtheircreations.Manyoftherecipeshavebeenpasseddownfromgenerationtogenerationandsomearetriedandtruerecipeswithanewtwist.We’lleventhrowinafewofourfavoriterecipes.Whoknows,maybethey’llbecomeoneofyourfavoritecookies,too.

KarenAdamshasbeenmakingherversionofthesaltednutrollfortheholidaysfor16years.Shesaystherecipewaspasseddownfromhermom,RoseLundquist.“IhelpedhermaketheseasIwasgrowingup,”shesaid.“Itwasaspecialtreat.Ilikecandymorethanthecookies,sothisisagreatrecipeforme.” Adamssaidhermomputthisrecipeinacookbookshegaveallfiveofthekidsinthefamilyanditisafamilyfavorite.

Combine first five items listed. Knead and form into 1-inch thick logs. Logs shouldn’t be too long to handle (6-inches at most). Wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper. Refrigerate.

Melt caramels with 1 tablespoon cream. Double boiler is good, but using a microwave is fine. Just barely melted. You will be working directly with your hands so not too hot to burn! I will sometimes re-melt the caramel if it gets too stiff to work with, but then it does get harder as it sets.

Have 1 lb. nuts chopped and ready to go in a loaf pan (the fine powder from chopping is not helpful; solid chunks or halves are the best).

Unwrap and roll logs into the caramel. Try it any way you like, but I’ve ended up pouring a thin strip of caramel into the nuts the length of the log. Working fast, place the log on nuts and pour more caramel, using a spatula.

Wrap in plastic wrap for a tight fit and refrigerate or freeze. Let the log warm slightly to not quite room temperature and slice. It’s hard if it is super cold. Mushy if room temp. Little candy cups are nice but not necessary.

Salted Nut Rolls Karen Adams, Northfield

¹ ³ cup butter1 lb. box powdered sugar (2 cups)1 teaspoon vanilla¼ cup light corn syrup

½ teaspoon salt1 bag of caramels1 Tablespoon cream1 lb. jar of cashews or other nuts

GregandBonnieKruegermovedtoOwatonnainthefallof1980tomanage,andlaterpurchase,theSt.Clair’sForMenclothingstore.Beingnewintownandunemployedatthetime,BonniesuggestedmakingChristmascookiesforthestoreandasgifts. “AlthoughIhavehadafull-timejobandraisedtwosonssince,thepracticehascontinuedandthiswillbemy30thseasonofmakingcookiesforourcustomerstoenjoyontheweekends,”saidBonnie,whobakesthecookiesfromtheweekbeforeThanksgivingthroughChristmas.“Iusuallymakefiveorsixdozenof10-12differentcookies,barsandcandy.“Ihavetriedmanydifferentrecipesovertheyears,butPeanutBlossomsandRussianTeaCakesarealwaysapartofmyChristmastray.”

Cream sugars and shortening together. Add egg and beat until smooth. Add peanut butter, milk and vanilla, then blend in flour, soda and salt.

Shape into 1-inch balls, roll in white sugar and place on ungreased pan. Bake 10-12 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Immediately press a kiss in to the center of each cookie; cookie will crack around the edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack and cool.

This recipe can be frozen. Remove what you need 30-45 minutes before serving.

Peanut Blossoms Bonnie Krueger, Owatonna

½ cup white sugar½ cup brown sugar½ cup shortening1 egg½ cup creamy peanut butter2 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla1 ¾ cup flour1 teaspoon baking soda½ teaspoon salt48 Hershey kisses

“ I am still convinced that a good, simple, homemade cookie is preferable to all the store-bought cookies one can find.”

- James Beard

More R

ecipes

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It’saholidaytraditionforDoreenSanbornandherfamilytohelpothersduringtheholidays.SanbornsaysthatthereisnobetterwaythantobakeandsellChristmascookies.“Themoneywegetfromcookiesalesgoesforagoodcause,”saidSanbornofthe 10-year tradition. “My daughter is a St. Paul police officer, so thepastfouryearswe’veraisedmoneyforherandotherstogotoWashington,D.C.,ontheUnityTour. “Beforethat,inlieuofbuyinggifts,wedidbakesalesanddonatedthemoneytowardbuyingChristmasmealsforneedyfamilies.”Sanborn’sNutGoodieBarrecipewaspasseddowntoherfromhermother.Shesaysit’sherhusband’sfavorite.

Melt together chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and peanut butter, put half of this in a 9 x 13 buttered pan and place in refrigerator.

Melt butter, milk and vanilla non-instant pudding mix and bring this to a simmer. Add powdered sugar and maple flavoring.

Pour over first chocolate mixture from the refrigerator. Add salted peanuts to the remaining chocolate mixture and put on top. Keep in the refrigerator.

Nut Goodie Bars Doreen Sanborn, Faribault

6 oz. package chocolate chips6 oz. package butterscotch chips1 cup peanut butter1 stick of butter¼ cup milk

2 Tablespoons of vanilla non-instant pudding mix3 cups of powdered sugar½ teaspoon of maple flavoring1 cup salted peanuts

Gather your favorite holiday recipes and put together a cookbook for an inexpensive,

one-of-a-kind Christmas gift.

Great Gift Idea >>>

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AllysonBernstorflovestobakeChristmascookies.WhileBernstorfissomewhatlimitedinwhatshecanbake,shedoesn’tletthefactthatshehasceliacdiseasestopherfromenjoyingthewonderfulbakedgoodsoftheseason.OneofherfavoritesistheRangerCookie,whichwaspasseddownfromgenerationtogeneration.“It’ssomethingmygrandmotherandmothermade,”Bernstorfsaid.“Iadapteditandpeoplewouldn’tevenknowit’sgluten-free.Beingabletoadaptrecipeshashelpedmemaintainmyloveofbaking.”

Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat shortening, sugar and brown sugar at medium speed in large bowl with electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until fluffy.

Blend in flour, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Mix in chocolate chips, oatmeal, coconut, craisins, cereal and nuts.

Drop a heaping teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet two inches apart. Flatten slightly with fork. Bake in center of oven for 9-11 minutes until golden brown.

For convection ovens, bake at 350 degrees using no more than three trays at a time. Transfer to a wire rack and cool. Store in airtight container.

•FormoreinformationonCeliacDisease,seepages28-32

Gluten-free Ranger Cookies Allyson Bernstorf, Northfield

1 cup vegetable shortening (not butter or margarine)1 cup sugar½ cup brown sugar2 eggs1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons brown rice flour mix* (see right)1½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt1 teaspoon xanthan gum12 ounces chocolate chips 1 cup Gluten Free oatmeal1 cup coconut¾ cup craisins1 cup lightly crushed gluten-free Honey Nut Chex cereal1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

*Brown rice flour mix2 cups brown rice flour (extra finely ground)2 ³ cup potato starch½ cup tapioca flour(Mix ingredients well)

Baking spray to grease cookie sheets

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JoanKellersaysshetakesrecipesandtweaksthemtohertasteandbyallaccountsshe’sbeensuccessfulbecauseherfamilylovesherChristmascookies. “ManyyearsagoIsawtherecipeforfrostedsugarcookiesinamagazineandIlikedthemsomuch,Istuckwithit,”Kellersaid.“I’vemadesmallchanges,butnotmany.It’sjustagreatrecipeandeverybodyenjoysthecookies. “Imakealotofcookiesfortheholidaysandeveryyear,thefrostedsugarcookiesgooverbig.I’llkeepmakingthemuntiltheydon’t.” KellersaysherfondnessforbakingcomesfromyearsandyearsofSaturdaysinthekitchenwithhermother.“Saturdaywasthedaymymotherwouldbake,”Kellersaid.“That’swhyIthinkIpreferbakingovercooking.”

Mix well and chill dough. Divide dough and roll out about 1/6 at a time. Roll dough on well-floured surface to about ½-inch thick. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters. Put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 5-8 minutes in 400 degree oven. Cool before frosting. (The dough can be re-rolled several times).

Frosted Sugar CookiesJoan Keller, Owatonna

Cutout Sugar Cookies 1 cup butter1 cup sugar1 eggMix together with mixer and beat well

Add: 3 ½ cups flour1 ½ teaspoons baking powder½ teaspoon salt3 Tablespoons cream or evaporated milk1 teaspoon vanilla

>>>

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Frosting for Sugar Cookies

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Beat all ingredients together. Use enough hot milk so the frosting can be spread on the cookies smooth and thin. Add a little more hot milk if the frosting starts to thicken before you are finished frosting all the cookies. Decorate with colored sprinkles or as you desire. Let the cookies dry well before storing. (You can add food coloring for different colored frosting).


AweekorsobeforeChristmas,wesetasideportionsoftheentireweekendforour“HolidayBakeFest.”Mywife,mytwosonsandIpickoutacoupleofholidaycookieswewanttobakeandthefunbegins. Eventhoughitreallyisn’tacookie,myMom’s“ChowMeinCandyClusters”remindmeofChristmasespast.That’swhyno“HolidayBakeFest”wouldbecompletewithoutmyfavoritetreat.It’ssimple,it’sfuntomake,it’sdeliciousandeverybodylovesit.

1. Melt butterscotch chips in a double boiler and cool at room temperature. 2. Add mixed nuts, chow mein noodles and melted butter3. Take a heaping Tablespoon of the mixture and drop it on waxed paper to form a butterscotch cluster.

Chow Mein Candy ClustersJerry Smith, Associate Editor

6-8 ounces of butterscotch morsels1 cup of mixed nuts3 ½ cups of chow mein noodles½ cup of margarine or butter

Everybody has a favorite cookie or treat during the holidays. The staff of Girlfriends magazine would like to wish you happy holidays and give you a glimpse into our holiday recipe books. Here are a couple

of our favorite cookies/treats, for more recipes and staff favorites visit www.girlfriends.mn.

Itwasholidaybakingtimeandonacollegebudget,myroommateAbbeyandIwerediscussingeasyandinexpensivebak-inggoodieswecouldmaketosharewithourfriendsandfamilies. WhensheaskedmeifIhadeverhad“SnowmanPoop”Ilaughed,butwithanamelikethatIjusthadtoknowwhatitwas.Ihadnoideaitwouldbecomemyfavoriteholidaytreat! EachholidaysinceIhavemadeSnowmanPoopforfriendsandfamily,anditseemsasthougheveryonegetsakickoutofthenameandwantstherecipe.

1. Crush Oreos very fine. In a large bowl, mix Oreos and cream cheese until completely blended.2. Roll Oreo mixture into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Place in freezer for 15 minutes.3. Melt almond bark and spoon over Oreo balls, coating the top and sides. Let sit until almond bark sets before enjoying. Store refrigerated in a covered container.

Snowman PoopAshley Ptacek, Graphic Designer

1 package Oreos8-ounce package cream cheeseAlmond bark

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Giving Back

Kaderlik has the gift of caring for her communityBy JERRY SMITH

Gail Kaderlik is a firm believer in the adage that

we are who we are because of where we came from.

With that in mind, she credits her parents for helping her to see that giving back to your community is a privilege and an honor rather than a burden.

“The gifts that you get back are so much more than what you give,” Kaderlik said. “How can you do it without having a happy heart?”

It’s that way of thinking that makes Kaderlik a perfect fit for her role as vice president of the United Way of Faribault and other volunteer efforts she takes part in.

Kaderlik has been involved in the United Way for three years, including a stint as last year’s campaign chair. That has helped her vision moving forward.

“I believe in the United Way initiatives,” she said. “If we can all do something, we can create

a better tomorrow.”Kaderlik has a big stake in

this year’s United Way Cam-paign: “Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” Her approach to raising money for the campaign is different than in years past. She believes that the way we live our lives can impact the way others live theirs.

“We know the majority of people can’t give like in years past,” Kaderlik said. “But if we can inspire them with a story, that can connect them with a cause. It doesn’t always have to be about giving money.”

Kaderlik gives back to her community in other ways, as well. One of programs she is

most passionate about is the “Meals on Wheels” program. Being involved is her way of giving back.

“If there aren’t volunteers, then some people don’t eat,” she said. “If I had more time, I would love to do more. I find it so rewarding talking to the people I take meals to.”

While Kaderlik is happy to volunteer in her community, she knows it is people like Dr. Michael Richie who make it possible.

“The reason I’m able to be a part of the United Way is because Dr. Richie believes in what that organization is do-ing,” said Kaderlik, who also is busy as a sitting member of The Merlin Players. “He’s a big believer in community and that makes it easier for him to be flexible about my time.

“I think that there are a lot of people who desire to give back, but unfortunately not all of them work for womeone as gracious as I do.” G

Girlfriends photo by Thom Caya

Gail Kaderlik believes she is getting back far more than she gives as the vice president of the United Way of Faribault.


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Women unite to open the ‘Power of the Purse’

By JERRY SMITH

When organizers of the “Power of the Purse”

fundraiser set their goals more than two months ago, they were shooting for unique.

What they will offer those in attendance on Nov. 13 will far exceed that.

According to organizers, “Bag, Borrow or Squeal!” will not only be different, it will be a one-of-a-kind event with the added benefit of rais-ing money for those in need in Faribault.

“This event is about having fun by doing good,” said Machelle Kendrick, one of the organiz-ers of the event and a member of the board of directors for the United Way of Faribault. “For altruistic shop-pers, this women’s expo/event is a win-win. You get to shop in a one-of-a-kind venue and the proceeds from the night of Friday the 13th — much better than Black Friday — go directly to the United Way.”

Offering a mini-mall shopping experience with more than 40 regional businesses and bringing together interests like alternative healing, intuitives and home-based businesses, “Bag, Borrow or Squeal!” is sure to be a hit.

According to Marcia Morris-Beck, Executive Director of the United Way in Faribault, the event will include a women’s expo atmosphere with interest-ing and interactive booths that offer fun and enlightening expe-riences such as massage therapy,

psychics, information to help you feel good about yourself and beautiful gift items.

“This event will not only be a way for women to network with other women,” Morris-Beck said, “but they will also get to enjoy wine and appetizer pairings and have an opportunity to bid on wonderful items for a good cause.”

Kendrick says the value of the auction items will exceed

$2,000, with the top prize, a purse donated by Anna’s Closet in Northfield, valued at $275.

The event will be held from 5:13-8:13 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, at the Crossroads Pro Building at the intersection of Highways 3 and 21.

“We’re kind of putting the storefronts in Crossroads for this fundraiser,” Morris-Beck said. “We haven’t put a dollar amount to our goal, but we want to exceed what we raised during the first Power of the Purse event, which was held in March.”

Gail Kaderlik, vice president of the United Way and a “Power of the Purse” committee member, believes fundraisers like “Bag, Borrow or Squeal!” not only bring together a unique bunch of women, but also allow the United Way to seek donations from different people.

“We’re trying to get commu-nity members to connect with what matters,” she said. “This event is a fun way to do that. Rather than seeking contribu-tions from the usual givers, we’re thinking outside the box.” G


A new tradition: Re-gifting for the holidaysAs a little girl, I shook

more than my fair share of Christmas gifts, trying to figure out if I was finally getting a Barbie doll or the annual blue, fuzzy bath-robe. Nothing against the bathrobe, but ever since my big sister had gotten her first Barbie, I wanted one, too.

As I get older, the things I want are those items that I’ll get “when someone dies.” But why are we waiting until death to pass along certain possessions? It’s understand-able: We don’t talk about passing on possessions be-cause it’s too close to talking about our parents passing on, and death is a subject our culture mostly avoids at any cost. That’s too bad, because end-of-life planning is such an important thing to do, and divvying up the stuff — in a way that’s meaningful and satisfying to your parents — should be part of that process.

Don’t look on it as morbid. If anything, as a matter of

practicality, it will be easier to make decisions before a triggering event (like death) occurs. There’s time for your parents to choose how they want the process handled. There’s time to let everyone in the family be as involved or uninvolved as they want to be. There’s time to make decisions, and then make changes to those decisions.

Talking with Mom and Dad about their stuff

Use this article to bring up the idea of passing along possessions for the holidays: “Hey Mom and Dad, I saw this article about holiday gifting and wonder what you think.” The conversation may end there, but don’t give up. A second conversation

may start with, “How are your friends passing on their possessions? Are any of them giving away things now?”

One of the best inheri-tances I received came from a living grandmother. At my Grandma Jo’s fu-neral in 1994, my paternal grandfather gave my sister Anne grandma’s wedding ring. Grandma Gladys, my maternal grandmother, was still living. When she heard what happened, she took off her thin wedding band and gave it to me. “Here Kari,” she said, “since Anne got Grandma Jo’s ring, I’d like you to have mine.”

It was incredibly special for her to give me her ring while she was alive. She knew I had admired that small band ever since I was little. I wear it along with my wedding bands and consider it a price-less heirloom.

Nothing I’ve seen sug-gests there’s a norm for how families handle the issue of who gets mom’s and dad’s

stuff. Sometimes, the parents decide on their own. Some-times, I’m sure, it’s done collaboratively. Mostly, I’d be willing to guess, the kids have to figure it out as a part of settling up the estate. I’ve seen that far more often than any other alternative.

Trust me, you don’t want to put this off until your parents are gone and you’re selling the house and dispos-ing of the stuff that’s still in it in a mad rush to settle the estate. Emotions are going to be too raw at that point. This really should be a joyous exercise, so why not use this holiday season as a time to suggest a new tradition.

Re-gifting cherished heir-looms can mean more than a frivolous new do-dad from the local box store.

— Kari Berit (www.Kari-Berit.com) is the author of “The Unexpected Caregiver: How Boomers Can Keep Mom & Dad Active, Safe and Independent.”

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Holiday We TimeWhere local women go for holiday celebrations

1 LONG WEEKEND.MANY HOLIDAY EVENTS.Some of the region’s biggest holiday events start on Dec. 3 in various communities and run throughout the weekend. This begs the question: Where will you begin?

Weekend ofDec. 3-6

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Look for more details on these and many more holiday celebrations on the adjoining page!

Hometown Holiday WeekendOwatonna: Hometown Holiday Event with lighted Christmas parade, carolers, refreshments, “Lighting of Lights” in Central Park and Bandshell and great deals at downtown merchants. Dec. 3-5

11th Annual Winter WalkNorthfield: Stroll through unique shops, dine at fine restaurants, and enjoy festive caroling, horse-drawn wagon rides, storytelling, luminar-ies, decorated storefronts and much, much more! Dec. 3

Christmas in the VillageOwatonna: Enjoy horse drawn sleigh rides, Santa and Mrs. Claus, our famous cookie sale, music, and more in the Village of Yesteryear! Free admission, but donations are appreciated! Dec. 4-5

21st Annual Sights & Sounds of Christmas HousewalkWaseca: Tour five beauti-ful homes decorated for the holidays, plus a wonderful Christmas Tea at a Victorian house to benefit the Waseca Arts Council. Dec. 5-6

Christmas in St. PeterChristmas in Christ Chapel: Celebrate the season with music, dance and theater in beautiful Christ Chapel on the cam-pus of Gustavus Adolphus College. There are several performances from which to choose, but tickets go fast. Dec. 4-6

Christmas at Cox House: Victorian Christmas decorations, music and refreshments at the restored historic Cox House. Dec. 5-6 and Dec. 12-13


More holiday celebrations in your neck of the woods

FARIBAULT

Bethlehem Academy presents:Holiday Gathering 2009Saturday, Nov. 21

Featuring: Silent Auction with over 150 Unique Gift Baskets; Buffet Luncheon catered by Marlene Gustafson

When/Where: Registration & Bidding from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Main Lobby & Van Orsow Auditorium; Buffet Luncheon begins at 12:15 p.m. in the B.A. cafeteria

Donation: $12.50 for Luncheon & Bid Num-ber; $ 5.00 for bid number only. Tickets available at the Bethlehem Academy office @ 334-3948.

5K Reindeer RunSaturday, Dec. 5

Time: 1 block Kid’s Reindeer Dash – 9:10 a.m. (ages 3-11); 5K Reindeer Run – Starter’s Gun at 9:30 a.m.

Fee: $20 (non-refundable) before Dec. 1 Where: Boston’s Restaurant,125 1st Avenue NEInformation: 507-330-0108 (Lisa Humfeld-

Wilson)

NORTHFIELD

11th Annual Winter WalkThursday, Dec. 3

What: Enjoy Northfield by candlelight! Stroll through unique shops, dine at fine restaurants, and enjoy fine caroling, horse-drawn wagon rides, storytelling, luminaries, decorated store-fronts and much, much more!

Information: Call the Chamber office at (507) 645-5604.

Merry Tuba ChristmasSaturday, Dec. 5

Time: 3 p.m.What: An annual celebration of Christmas. Where: Buntrock Commons, Crossroads at St. Olaf UniversityWho: Alumni, students, parents and staffContact: Paul Niemisto (507-786-2222) Concert: The St. Olaf PhilharmonicaSunday, Dec. 13

Time: 3:30 p.m.What: An annual holidy concert, conducted by Martin Hodel.

Where: Boe Memorial Chapel Who: Alumni, students, faculty, public, parents and staffContact: Miranda Bryan (507-786-2222) OWATONNA

32nd Annual Santa’s CellarFriday, Nov. 13 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and Saturday, Nov. 14 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

What: Our 32nd year of exquisite gifts and holiday decorations, including glass art, jewelry, baskets, floral designs and ornaments.

Where: Steele County Community Center at the Fair Grounds

Information: Contact the Owatonna Cham-ber (507-451-7970)

Christmas in the VillageThursday, Dec. 3 and Friday, Dec. 4

What: Step back in time for a Victorian Christmas. Enjoy horse drawn sleigh rides, Santa and Mrs. Claus, music and more.

Where: Village of YesteryearInformation: Contact the Owatonna Cham-

ber (507-451-7970)

Holiday EleganceThursday, Dec. 3 (6 p.m)

What: Preview evening at the Dunnell House. Join us for food and wine and get a glimpse of the decorated Dunnell House before it is open to the public

Where: Village of YesteryearCost: $25 (Fundraiser for the new Historical

Center)RSVP: 507-451-1420

Hometown Holiday WeekendThursday, Dec. 3 - Sunday, Dec. 6

What: The weekend will begin with a lighted “Caroling Parade” at 6 p.m. on Cedar ending at Central Park, where the annual “Lighting of the Lights” will take place. Cider and cookies will be served, while carolers will perform in the band shell.

Where: Downtown OwatonnaInformation: Contact the Owatonna Cham-

ber (507-451-7970)

Christmas at the State SchoolFriday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec. 5

Time: 1-4 p.m.

What: Come join us for cookies, cider, his-tory and fellowship.

Where: State School C11 (West Hills Complex)

Information: 800-423-6466

Holiday TrainMonday, Dec. 7 (4:30-5:30 p.m.)

What: This will be the 11th year for the DM&E and CP Holiday Train tour. The Train will be decorated with thousands of lights and there will be live music at each stop.

Where: 1145 Park Drive (near the Bus Com-pany, Wenger Trailer Storage and water tower).

Cost: Bring a cash or food donation.Information: Call T. J. Nelson (605-782-

1222)

ST. PETER

Christmas in Christ ChapelFriday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec. 5

What: Celebrate the season with music, dance and theater in the beautiful Christ Chapel on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College.

Information: Tickets required ... contact Gustavus Public Affairs at 507-933-7520.

Christmas at Cox HouseSaturday, Dec. 5 & 12 and Sunday, Dec. 6 & 13

Time: 1-4 p.m. each dayWhat: Enjoy Victorian Christmas decorations,

music and refreshments at this restored historic home.

Where: 500 N Washington Ave.Information: (507) 934-4309

WASECA

Christmas in Our CitySaturday, Nov. 21

What: A holiday spirit kickoff with an official lighting of trees and Santa Claus arriving on a fire truck. Cookies and hot chocolate will be available.

Information: Contact the Waseca Area Chamber of Commerce (507-835-3260)

Sights & Sounds of Christmas HousewalkSaturday, Dec. 5 and Sunday, Dec. 6

What: Tour five beautiful homes decorated for the holidays, plus have tea at a Victorian house.

Call: Waseca Arts Council (507-835-1701)

Holidaytraditions

Chatfest

From Santa to stew, St. Peter women discuss holiday changes through the years

When Carolyn Mager was married in June, holiday

traditions were the furthest thing from her mind.

But as she sat listening to four other women from St. Peter chat about how the holidays changed when they were married, her ears perked up and she started taking mental notes.

By the end of the “Chatfest” con-versation, Mager had figured out that she has an opportunity to mix the old with the new and to create her own holiday traditions with her husband and with the children she plans to have in the future.

“I knew things would change, but hearing the others talk about their wonderful experiences

opened my eyes a bit,” Mager said. “I certainly have an opportunity to create my own traditions, just like these women have.”

Here is what Carolyn Mager, Jean Gansen, Nancy Kluck, Brenda Todd Bense and Schelli Olmanson McCabe had to say about their holiday tradi-tions during the St. Peter Chatfest.

Girlfriends: What are some of the holiday traditions you cherish?

Nancy: It took a long time once I was married and had my children to establish our own holiday traditions. We lived un-der the traditions of our family for many years.

Only as my parents started to become elderly and they couldn’t have the gatherings any more did we start develop-ing personal traditions. So they are not at all like I grew up.

Some are more relaxed be-cause I grew up in a time when traditions were very important and very rigid and you just did it the same way every time.

There was never any flex-ibility. Flexibility now is the fun part of our traditions in our family.

Jean: When I was grow-ing up, every Christmas Eve we went to my grandma and grandpa’s house. And as I got married, we stuck with that, but my husband’s mom wanted us at her house on Christmas Eve. So it was go here for a couple of hours, go there for a couple of hours.

When our son was born, we put the brakes on and said we couldn’t do that. We divided it out. Both of our families live in town, which is nice, so we don’t really have to travel. We see one family on Christmas

Eve and one family on Christ-mas day. We spent seven years hopping around from place to place, going where everyone else wanted to go.

We finally said that we have to make our own traditions. It was very hard for my grandma for us not to go to her house on Christmas Eve. Once we started, the rest of the family kind of followed.

Nancy: I think what is interesting about that, too, is that when I think back to my

parents and they were doing this, they were more like what we’re doing now because they lived farther away from there parents. Both parents lived in town with us and when I was a child, we didn’t go to grandma’s house on Christmas or Christ-mas Eve because grandma lived too far away. So we had all of these personal traditions.

And then as we grew up and had our own families, it was like my mom wanted to have us all of the time. And we had the same thing. We had my

husband’s parents and we were going to both every Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Thanksgiv-ing Day.

Now with my children, it’s like, you pick when you can be here. Guess what? We can survive with just the two of us. It’s actually kind of fun.

Brenda: In our own family unit, Santa Claus still comes, even though I have a 15 year old and a 19 year old. Santa religiously comes every Christ-mas morning. And he has come no matter where we are. But I would say the last 10 years we’ve made a point of being home for Christmas morning and to this day, the stockings get filled, always with an apple and an orange and candy bars and all of that, and I’ve gotten them Hallmark ornaments. So every year, one gets the football ornament and the other the baseball ornament. I think as a family, we have tried to carry that on. It’s been 18 years so far, so I would hope that would continue.

Then one of the things I like about my side of the family is that we go to Wisconsin Dells. Usually it’s Christmas Day or the day after and we go for two nights or three nights. And we rent condos on a lake and all six children and my parents are together, with all of the kids. My grandma made >>>

Girlfriends photo by Jerry Smith

Jean Gansen, Schelli Olmanson McCabe, Nancy Kluck, Brenda Todd Bense and Carolyn Mager took part in the St. Peter “Chatfest” about holiday traditions.


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The participants

Jean GansenVice President of Operations, Nicollet County BankKids: One son (age 15)Residence: St. Peter

Brenda Todd BenseDirector of clinical Services, Counseling Services of MinnesotaKids: Two sons (ages 19, 15)Residence: St. Peter

>>> Cornflake Christmas wreaths and so over the years we all have been identified as you make this and you make that and I make the Christmas wreaths. I don’t even like them. I have my grandmother’s recipe still on the card. That is what I am expected to bring every year.

Nancy: I remember as a child we always had oyster stew on Christmas Eve. Now on Christ-mas Eve, everybody who is around here brings appetizers. Everybody brings something and it’s real casual and really fun. It isn’t our dress-up night, it’s our comfortable night.

Then on Christmas Day, we get together and we have a more formal meal. We don’t have sit-down meals anymore. We do come gather your food and go find a place to sit. When we were children, it was everybody had to sit at the dining room table and every piece of good china we had was out.

Carolyn: That’s what I really like. It’s the one thing we do

when we go to my parent’s house on Christmas Eve and it’s just the immediate family. We do the china — the one and only time — and the fancy champagne glasses and we’ll do the shrimp or lobster or steak or pork, and there are usually a couple of options.

And so we sit down and take our time and eat, and then after that we open presents. It’s really nice and intimate.

Because then the following day, it’s always trying to juggle mom’s side of the family and dad’s side of the family. And now this will be the first Christmas that I will be married.

So now we have to figure out how that comes into play, and my in-laws live in North Dakota, so it’s not like my mom and dad’s family, which are a half hour or 45 minutes apart. It’s feasible to do that in one day. But it’s a six-hour drive to my in-law’s house. That will be interesting to see how we juggle that and try to keep everybody happy.

Nancy: You’ll be splitting the days.

Schelli: I think our situation is similar to where Nancy’s was. My husband and I started dating when we were 15, so we grew up together basically. So his family traditions and my parent’s traditions, we fit it all in like you did. We had to do two meals in a day and we had to go to grand-parents’ houses.

My parents are very formal. They have oyster stew on Christ-mas Eve, and on Christmas Day, it’s lutefisk and lefse and that’s the way it is. My parents have six children and they’ve learned to adapt now. Now they have their lutefisk and meatballs at 1 o’clock and whoever can make it, fine.

We have four boys and they are big hunters and fishermen and are big outdoors guys. We wanted to make traditions in our own family, so now on Christ-mas Eve day we reserve that for us. We usually go pheasant hunting in the morning, and then for dinner, we >>>


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The participants

Carolyn MagerFinancial Advisor, Principal FinancialKids: NoneResidence: St. Peter

Nancy KluckPrincipal, South Elementary Early Learning CenterKids: 36-year-old daughter; 33-year-old sonResidence: St. Peter

Schelli Olmanson McCabePodiatrist, Foot and Ankle Clinic of St. Peter, Inc.Kids: Four sons (ages 20, 17, 15 and 14)Residence: Rural St. Peter

>>> have a goose that one of the boys shot. Now we have big eaters, so we have more than one. We still have a little bit of oyster stew just for the sake of tradition. I think that is embedded in me because we are missing it at grandma’s. It’s really fun.

Girlfriends: If you could start over without feeling guilty, are there any holiday traditions from the past that you would change?

Jean: Even though my hus-band and I and our son have made our own traditions, we still do a small part or something that we maybe did with our families. That’s something you want to have to pass down.

Nancy: My kids like oyster stew. It’s a novelty for them. I don’t think they would want it for regular meal, but they wanted to try it out.

Carolyn: Isn’t a part of it that at Christmas there are certain smells in the air that says it’s Christmas.

Nancy: I remember we used to start early December with Saint Nick and it would start with a little brown bag with an apple and some nuts in it, and Saint Nick would come Dec. 6 and leave that. That would just start us all thinking about Christmas.

Schelli: What we did on Saint Nick’s Day would be to put the stockings out and we would have to put our letters out for Saint Nick, so parents knew what to get the kids because they put it in their Saint Nick stockings. We kind of fudged because we always moved Saint Nick’s Day to a Friday so they wouldn’t have school the >>>


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>>> next day. It’s great, too, because you

have their little letters and you save them, of course. It was pretty helpful that way.

Brenda: I think it all becomes engrained as my kids have developed, in terms of being so conscientious about instill-ing traditions and whether they come down from genera-tions or we consciously look at developing our own traditions. I continually hope that they will continue to do certain things. I guess I can’t imagine not having the traditions around Christ-mas. It just wouldn’t seem like Christmas without it.

Nancy: It’s part of feeling home. Traditions are how you relate to home.

Carolyn: I think one tradi-tion will always be Santa. If I have kids one day, I can’t imag-ine not having them be excited about having Santa coming. But at the same time, I remember how incredibly traumatized I was when I found out Santa did not exist. When I found out I said, “why are you being so mean? It’s even on the news. I watch his sleigh on the radar. If it’s on the news, it’s true.” I asked my mom why she was lying to me and asked her what else she wasn’t telling me.

Schelli: I think kids these

days are more flexible. I think back to last Christmas and we missed our traditional Christmas because it was the only chance we could go to Mexico. We were out on a boat with friends and we had fun. And nobody really complained about missing oyster stew.

Nancy: Last year we said to our kids we could buy you Christmas presents, which we always spent too much on, or we can all go to Florida. We had done that one other time, but it had been 10 years ago and it was before we had grandkids. We thought about it and said to hell with it, we should go. So we all packed up and went to Florida for a week and had a condo and all lived together with the grandkids and grandma and grandpa, and were on the beach. It was great. I think on Christmas Eve we had pizza. Nobody cared. We had little twinkle lights in our condo, but we were all together. So already this year they are asking if we are going back.

Girlfriends: Is there any advice about holiday traditions you would like to give Carolyn, who is a new-lywed and has no children?

Nancy: Create your own holiday traditions. You can start with how you decorate and things like that. >>>


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Schelli: Saint Nick’s Day, that’s a good one.

Nancy: You’ll figure it out. We’ve all done it.

Carolyn: Even the whole Santa doesn’t exist lie?

Brenda: That’s really inter-esting. There are many families now that consciously do not do the whole Santa thing. I can think of families with kinder-gartners or first graders that do not do that.

Nancy: But it’s part of creative play. I have a Santa col-lection that I can hardly wait to put up. And then the grandkids come and go to each Santa and they sit down and brush their hair. They just take care of all of grandma’s Santas.

Carolyn: It will be inter-esting to see how it changes because we are never at our home. We’re at my parent’s or other places. This last Christmas, I didn’t decorate at all. Like nothing. Like you

wouldn’t have been able to tell it was the holidays. The year before I did the artificial Christmas tree and I put it up all by myself and I put lights on it and decorated it all by myself because Eric had to work late. It really wasn’t what I expected.

Then it came time to take it down and that really wasn’t anything either. I think that would change if the kids were helping. Of course I would do more.

This is good. This reminds me to make a little bit more of an effort.

Nancy: I’ll do it in the middle of November. I will start pulling things out of the storage. It will usually start with the tree, and then I have my Santas. When it starts, the kids will ask what goes now? I don’t think I did that when they were younger. I’m worse now that I’m getting older. It’s like I can hardly wait.

Brenda: I would ask your mom about beginning to pass

on some of the Christmas deco-rations to you. Because that’s one of the things my mom has done as she’s began to down-size. That’s one of my most treasured things every year. It’s taking out the ball that was hers that her mom gave her. And some of them might not be that pretty, but I look at them and have so many memories about things that my mom has given me. So every year when I get out the bin, it’s like this whole day of memories.

I go to some peoples’ houses and they have a theme, and ours is just a complete mish-mash.

Nancy: I cheated. I had two trees. One has all of the kids’ stuff on it and they could deco-rate that and do whatever they wanted to it. And then I had a theme tree because I wanted to try that, too. So one year it was peach, the next year it was gold and the next year it was green. I still do that.

Girlfriends: Artificial or real

Christmas tree?

Nancy: Both. I can’t let go of the real, but I still like the artificial because I can put it up in the middle of November and it can stay up until January. And the lights can go on every night and you can just sit and enjoy that. I can hardly wait to get the lights up.

Schelli: We like live trees. We had a field up in our land and we planted 2,000 Christ-mas trees. We sell them for landscaping, too, but people will come and cut their own Christmas trees. It’s fun for us to go up there and cut our own. Two years ago there was snow and we could actually take the sleigh up there instead of the buggy. G

— Visit “Chatfest” at www.girlfriends.mn to read the entire transcript. If you would like to participate in a future “Chatfest,” email Jerry Smith at [email protected] or call 507-645-1136.

Changing courseCeliac disease means a culinary lifestyle change, not the end of good eating

Story by JERRY SMITH

Photos by THOM CAYA

One day recently in the cereal isle of her local grocery store,

Becky Berkley started to cry.It wasn’t because she was

overwhelmed with the number of choices of kids’ cereal on the shelves in front of her or be-cause of the rising cost of that cereal. None of that mattered to her on this day.

Berkley got emotional when her 8-year-old son Marc showed her a new flavor of Chex cereal that was gluten free. For Berkley, it meant one more thing her son could eat without getting sick.

Marc Berkley was diagnosed with celiac disease in July 2008. Leading up to that diag-nosis, the 8-year-old Owatonna boy would have an upset stom-ach most mornings and con-stantly experienced diarrhea.

For the longest time, the Berkleys thought Marc’s prob-lems were due to the anxieties of school. But when his stom-ach problems didn’t let up and he started to have discipline issues each day after lunch due to an upset stomach, the Berk-leys knew it was something

more than just nerves.“We took him to the doctor

and they ran a lot of tests, but the tests came back inconclu-sive,” Becky said. “Some came back as celiac, but we still didn’t know for sure.”

Further blood tests and an upper endoscomy biopsy confirmed that Marc indeed had celiac disease, which is an inherited autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive pro-cess of the small intestine.

When a person who has celiac disease consumes glu-ten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley, the individual’s immune system responds by attacking the small intestine and inhibiting the absorption of important nutrients into the body.

That was a bittersweet day for the Berkleys. On the one hand, they finally knew what was making Marc sick. On the other hand, it meant a total lifestyle change for the family of five.

“We were very relieved to know what it was and have been very fortunate because it could have been worse,” Becky said. “He was willing to

change his diet. He sometimes thinks life is unfair, but he’s handled it very maturely.” >>>


Becky Berkley prepares a gluten-free snack for her 8-year-old son Marc, who was diagnosed with celiac disease in July 2008. The diagnosis has meant a culinary lifestyle change for Marc and the rest of the Owatonna family.

>>> From that day, it’s been a challenge for the Berkleys to find foods that an 8-year-old boy would eat, let alone foods that are gluten free.

“The tricky thing is that Marc is a picky eater,” Becky said. “He’s not the biggest fruit and veggie eater, so that makes it a little tougher. We are grate-ful that awareness of celiac is growing because that means there are more and better foods for celiacs.”

More healthy choicesKathleen Mason, a licensed

registered dietician for District One Hospital in Faribault, says that because people are being diagnosed with celiac disease much more frequently and be-cause there is more awareness of the disease, more compa-nies are making gluten-free products.

“There are more patients vis-iting us today than ever before,” Mason said. “Because of that, there are so many more choices

available. It’s exciting that food companies recognize the scope of this. It means more healthy and better tasting products for those with celiac disease.”

Food manufacturers could hardly ignore the number of people being diagnosed with celiac disease. According to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, prevalence of the disease in the United States in average healthy people is 1 in 133. In all, celiac disease affects at least three million Americans.

Mason tells her celiac pa-

tients that their lifestyle chang-es don’t have to be life altering. Patients simply have to be more diligent in reading labels and searching for foods they can eat rather than the ones they can’t eat.

“It can be overwhelming, but once people accept it, they do fine,” Mason said. “The market is much more friendly to a celiac today.”

Another bit of advice Mason passes along to her patients is that it’s more productive to compile a list of things you can have and not dwell on the

things you can’t have.“I encourage patients to start

with one food group and find the things they can have and then move on to another food group,” Mason said. “The faster you incorporate gluten free products into your diet, the quicker you will feel better. But it bares paying attention.”

ProgressLareen Narva has been gluten

free for 25 years now. When she was pregnant with her third child, Narva became very ill. She was diagnosed with celiac disease and was forced to go gluten free long before many in the medical field knew what that meant.

“Fifteen years after being diagnosed, rice cakes were about the only things that were gluten free,” Narva said. “I like to cook at home and it was very difficult and very defeating because things didn’t turn out. That drove me to want to suc-ceed even more. >>>

With more than three million people in America af-fected by celiac disease, food manufacturers have seen a need to produce more gluten-free products.


For more than five years, BitterSweet Gluten Free Bakery has set the bar high

Q: What does it mean to be gluten-free and why should I be?A: That’s a question BitterSweet Gluten Free Bakery in Eagan gets asked a

lot. When your intestinal tract can’t absorb the nutrients that you eat, because it has been damaged by the food you eat, you experience many different conditions. A few of these conditions are: anemia, constipation, IBS, migraines and failure to thrive. When you go gluten-free these conditions turn around.

BitterSweet is the original gluten-free bakery in Minnesota. We are a family run business and pride ourselves in the fact that everything we offer

is fresh baked and tastes good, not dry, grainy and tasteless.

Finding good tasting gluten-free food can be difficult, but at BitterSweet you won’t be able to tell the difference. We offer bars, cookies,

muffins, cakes, breads, Take-n-Bake pizza, pies and much more. We have seen a lot

of changes in the 5 1/2 years we have been in business, but one thing is certain, when you find out that you are gluten-free it can be “bitter,” but we can provide the “sweet” to brighten your day.

Bittersweet Gluten Free Bakery 2105 Cliff Rd

Eagan, MN 55122-4039(651) 686-0112www.bittersweetgf.com

Louanne Kaupa, R.D.

Q: Where can I go to buy gluten-free foods?A: It can be scary to learn that you have an allergy or intolerance to gluten

or wheat since grains that contain gluten are such a staple to the average American’s diet.

Fear not! Your local food co-op is a great place to find many wonderful foods that are naturally gluten-free: vegetables, fruit, eggs, milk, beans and legumes, meat, and gluten-free grains like rice, corn and quinoa. Quinoa is highly nutritious and a source of complete protein, and it cooks in only 15 minutes. This versatile grain can be made into hot cereal or used much like you would use rice.

Other options that you can find at Just Food Co-op include pastas made with rice flour or corn flour; gluten-free breads, tortillas, pizza crusts, and even frozen meals! And for that sweet tooth, there are gluten-free cookies and other tasty snacks available too.

At Just Food Co-op, we label all of our gluten-free products so they are easy to find. And if you need help, our knowledgeable staff members are here to give you suggestions.

Just Food Coop 516 Water St. SNorthfield, MN 55057507-650-0106www.justfood.coop Melanie Reid, GM

Just Food Co-op labels all gluten-free products to make them easy to find

Lareen Narva,Owner

>>> Things eventually started tasting good.”

Her success in the kitchen paved the way to starting her own business. After nearly six years, the owner of BitterSweet Gluten Free Bakery in Eagan has seen tremendous success and growth.

“We basically got in on the ground floor and now more and more people are looking for good tasting gluten free foods,” Narva said. “Our name is very good and our food tastes normal.”

Recently, Narva was invited by the folks at Just Food Co-op in Northfield to talk about her success and help others turn regular recipes into gluten free recipes. In the end, she had a little advice for those in at-tendance.

“It’s OK. You will live through this,” she said. “People just have to learn to cook all over again. I always say ‘cook like your grandmother used to cook.’”

Adding to the numbersMore and more people are

being diagnosed with celiac disease each day.

Allyson Bernstorf of North-field joined the more than three million celiacs a year ago.

For some years before that, she had been experiencing dif-ferent ailments, such as restless leg syndrome, depression and eczema. Even though her father has been a diagnosed celiac for 40 years now, she never dreamed these ailments could be associated with celiac.

“I started doing research and then I put two and two together,” Bernstorf said. “I was treating each symptom individu-ally and getting nowhere.”

Then Bernstorf completely cut out wheat from her diet and her condition began to improve.

“I do not eat any gluten at all, and if I do it’s by accident,” she said. “I wish I would have known then what I know now. My life has changed and I’m a >>>

What: Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive pro-cess of the small intestine.

Prevalence of Celiac Dis-ease in the United States:• In average healthy people: 1 in 133.• In people with first-degree relatives (parent, child, sib-ling) who are celiac: 1 in 22.• In people with second-degree relatives (aunt, uncle, cousin) who are celiac: 1 in 39.• Only 35 percent of newly di-agnosed patients had chronic diarrhea, dispelling the myth that diarrhea must be present to diagnose celiac disease.• Celiac disease affects at least three million Americans.

Some facts about the gluten free diet:• There are more than 2,000 gluten free food items avail-able in grocery stores in the United States.• The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that the revenue of gluten-free indus-tries will reach $1.7 billion by 2010.

— Source: The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center

Celiac 101: Some facts and figures

Fruits and vegetables are gluten free.

New treatment for Celiac Disease has no known side effects and is safe for all

Dr. Eric Cram


Celiac disease affects people differently.

There are more than 200 signs and symptoms of celiac disease, yet a significant per-centage of people with celiac disease have no symptoms at all.

Symptoms may or may not occur in the digestive system. For example, one person might have diarrhea and abdominal pain, while an-other person has infertility or anemia. some people develop celiac disease as children, others as adults.

Here are a few of the symptoms affiliated with celiac disease:

• Recurring abdominal bloating and pain

• Vomiting

• Chronic diarrhea/constipa-tion

• Weight loss• Iron-deficiency anemia

that does not respond to iron therapy

• Fatigue• Delayed puberty

— Source: The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center

Celiac 101: What are some symptoms?

When Marc Berkley was diag-nosed with celiac disease in July 2008, he was experienc-ing daily stomach aches.

>>> better woman, a better wife and a better worker. I wouldn’t trade the best piece of pizza in the world for having it back.”

While her story is different from other celiacs, her determi-nation to cook and bake good-tasting gluten-free meals and treats has driven her just like it has the thousands who love to spend time in the kitchen.

“The hardest part of celiac disease is people who like to cook,” Bernstorf said. “I love to cook and bake and I have worked hard to find recipes that are gluten free and taste good.

“I have a few staples that I like to cook and then I try to create my own dishes from the basic recipes. It has helped me maintain my love of baking and cooking.”

Gluten free = expensiveLike anything that is special-

ized, there is a cost associated. For celiac, that cost would be the price of the specialty foods.

“It does take a financial toll,” Bernstorf said. “It costs to buy specialty flour to bake with and gluten-free products are some-times very expensive, too.”

For Bernstorf and other celiacs, there is sometimes more than just a financial expense. If you want to eat out, it takes time to find restaurants that have gluten-free offerings.

“We recently attended a wed-ding in Milwaukee and I had to phone ahead to the caterer to make sure I would have a glu-ten-free meal,” she said. “They were very accommodating, but it did take time to explain and to plan ahead.”

While providing Marc with a gluten-free diet is costly for the Berkleys, the family doesn’t always eat the same gluten-free products, which helps defray the costs.

“The hard thing is that it’s not cost worthy to eat the same foods Marc is eating,” Becky Berkley said. “A loaf of >>>

Sid & Martha Kasper612-483-3303 or [email protected]

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Q: Is Celiac Disease due to gluten allergies? If so, is there anything that can be done?

A: Not everyone with Celiac Disease has food allergies, but many do and there is a new treatment that can help.

Allergies, by definition, are an inappropriate immune response to something in the environment that should be recognized by the body as normal.

There is now new technology that can help turn off or re-establish a “normal” response to something that is currently offending. This new therapy is based on the idea that the inappropriate response starts in the brain as a bad neurological decision. Then the brain calls on the immune system to react. Instead of focusing on the reaction, we retrain the brain response, and the im-

mune system is never called to action. This new treatment utilizes biofeedback

and laser technology to identify abnormal reactions and retrain the nervous system. The non-invasive treatment is safe for people of all ages, has no known side effects, and is a permanent solution.

Go to ThinkAllergyFree.com for more information on this alternative approach.

Cram Chiropractic & Wellness Center 158 Water Street NorthNorthfield, MN 55057507-663-1972www.drcramchiro.com


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Free hearing aid consultation from a Master’s level audiologist.

“Grandma, do you hear what I hear?”

Celiac sufferers have supportJody Friedow believes that

support for celiac suffer-ers comes in many forms.

At the monthly meeting of the “Can’t Eat Wheat” sup-port group sponsored by the Northfield Hospital, support comes in many forms.

“Members bring new infor-mation to each meeting,” said Friedow, the volunteer coordi-nator of the Can’t Eat Wheat support group since 2003. “There is a lot of informa-tion available and a lot more products and that is what we discuss during our meetings.”

Friedow was diagnosed with celiac disease nine years ago and she was glad there was a local support group that could help her navigate the murky waters of a gluten-free diet.

“When somebody is ill, knowing what you are faced

with is a new beginning,” Friedow said. “Learning what the problem is makes it so much easier to deal with.”

According to Friedow, the “Can’t Eat Wheat” support group was started by Evelyn Burry in the late 1990s. She says the mission of the sup-port group is to “provide sup-port for people who are new to the gluten-free diet.”

“We know it is very dif-ficult for people to find out they have celiac disease,” said Friedow, who estimates that 25-30 people attend the meetings at the hospital. “The entire group helps these people cope and to learn all they can about the disease and the gluten-free diet they must follow.

“We help them with lots of information and we support them.”

>>> Marc’s bread is $5 and other gluten-free products are costly. For our family, it’s not cost worthy to eat the same foods. I’m usually making two things every night.”

While the Berkleys some-times struggle with Marc’s plight, they look at the posi-tives as often as they can.

“We feel blessed that Marc has accepted it,” Becky said. “I feel fortunate it was diagnosed now and not as a teen.

“We’ve tried to keep it in perspective. We deal with it and we’re a strong enough family that we can get through it. As an adult, he’ll function just fine.” G

For additional information about celiac disease and gluten-free foods, please visit the follow-ing Web sites:

• www.celiacfriends.com (A place for those affected by celiac to discuss any topics that pertain to celiac.)• www.celiac.com (A place to find information about celiac, to buy food online, to post topics or questions and to find events related to celiac.)• www.twincitiesrock.com

(Raising Our Celiac Kids Twin Cities Chapter: a support group for families with celiac.)• www.csaceliacs.org (Celiac Sprue Association.)• www.elisa-tek.com (ELISA Technologies: Gluten tester.)• www.compoundedsolu-tions.com (Are your prescrip-tions gluten free?)• www.glutenfreedom.net/rock.aspx (ROCK: Raising Our Celiac Kids.)• www.glutenfreekitchen.org (Gluten-free recipes.)

More information on celiac disease

507.334.548812 3rd Street NE • Faribault, MN 55021 • www.gingersnapshots.comMemories

by Kelli Wencl

Ginger Snaps Photography


By AMY ROEMHILDT

Excited activity of the holiday season can present interesting

challenges to women who already juggle full schedules.

Gifts to buy, food to pre-pare, parties to plan and halls to deck — all while looking fresh, rested and beautiful — can leave even the most organized superwoman ready to tear off her cape.

Luckily there are trained experts who rise to the chal-lenge. They are the beauti-cians: Experts in the field of beauty who offer tired shoppers a chance to indulge themselves in pampered luxury, and to leave a shop looking better than when they came in.

“The holiday season is very busy time for us,” said Trudi Connors, co-owner of Xpres-sions Salon in Waseca.

There is excitement in the air, even if it is frustrating with all there is to do. Con-nors says it can be energizing for busy women to schedule a moment of beauty dur-ing the hectic times, and she enjoys talking to clients, and contributing to their day with a few moments of relaxation.

She and her partner, Holly Ready of Waterville, along with their staff, do everything

in their power to schedule clients as needed during the busy season. The main rush begins two weeks before Thanksgiving and lasts until about the second week of January.

Regular clients, along with college students home for the holidays, fill the scheduling book beyond normal capac-ity. But Trudi, Holly and the Xpressions staff rise to the challenge. >>>

Holiday Hair-DosShoppers let their hair down while sprucing up


Your Reference for Healthy Living

A practical reference guide for those seeking to nourish mind, body and spirit.

Pick up yours today! Visit lifewellnessdirectory.com

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Fall 2009 edition now available.

The Life & Eco-Directory

Regional listing of healthy choices to nourish your mind, body & spirit

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Order your sticky buns for the holidays now!

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324 N Cedar Ave Owatonna

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Again and again.

Sticky Buns that are worth the drive

>>> “Most people want their hair done before Thanksgiving, and again before Christmas,” Connors said. “It’s a challenge because we must see all of our clients in a short amount of time. But nobody wants roots showing for the holidays.”

Color and low lights are very popular this year.

“People want to get rid of sun-bleached hair,” Con-nors said. “Rich color, darker colors like reds and browns are the most popular.”

Curls are coming back, too.

“Hair is getting bigger again,” Con-nors said.

No, the 80s “big hair” is not making a return, but the flat, immovable hair of five or six years ago has gone by the wayside. Perms are minimal and color, it seems, is a favor-ite choice to spruce up a new look.

Inverted bobs – hair that is longer in the front than the back – is popular with all age groups, according to Connors. An asymmetrical cut – where hair is long on one side and short on the other – is also popular this season.

Connors says her salon doesn’t get many requests for perms.

“I think people have learned that adding color also adds body, so they don’t need the perm.”

Up-dos are usually saved for special occasions like weddings, but Connors says they do a few for special Christmas parties

and family get-togethers.“The low, messy bun is really

in right now, we do quite a few of those,” she said.

Low buns work well with hats, which are hot, according to Connors. Headbands are also very popular, so haircuts that work with those are in.

“Winter means dryer condi-tions for both hair and skin,” Con-nors said. “Even long hair needs to be freshened up.”

Long hours Hair ap-

pointments for the holi-days should be made as early as pos-sible, since it is often dif-ficult to get

in on short notice, especially at salons that have stylists with many years of experience.

Connors and Ready have been helping people look good in their Waseca Salon for more than six years. Both owners bring years of experience to the business, which now has seven hairdressers. They both worked at different salons over the years, and then decided to go into business together.

“It’s working out well,” Con-nors said. “We’ve been friends since we were 3 years old.”

Although the holidays bring long hours to Xpressions Sa-lon, Connors says she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I really enjoy talking to all the people,” she said. “I love to do color, so that’s fun for me. It’s nice to be able to give people a break, to help them relax and feel good about themselves.” G

Girlfriends photo by Thom Caya

Trudi Connors (top) and Holly Ready don’t mind the long holiday hours.

What’s in/out for the holidays. Page 36


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Holiday ‘hi-lites’If you’re looking for a change during

the holidays, here’s what will be hot, according to some area stylists ...

Gwen StatlanderSalon E Clips in Owatonna

There isn’t the formality we used to see around the holidays. Women just aren’t coming in anymore for that special hair-do. We’re seeing that more for New Year’s, though.

The trend will be for tons of color (gold and auburn), fuller bangs and fringy lengths. Long hair is still in.

Heather BaronReflections Salon in St. Peter

The messy purpose look is still in and that will play well during the holidays. Short hair is just as trendy as long hair.

Color will be in, too. You’ll definitely

see rich brown to auburn colors during the holidays as women look for changes during the long winter.

And if you want to be doing highlights, you’ll want to go with reds. That’s what’s in this holiday season.

Mac JonesSunset Salon in Faribault

You’ll see a lot of bangs showing again this year with a little pop of color.

Hairstyles will be very polished and very fixed, with three-dimensional blending and colorful highlights.

Lori GrapentineMain Street Stylists in St. Peter

I see more women coming in just to clean up their hair for the holidays.

As a trend, long and sleek is still in and you’ll see a lot of color this year.

from the publishers ofmagazine | 2010 Vol. 1

Team om mWe’re in this together.


Regional events

Family-friendly fun

Tips and trips

Teachable moments

Useful listings and more!

Pick up your FREE copy

where you findGirlfriends

For advertising information contact Machelle Kendrick at 507-645-1135 or [email protected].

coming

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2010

Introducing a regional guide for mothers of children through age 12.


Inspired

Thrifty bead artist brings smiles with holiday ornament creations

By AMY ROEMHILDT

Dennise Feidt never knows where she might

find the colorful beads she needs to create her popular Christmas ornaments.

They can pop up anywhere — and she takes advantage of every opportunity to add to her collection.

Vibrant hues and a vast array of color inspire her creativity as she expertly glides beads onto fine wire that she bends into snowflakes, angels, butterflies and other interest-ing shapes.

Discounted beads at craft stores and costume jewelry from garage sales and thrift stores often find their way into her collection. Surrounded by her discounted pallet of colored glass, she fashions each creation unique to itself. Once complete, her pieces easily find homes on Christmas trees and in windows of her friends, fam-ily and customers.

Dennise’s craft is a labor of love. She spends about 25 minutes on each ornament, bending 20- or 24-gage wire into shapes and adding glass beads as she is inspired.

Working out of her home in Nerstrand, she relaxes while crafting her ornaments. She often wonders where each ornament will eventually hang, and who will enjoy it. She finds inspiration in the many colors reflected in her glass beads, and works with silver, gold or copper wire.

“Each one of my ornaments is unique,” she says. “I enjoy finding different ways to bend the wire, and I just love having all those colors in front of me.

It’s art — I don’t try to cover the cost of my time and I sell them pretty much for the cost of materials.”

And even that cost seems minimal. A Dennise Feidt ornament creation costs some-where between $2.50 and $5. They range in size from 2½- to 6-inches high. A likely bargain, considering the time, effort and creativity behind each piece.

But Dennise isn’t in it for the money — she’s in it for the fun, and for the sheer fact that she brings joy to other people through her art. In fact, she only began selling her wares three years ago, at a local craft show.

“If I went to more craft shows I don’t think I could keep up,” she says. “I’ve been told I should raise my prices, but I want people to be able to afford them.”

Dennise made her first wire and glass bead ornament about five years ago when her mother bought her a kit, thinking she might enjoy it. That was the beginning of hundreds of orna-ments to follow.

“I got done with that project, and thought, I don’t need a kit to do this,” Dennise said. “So I started watching for beads. I made them as gifts for our fam-ily for Christmas, and they just loved them.”

Dennise’s ornaments draw smiles to the faces that look at them. Some, however, bring a memory, or perhaps a tear.

“I just started making memo-rial ornaments,” she explains.

Using cherished beads from the jewelry of family members who have passed away, she can often create several ornaments for different members of the family from one strand of beads.

“I haven’t done that many yet, but I think it’s something I’d like to do more of,” she said.

At the encouragement of family and friends, Dennise is considering how to market her creations outside of her favorite craft show. She says it would be nice to be able to make a little extra money, but remains realistic in why she makes her ornaments in the first place.

“I just want to make enough money to buy more beads,” she says. “My favorite ornaments have always been the ones I made as gifts — the ones I made for free.” G

— If you would like to know more about Dennise Feidt’s holi-day ornament hobby, call her at 507-789-5171.

Girlfriends photos by Jerry Smith For five years now, Dennise Feidt has been making handmade holiday ornaments.

Tools you will need:• Wire cutters• Needle nose pliers Supplies you will need:• 20 or 24 gauge wire• Assortment of large, me-dium and small beads (your choice)• Bells

Instructions• Step 1: Cut a 4-inch piece of wire. Using the pliers, curve the ends into small loops. Bend the wire into a design similar to a question mark. • Step 2: Cut a 2.5-inch lengh of wire. Make a small loop on the end and attach to hanger. Add large beads. • Repeat “Step 2” twice, once with medium beads and again with small beads.• On the last small loop, add the bell.

“Have fun with this. You can change wire lengths and add more sections or have fewer sections. It’s up to you.”

— Dennise Feidt

Making your own Icicle Bell

Holiday Ornament

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•Chianti Grill

Roseville | 2050 North Snelling Ave | 651-644-2808Burnsville | 14296 Plymouth Ave | 952-892-7555

PorterHouse Steak & SeafoodLakeville | 11211 205th Street West | 952-469-2995Little Canada | 235 East Little Canada Road | 651-483-9248

The Gift of Great TastePurchase $100 in gift cards and

receive a $25 gift card free!offer expires December 30, 2009

Casual DiningUpscale Taste

www.chiantigrill.com | www.porterhousesteakandseafood.com

Girlfriends November December

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Transcript of Girlfriends November December