Reprieve

Every once in awhile I have a day where the weight of the world just gets to me.

I think for the most part, I live in denial.  But there are times when life just gets me down.

I'm having one of those days....or weeks.

And for the first time, the last couple of days' heat is getting to me.

I'm grateful for the reprieve from scorching rays and weighty matters.

Today I spent 3.6 miles in the slots of Kanarraville Creek.  In the creek.

Wading through refreshing mountain spring waters and gazing up through red sandstone marvels sort of has a way of taking your mind off of things.  Like a mini-vacay.  My brain and spirit are especially grateful for these reprieves.

Stuffed

Is it just me or do stuffed bell peppers remind anyone of their childhood?  I seem to recall eating the occasional green pepper stuffed with red rice.  I wonder if bell peppers were as proportionally expensive then as they are now.

I've been on a bell pepper kick for the last couple of months, buying the multi-color pack of yellow, red and orange from Costco.  We slice them up to eat like apples sometimes.  And the other night I had a hankering for eating these peppers the old fashioned way.....stuffed.

So I perused recipes online.  Believe it or not I couldn't find one stuffed bell pepper recipe in my entire collection of cookbooks...including the vintage ones!  But most of the recipes online required ingredients not found in the Dixie Mom's fold...or pantry.

And so...I made up my own recipe.  And it was good.

First, I set some brown rice to cooking on the stove....the old school way...for 50 minutes.  Let me say, this wasn't the quickest dinner in the world.

Second, I cut the tops of 4 peppers off and scooped out the seeds and insides. Then I steamed them on the stove for about 10 minutes until barely tender.  I didn't want to over cook them and have them turn out mushy.

As all that was cooking, I took the remaining pepper tops, removed the stems and chopped them up into small bits.

In a large bowl, I combined 1 pound of hamburger, the chopped peppers, 1 Tbsp of Italian seasoning, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and a dash of pepper.  When the rice was finished cooking, I added 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice to the mixture and mashed it together...with my bare hands. Aggressive.

Then I stuffed the steamed peppers with the hamburger mixture and heaped them up nice and tall.  I set them in a 9x9 pan.  Mine stood up fine but I saw online that you could trim the bottoms if you needed to.  I drizzled them with a little olive oil and rubbed it into the sides of the peppers.  Then I sprinkled the tops with paprika.  Oh, shiny peppers...you are so be.u.tee.full.

I cooked them in the oven at 350 for almost an hour.  Other recipes I'd seen said to cook them 35-45 minutes...I just didn't feel like that was long enough to cook the hamburger well enough.  And so...I was right.  They were perfect.

I decided that stuffed bell peppers are completely All-American.  A little bit of everything....Italian, Mexican and Chinese.  Jumbled and mixed all together, that's what makes them so yummy!

One pepper per person seems to be perfect....not too stuffing.

Code Red!

Alert!  That purple-leaved tree in my back yard is full of edible cherries!

So, cleverly discovered by my nieces last week when they were here.

I almost wish they never found them.  Because with that kind of knowledge, guilt will not allow you to let fruit rot off the tree.  And I've been up to my elbows in cherries.

Only...I guess they aren't really cherries.  I've been pitting, freezing, dehydrating, cobblering and jamming berries by the pounds for the last week.  They look like cherries, taste like cherries, cook like cherries, smell like cherries.

And now I find that these plump, tart, fleshy, purple-ly-red beauties are not cherries.

They are a type of plum.  Flowering Plums.

Just so you know....they behave in every which way like a cherry, these plums.

Who knew?  Not me.  And not my nieces who packaged these delicious nuggets up as pie cherries and sold them in my front yard.

So, it's Code Red at my house as we have bathed the entire kitchen in sticky red juice and pits.  And every morning we make a mad dash for another giant bowl full before the heat kicks in.  I'm only devoting an hour a day to these babies.

Here's a recipe for Plum jam....that works well for my Cherries too.

3 lbs of firm plums, peeled (only I didn't peel these little guys), pitted
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
7 1/2 cups sugar
1 (3 ounce) package of pectin

Place plums, water and lemon juice in a large non-aluminum stockpot.  Stirring often, bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fruit is soft.

Stir in sugar.  Return heat to high and bring back to a rolling boil while constantly stirring.  Add pectin and return to a boil while stirring.  Continue to stir for about a minute then remove from heat.  Let rest for a minute then skim off any foam.

Pour even amounts into sterilized jars, leaving 1/8 - inch of space at the top.  Wipe rims and seal with sterilized lids.  Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Remove, let cool and date jars.

Mine made 5 pints, but I had enough to make 7 pints but only have 5 jars.  You see, when I moved, I naively thought I was giving up canning for the rest of my life.  Not knowing that I would have a surprise berry tree in my backyard, I gave all my canning jars away.  Yes, gave them away.  So now I'm resorting to freezing all my berries until I can get more jars to make more jam.

Moral of the story?  Don't give away all your canning jars or you'll have a Code Red because of your clever nieces.

The end.

Oh the Places We Go

Me and Osprey headed for the hills yesterday.

To Pine Valley Mountain to be exact.

Where the temperatures are in the double digits...not the triple digits, all day.

To the Mill Flats trail where the quakies live and the air smells of fresh cut pine.

At the 7,900 ft elevation...it's a world away from the world.

Osprey likes it that way.

Osprey Day

Me and my Ospreys are going places.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

To Noah:

I hear you are a big boy now!!

Here's a picture of Aunt Cheryl when she was learning to go potty.

Don't you wish you had a personal sized potty in a gold bathroom with damask wallpaper.  I do!!

I'm still not all the way grown up yet.  I mastered the potty but still haven't conquered bed making.

Oh well.

I think I'm okay with that.

But, I'm pretty proud of you buddy.  I miss you.

Love,

Bed Maker...Happiness Taker

So I've heard this theory running around that making your bed every day can make you happier.

This lady tries it out on her blog.

So I tried it out myself today.

First of all, that's hard to do when I get out of bed 3 hours earlier then my sleeping buddy.

Second of all....I didn't notice a difference.

Happiness scale before bed making on a 1-10....7

Happiness scale after bed making....7

Maybe I just have to do it until it becomes a habit before it makes me happier.

Does making your bed every day make you happier?

Ending on a "high"

The 'girls' trip ended on a 'high' in Snow Canyon...paying attention to those things that matter most.

Happy 1,000th Post Day to My Lifetime Subscription!

What does this number remind me of?

That I'm two books behind in my blog printing.

Beautiful day of peace and rest,

Bright be thy dawn from east to west.

Hail to thine earliest welcome ray,

Beautiful, bright Millennial Day!

(The Day Dawn Is Breaking, pg 52., LDS Hymnal)

No rest for the weary...just because it's 1,000 post day doesn't mean the blog world stands still!

Go here for my first month's posts.....

Cheryl

The Entrepreneurs are in Town

They've been here less than 24 hours....some of my nieces.

And already they've discovered a pie cherry tree in my backyard (that I didn't even know existed) full...full...full of ripe cherries.

They've climbed the tree over and over and we even broke out the ladder, bringing in baskets full of cherries.

And within 10 minutes of their discovery...they were building a pie cherry stand and selling them $1 for a baggie of 30.

And they've made $8.

Not bad for a new business!  More then our business has made us in the last 8 months!

Their motivation?  Buying shaved ice with cream in Dixie.

No wonder cherries are flying out of the basket....wouldn't you buy from these cute entrepreneurs?

The Core

Sometimes hiking through rivers in slot canyons resembles hiking to the core of the earth.

Plus, twisting and turning through water, balancing and navigating stones is a great work out for your "core".

Eventually, your freezing-to-the-core stumps for feet will eventually get used to it.

Desert Cliffs clients spent a few hours in the Kanarraville Slots.  So did quite a few other tourists and locals.

Who could blame them?  Although the water was a little too high to make it to the second ladder, and at times we had to wait in lines...literally to get through, it was another unreal experience.

I especially liked hearing a client say to another hiker...

"Go ahead of me if you'd like...I'm just working my core."

They learned to:

take their time

place their feet well

take breaks to thaw their feet and empty their shoes

use the extended hand, tree root or branch, or rope when offered

sometimes while hiking along rivers, a machete would be handy

enjoy the journey

I really need a new camera.  The phone just doesn't quite do justice to slots.

The Next Best Thing...

The one place I wanted to be at....didn't work out for me today.

So, I had two "next best things" instead.

The first one was this...

Melissa from KC emailed me and offered to send homemade goodness to the Anderson's for Tom's funeral, on my behalf.  She asked what recipe I'd make if I were able to do it myself.  I told her that Tom had wanted some of my Yoda cupcakes and so that's probably what I would bring.

She made them.

Then drove them over in steaming humidity and delivered them.  With my name on them.

If I couldn't take over Yoda cupcakes myself...that was for sure the next best thing. Talk about sweetness.

And then the day just got sweeter from there.

Tom was the epitome of service.  And the best way to honor him would be to 'pay it forward' by serving others.  Today, Bridger decided she wanted to make a dinner for a woman who is very ill.  So, during the time that I would have been at the funeral, instead, I helped her make dinner.

She made; homemade chicken noodle soup, Grandpa Argyle's wheat bread, and strawberry parfaits....all by herself.

She made the arrangements to get the meal to the home of the sick lady and I drove her over there.

I can't think of anything better way of honoring and paying tribute to someone who has given so much, then to do the next best thing....and serve, during his very own funeral.

While I missed seeing and hugging everyone, and feeling the spirit of friendship and family during this emotional time...I think we did justice to Tom's memory.

I know many will miss Tom Allison...we just have to do the 'next best thing' to being around him....serving...until we all meet again.

I am there in my heart.  My plate of cookies....Boyd is on his way....he'll be there for the funeral tomorrow.

And two days later...

I still don't have it together enough to blog a decent post.

Since Sunday, our friend from KC, Tom Allison passed away.  Boyd is online right now as I type trying to book an airline ticket home so he can sing at his funeral.

One of our water heaters is leaking through the dining room ceiling...the plumber says he's on his way....heard that line before.

It's Bridger's 15th birthday today and because I asked her for days and days what she wanted and what she wanted to do and she said, "nothing"...she got nothing. Boyd and I both had to work and so she terrorized my Facebook while I was away to entertain herself.  Happy Birthday to you Bridger.

15 years ago I was holding my newly born 7 lb 14 oz baby girl....who had to be induced because I would not go pregnant another day past my due date.  I think she was cranky at having to be born on time.  So she was puffy and angry.  By the time we left the hospital, she had lost a pound and her swollen-ness and the first night home she slept through the entire night...all night.  And that is the story of her life.  She is an angel, a gift.

And now I think about 3 children in KC, who have lost their Dad and my heart is heavy.  I can't help but think that it seems so wrong to die so young....he is my age exactly. He has been an angel and a gift to many as well.  The world is a little less bright without his light.  And yet I know, he has suffered and suffered these past few years...more than any human should have to.  And so I feel grateful that he has been released from his cancer prison, to suffer no more and to continue his mission of serving others faithfully.

Check back in a couple more days and we'll see what the world has brought....

The last 5 days

In the last 5 days, I have...

Used a porta-potty to change clothes.

Cleared lava rocks from a patch of dirt to create a place to try and sleep.

Hiked 18 miles, pushing and pulling a handcart...up steep terrain.

Aged 10 years from the weathering of living outdoors 24 hours a day with no shower or protection from wind and sun.

Met and loved teenagers like they were my own.

Felt contentment while seeing families gathered around their campfires.

Woke to sunrises over mountain peaks and attempted to sleep under lavender skies of sunset and black, cloudless nights of endless stars.

Found dirt in every nook and cranny.

Eaten very well...7 meals from a dutch oven.

Driven to Las Vegas and back to drop of Chloe and Hunter at the airport for the first leg of their journey to Italy.

And felt pretty darn grateful for it all too.