Spring is Taking Forever!

I had the pleasure to visit Mom last month in southern Illinois.  I was there from April 9- 15 and it was full-on spring!  Green lawns, yellow forsythias, and white blooming pear trees everywhere!  It was magnificent!  

Joined Mom at the Health Center on the treadmill a couple of times and had a hard time keeping up with her!  She is in amazing shape!!  Mom was recognized the following week as Volunteer of the Year there at the hospital where she is often first to say, "I can do that!"  You can read more about her giving spirit at MOM IS AN AWESOME VOLUNTEER  Sister Sandy and husband Mark made the long journey down from Michigan to join in for the celebration!  Happy 80th birthday, Mom, even though we are a bit late!!

Our spring in Wyoming has been painfully slow to come!  The dandelions around Hoback just started blooming and have yet to bloom in Freedom.  Last week, Mom announced she had five buds on her peonies plant.  Here is what the old peonie patch in Freedom looks like this week.  Come-on warm temperatures!!  

What Would You Do?

What would you do if you had an acre of farm land?  Medium quality soil that drains quickly.  No water on the land.  

Mike and I were able to add to the value of the Circle Drive property and by the .94 acres to the south, preserving it from development.  At least for now!  The land is old farm land and we are musing on what to do with the acre of property?  Community Garden?  I love the idea, but with all the large lots in this subdivision, I don't think there is much demand.  Acre of sunflowers?  Wouldn't that be cool?  What do you do with all those stalks at the end of the year?  Plant pollinator plants and see who wins - the pollinator plants or the weeds?  Fruit trees?  

As you ponder this question, we live in Zone 4, trending toward Zone 3.  Tough place to grow tomatoes!! 

Have an idea? Send me your thoughts.  Here is a very out of date map of where the house sits and the land we have added.  

 One of my fire department peers, Jim Tucker, taught me how to replace a window.  This has been a very exciting thing to know as so many of our windows are failing.  The seal breaks and things go bad.  I like a clean, clear window.  This weekend's project - replace the skanky garage window. 

The view from the inside, looking out. Artistic, in it's own unique way!

One begins by pulling the vinyl strips away from the window on the inside.  Once the window is exposed, then go outside and with a sharp tool, slice the window away from the adhesive used when the window was installed.  So far, I have sliced through double stick tape often used on windows, putty, and some kind of black nasty stuff.  

Then, carefully start pushing and prying the window out of the frame.  From the outside to the inside.  Be prepared for the window to crack.  In removing, this is not critical, just means you will be throwing away an old, crappy and cracked window.  

Once the window has been removed (this task is not easy and will take most of the time of the endeavor to accomplish), scrape away all the adhesive, clean things up and pray the new window you measured and ordered fits.  Apply a bead of silicone to hold the window in the frame.  This wasn't so necessary for this window.  Things were very tight and I had to be so so careful to not cause it to crack as I gently coerced it to go into the frame.  

Finished result.  Much better, thank you!!  A neat DIY project!! 

Another Bee Posting

Spring is here and we beekeepers are busy.  Time to check hives and see how they wintered.  Happily, all of mine lived.  I have one colony that is a bit weak, but I'm giving them high odds for regrouping.  The battle between winter and spring is wearing us all out.  Snow again today.  Good grief.  No dandelions blooming yet.  All hives are equipped with lots of sugar to help them hold on until spring finally wins!  

Here is a fun slow-motion video of some winning survivors!  Way to go, Girls!  

As I continue to learn more, my bees have a better chance of surviving our long Wyoming winters.  Without doubt, this is the biggest challenge here in keeping bees.  

Here is something so cool!  Bees remember faces.  I hope they like me when they see me!

READ THIS ARTICLE  

Be well, be happy, be a beekeeper!!!  Why not?!

And while we are on the topic, just found this CRAZY article......read this and think a bit....

CRAZY BEE ARTICLE!

Dear Food & Wine Magazine

Dear Food & Wine Magazine:  Last weekend, my husband and I entertained for the first time in over a year.  Neighbors from across the road joined us around our big hickory table to share in conversation, food, wine, and card playing.  

At this time in the season, the sun has begun its northward trek and the light streaming in the windows is different than it has been all winter.  Noticeably different.  As I pulled bread out of the oven, glanced over at the table to see what else needed to be done, and squinted my eyes to the sun's glare at the kitchen sink, I was compelled to capture these images of the evening preparation and offerings.  

We have a lovely hickory table.  It is round and about one foot too wide for card playing, but it is a beauty.  Anchored with a solid square rough hickory base, the round table has the character that makes using a table cloth impossible.  I wipe it down, checking to insure the knots have not collected any crumbs or foreign matter.  It is piece of art and should not be covered any more than is necessary.  

Fresh flowers are a constant on this table when I entertain.  The beauty of fresh flowers accentuates an evening and a meal.  Flowers become a center piece of beauty and pique the visual appetite.  Beautiful yellow lilies with pink centers filled a one gallon clear glass container, rounded with dark pink alstroemerias and accentuated with a drooping dried sunflower, dried grasses, and long snips of red rose bush stems, the latter of which were found after a stroll around our muddy snow-melting spring yard. 

My husband always pulls the night's bottles of wine out of storage before a dinner party.  He had not forgotten this tradition, wine bottles lined up next to the appetizers.  A chunk of garlicy salami.  Warm herbed brie cheese.  Crackers I had made during the week using extra sour dough starter.  Comb and buckwheat honey to sample side by side.  Dinner is often not necessary after gorging on the irresistible appetizers.  

Meanwhile in the kitchen, the hot oven, steaming from the vents, was transforming three loaves of sour dough into crispy-covered, open-crumb baguettes.  Atop the stovetop, the lasagna rested, flavors merging together.  Layers of homemade kale noodles separated sausage, ricotta cheese, and spinach, topped with halved cherry tomatoes and rounds of sliced fresh mozzarella cheese.  A final broiling of the top created poignant smells of broiled tomatoes and cheese, treats for the nose and promise of what goodness was to come. 

Thanks to our local greenhouse, plates of fresh, crunchy lettuce salad had been arranged atop a thin slice of red onion, halved cherry tomatoes, thin slices of yellow pepper, sliced cucumbers and topped with lovely leaves of fresh sorrel greens waited in holding on a shelf in the refrigerator.  A blue cheese dressing would top this crispy, fresh starter plate.  Many of my recipes are created when an ingredient is forgotten from the grocery store run.  Challenged with having no buttermilk, I winged it and threw together a winning mix of blue cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and dill.  

Earlier in the day, another experiment was conducted in the creation of the meal's dessert.  A dessert ranks right next to a flower center piece for value.  A dessert should be visually beautiful as well as delicious.  Created in a Nordic ware Bundt pan, I played with a rum cake recipe, replacing the water with lime juice and grating the zest of a lime into the cake ingredients.  The cake baked and came out of the buttered bunt pan perfectly.  As it cooled, I made up the butter rum topping, pouring the butter bliss over the cake where it collected on the bottom and in the center, the ooey gooey mixture soaking into the cake's mass.  Then, I stirred up a hibiscus lime frosting to highlight the cake's beauty created by the Nordic Bundt pan.  When finished, it was difficult to decide which was more beautiful or which smelled better - the arrangement of sweet smelling lilies or the aromatic rum cake, laced with pink hibiscus frosting.  The cake won, as it could be eaten, scoring a visual and taste award!

The wine flowed, the meal was consumed, cards were dealt, stories were told, and the abundant night came to a close just before midnight.  It felt good to be together again, to see new things, to eat new food, and taste food combinations, to play together, to win to loose, to laugh and remember so many of life's real pleasures.  Pleasures shared with friends.  It is good to be back together again.  

I-Forgot-Ingredients: Blue Cheese Dressing

Big chunk of crumbled blue cheese or gorgonzola cheese

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 teaspoon dill

Combine ingredients, adjust for desired thickness.  Dollop on top of fresh greens.  

Sourdough Story

 Making sourdough bread is not a fast thing.  One measures the flours, heats the water, mixes them together and then let's the wheat soak up the moisture and chemical reactions to begin.  This site from King Author - really the King of bread making - tells all about this technique. What the Heck is Autolayse?  I have yet to hone in on how long I let my flour sit.  I need to make a better effort here. 

While this is happening, salt and sourdough starter are measured out.  I use a kitchen scale and I weigh in grams.  The bread made last nigh and pictured below gets 40 grams of salt for 1000 g flour mix.  I add a big gooey 500 grams of  starter to this 4 loaf recipe.   The water added above measures 1500 grams. 

After the initial autolayse phase (hah!  That rhymes!), the salt, starter and other ingredients are added in and mixed by hand.  The loaf below got 4 bunches of scallions chopped up, 2 cups of cheddar cheese, and 8-10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced.  Mixing is the fun part.  And then the dough, once mixed, is folded.  Up and over, around and around.  I do this a couple of times and then cover the giant blob of dough with a plastic cover. 

The living thing sits overnight.  In the morning, it has risen an impressive two-fold.  Bubbles are scattered about.  When they burst, the mass moves like it's alive.  Well, it is!  The giant blob is gently moved from the bowl to my work surface where I divide it into four, round the loaves, and set them in a Banneton Bowl cover with a wet cloth covering, and stuff them in the fridg for another long ferment.  Overnight, all afternoon....kind of depends on the day! 

Having my sense of smell back is extremely enjoyable while baking bread!  This loaf smells of hot scallions, poignant garlic and baked bread.  Cut into the hot loaf and enjoy the flavors which are a perfect match for the sourdough flavor.  

 I have been baking a dozen or more loaves of sourdough bread a week.  Found a great place to sell it - Slow Foods in the Tetons  Sourdough bread fits perfectly with their name and mission statement!  I think my breads have a cult following.  The online market opens at 0900 on Tuesday and by that night, just about all of my breads every week are sold out.  What a great warm and fuzzy feeling!! 

Thanks to the suggestion of dear friend Addie Hare, I bought a pasta roller attachment for my Kitchen Aid.  Stand back!  Homemade kale noodles now fill my lasagna and whole wheat crackers have been added to the que for the Slow Foods product list!  One of their customers recently asked them if they knew of any other place in town that sold these crackers!!  A fan is born!!  I make them plain, with flax seeds, herbs de Provence, rosemary/gourmet pepper, and black and white sesame seeds.  Brushes with a light coat of oil, sprinkled with a few grains of Maldon salt, they are wonderful on an appetizer plate! 

I don't think I'll have any problem keeping busy when I retire! 

Slogging Along

Spring has arrived in the west.  One day warm, blue sky and muddy.  The next - snowing, frozen ground and bone chilling cold.  It's a hard time mentally too.  Like the weather, it is hard to go from the extreme of ecstatic excitement and exclamation to gray sky doldrums.  Up and down; one's emotions tend to follow the weather far too closely this time of the year.  Add continued isolation to the scenario and watch the suicide rates rise.  We see it happen every year in this valley and so far, this year is no different than others.   

Mike is back from his Rochester NY visit.  He needed to go back.  It was a good visit.  Janet, his mom, continues to struggle with health challenges.  There seems to be no way to talk to her and this is so frustrating for everyone.  We hope she will get "dialed in" to her phone soon.

A beautiful shower door got hung this weekend!  After we finished, Mike told me the instructions begin with 'be sure to have a licensed professional hang these doors'!!  The glass panels were really heavy.  The instructions were not well written.  But nothing got broken and the door functions properly.  It's a lovely thing!!!  The new renters moved in yesterday!!  Welcome HOME!!

Here is some very impressive yard art!  I discovered these side by side flowers - fireweed - along a road in a high-end part of our valley.  This is a beautiful rendition of a fireweed.  Unusual, yes, but I appreciated the artist's ability to replicate the giant metal flower - probably 15' tall - in color and form perfectly!  They are one of the first flowers to come in after a fire, hence, their name sake!

I am currently immersed in Victor Frankl's lectures in a book called Yes to Life  Such a great thinker and writer!  Nothing frivolous about this writing, it's heavy reading indeed.  But like eating a hearty beef stew and sourdough bread, it is filling and satisfying.  

Spring!

 We have been spared the blizzard the east side of Wyoming is enduring right now.  There is blue sky and 47 degree temperature outside right now.  The snow is melting and the mud is getting deep!  The dogs and I went for a walk in Freedom.  Here are some pictures from that pretty day. 

I am reading some of Victor Frankl's lectures he gave after he was released from the prison camps.  Much pondering on the "Meaning of Life" in these lectures.  He provides some very good logic of why we must die and how our certain death gives us meaning.  Otherwise what point would there be to anything?  I have learned so much from his writing!  

As Mike's mom struggles with so many health issues now, it is easy, in the quiet moments of being alone, to ponder life's meaning.  Watching young people proclaim their struggles on Facebook, wishing they would spend some time learning from Frankl as well.  

Isn't it just this simple?  You have the choice to make your life whatever you want it to be.  Make it happy and glorious and supreme because with life, there is always something to celebrate.  Or get down and grovel in being miserable.  Many make this choice.  Sometimes it is easy to get sucked down there as things get hard and complicated and challenging.  But I tell you - there will always be something good, wonderful, and miraculous going on for you to find. 

Enough of this serious stuff.  I am off to make more Kraut!!  Find the Wonder of Life!!  

SNOW

The irrigation wheel lines, standing patiently in the fields awaiting their summer work, have a water line pipe that runs down the center of the wheels.  The pipe sits 39 inches above the ground.  The pipes are now covered in snow. 

Mike spent over six hours plowing snow on Saturday.  I shoveled roofs.  

Lucky was spotted this weekend!  He is still alive!! 

I love how the orange hive glows in the above picture!! 

Todd, Janet, Bella, Smoke, Ruby and I made a trip into the Swarm Hive.  It was a great ski in, although the dogs worked very hard.  This is Janet standing by the hive and bees were flying!  They are still alive!!  We got it dug out and enjoyed the outing very much!

So Many Topics

 So many topics, so little time!!  

Mike's Mom Janet:  We worry about Mike's mom Janet who fell and suffered a broken hip requiring surgery.  Janet seemed to be doing well until a recent event and now she is really quite depressed.  It's hard to hear your mom sound so depressed.  We wish she would get better, be happier, start feeling well again.  Thanks to the amazing support Brother Scott and Steven are giving with the wise words and wisdom of Stephanie to help guide decision making.  We feel so far away right now.  To be by Janet's side and just hold her hand......I hope today is a better day. 

Mike Bought a House!  With the sale of the Hoback House, Mike has reinvested in a brand new home just five minutes out of Thayne.  It has an awesome 900 square foot garage and really comfortable living space.  Real-estate is crazy-competitive in Star Valley and one of the concessions made to win the house was taking it as-is.  So, he will be putting in some vinyl planking, carpet comes on the 22, a giant (expensive) glass shower door needs to be hung, and door knobs and pulls are installed (and look awesome!).  It is a very very comfortable house which I could easily move into....however, this is retirement investment.  With the rental money coming in from this place, we can start thinking seriously about retirement.....This is a picture from the day I found the house, snooping around this new subdivision neighborhood.  The name of the subdivision is North Forty.  I like that name!  It was prior, a hayfield. 

Shriner Cutter Races:  Big weekend this last weekend with plenty of snow, lots of people attending and supporting the racers and the Shriner's, and a sloppy to miserably sloppy track.  The track made a difference for the racers.  Neither of our racer friends won.  Also, no horse or rider was hurt, and that is always a good thing and a big relief.  It was awesome to get out and be amongst People again.  I've been behind door and behind mask since last March....when COVID showed up on all of our doorsteps.  I miss people.  A lot.  We are now vaccinated.  I did not wear a mask, but did keep good distance.  No harm in being careful, of this, I am certain. 

At the Fire Department:  After a 45 day public comment period, our Teton County Commissioners voted to nix fire treated wood shake shingles from roofs in the wildland urban interface areas.  There was considerable opposition, despite every fire agency in the valley standing up tall and in support of this effort, even to the point of specialists getting hired to speak.  I am appreciative and respectful to those three commissioners who leaned forward and voted yes on this important move.  Wood shakes lose their fire resistance rather quickly in this high altitude climate.  A synthetic shake does not.  If you want that shake look, there are options.  Maybe in five or ten years, the opposition will understand why this is an important local step forward in building a more wildland fire resilient community. 

Jackson Hole makes it into TIme

 Not a big surprise, our little town is the topic of a really good piece written in Time.  Check it out by clicking on this blue link  TIME PIECE

The author does a good job of spelling out our town's reality.  Really rich people live here.  Really really rich people.  He is accurate to assess the skiing scene and it's COVID hazards.  We are still open.  And there are plenty of people here.  And we need them.  This town's business is tourism.  There is no industry, the few cattle ranches are about sold out to subdivisions, and we happen to have the most beautiful mountain range in the nation right out our back door.  There is a reason people love to come here. 

And that they continue to come affects us all.  Directly, Fire/EMS still has a robust call volume.  The county feels secure enough with the money they are seeing come in from said tourists that budget strings have loosened.  We have not lost one position and money is coming in to train.  Thank goodness!

As we approach a year of this new-normal COVID world, Jackson has much to be thankful for and much to consider.  Many businesses have been impacted, but they are still open.  New construction is strong.  There are still jobs to be had.  However, workers will be driving from an hour or more away as realestate has become unattainable for the average family.  It is true, the billionaires are kicking the millionaires out of Teton County.  

Hope you enjoy the piece and I hope you are well and safe and living every day LARGE!!  

  

Bad Recipe

While I write this note about a very bad recipe, Mike's mom is undergoing surgery for her broken hip.  Oh dear, Janet, we are thinking of  you today and hoping for your speedy recovery.  

It does seem trite to write about a bad recipe when things like this are going on with loved ones in far away places.  I hope you will forgive me and recognize it is a distraction much needed during a stressful time. 

In a prior post, you may recall the recipe for the beeeautiful Bundt cake with hibiscus frosting.  Part of the cake's beauty was its form so I ordered a brand new bundt pan.  It's called a Heritage Bundt pan and is supposedly the rage on Amazon.  You can find it here.   Even if I never figure out this recipe, I am glad to have the pan.  

It got lost in delivery.  Of course.  Was to be delivered on Friday.  Now, I have been watching, anticipating, and expecting its delivery - the whole recipe revolves around the special cool-looking bundt pan!  A very helpful UPS man (Bill, he is THE MAN!), found and recovered the mis-delivered pan and redirected it to my hands.

The anticipation grew.  I had all the ingredients.  Carefully reading through the recipe directions, I got to the part where it said "add the butter...." What??  There is not butter listed in the ingredient list.  

So, I pulled up the recipe at my work desk today and there it is, right at the top.  Butter is listed.  Dang it!  Even without butter, this cake turned out beautiful and delicious - although dry.  Butter will help!!  I recommend you try it and make sure you get the entire recipe copied.  

I Love Facebook

 The title of this blog might take some of you by surprise, but I do love Facebook.  Tonight, I jumped on and watched an amazing rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water".  Wow, it was so moving.  Then I scrolled on to find a very tall black man tap dancing with a very short white kid.  That was super cool.  That kid was amazing!!  And then, there was a picture of a similar aged kid holding a big, iridescent trout, just out of the hole in the ice and his dad who posted it wrote, "Hooked for Life!".  You should see the smile on that kid's face - I still get those smiles when I pull a fish out of an ice hole!! 

And then there is Misty's List.  A local shopping site, punctuated with crazy political rants that get entertainingly swear-word accentuated and darn right bloody while also showing off the goods of Lincoln County (the county just south of Teton County).  I have found some good things on this site.  There is quite a bit of junk too, but you can get good at breezing through periodically; just checking to make sure something good didn't come up!!  Good things go fast!!

There is certainly a heaping helping of crap, but it's sort of like looking around the Re-Store.  Every now and then you find something so unique and so special, you are just glad you make a habit of coming in every now and then.  

Sometimes you get to enjoy little kids with big, iridescent trout, and that makes it worth coming back again and again.  

Find the good.  Find the good.  It is still QUITE out there!! You just have to open yourself up and look! 

HOOKED FOR LIFE!!  

Gadget Girl

Kitchen gadgets make life easier.  A good sharp knife is critically important.  This year, an anonymous gift arrived from Amazon - much to my delight - someone sent me a brand new Globe knife!  Wow!  What a great gift.  I tried to identify the sender but he/she is being very coy.  Thank you for this amazing gift.  I have already drawn blood due to its sharpness!  I wish I was a bit better at sharpening these important gadgets,. but for now, my new knife is razor-sharp!  

Diana gave me a battery-operated pepper mill a long, long time ago.  Made by Puget.  It's really really great and we still use it and love it.  I think the batteries have been replaced once. 

My newest gadget arrived yesterday and was triggered from my first attempt at home made ravioli (see earlier blog post).  It was a success, but rolling out that pasta by hand was rather exhausting.  Just got the pasta maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid and it ROCKS!  I used it to make crackers last night and it was sooooo much easier!  Pasta making next.  I only got the pasta one; I think I can cut to make noodles.....

There is a recipe for poppy seed lime bundt cake with a hibiscus frosting that I found the other day.  I fell in love immediately.  Recipes can hit you that way.  You see a picture of the final creation and you know you MUST make it!!  Of course, I don't have a bundt pan shaped like that, so one is now on its way from Amazon!  

A well-equipped kitchen must have a food processor, a Kitchen Aid, a blender, a good scooper (for ice cream or cookies), a hand can opener (why, tell me, would anyone need an electric can opener??), a carrot/potato peeler, various cookie sheets and pans, mixing bowls, measuring cups and measuring spoons, and a kitchen scale. I have become a huge believe in a kitchen scale!  I have a cold press juicer that cost a few days of work which I really love too.  The apples off our tree in Freedom make a delicious jice 

Some gadgets I have not been that thrilled about would be the spiralizer.  I've used it a few times but overall, it takes up more space that it's worth.  I got a herb grinder from Food 52 that I thought would be awesome.  It's cast iron, really heavy thing.  Thought it would work great on grinding things up.  It did not.  It's a heavy paper weight and I don't even use it for that!!  

Of course, for jam making, I am especially proud and pleased with my copper pot.  It was outrageously expensive - made an impressive gift from Mike.  Even he was impressed when I told him he had bought it for me!!  A bit of magic goes into every batch of jam I simmer in that orange piece of artwork.  It is lovely, at rest or at work. 

Now that I am in the manic-sourdough bread-making mode, having two proofing baskets and a good scoring lame with, of course, that kitchen scale mentioned above, have been pivotal in making consistent good loaves of bread.  Last week, I sold 13 loaves through our local Slow Foods in the Tetons   This neat marketing online source has given me a way to sell my bread and it sells out right away!  Clearly, Jackson needs a bread shop!!  

What is your favorite gadget?  What do I still need that I don't even know about.....???

Recipe of the Week and Snowmobiling

Thanks to a plethora of very ripe bananas and a bag full of fresh cranberries, I whipped up an original recipe this week which turned out delightful! Banana Cranberry Bread with Cranberry Cream Cheese Frosting.  

I took a general banana bread recipe and threw in 2 cups of fresh cranberries.  Then I took a couple of cups of cranberries, mixed in some sugar and some grated up a couple of kumquats for that unmistakable orange sensation.  This mixture was baked for 10, maybe 20 minutes; until the cranberries looked cooked.  After it cooled, these were added to the cream cheese frosting mix (which ultimately needed more powdered sugar; it was a bit thin).  The remained lined up on top, as you see.  The frosting was over the top delicious!! 

We finally got a day and enough snow to go riding on Sunday.  Mike and I went up into the country we elk hunt.  Seeing the landscape and trails in winter wonder was really great!  The machines worked well.  This picture of Mike is at the top of the ridge.  We were contemplating the trail below, knowing how it looks in the fall and wondering if we could make it down the tight turns, the narrow trail, the heavily wooded timber.  We did, but it took some real riding!!  Great day!! 

One Big Experiment

I got my vaccination this week.  Mike got Pfizer, I got Moderna.  We both get our second shot later this month.  

Personally, I have zero concerns about this new-style vaccination and feel fortunate to be one of the lucky ones to have this opportunity to vaccinate early.  I have had five positive COVID contacts thus far (that I know of) - all of them at work.  Providing vaccinations to those of us in the emergency service world is paramount.  I am sorry there are states that have put emergency responders lower on the priority list.  In uncontrolled emergency incidents, our chance of risk is higher - dare I say - that even the risk of the nurses and docs in the emergency room.  Our hospital tests all ER patients as they come through the door and has top of the line PPE (we have the personal protection equipment as well, but working a fast-moving scene provides ample opportunity for masks to not be tight, glasses to fog up, and cross contamination to occur).

In my head, I have written several blog spots on this topic.  I ponder why people are so opposed.  Parents vaccinate their children against measles, small pox, polio and most parents never think twice.  Many of those people who are opposed were vaccinated as a child.  Cases of polio have decreased over 99% since 1988.  As humans, we have practically eliminated polio off the planet.  And this happened because everyone got on board and vaccinated.  Shouldn't we be working toward this same result with COVID-19?  

The vaccine is new technology, new science.  I suppose that concept could be frightening or exhilarating - all depending on how one frames it.  iPhones were new technology once.  These little devices which we depend on so thoroughly, are the very tracking machines that some worry about with the vaccine.  If you think you will be tracked after getting the vaccine, you are already being tracked through your phone, I assure you of this.  

Worried about what will go into your body with this vaccine?  Hmmm.  What are you putting into your body these days?  Have you really been honest with yourself on this?  Processed foods and preservatives?  Smoking things and dragging crap into your lungs?  Oh, I could go on, but won't.  Do an inventory and think about what goes into your body this week.   

There has never been a vaccine created in such a short time frame.  Will it work?  We shall see.  I feel a bit part of the Big Experiment and that's okay.  I applaud Science for this new technology!  We could be on the road toward many many more cures because COVID showed up on the block.  

In the fall, I got a flu shot.  Once I am finished with my second COVIC shot, I will be heading to get a shingles vaccine.  Then my second pneumonia shot.  I see all of these as opportunities to lower the risk of illnesses and enhance my already great lifestyle.  The magic of Science!!  And I am thankful to live in a place where one has full access to these risk reduction opportunities.  Imagine living in a country where all these health opportunities do not exist.   

Thank you Wyoming.  Thank you for putting emergency responders' right there on the top of the vaccination priority list.  I am honored and proud to be part of the emergency service world and I am beginning to feel a slight bit safer.  

It will, however, be a long time before I quit wearing a mask!!  Stay well, stay happy, and here's to 2021!  May the year ahead unveil many more discoveries for us all!! 

Mike's comment, "big arms".  Ah, thank you, Dear One!!  Yes, I have been blessed with strong, large, fat and flabby arms!!  You gotta love your partner's honesty!! 

Recipe of the Week, #2

I could feel it coming.  It's been an undercurrent all of my life.  This fall, when I found the nice fresh raviolis in the deli section the pull became stronger.  A delicious quick meal.  Saute up some onions and garlic, throw in a can of diced tomatoes and tomato paste, some oregeno and basil and dinner is served.  Then the guests staying at our house sent a picture of their lovely daughter, Lilyjean, eating raviolis.  The ones grandpa makes every year for Christmas.  It's a family tradition.  

I had all of the ingredients and a full free day.  The 00 Flour, eggs, oil.  The green ball above is the ravioli pasta ready to chill and colored up in kale powder green.  

There is no pasta maker in our lives.  Remarkable.  Mike is certain I have every kitchen gadget known to man and woman, however, I have no pasta maker.  This pasta dough was rolled with a rolling pin.  I may very well use this year's Christmas money (thanks Mom & Dad!!) for the Kitchen Aid attachment for pasta rolling.....

Each rav was filled with things I found.  Some burger left from tacos the other night - seemed weird, but what the heck!  Some parmesan cheese.  Some pumpkin seeds.  An egg.  I whirled it up in the food processor, ready for filling the ravs! 

I will say, this was a success!!  They are simply delicious!!  One recipe made about 30 ravs; enough for dinner and enough to freeze.  My oh my.  

It was bound to happen sooner or later! Manga!  (Or however you spell that!!)

  

Happy Holidays 2020

 As you get the last details ready for this holiday weekend coming up, Mike and I wish you a healthy and safe holiday season. 

We love this picture taken of us at Todd & Janet's fall wedding this year by friend Debbie Meagher.  If you were getting a mailed holiday card, this would be the picture on the front!  But, you are not getting a card in the mail!!  

Life changes.  Challenges come, opportunities sprout.  We miss family terribly.  Through all this, we have felt the amazing support of our parents, helping us stay mentally grounded and well.  Thank you Janet, and Jean, and Ken for being there when we need to talk or like to listen, for sending texts that make us laugh, and just, well, for being such a huge part of our lives - even though we cannot be together. 

I have watched FEAR take ahold of friends.  Fear is an ugly thing.  COVID hits pocket books (and the worse may be coming....), affects life styles, and infects loved ones.  News, TV, and social media breeds on fear.  Lots of other things out there breeding on fear too.  It's a fragile time.  The COVID triangle.   The virus, the financial impact, and the mental impact.  Again, I bow to my parents' and friends' support in helping me stay strong and well mentally.  I work hard every day to not let Fear permeate my being.  Positivity and optimism are my choice in life.  

For those of you who read this greeting, we wish you good health and a positive and optimistic outlook for your life, the things you believe in, and the way you want you life to be.  Every morning we make personal choices.  You let the things come into your life that you allow.  Live the life you want, sing, be happy, celebrate life.  It's still worth living.  Even with a mask on!! 

Meet Moose

 Mike's mule Cosmo had to be put down earlier this year due to an injury that was something which could not be fixed.  It was an incredibly sad day.  We love our livestock.  We patiently put up with their quirks, their sometime rebellious moods, we laugh about their personalities, and we are proud of their strong work.  They become friends we trust with our life and that's a pretty big deal.  To say goodbye to a trusted friend is never very easy.  Rest in Peace at the Walton Ranch burial hole, Cosmo.  You were the ugliest good looking mule we've ever owned.  You looked like a Milky Way bar with your chocolate spots and creamy colors filled around them.  You made Mike swear more than once, you let Ruby ride on the saddle, and your adventures with Trumbower gave us so many good stories to remember and share around the campfire.  You were a good mule. 

So the search began to find another.  And a search it has been, indeed.  We almost made a trip to the northeast corner of Wyoming seeking a potential mule until veterinarian friend, Ken Griggs, took one look of the picture of the mule's teeth and advised us this mule was much older that was being advertised.  Then friends Seth and Alden took a four-plus hour road trip to find a mule with an ugly abscess on its face (clearly the side they did not photograph) and left with an empty trailer.  Thank you two, that was really nice of you to do that for us!   

Seth kept looking.  For us and for himself.  He found our mule, he announced.  And it looked like a real candidate!  So we went for a drive yesterday.  I took the day off and we drove south to Utah. 

There were some early signs that pointed to how our day might go.  The thermos of coffee dumping all of the coffee out into the lunch bag.  The bag of dogfood ripping as Mike tried to transfer the food into the mouse proof container.  I had bad feelings about taking the red diesel Dodge and said so. The failing air condition at end of summer and the funny knocking sounds during hunting season gave me a strong feeling we should have hooked to the old green Ford.  

We arrived at the mule's owner's house around noon on a blue sky, breezy and mild winter day, red Dodge diesel towing the trailer.  Mike saddled up the tall, dark mule, anxious leaving his two girlfriends in the small fence paneled yard.  

Off they went into the open flat field to the south of the mule's home.  Wagging his head and crow hopping a couple of times, it was clear he was not at all pleased about leaving the girls.  Mule Owner and I watched with anxiety, wondering how long before Mike ended up in a heap on the ground.  Further and further they rode off, Mike at the reigns of a mule that doesn't have a very good steering wheel, Mule Owner and I holding our breath as he rode further and further off into the distance (Mule Owner quietly proclaiming with a low and ominous tone,  "I've never ridden him that far away before").  He turned the mule to cross to the other side of the field.  Back and forth, round and round, crow hop or two thrown in, and back he came, a measured and calm walk, returning to his girls.  Mike liked him.  The mule's name is Moose. 

So all seemed to be going well.  Mike did not get dumped, he liked the mule, we bought the mule, and followed Mule Owner to vet to get health certificate.  Off to the gas station to get fuel for the Dodge.  Fueled up, we pulled onto the side road to take us to the interstate and then suddenly, another funny sound and the rubber smell of burning plastic sent Mike making a dramatic U-turn with trailer back into the parking lot. Gray acrid smelling smoke was billowing out of the hood and especially on my side.  I was pretty sure we were about to watch our Dodge burn to the ground and I was thinking "get your purse, get the dogs, get the mule out of the trailer, and call 911".

Fortunately, it was just a major belt smoking to it's final breaking point.  I guess that is better than burning up the truck, but it was a big deal.  Mule Owner came to the rescue, brining a new belt, calling a mechanic friend, spending the remainder of his afternoon helping Mike replace the compressor (a new one delivered by a couple of young kids in an old beater Buick, cost of said compressor charged to Mule Owner's credit card - I would later repay him on his Venmo account) and figure out how to thread the serpentine belt in a very limited work space with a very limited tool selection.  Another friend of Mule Owner showed up in a red flatbed pickup.  Where did you come from, I asked.  I saw JT over her under the truck and thought I might be able to help!  Amazing, said I. 

As Mike crawled into the truck to turn the key three and a half hours later, I asked how we might repay them.  Both lowered their eyes and gave and "ah, shucks, we don't want any money" response.  Pay it forward, one said.  I can attest, there are still good people out there in the world!!  They will get gifts of gratitude. 

The sun dropped below the horizon and Mike started the engine.  The belt stayed in place.  We were on our way home!!  We arrived in Freedom before 8:30pm with a tired mule, two tired dogs, and two happy passengers!  Moose bayed his mournful mule holler, missing the girls left behind, under a starry sky with a bale of good alfalfa hay for eating.  He was happy to get some grain from his new owner this morning and this afternoon will be meeting his new buddy, Gus.  

Welcome to our Family, Moose.  We will love you and take care of you just like we did with Cosmo and that we do for the others in the family.  We know you will have quirks, strengths and weaknesses.  We will do our very best to insure you have a long and healthy life.  I think you will like it here.  Please take good care of Mike. Thank you for not dumping him onto a field in Utah yesterday! 

And the Dodge goes to the shop on Monday. 

  

Recipe of the Week

 With good intentions, I begin a series called "Recipe of the Week".  

Mike says it is the best Cesar salad he has ever eaten.  The dressing, whipped up by hand, has just the right mix of fishy, salty anchovy and garlic.  Below are the directions.  

Take three slices of oily, smelly, salty anchovies out of their can and onto a cutting board.  Don't worry about the drops of oil that coat these delicious morsels.  Chop the fish meat into small pieces. 

Peel a sumptuous clove of garlic (if you have garlic from my garden, your clove will be fat, juicy, and spicy) and coarse chop alongside of the chopped anchovy. 

When you tire from chopping these two ingredients into tiny pieces, flatten out your knife and press down on the two, working the mixture into what looks more like a slurry of combined goodness.

In a small bowl, place the yolk from the egg you just went out and gathered from the hen house coming in and separating out the white into the sink garbage disposal into the bowl.  (If you have no chickens, I am sorry for you).  Beat it up with a wire whisk. 

Add fresh lemon juice.  About half a lemon was right - around 2 tablespoons.  Wisk.  Add a squirt of very good mustard.  Wisk.  

Now dribble, ever so slowly, good olive oil into this mix whisking, whisking constantly.  The mixture is going to thicken.  I added a few drops of water when I was getting pretty tired of whisking.  

To finish, add the anchovy/garlic slurry and some shredded Parm cheese.  Whisk and be ready for a real taste bud treat. 

I cheated with the croutons and was delighted with the results.  Took some older bread (whaaaat, bread in our house??!!), cubed it and put it in a pan with olive oil.  Heated, threw in some seasonings and done!!  Croutons made without a cookie pan and/or oven!!  

Mix the dressing into your chopped Romaine, divide into serving bowls, top with croutons and cheese.  Be prepared for the best Cesar salad you have ever eaten. 

Today is a Big Day

 Today is a big day.  Today, Mike sells his Hoback home.  

I'm sorry I do not have a picture of the house as we prepare to sign the paper work to make it so. 

In the works, a hope to get some farm land just west of our place in Freedom and the hope to buy a house in the area we could rent for that needed retirement income......

There should always be a picture in a blog.  Here you can see a slice of the land Mike is hoping to buy, just on the left of the frame. (The markings on the picture is to direct the Harvest Host guests where to park).  

Dirty Socks

 Mom sent me a GREAT book (Nose Dive), inspired from my excited sharing of smells.  Which, amazingly, I have been able to smell.  It is a sense which disappeared years ago.  I figured of all things, losing one's sense of smell can't be the worst thing a human body experiences.  

Anyway, I will spare you the details of how, but my smell is back.  Mike finds my joyful proclamations funny as I open the jar of dark roasted coffee beans and take a giant smell in shouting out how goooooood the coffee beans smell.  But exactly what do they smell like? 

And that's what inspired the book.  Mom heard the author on NPR (because she listens to it non-stop!) and new I needed the book. 

Did you know smells are volatilized atoms?  AND, here is the really cool part, many atoms are similar to others.  

This is a picture of ALL the kraut I have sitting on the counter, happily fermenting away.  Some of it is waiting to be jarred up, some of it is bubbling away.  Our house smells like dirty socks!!  And now I know why!!  The atoms the ferment throws into the air are certainly similar to those of dirty socks!!  And I'm just 20 pages into the book!!  

I need adjectives!!  Incidentally, I have plenty of kraut!  Some of my Fans have discovered that this stuff is not only delicious, but good for you too.  Mike and I eat it on our eggs, our sandwiches, and our steaks.  Certainly a good addition for building up immunity - not a bad idea right now!! 

It has been snowing.  A bunch!

This is a picture out the back door yesterday morning, before it snowed another half foot.  Winter came early this year!! 

Happily, we found my elk before the big storm came. 

Thank you Miss Elk for standing still so long so I could make a good shot.  Your meat will be relished and appreciated!  We are so lucky to have a freezer packed with lean, organic meat.  This year, I have asked the processor to put aside the burger (with some pork fat mixed in) and I am going to make a variety of breakfast sausage.  Please send me your favorite recipes!!  

I love the smell of breakfast sausage sizzling in a pan but I have no clue of how to describe that smell......the greasy smell of pork fat filling the air and making me hungry!!  

I Never Thought of That!

As Mike awaits the final sale of his Hoback house, he threw out the idea about a month ago that we should look for some snowmobiles.  I was all in!  Of course, as life goes, once you start thinking about something, you start seeing that something.  One of the guys we snowmobiled with back in the day had this sled up for sale.  His son was selling the other.  A person we totally trust, they were purchased without hesitation.

And as we loaded them, Mike quipped, I could have bought a couple of mules for what we paid for these things!  I never thought of that!!  

Word around the valley - north and south - is that snowmobiles are a hot commodity.  No one wants to be in a tram car on the ski hill and many are thinking snowmobiles are the perfect social yet isolated winter activity.  The trails will probably be busy. 

Don't they look a bit like bees??  These are two stroke sleds.  Pull the cord and blap blap blap they growl!  An 800 and a 600 engine size.  Get stuck once, and you have your daily workout!  

Yes, it's a bit redneck, however, once we spend the entire winter in Freedom, these toys could be a very nice distraction to impending boredom!!  

Raising Funds

It is a tragic story.  One of a 9 month old in his stroller.  Mom runs into the tent to grab a coat while dad leaves.  Dad see the back of the stroller and figures all is well, gets in his truck and backs over his nine month old son who crawled out of the stroller. Tragic, heartbreaking, and an event that brought the community together to do something.  Something for this young couple that lost their beautiful baby boy.  Someone started a Facebook page and they did a community fund raising event through an auction.  Local people donated a ton of things.  I think they had close to 800 items donated.  I donated a sour cherry pie.  It fetched $90 and was delivered this last weekend.  

I also donated a case of wide mouth pint jars with lids and rings.  It fetched $55.  Those are almost collectors items this year!! 

The family is overwhelmed with the love and care from the community.  They have more money than they need, so I have heard, and will help out other families when needed.  

I doubt there are many more things more difficult to endure.  I hope they find some very good counseling so they can go on with life.