Rohling Studios

Busy, Busy, Busy.... !

These pictures were taken by Paul on our jaunt last Sunday!  If you are ever in Elkhart Lake, WI be sure to stop at the Feed Mill Shops.  You'll enjoy the  eclectic collection of shops housed within the totally renovated historic Elkhart Lake Feed Mill. The Feed Mill  was in use when I was a child. My cousin, Van, now has his photo studio here.  He is a wonderful photographer and does beautiful work with children. 

   

After our jaunt in Elkhart we were getting hungry so we were off to Plymouth to find a bite to eat.  This cute little Irish Pizza place called to us....Have you ever had Guiness with your pizza before?  They had the greatest vegetarian pizza that I have ever had!

Here is Paul's version of the interior.

Here is my version of Paul and Laura checking out all the pictures we took!

It must be mentioned here that Laura has exceptional patience with us when we are together because there is nothing we will not stop and photograph!  I simply love her to pieces!

After wards several of the antique shops beckoned to us and we did a little browsing.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the HC Prange box on the right.  Pranges was the large department store in Sheboygan.  I received lots of sweaters wrapped in these boxes!!!  It never occurred to me that the BOXES would end up in the window of an antique store.  (See Jake!  That must be where I get it from!)  He loves to tease me because I always say things will be an antique some day!  This must be proof positive!  An HC Prange box is for sale as an antique in the window of an antique shop in Plymouth.  I learned in math a long time ago...."A+B=C, therefore; "C-B=A".  Do you follow me?  It makes sense to me...This is the Claudia world of logic.  I hope you get to do some rambling around during this little bit of time left before Christmas!

Christmas at the Osthoff Resort and "The Golden Bratwurst"

Paul, Laura and I went to the Osthoff in Elkhart Lake for the day.  Look who we met!  Isn't he the greatest St. Nick you have ever seen?!!!  The funny thing is that I still feel giddy when I stand next to Santa, St. Nick or whoever you want to call him!!!  He is such a magical character!   The most fun of all was to stand next to my son with Santa.  In the past I stood behind the camera lense and took pictures of the kids with Santa.  Yesterday Laura took this picture of Paul and I with "the jolly old soul"!  It was worth the trip if only to have the picture....however there was so much more to see!!!

These are the adorable gingerbread houses sold by Coffee Garden from Merton, WI.

Meet Joe Kohlbeck from JK Designs of Sheboygan, WI.  He makes the most beautiful one of a kind reverse painted glass ornaments.  He also wrote the "New Legend of the Golden Bratwurst" and crafts the ornaments of them. Sheboygan is the home of bratwurst.  

He gave me permission to reprint his story...please email him if you wish to reprint it since it is copyrighted. 

                       The New Legend of the Golden Bratwurst

It was Christmas Eve in Sheboygan long ago and Heinze and Marta Gootwurster were puzzling over what to leave for a treat for Santa.  Marta said, "Heinze, the chickens, they ain't laying no eggs, der all on strike like the rest of us.  We don't have no money to buy a ham for Christmas much less sugar for bakin' cookies this year!  All seven of the Gootwurster children at the dinner table hung their heads sadly ad little Joey cried, "But Santa won't bring us presents if we don't leave some cookies for him!"  "Now, now children", said Marta, "Dat's nonsense! Santa don't just bring you presents to get gingerbread cookies.  He brings presents 'cause you  been good children and givin' gifts is part of the celebration of the Christchild's birth!  We tink of somethin' to leave for Santa."

"Hey Marta"said Heinze, "let's leave Santa a double brat from Grandpa Gootwurster's family recipe this year once, instead of all them cookies he'll get all over anyway enso!  "Yah, Yah, Heinze" said Marta, "dat's a good idea!"  So they left a note for Santa where the cookies usually were, instructing him to join Marta and Heinze in the back yard for an outdoor fry and there would be plenty of brats, Sheboygan hard rolls and all the fixings.

Santa filled all the stockings so carefully hung by the chimney and left more presents under the thin, sparsely decorated Christmas tree.  He found the note Heinze and Marta had left for him.  As he whooshed back up the chimney he was speculating over what a "double brat" might be.  He jumped off the roof into a big snow bank that was rapidly shrinking from the heat of the grill.  As he dusted off the snow, Marta was extending a steaming double brat on a Sheboygan hard roll with all the fixings.  Santa quickly muttered a thank you and took his first bite of a double brat.  He rolled his eyes and gobbled the rest of the sandwich down.  "That was f-a-b-u-l-0-u-s,"he said, "you kow, I get pretty "cookied" out this time of year!"

"Santa" said Heinze, "we have plenty more brats, would you like anudder one?"  Santa thought for a moment and replied, "I would indeed...ahh let me look at 'em once!?! "  He picked up a brat with his fingers and held it up in front of him.  With eyes twinkling, he laid his finger along side his nose and turned the golden-brown bratwurst into a golden Christmas ornament.  Santa presented the bratwurst ornament to Marta and Heinze Gootwurster for their wonderful hospitality and it continues to grace their Christmas tree to this day.

Much to their surprise, when they opened the grill, the remaining bratwursts had been turned into golden Christmas ornaments too.  Heinze and Marta hung their sparse tree full of the golden bratwurst ornaments and the Gootwurster children were dazzled by them on Christmas morning.  As friends and relatives visited them over the holidays, Marta and Heinze would give them a golden bratwurst ornament as a symbol of their hospitality and friendship.

Copyright 1997 Joe Kohlbeck

Email Joe at jkdesigns@charter.net  to order your own golden bratwurst.