This week is...

So much better.

Much less stress, so much more peace.

I want to thank everyone who sent a note or an email or called about Petey last week. It made a bad week not-nearly so bad.

Thank you so much.

I was looking through some photos tonight and wanted to share these, from a city park near our house. We go here for picnics sometimes, and always take out-of-town guests, as it is a great place to see wildlife.

These were taken after a heavy rainstorm, and sort of typify the past week for me. 

Namaste,

deena

Autumn Finally Arrives

Nature didn't seem to want to let go of summer this year. 

September felt like August, and we had very warm weather well into October. 

But finally, Nature yielded, and Autumn seems to be truly and finally here. 

Here are a few photos we've taken over the past few weeks. 

Abandoned house east of town 

on the ranch where we hunt

The prairie looks flat, doesn't it? But it isn't. 

There are dips, ditches, and holes. Animal burrows and trails.

Deep channels where rain water runs off. 

Yucca plants so big that you have to walk around them.

Its anything but flat, and walking across it in heavy boots, 

carrying hunting gear means you're going to stumble. 

Thinking about how incredibly difficult it must have been for 

pioneers, who walked hundreds of miles over land like this,

makes my back ache in sympathy.

Dan on the Prairie. 

The weather was cool and breezy, 

and the clouds were lofty and gray. 

 

 An out building, or what's left of it.

 

 The Front Range of the Rockies on an autumn afternoon. 

Its probably impossible to tell here, 

but the mountains above the tree line

had already received plenty of snow when this was taken.

A outcropping of rock near Kremmling, Colorado 

(about 9250 feet above sea level)

Downed pine trees, 

and an outcropping of rocks.

A meadow shortly before sunrise near Kremmling

 Day break

The meadow as the sun comes up.

Peaceful meadow.

In the distance, three moose have overnighted in the meadow. 

They had layers of frost in their coats as the sun came up.

 Snow in the foreground, 

a taste of things soon to come.

 Welcome, Autumn!

Namaste

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

Last night, coming home from dinner, we saw...

From Cinco de Mayo Moon

From Cinco de Mayo Moon

From Cinco de Mayo Moon

From Cinco de Mayo Moon

Namaste

=^..^=

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

The view from our neighborhood

Snow storm on top of Pikes Peak
(there's a hawk in the foreground if you look carefully)


Snow storm on top of Pikes Peak, wide view
14115 feet above sea level

Click on photos for a larger version of each.

Merry Christmas!

excuses, excuses, excuses

I had meant to blog Friday night, but while I was out running errands Friday afternoon, Dan was calling his parents and arranging a date with me for Saturday afternoon. When I got home, I discovered that they'd agreed to keep SuperCat for the afternoon and that we'd be able to spend several hours together.

How can a girl turn down a date with the best guy in the world?

I couldn't.

And so Friday night, instead of writing, I did a lot of the things I had planned to do Saturday morning like: clean the kitchen, and work on Christmas crafts. I was still behind when I finished, but I was behind when I started, so I think it all evened out somehow.

Saturday morning we took Supercat to her grandparents, where she stayed to help them decorate their massive fresh-from-the-snowy-forest Christmas tree and we left for lunch. There are a large handful of restaurants in their little town, but since I don't eat wheat, most were out of the question. We settled on Chili's.

Normally, I prefer non-chain restaurants, and I honestly didn't think Chili's had anything I'd be able to eat, and had already mentally decided on a plain salad (sigh), but once inside, was really surprised. First, they have a menu specifically for Celiacs, which changes frequently and how awesome was that? Second, they describe on the menu what needs to be done to tweak regular menu items so that they can be made safe. They did all of the hard work ahead of time.

For example: I know that croutons have wheat in them, so it's easy to ask for them to be left off, but if the waitstaff isn't well informed, it's difficult to figure out if say, the veggies are dusted with seasoning that has flour, or exactly what the salmon is crusted with. Instead, the waiter was super helpful, answered every question knowledgeably, and as a result we had a stress-free, leisurely meal. Here's Chili's allergen menu(^) (alert: it's a .pdf file), in case you ever wondered what people with food allergies do when they go out to eat.

The service and the food were both great. I had a salad, a steak and veggies, which were all prepared the way I had asked. Dan had the habanero ribs.

We split a frosty chocolate milkshake for dessert and laughed and talked about html standards and and funky conspiracy theories.

We talked about a port knocking application that showed up on my phone's marketplace. I always laugh when I hear the words, cause they sound vaguely obscene. What it really is: remotely opening external ports on a firewall by making connection attempts on certain closed ports. It's the computer geek version of knocking shave and a haircut to gain entry into the all-boys club. Enabling port knocking prevents hackers from getting in easily, because they can't knock on just one port (door) to get in. They have to knock on several to enter just one, and it has to be in the right sequence.

I also always giggle when he mentions "IPTables", the firewall in the Linux operating system, but which to me sounds like the sorts of names Bart makes up when he prank calls Moe's Tavern on The Simpsons. From the episode Some Enchanted Evening:

Moe: Moe's Tavern.
Bart: Hello, is Al there?
Moe: Al?
Bart: Yeah, Al. Last name: Coholic.
Moe: Lemme check... [calls] Phone call for Al. Al Coholic. Is there an "Alcoholic" here? [bar denizens laugh] Wait a minute...[to phone] Listen, you little yellow-bellied rat jackass, if I ever find out who you are, I'll kill ya!

IPTables reminds me of that. I need to grow up.

I took pictures of him while we chatted and ate. He doesn't always want his picture taken, but he's usually a pretty good sport about it:

Don't go toward the light! You'll miss lunch!

He finally gives in to the picture taking

After lunch... well, the small town where his parents live is just that: small. Not much to do, but we were committed to staying out for the several hours we'd booked, so we ended up at Wal*Mart, picking up a few small things, looking at all the electronic gadgetry, and marveling at the zillion-and-one flashy Christmas decorations. We made fun of the truly horrible Bratz Dolls (it looks like they are going away in January, don't cha know?(^), and saw what was new in sporting goods. We tried to find wooden skewers (they were out) and did find a new coffee maker to replace the old, busted coffee maker, and so on until it was time to check out and go get the SuperCat.

When we got there, SuperCat was so excited! She'd had a great time helping with the tree, and she had done a very good job. On the way home, she fell asleep, tuckered out.

We were happy, too. It's important to spend alone time together once in a while, even if it's just to walk around Wal*Mart and look at stationary and talk and pick out new coffee makers.

So that was Saturday.

Sunday I sewed. I sewed and sewed and sewed, mostly by hand, mostly small dolls for small doll houses for Christmas. I'd take pictures, but it's late and I'm tired and the light is bad.

I absolutely positively will tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a picture of the parking lot at Target I took tonight while Dan ran in. It was 3 degrees below zero, and just starting to snow (again).

It felt bleak and dismal.

It looks like the set from Alien.
You know, when they're on the planet and find the alien for the first time?

Namaste.
Current Mood: (freezing)

Way Too Many Onions! French Onion Soup

I accidentally bought a 10 pound bag of onions last week, not realizing that I already had a nearly full 10 pound bag, giving us close to 20 pounds of onion-y goodness.

Sad vintage ceramic onion full of Splenda on my stovetop

We use a lot of onions, but 20 pounds is a bit much to have on hand in cold-weather months, when the house is heated. Without a cool storage place onions can go bad quickly.

In an valiant effort to save the onions from certain ruination, I made French Onion Soup yesterday afternoon. I don't have an exact recipe, but honestly don't think it needs one. It is delicious and worth the minimal effort it takes. The hardest part is slicing the onions. I use a crock pot, so it probably does take a bit longer than doing it in an open pan, but again, that's not a bad thing. Slow cooking allows the soup a chance for the flavors to meld and mix, adding to the end result.

Way Too Many Onions! French Onion Soup Recipe

• Yellow or white onions, sliced very thinly, about 4 pounds.
• Dry Sherry, about ½ cup
• butter or margarine, ½ cup. I use butter. You should use what you prefer.
• minced garlic, about 2 tablespoons. You can mince your own, or use the stuff in jars. I use the stuff in jars. We really like garlic, so this may be too much for your family. Adjust accordingly.
• pepper, to taste
• grains of paradise (Aframomum melegueta ^) to taste. Widely-used in medieval Europe, this spice is peppery, but is not actually pepper. If you don't have any, use more pepper. Or not. Lots of people don't like as much pepper as we do, and there is almost no shame in that at all.
• beef and/or chicken broth, 2 quarts. Either is good, neither are shown in the picture below. I use gluten-free, which is easy to find if you read labels.
• Better Than Broth beef soup base. Or chicken. Use the one you like best. Concentrated broth, this is pretty salty. I start with 2 teaspoons or so, and adjust up until the flavor is right. You could use bouillon cubes instead, but the BTB(^) tastes better to me - more meat flavor. I have found it at Target and Wal*Mart in the grocery dept on the same shelf as bouillon cubes. It comes in jars.
  
• white cheese, sliced or grated. I use Swiss or Gruyère, others use Provolone or whatever else they like. I can't give an exact amount, because we don't eat all of the soup at one time. Basically, you want enough to cover the top of the soup in individual oven proof bowls. If you don't have oven-proof bowls, use micro-wave safe bowls, top the soup and nuke the bowls until the cheese is melted. This would be under a minute (perhaps 45 seconds) in my 1000 watt microwave.
  
• bread. I don't use bread in my soup, because we don't eat gluten. Instead, I serve it with GF bread sticks. If I added GF bread, it would go mushy. If gluten isn't an issue, lightly toast bread slices, one for every serving of soup and reserve.
• dried Parmesan cheese, optional. I sometimes add a sprinkle at the end before the cheese goes under the broiler.
  

Some of the ingredients for French Onion Soup
(vintage onion jar for effect - no kitschy ceramics in the actual soup)

Directions:

1). Thinly slice enough onions to fill your crock pot:

thinly sliced onions & butter

I use a large 6-quart crock pot and make a huge batch, but know that we'll eat it over the next few days plain with bread and a salad; in place of au jus with sandwiches; cooked down and thickened to use in pot pie or shepherd's pie, etc. It won't go to waste.

If your crock pot is smaller, adjust accordingly. If you don't have a crock pot, this will take less time, but require more monitoring.

It takes about 4 pounds of onions (yellow and/or white) sliced thinly, to fill my crock pot.

2). Add ½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, sliced into 8 pieces or so on top of the onion slices.

Thinly sliced onions with butter pats on top. This is my 6-quart crock pot.

3). Turn the crock pot to low, put the lid on, and check frequently at first to be sure that low isn't too high (mine has warm, low and high as options). Crock pot performance varies, so check if you aren't familiar with how your pot works. It takes several hours for the onions to go limp, then eventually become clear and then begin to caramelize. If the onions are crispy or charred at all, the temperature is too high.
After about 90 minutes in my crock pot, the butter had mostly melted and the the onions had wilted a bit, well on their way to caramelized yumminess:

After 90 minutes, the onions are wilting and the butter is mostly melted.

4). After the onions have cooked clear and are beginning to caramelize, which in my pot takes about 5 hours, add the garlic, sherry, Better than Broth, and broth.

Nearly-finished soup

5). Carefully raise the heat and cook for another hour or so, until the soup has reduced a bit. Check frequently to assure that the pot isn't over-heating the soup. I don't allow it to come to a full boil, but do allow it to come to a simmer, so that it begins to slowly reduce.

6). Season with pepper and grains of paradise (if desired).

Four pounds is a lot of onions, isn't it?

7). Ladle soup into oven proof bowls, add a slice of toasted bread (of your choice - if I could eat "regular" bread, I'd use a French baguette).

8). Top with cheese of your choice, and set bowls under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese begins to bubble a bit.

9). Immediately remove bowls from oven, and carefully set on individual small plates to serve (because they will be very hot!!!

10). Serve with a hunk of French bread, bread sticks, or with crackers. I usually serve it with a small salad and fruit.

Dan eating delicious French Onion soup. Yummy!

Yay, he likes it!

Allez cuisine!

Helpful Hints:

• I don't have a fail-proof trick to stop the tears you may shed from cutting lots of onions, but not cutting the root end off until I have to seems to help, as does slicing near a faucet with warm water running. YMMV, of course.
• Don't use cooking sherry, as it's often salted so you can't drink it. It is sold in the grocery store vs the liquor store, so it's salted so as to be undrinkable. Buy the liquor store version instead as it's much cheaper and doesn't taste like the Dead Sea.
• Be safe. Check your crock pot often until you are familiar with the way it works. My _Low may be your ^High.
• If you feel like there is too much fat in the recipe, chilling the completed soup and skimming the solidified butter from the top is an easy way to fix it. Also, low-fat Swiss is a great choice for the cheese.
  

Finally, this is my stove top. It's a closed top stove, and I ♥ it! Easy to clean, with even heat that reaches temperature quickly. I'd probably love a gas stove a bit better; maybe in the next house.

The usual suspects

I rarely ever use the back burners, even though I cook a lot. I just never seem to need it.

Friar Cookie Jar detail. He looks sneaky, don't you think?

The unused back burners hold my three favorite cookie jars, a Twin Winton Lamb cookie jar, a Friar cookie jar (I don't know his manufacturer) , and a McCoy Cookies Barrel cookie jar. Plus the sad onion guy, and usually a set of salt and pepper shakers.

Namaste.

Current mood: (hungry)

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

♪ It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ♫

After a day and a half of waiting and listening to the seemingly interminable up-to-the-minute Channel30/5/11/13/21NewsCenterAccu-WeatherQuickAlerts, we finally saw snow.

Yesterday afternoon, around 4:00 PM, my husband called and said that his boss had advised everyone to go home and finish the day working from home because the weather was getting bad. Just as he arrived home, it was as if the sky above turned on the snow-making machines and we went from an vast expanse of bare grass to several inches of the white stuff within 20 minutes or so. We get a lot of snow here, of course, but it doesn't usually start so abruptly. It continued all evening. Here are a few pictures from right after dusk:

Santa and Rudolph weren't fully inflated yet when this was taken, making them look as though they really, really liked each other.

inflatable heaven

all lit up

Our Christmas tree is about 7½ feet tall, but it doesn't look that big here, probably because we have gift bags circling the tree like covered wagons to keep the galloping herd of buffalo our giant dog from chasing the kitties under the tree and knocking it over.

It's hard to capture details, so you'll have to imagine the cool bubble lights. I always thought those were the coolest and thought that I'd have them when I grew up. I do have them now, and they are (in fact) the coolest.

The fireplace is to the left, and you can't really see it, but there is a very large clay chiminea shaped like an owl on the hearth full of pebbles and candles.

PS: I noticed that I forgot to include Question 4 from the yesterday's quiz. It should have been:

4. When do you take the tree down?

I used to leave the tree up till at least the Feast of the Epiphany(^) (January 6th), but the last several years I've taken the tree down the day after Christmas, because that was all I could stand (after my Dad died). Somehow, this year is finally different, and I feel like celebrating again, even if only tentatively. I don't know if we will make it to Epiphany, but I'm certainly willing to try.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo's(^)
Adoration of the Magi (17th Century)

Finally, a quick Q & A, because a friend was wondering about a few things after I posted a picture of our tree last night:

Q: What's that lurking behind your Christmas tree?
A: A copy of the poster for Le Chat Noir(^), the famous 19th century Parisian cabaret. Well, famous in the 19th century, anyway. The poster (not my copy, of course) dates to 1896. Here it is without a tree in front of it:

I always think the cat looks really cheesed.

Q. The picture makes it look like your walls are painted purple. What color are they really?

A. Purple. A purple-y sort of dark dusty violet. I ♥ the color.

Namasté

Current mood: (cold)