Monthly Archives: July 2010

Sandhill Cranes 7/30/10

Posted on July 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

One of the baby cranes is gone, but the surviving colt looks healthy and happy and the entire family was out this morning but way too far away to get a photo.

Later today I heard the call and it sounded close so I ran upstairs with the camera and went out on the deck

Papa Crane?

and I believe it’s the father. They call to each other when apart, it’s really beautiful and ancient (they’re pre-historic birds). It’s always a treat to see them close by. We can’t go out into the Preserve so when I can get a photo it’s really special. Thanks for reading, Dee

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Vacation

Posted on July 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

There’s no possible way we can ever use the vacation days Jim has accrued. He’s just started a new job at work and once he gets into it, there’s no way to get him to go on vacation and November and December are pretty verboten for time off.

So where do we go? He may have a week off mid-August but I don’t want to travel to somewhere like Europe then when all the kiddos are still out of school and it’s a backpacker’s heyday.

So I’m looking into driving vacations and short, inexpensive flights, trying to stay away from triple digit heat and deserts. I’ll work on it over the weekend as I also have to make plans for the dog because she’s a pain to travel with. Even when hotels will take her, we get a crummy room, can’t have her stay there alone, so our meals are compromised as we can’t take her there either. A week driving into Sonic, forget it. That’s no vacation, eating with the engine running in an air-conditioned car with the dog in the back. And even if Sonic’s burgers are OK, their bathrooms are horrendous.

If you’ve any suggestions for the trip, probably in the Western states or Pacific NW, just comment right here. Thanks! Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Italy, Scotland, Travel

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Whirlwind of Activity

Posted on July 29, 2010 | 2 Comments

We had a high school buddy of Jim’s here for under 18 hours, from yesterday afternoon ’til this morning. Of course he arrived with wife and 2 1/2 year old daughter after several hours on the road.

I don’t know how parents in their late 20′s manage a toddler, much less in their thirties! There’s no way I could keep up with this delightful and loud young thing. When Jim got home from work he made balloons and they took walks and we read books. Our dog Zoe was a big hit.

I managed dinner and a hearty breakfast and they were off, hopefully not to hit the thunderstorms we had today. The lightning and thunder were right here and very loud, and Zoe was frightened. A couple of hours later, blue skies, the pavement is dry and the grass has probably grown an inch!

Last night we had pork chops marinated in cider and grainy mustard. I patted them dry, dusted them with seasoned flour and placed them in a saute pan. I also had corn on the cob in a maitre d’hotel butter (butter, parsley, lemon juice), sauteed cherry tomatoes with olive oil and basil, and rosemary roasted potatoes.

The best thing about that dinner, aside from the company, is that I’ve enough potatoes and veg to re-heat tonight and only had to buy beef flap for Don’s maple rosemary marinade to finish the meal.

Now Jim has to bring our dining table down to normal size, as right now if we moved the light fixture we could play Twister on it. It’s taken over the room. Next time, folks, stay longer. One night is a whirlwind and I now have the guest bed and bath ready for future guests minus hotel sheets. They’re hanging, washed and dried, over the bannister for Jim to help me fold better and put away. Yes, I bought 400 thread count sheets for our two guest beds that actually fit the beds and aren’t torn, washed them today and put them on sans blankets for summer. Got them from Overstock.com, as I’ve always loved their sheets.

In 24 hours I did three dishwasher loads, and seven loads of laundry. You can’t have fun unless you’re willing to clean up the mess.

Jim’s old buddy is a photographer and got some good photos of his family vacation, but I only saw them on the camera. He got to see them on my large monitor while I finished up the dishes. I love having family and old friends stay with us, and entertain new friends for a meal here. There’s so much talent out there in the world to learn about, places I’ve never seen described so I want to see them.

You know I love planning menus and preparing food to delight guests. Please allow me to attend to our dinner a deux as my husband is just a few miles away…. Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial

Trader Joe’s

Posted on July 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

The lady in front of me at Whole Foods brought all recyclable bags for her groceries. One was from Trader Joe’s. My canvas bag has been confiscated for the present by Jim for his balloons. So I didn’t have a bag but did ask her how she lives without TJ’s. She manages when she goes “home” to the west coast to get what she needs.

When my mother was in hospice, we used our lunch hour one day to pick up my favorite sponges and scrubbies and a big wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano to take home. TJ’s will never come to Utah, simply because of the draconian liquor laws. A local brewpub brews beer, sells it to the State and buys it back to sell it from the restaurant. And I thought NY State was bad!

I miss TJ’s. I went there all the time and would start my shopping at the wonderful fresh market next door for wonderful fruit, valencia oranges and peaches and satsuma tangerines. Then I’d go to TJ’s and finish my shopping at the grocery next door, anything I couldn’t get at the other venues. Their cheeses are wonderful, the wines inexpensive, and cereals and pastas are also tasty and inexpensive. Sometimes I’d buy frozen rack of lamb there. And their pop-up sponges are incredible, and scrubbies in mesh packs that work on non-stick pans.

Lately my moving wish list includes an office and two-car garage during snow/hail seasons. If we move out of state, TJ’s may have to be on that list! Cheers, Dee

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Ominous Skies

Posted on July 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

The wind kicked up and we’ve had a few minutes of rain but that may escalate. It’s just 6:30 p.m. here and it’s dark as I sit at my computer. I’ve baby back ribs in the oven (similar to the Alton Brown version) that will go on the grill with BBQ sauce for a few minutes to crisp and heat through. We’re still working on the cole slaw and I may make Rosti potatoes, that’s grated potatoes that are squeezed dry in a clean tea towel and made into a cake, stove-top. Also corn on the cob.

It’s shaping up as a busy week. Jim just called and is en route home. The dog and fish are fed and it just started raining, finally. Jim says it’s raining cats and dogs where he is so he’ll probably have that all the way home. Gotta pay some bills and work on dinner. Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Recipe Ideas

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Projects

Posted on July 25, 2010 | 5 Comments

After having brunch out, we stocked up on a few little gift basket items for our young visitor (age 2.5) and her parents, stopping at the Visitor Center across the highway and getting the latest information on what’s happening here.

My father sent me a fifty year-old “fake book” that he played piano and we sang along with when I was little. He had the yellowing pages held together with clamped rings and the edges were tattered. We bought an inexpensive paper cutter and 3″ binder and I spent a couple of hours cutting off the ragged edges and placing each page in a clear sleeve to protect them, then into the binder.

Gift from Dad

Jim spent about the same amount of time learning a few new balloon designs, like a hat with a tree frog sitting on your shoulders, with a really long tongue. Also a few more hats, and he learned how to make curly balloons. It’s getting dark out now so if they’re still “alive” tomorrow I may be able to take a photo of them outside in the light.

Dinner was simple, just boneless skinless chicken breasts in seasoned flour, egg/milk then panko, sauteed and served with lemon. I made a ton of coleslaw last night so we had that and some frozen sweet potato fries. The second week of the three-week fast-pitch softball tourney ended yesterday and the remainder of folks renting homes here left. Jim’s been making balloons (practicing) for many of the kids so as we walked the dog last night we were inundated with food (chicken, salad, fruit salads) that would’ve been tossed this morning.

It’s nice spending some quiet time on the weekends and good to see my husband as he was working late all week and had a bite to eat then fell into bed every night. Let’s hope this week is a little easier. Our guests are just here for a night (unless they like it so much they forego another day of their vacation) and that’s 95% on me. Jim just has to get home for dinner at a reasonable hour and be sociable. All for now. Cheers, Dee

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Guests

Posted on July 25, 2010 | 2 Comments

Jim says I always get “testy” before we have guests. He’s right as he often (not always) is. I want to make sure the house is clean, a menu has been partly set with their likes and dislikes in mind, and that they have current guides for their visit so they can do what they want to do while visiting.

There is so much to do here and families like different things, so I try to tailor recommendations to our guests. In the end I think we’re lucky to be where we are for even a brief period of time and we’d like to share it with friends and family.

There’s a family coming in next week and I’m just trying to keep the house clean and keep my lists ready for food et al. That drives Jim crazy as he believes he should go through the house like a human tornado and let someone else pick up after him That would be me. But that’s the battle.

I know it’ll go well if I only remind him to come home from work at a reasonable hour to greet his guests. Fingers crossed, Dee

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Software Engineer or Busker?

Posted on July 24, 2010 | 2 Comments

Tonight husband Jim left with the dog and brought along a bag of balloons, as he just started balloon twisting last weekend to have something with which to entertain the kids who belong to his colleagues and staff.

Canary on a Ring

After an hour when dinner was done he was no-where to be found. Oh, he learned the Canary this afternoon. I called to make sure the dog was OK and getting water and his explanation of where he was, well I didn’t understand it. En route to finding them I came upon some fast pitch softball kids who are visiting and gave them an alien baseball cap with eyeballs (balloon eyeballs) and a flower. Then I came across another softball family we’d met who is leaving tomorrow and gave us a ton of fruit salad. Then Jim and Zoe arrived.

They’d been at the town square, it’s not a town and not a square but that’s the best description I have. When I called he said he had a number of orders for space guns and as soon as he was finished, he’d be home with our dog, who was probably panting away by then for lack of water.

A Simple Flower

He came home with $14 in his pocket, about what he spent on balloons, and no-where near what his professional time is worth, for that outing. He didn’t see the first dollars come in, then kids started giving him a dollar, thinking him an itinerant and intermediate level talent. He let them do so as otherwise their parents would have been upset.

One kid asked for his business card. He gave it to him. Lead Software Engineer, Major Company. It amused him to think what the kid and especially parents thought of that! Please know he’s practicing so he can have a few balloons in his desk so when kids come to visit the office he can do something other than give them a piece of candy. He’s not in it to make money! That $14 will be put back into balloons to delight other children.

In the meantime we thank the local kids and all the visitors from the fast-pitch softball championships for letting Jim practice making baseball caps from balloons. Oh, a busker is someone who plays an instrument, sings or recites or does something on the street that passers-by pay to hear/see.

When it comes to money, “earning” $7/hour busking would not allow us to live here or anywhere without a land grant and cabin and vegetable garden and a couple of cows and goats. Let’s just say Jim should keep his day job. Cheers, Dee

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A Lovely Luncheon

Posted on July 24, 2010 | 1 Comment

A girlfriend came over for lunch yesterday and enjoyed her meal.

We had a salad with ribbons of carrot and English cucumber with a splash of rice vinegar, salt and pepper.
The tilapia looked best at the fishmonger so that was our protein, dusted with flour, salt and pepper and sauteed at the last minute in butter with a little canola oil to keep the olive oil from burning. Before I cooked the fish I sauteed baby arugula with garlic slivers in olive oil. I placed a tablespoon or so of the garnish on top of the fish with a splash of lemon juice.

I used a soy glaze/marinade to which I added sesame oil to make cold sesame noodles, Soba noodles garnished with scallions and sesame seeds. We were both happy with it. After she left I put down the shades to keep it from getting too hot in here (it’s been extraordinarily warm this summer) and saw the sight below. Interesting because they’re rarely out during the day, a Greater Sandhill Crane parent and growing colt.

Mother and Colt

I don’t know whether this is half of our pair with two colts. The adult did call out once. Their prehistoric call is kind of like moms checking up to see where their kids are by cell phone, but these voices travel a mile without batteries, towers or phones.

The “balloon man” is off with the dog. This afternoon he learned to make a parrot sitting on a ring. We’re having cold dinner tonight with fruit, veggies, hard-cooked eggs, sliced Black Forest ham, extra-sharp Tillamook cheddar and two loaves of nice breads to choose from. Hope you’re having a great weekend. Happy Pioneer Day! Dee

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What is New Today?

Posted on July 23, 2010 | 2 Comments

Lots in my simple life, but I can’t tell you. So allow me to relate a lovely dinner we had last night with a friend who’s in from the coast for a few days. It began with an “amuse” with chips, warm and perfectly cooked. Our friend had a salad, then halibut. My husband Jim had a Caesar salad and steak, and I had incredible crab cakes atop a slaw of cabbage and sweet apple. Then the short rib. A third of the steak and half the short rib went into a box to take home.

Amazing tastes that awaken me to all the possibilities out there especially when I’m in a cooking rut. Thanks, chef!

Also many thanks, X! I made Jim steak and eggs this morning, and had the short rib for lunch. Hope to see you tomorrow before you go, as I promised a home-cooked lunch and will deliver on that promise. I even went out to get a new printer cartridge and paper today so anything you need to print for work can be done around our lunch.

I’m still working on the menu, refining it, veg with a little fish, will let you know after it’s set. It’s always nice to hang out with people with brains and vision. Not to mention talent, and passion. There are bright sparks around and people were getting together, but it needs to be revived. It’s difficult because it’s so seasonal. Well, there’s work to do.

Life always offers surprises, as in cooking, we try to do our best to “roll with the punches” and make things work out for the best. Cheers, Dee

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