Bicycling!

Enjoy a few photos taken by "Me and My Shadow". You have to guess which one is JoPapa and which one is me. :-) But first a caution: "do not attempt to take photos while riding". If I were a professional Ninja Photographer like Blue Window Creative, http://lookbook.bluewindowcreative.com/category/blog/ I could snap a great shot without wrecking our bikes thus sentencing JoPapa to several weeks of healing from a broken collar bone! Notice how our handle bars are just touching...then we wrecked!!! Yikes!

When not in recovery, we love to get out in the cool of the day and ride together. We see so many things and enjoy being in nature.

We relish the fresh air, sunshine, smells of hay, birds calling, cows mooing and, the feel of the road or trail beneath our tires.

As we ride by, we have often surprised turkey, deer, coyote, fox, lizards, and snakes. We don't always manage to get a photo of the wildlife but it is always so fun to see that they are hiding along the way.  We hear the rustle of dry leaves as rabbits, squirrels and other small creatures scurry off to hide.


Me and My Shadow riding past the La Petite Gemme, the prairie on the Frisco Highline Trail.



A five-lined skink looking for a snack.

Now, if you are afraid of snakes, close your eyes for a second and scroll past these next couple of pictures. We don't always see snakes, but when we do, we'll stop and take a photo if we remember to bring along a camera.  Yesterday, we rode past a fat green snake.  It was bigger than this one and was in the center of the trail. Since JoPapa was right beside me and the snake was in the middle, it had no where to go but up. I was surprised to see the whole body spring up, not just it's head. Boing! We were past in a flash with no harm done to any of us.

A little green snake surprised to see us ride past.

This snake is tense! Look how bumpy it is. It is about 24" long.  He was just leaving.

Water snake under the Sac River Bridge.

Me and my shadow looking over the other side of the Sac River Bridge on the Frisco Highline Trail.

 

Me and My Shadow riding past a rock bluff along the road.

 


The sunrises welcome  us each day and the sunsets wish us goodnight.

 

I know God is at work making this world and it's all good!

I also enjoy reading about others’ biking adventures. Pondero came to Missouri from Texas to ride the Frisco Highline Trail. His blog and photos were wonderful! Here is a quote and then a comment from our Polk County Bike Club friend, Steve Butcher.
http://chris-pondero.blogspot.com/
Unlike my friends in other locales, I don't see many stone walls during my wanderings. It seemed good to stop a moment and ponder. The one who placed the first stone instructs us in the virtues of vision, patience, and hard work.
GravelDoc said... It's interesting to look at a rock wall and discover what, at first, seems to be a bunch of rocks randomly stacked together; only to discover the builder had to hand pick each stone and fit it in with the others to build a structure that would stand. Perhaps this is kind of a picture of what the Master Builder does. I like rock walls.



That's a glimpse of my kind of fun.  Want to get a bike and go for a ride with us now?

Pumpkin Cake

I was searching for something for dinner that was buried deep in my freezer when I stumbled across a package of my frozen pumpkin! Not what I was looking for, but a great idea spark for the cake I'm baking to share at God's Gathering. Last fall, I cooked our Halloween pumpkin. Please note, we hadn't carved that pumpkin, but drew the Jack-o-lantern's face on it so I could spin it around and leave it out through Thanksgiving. Don't you just love to decorate for the seasons? I sure do! Anyway, I peeled, and cooked that pumpkin then froze it in one-cup portions.  I do love to bake treats and hide that vegetable nutrition from carrots, zucchini, or pumpkin inside! So here's another tasty treat you can bake up yourself! Or stop by my house...I bake requests you know! I could ship this to you, but you would have frost it when it arrives. I'm not sure butter cream frosting would survive in a box! Let me know what you think of this spicy, nutty, cranberry, pumpkin cake.

PUMPKIN CAKE　
　
1 2/3 cups flour
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
2/3 cup cooking oil
½ cup chopped nuts
½ cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cloves. Beat eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and oil. Mix in dry ingredients and beat on medium speed for two minutes. Stir in nuts and cranberries. Spread batter evenly in an ungreased 9x13-baking pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Spread with cream cheese frosting or butter cream frosting.

QUICK YUMMY TREAT!

This won’t heat up the kitchen too much so this is a great treat to make in the summer time. Plus, it stirs up quick on the stove top so it doesn’t take long to make.  I made these for God's Gathering last week and they seemed to be a big hit. So I'm making them again!

First, I like to get all the ingredients in order, and I pre-measure everything so I can just mix it up step by step. Now that my memory seems to be playing tricks on me, I double check myself so I don’t skip any steps.  Surely that has nothing to do with my age? Don't you sometimes have a few little distractions in your life and forget what's next?



I like to grease and sugar (not flour) the pans I use when I make sweet treats so that’s what I did this time too. I actually sprayed the pan with Pam and then sprinkled just enough sugar to cover. I made a couple of adjustments to the original recipe that my Dahling Daughter Dayna shared with me, so here is my version:

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CRISPY RICE CEREAL BARSIngredients:
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (10.5 ounce) package mini marshmallows
6 cups crispy rice cereal
TOPPING
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons CriscoDirections:Pour the rice cereal and crunchy peanut butter in a large bowl; set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan combine the light corn syrup and white sugar; bring to a boil; continue to boil for 1 minute.
Reduce heat to low and stir in butter or margarine, peanut butter and vanilla until melted and smooth.
Add in mini marshmallows and stir until blended.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into the rice cereal and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Press the mixture into a greased 9x13-inch baking pan, flatten with the back of a buttered spoon. (Sometimes I use a piece of wax paper that I lightly coat with butter to press down these Rice Krispy Treats.)

In a microwave-safe bowl microwave the chocolate chips with shortening on HIGH until melted, removing once to stir. This took less than one minute and I stirred it at 30 seconds. Immediately spread the hot chocolate mixture evenly over the bars; chill to harden the chocolate.

Then, cut into desired size bars.

It's easy to clean up especially if you have a Cookie Monster to pre-wash the spoons and bowls.

This is something from Peg's Pantry that I could easily ship to you (for a fee of course). If you don’t have time to mix these up yourself, let me know…make me an offer I can’t refuse…beg, plead, ask nicely even…and I’ll make the next batch of these for YOU!

Layered Dip

This is such a simple appetizer to make and it is so delicious. It's a great snack! Don't you think it's healthy too? Black beans, avocados, my salsa...how can all that be anything but good for you? It can be made ahead of time and transported easily - which is just what I did! I brought it to share this weekend at our family reunion.  It travelled well with me in the ice chest. (I wasn't in the ice chest, just the casserole dish). I made a few alterations to the original recipe I was given so my recipe is what I'll share with you here. Call me when you make this and we can have a party because it makes more than just what a couple of people can eat! I'd post a picture, but we ate it all!
In a 9x 13 casserole dish layer the following:

1st layer - 15 oz can of black bean refried beans
2nd layer - Wholly Guacamole (comes in a two pack and I used both) (http://eatwholly.com/wholly-parade/?gclid=CM7K55H7srECFSZntgodpQEAyQ (click here to go to the website for a coupon!)
3rd layer - mix together 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, and 1 package taco seasoning mix
4th layer - Large bunch of green onions, chopped
5th layer - 1 cup of Peg's Pantry Salsa
6th layer - 2 (2.25 oz) cans of sliced ripe olives
7th layer - 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Serve with tortilla chips.

SUMMER SAUSAGE

I don’t know how this summer sausage actually got its name.  I do love to eat it for a snack in the summer. It’s a delicious snack served with a smoky cheese and crackers. But I usually bake it in the cooler winter months and freeze it so we can enjoy it when we’re in the mood or need a tasty appetizer to share with company. Fresh from the oven, this sausage is really delicious.  I’m thinking that if these deer keep plumping themselves up on the neighbors’ lovely landscaping, they will make tasty venison. Wonder if that would be good instead of beef in this recipe? ;-)
　
SUMMER SAUSAGE

2 lbs. Ground beef
1/8 tsp. Garlic powder
1/8 tsp. Onion powder
1/8 tsp. Cayenne pepper
1 Tbl. liquid smoke
3 Tbl. Tender Quick salt
1 cup water
1 tsp. pepper corns (I usually substitute 1/2 tsp ground pepper because I don't like to bite a pepper corn)
1 tsp. mustard seeds

Mix well. First I stir all this with a wooden spoon. Then, wearing rubber gloves (for easy clean up), I’ll reach in and mix it some more. This is an especially good way to make sure it’s thoroughly mixed if I’ve multiplied the recipe (like when I make it with 6 pounds of ground beef). Divide the meat and shape into 2-inch rolls (about one pound each). A two-inch round is about the right dimension to cover a Ritz cracker. When I make mine, I form the sausage to fit the width of my pan and baking rack. It's not critical that each sausage is one pound.  But if you make it into three or four inches around it may take longer to bake thoroughly. Wrap in aluminum foil (shiny side in). Refrigerate 24-48 hours. Using a knife, cut ½" slits about every two inches along the bottom of rolls. Place on rack over pan. Bake at 350 for 1 ¼ hours.

Let me know if you enjoy this recipe or if you try it with venison. I don't know if I'd be able to shoot Bambi even if I got a deer tag and it was legal to hunt in my back yard.   As always, I love to share what I make, bake, knit, can, or cook. If I can ship something from Peg's Pantry, I'd be happy to send it your way - if you make me an offer I can't refuse of course! Or you can come get some next time you visit!

Enjoy!!

A Book in My Pantry

I have been blessed to learn first hand the power of teaching a child to read. It is a life-changing event that many Americans take for granted. Statistics indicate that the more education our children have the higher their life income will be while reducing the likelyhood they will participate in illegal activities. Greg Mortenson and his organization work to stop war by building schools. The pen is truely mightier than the sword!

In Stones Into Schools, Greg Mortenson describes how his organization strives to build schools in some of the hardest to reach communities so the young women there can learn to read thereby bringing about the biggest potential change. He quotes The Girl Effect which states "If you teach a boy, you educate an individual; but if you teach a girl, you educate a community." So he builds schools for girls in this war-torn region in order to defeat the extremist Taliban jihad teachings that misinterpret the peaceful philosophy of the Koran which turns children into warriors.

Greg Mortenson states it eloquently:…" the mind of a child is like the surface of the lake beside the school – and because they know that trying to contain the flames that are lit by literacy can be as futile as dropping a stone onto the surface of that lake and attempting to hold back the ripples with one’s hands."

If you have time to read only one inspiring book this summer, read this one. Then take some action! You don’t have to donate to his project (but you might consider doing so), but what I truly hope is that you do something to promote literacy and education in your own neighborhood!

RASPBERRY JAM

RASPBERRY JAM

I don't spend ALL my time playing at the lake, sometimes I play in the kitchen! Making raspberry jam is such a long process, but I love to eat my PB&J every day and this is my favorite jam!  First I have to grow those raspberries. We put nets over these to protect them from the birds and also water them thoroughly once a week.

I pick berries every morning, but we only get a small bowl each day so I freeze them until there are enough for a batch of jam.  One thing about using frozen raspberries is that they crumble easily so I don't have to crush them.  The jam turns out just about the perfect consistency that way.  I measure all my ingredients following the directions in the box of Sure Jell to make cooked jam.

During the whole process, I wear rubber gloves. That way I can wash my hands in HOT water, stir without worrying about getting hot jam splashed on me, put the jars in boiling water without getting burned, etc.

I always process my canned jam in a boiling water bath

. 

I was only kidding about it being long and hard to make jam. Especially since we grow our own berries, the end product is worth the effort! I know I'm eating as close to nature as possible too! I can be convinced to share some of this deliciousness with you.  It can be shipped, delivered or you can come and get it! I'm sure it tastes great on things besides PB&J sandwiches...how about on biscuits, toast or ice cream?