Sunrise Sunday...11º

Herb is checking the weather forecast this morning as our temperature was 11º when I got up at 4am and now at 7am it has dropped to 6º...Looks like this might be our only sunrise this week as the days ahead look snowy and cold...Yesterday was a "blustery day" and my thoughts go to "Pooh" as he was always floating around, umbrella open, singing a happy song...After making fondant and fudge yesterday and both turning out smooth and creamy, I decided I needed some fresh air...The cold blast that hit me as I opened the door almost changed my mind but I really needed to cool off and limber up so I grabbed the snow shovel and cleaned snow off the deck...The sunshine didn't last long as a storm moved down the mountain, wind whistling and snow swirling every which way...I definitly wasn't singing as I finished the job and hurried back inside to our warm abode...We had a simple dinner of kielbasa sausage and sauerkraut on a homemade bun...Later we ate cinnamon roll, bread pudding, drizzled with cream.

Sentimental Sunday finds Cienna and I playing in the snow on Barton Heights about 3 years ago... Another photo where she is just this week attending a Rotary meeting in balmy Thailand...Hugs To Cienna...OWAV:)

Cienna with Trixy and Ginger

Ci and a sad snowman

Thanks "Nakhon Pathom Rotary" for this photo

Snowy Saturday...33º

Took a day off yesterday, didn't even have a reason, just didn't have the usual blathering at my "fingertips."...Herb and I spent a quiet Thanksgiving day, I was cooking and doing the balancing act of getting the turkey done and out to "rest" while the dressing and rolls baked and have everything done and ready to go on the table at the same time...Pam joined us for dinner and it was reminiscent of other Thanksgivings, just the three of us, which was common when we all stilled worked and had limited days off for this holiday...Our kids stayed at their homes and Pam's kids spent the day with their dad, grandparents and cousins...We sent Pam home with leftovers and yesterday we had leftovers that tasted as good or better than the original meal...Maybe today we will have soup or maybe beef of some kind and let the turkey soup wait a day or two.

I had texts from two nieces this morning from LaGrande...Their mother, my sister-in-law Marlene has been in hospice for a few days now and isn't expected to live much longer..."Molly" hasn't been well for several years, so hopefully she will soon be without pain and at peace...My thoughts are with all of my nieces and their families at this time...With snow falling outside at this moment, I will share a brief memory of her now and maybe more later.

I remember Marlene not liking the snow...She was born in New Mexico and lived there until her early teens, before the family moved to Utah...She grew up wearing only minimal clothing and going barefoot in the hot, dry climate of New Mexico...She loved it there and always longed to return...She must have felt trapped, when soon after marriage a move to McCall, Idaho, famous for its winters of deep snow and -40º temperatures...Soon she was Mom to 5 towheaded girls, paths to shovel, snow banks covering windows, freezing temperatures and a wood stove, that was always hungry for more fuel...She went barefoot in the house, no matter how cold it was outside...Hugs especially to my Ashton nieces...OWAV:)

Throw Back Thanksmas...50º

On what would have been our 4th annual "Allen/Wall Thanksmas" we have decided to limit the winter travel and work toward having an annual celebration during spring/summer/fall when the weather is warm and roads are bare...Other reasons are: Cienna is far away, both our "kids" have been home recently, it just seems to make more sense...This family has a great deal to celebrate, health/warm homes/love/abundant food/friends and we can each celebrate with friends or quietly in our own homes eating, drinking, toasting and making merry in anyway we choose...With that said...Happy Thanksgiving Family and Friends...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

To start the celebration off, I give you in all our glory "Thanksmas 2013 and the year of the Teeth/Hats/Tatoos."

Gifts

Rusty teeth/tatoos

Stan teeth/tatoos

Della's great smile

Herb with a rare smile

Ci showing off the teeth and tatooed muscle

Rusty teeth/hat?

Cienna's real smile and Bobi with a hat and her own teeth, the only one I

didn't catch on camera with "the Teeth."

Pitch Black 6am...40º

Herb and I still seem to be on daylight savings time...Up even earlier and going to bed with the chickens...We both nod off while reading and decide our bed is much more comfortable than the chair and really what difference does it make whether you sit in the dark at night or in the morning.

Yesterday went by in a flash, write people, water therapy, lunch with a friend and a quick trip in and out of safeway for a bag of cranberries...How could I forget the cranberries, when that seems to be Herbs favorite dish at Thanksgiving...Yes we are having a traditional dinner with turkey, dressing, salads, hot rolls, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie...Most years we skip turkey, preferring to have ham or prime rib, but for some reason turkey and dressing leftovers sounded good to me...So I will spend today prepping for tomorrow as I make pie crust, measure ingredients for rolls, slice, dice and chop all the veggies for dressing (bread is already broken and dried) and maybe I will brine the turkey today.

A comment on yesterdays lunch...A new Thai restaurant opened a few months ago in Enterprise and I ate there about a month ago, treated by a friend...I had a noodle dish and it was too sweet for my taste...Yesterday I ordered soup, comes in a huge bowl with white rice on the side, sliced mushrooms floated to the top, onions, celery and chicken hiding in the bottom...It looked good, smelled good but that first taste was sweet!..So CIENNA, is Thai food sweet? or is this just how they make it in the United States?..Please Cienna, be ready when you get home to make traditional Thai food for Oma, they say we can get ingredients in Tri Cities or you can bring them from Portland...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Rain Overnight...39º

I have a busy day ahead, Write People, then water therapy and lunch with friend Kathy so we can catch up and trade books to read...Herb will be on his own for lunch as he thaws a meat patty and homemade buns to made his own hamburger...Doesn't look like we are going to get much sunshine today but more rain is welcome...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Having fun posting B/W photos on 

facebook so decided to do one

here as well

Playing in the dough...24º

Stormy Sunday was a good day to play in the dough...I started early with 4 cups of sourdough (bubbling and growing out of its container) added 4 cups water, a tsp of yeast (just to make sure it would raise) 1heaping T of salt, 5 cups wholewheat flour and about 8 cups of bread flour...Mixed/ kneaded in my Bosch mixer for 10 minutes and left to rise the the big tupperware bowl...Punched it down twice, kneading and stretching by hand until it crackled and popped.

9 lbs of dough ready to shape into loaves

The first double loaf

3 double loaves, just out of the oven, ready to 

turn out of the pans onto cooling racks, 

before freezing them.

This batch made 4 double loaves and 2 single smaller loaves...I always shape the big loaf pans into two loaves so we can take a half out of the freezer at a time, makes for fresher bread that way...We sampled a loaf to tide us over until dinner at 5 at Vali's at Wallowa Lake...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Herb and Della finished with dinner.

Sentimental Sunday...28º

It is a snowy day in Joseph as we look back over the years to when our life was enriched with a "bouncing baby girl." 16 years later we share her with another world as she enriches her own life and that of others living in Thailand....Hugs To Cienna and her host family...OWAV:)

1998 Cienna as a wee one 

2014 as a big girl

Rain...37º

The sound of falling rain lulled us to sleep, woke us up, and still raining as the sky starts to lighten at daybreak...Snow is all washed away and thankfully it is a warm rain instead of a freezing rain, but as I speak at has turned to huge snow flakes...Looks like a good day to make bread!

Yesterday morning I made the first batch of fondant for 2014 and while the fondant cooled I added cream, butter and sugar to the hot pan and and quickly made a batch of fudge...Two batches of candy and only one cleanup!

The fondant (cream, sugar, butter, boiled to a soft ball) poured onto a marble slab is almost a clear liquid...Cooled to room temperature it is stirred and stretched changing color from clear to yellowish and then to a creamy white as it sets up into a "kneadable ball, soft and creamy." I added peppermint flavor to this batch, rolled it into snake like rolls, wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated where it will stay until I'm ready to start dipping...Several different flavors (orange, lemon, berry, coconut, fudge etc.) will be made in days to come...Below are photos of some of the steps.

Clear liquid cooled and stirred into a "mass"

Stirred and stretched

And More

Almost there as it changes colors.

2nd batch of fudge 4# (now frozen in 1# blocks)

I made straw beds yesterday and "planted" bulbs...60 tulips, 15 white daffodils and 120 crocus...Don't know if it will work or if the bulb will freeze or the moles might enjoy a winters feast...It is worth a try and maybe saved that $4.00 that I spent with spring blooms on my mind...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Crocus

Tulips and Daffodils

Incredible Edible Sandwich Rolls...27º

I mixed these rolls before leaving for water therapy, shaped them into buns and left to rise on a cookie sheet...Baked for our dinner while I sauteed onions and peppers, layered Pastrami and swiss over top, sliced the slightly cooled buns and piled on the other stuff...Served alongside a fruit salad and avacodo....In such a hurry to eat that I forgot to take a photo...:( Maybe next time... Hugs To All...OWAV:)

(Idella’s directions....Recipe from Cooks Magazine)

2 1/2 cups bread flour, (maybe less)  make well

1 cup mashed potatoes, packed, either instant or real.

2 T butter, melted

1 T yeast

5 T water

1 tsp salt

1 T sugar

Dissolve yeast in water, add potatoes, butter, sugar, salt and flour.  Mix and then knead. Let raise once before shaping into 9 rolls, let raise then bake at 425º for 10 to 15 minutes….Do not over bake!

27º...Balmy

It's a gray day outside with predictions of snow and freezing rain...On days like these I long for the snowy days of my childhood, growing up in McCall, Idaho...Snow showers in the mountains there, meant we were in for a foot or two of snow and blizzard conditions on any given day...It might let up overnight then start in again the next day adding another foot or so of snow...Roads would be drifted in by then and maybe a ride to school on the bobsleigh, pulled by our team of work horses, named Dick and Bert...Or maybe just a week at home waiting for the county to plow the roads because back in the 50's there were a lot of county roads and very little snow removing equipment...My parents always kept our cellar and freezer full and we had cows and chickens for milk and eggs...Our days were filled with keeping enough wood for the wood stove and paths shoveled to the outbuildings to care for our animals...As a child, I didn't realize how hard my parents worked to sustain our way of life...The snow was but a playground for me as I built snowmen, snow forts or went sledding until I was soaking wet and cold clear through...I knew that a warm house and food was awaiting me.

With it looking very dismal outside I must busy myself with making another batch of fudge or fondant or maybe mixing bread dough...I keep thinking that I should start a sewing project but so far that hasn't happened...I have water therapy this afternoon to look forward to and Herb just said he is making breakfast for us this morning...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

The first batch of fudge this season.

Wintery Mix...14º

The next few days we have a forecast for a "Wintery Mix..."Rain, snow, with temps in the high 20's and the mid 30's...Sounds like freezing rain to me!..With morning temp of 14º our house doesn't have that feel of "bone chilling cold" that -1º imparts...Herb is still learning the tricks of out new wood stove and manages to keep our house toasty warm by reloading the stove around 1am each night...Today he will haul in larch and red fir to add to our pine in hopes that the fire will hold through the night.

I'm looking for a break in this weather as I did a rather silly thing when I was shopping in BiMart last Thursday...BiMart knows my weakness and placed shopping carts full of fall bulbs (tulips, daffodils and crocus) just inside their entrance, all priced at $1.00 per bag (an incredible bargain...)So even though a major storm was predicted for our area, my brain always looking on the positive side, said, "Yes but it will warm up again next week and I can at least plant the crocus deep enough that they won't freeze and the daffies and tulips can be planted in pots and kept inside to bloom in March...."And bargain hunter that I am I put 4 bags in my cart...The bulbs are still in the BiMart paper bag resting in our utility room while I try to figure out a way to not have to admit that buying these bulbs was not only silly but down right dumb...!$@#%&*#@!

With time to ponder this dilemma, I have realized that by the time I chill the tulips and daffies for several weeks and then allow time to bloom, we will be basking in the sun in Arizona...The forecast doesn't look like we are going to have a chinook anytime soon, so a hole can't be dug to bury the crocus bulbs...Hmmm, what to do?...I have a friend in Imnaha, maybe she can plant the tulips and daffies and we have lots of straw bales, maybe I (with Herbs help, by the way he didn't know anything about the bulbs until NOW as he reads this) can make a straw bed over the crocus bulbs...The worst that can happen is they will all freeze or can't be planted and I will be out $4.00...I'm sure I've spent $4.00 on more frivolous things in my day, so I will just admit it was a dumb thing to do but probably not the dumbest and after all my brain is getting old...Old age has to be a good excuse....Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Friendship, near and far...9º

Only a few of us at Book Group yesterday as we started back from a 6 month vacation...Not a vacation from reading, only from meeting and discussing..."Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter," a book set in the south, probably in the 50's/60's about discrimination, racism, hate, love, murder, abuse, misunderstandings and poverty...Not a happy read but one that sparked much discussion and thought.

Pat and I had one last visit at our favorite "watering hole" Arrowhead Chocolates, where we sipped our mochas and talked about her winter in Maryland/Florida and mine here in Wallowa County...Even though we are separated by the miles, we continue to stay in touch via FaceBook and texting on a daily basis...Happy for our friendship, long distance or at home...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

How we look after a small mocha, 

milk chocolate (two spoons dipped), skim milk, decaf, 

whipped cream on top. 

Comfort Food...7º cloudy/sunny

I always reach for comfort food this time of year with the change to colder weather...Last weeks menus focused on just that...Chile topped with diced onions, grated cheese and a dab of sour cream...Sourdough biscuits, fresh from the oven, covered with sausage gravy, finger steaks with a fruit salad and today looks like a soup day as I use up leftovers from the past week...I have book group this morning so will chop, slice and dice and leave the soup to simmer until I get home sometime after noon...I think fresh cornbread will taste good!...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Single Digits...5º...Official...-2º

It seems early for temperatures this cold, late December and January is more likely for minus temps...Maybe the lake will freeze over this year...We are cozy and warm this morning, using mostly wood heat, for which we are thankful...Several weeks ago as I perused adds in the local FB trading post, a Country wood stove was listed for sale by our neighbor...I mentioned to Herb that he might check it out as I thought it was newer and maybe more efficient than our stove...He made the deal, Rusty and John got it into our basement (it is very, very heavy) and now it is gaily burning away and we are toasty warm...Rusty took our old stove home with him to use in his shop.

Haven't decided what to do today, bake, sew, make candy...Also have a book that I'm reading on my kindle app. on my laptop, and it will expire in 3 days so I need to finish it...So many choices.

I end on a sad note today, just finding out yesterday that my friend Margaret's, great granddaughter was the victim in a tragic car accident on Buford Grade last Monday...She had spent the weekend with her GG and was returning home...Her services will be held next Friday in Lewiston/Clarkston where she lived...I spent time with Margaret yesterday, we talked and reminisced...So little that one can do at a time like this...My heart goes out to my dear friend and all of her family...Hugs and special thoughts are sent their way today....OWAV:)

Mini Vacation from Blogging....7º

Thursday morning I had a good excuse...Herb had the car warmed up at 6am, I had the list and we were on our way to LaGrande...Weather station had been forcasting a winter storm warning for the last two days to arrive at about 10am on Thursday...Herbs eye appt. was at 9am...Our trip out was cold and clear, we were a bit early for Gocery Outlet so did our WalMart shopping (both working on the list and keeping in touch via cell phone...)I dropped Herb off at Pettit's office and continued on with the list at BiMart...As I headed to checkout, Herb called to say he was done...10am, wind was blowing a gale, really cold and a horizontal snowstorm was in progress...A quick stop at Gocery Outlet and Hoffman's in Island City...A light dusting of powdery snow, swirling in the wind, we arrived home at 12:30pm.

Friday morning no excuse, just lazy I guess...Herb was out shoveling the 3" of snow and putting the plow on the 4-wheeler while I did some cleaning and started a batch of chex mix...We had our own version of hot pastrami sandwiches with swiss cheese, sauteed onions/peppers on homemade buns for dinner...It snowed off/on all day and we have about 6" of snow on the ground...The head of the lake got nearly a foot and in last nights paper it said LaGrande got 7" of snow Thursday afternoon...Whew we made it out of there just in time!

Today I'm thinking of more comfort food as I have sourdough working and Italian sausage that needs to be used...I think biscuits and gravy will be a good choice for dinner.

Since I missed throwback Thursday and flashback Friday, I will do my own Sentimental Saturday...Hugs to Cienna...OWAV:)

Cienna and Family in Joseph, Oregon

Cienna and Host Family in Thailand

Frosty...5º

Rusty on his way home to Bend, leaving at 9am...Very cold, frosty morning but the sky is blue as blue and the sun is shining in our south living room window...I bundled up for our selfie on the deck before Rusty left.

November 12 2014

Yesterday morning was busy with Write People, water therapy and errands in Enterprise...Rusty packed and sorted, getting ready for his trip home then in the afternoon he was back helping John finish cutting up elk...Herb and I spent a lazy afternoon helping ourselves to leftovers from the fridge, when we got hungry...Once again we do the clean up, rearrange, laundry and settle back into our usual routine...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Brrrr...20º

Leaves mostly gone, snow on the ground, clouds with a sliver of sun...Winter is on its way.

A day to thank all the Veterans young and old, those who have fought and those still fighting so we can be a free country...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Veterans Day 2014

Canning Marathon Weekend...29º

Before going to bed last night, Herb checked the forecast and said it had been changed to possible snow...Our first snow on Barton Heights this year, looks like frosting...Sky is cloudy with possible sun breaks.

Saturday morning the elk/deer was waiting in the fridge for a canning frenzy...Herb set up the gas stove, hauled all the paraphernalia (pressure canner, jars, canning lids and rings) from the basement and the fun began...Jars sterilizing, Rusty and I started "chunking" the meat and packing the jars...Three canners on Saturday for a total of 45 pints...In one of my more foolish moments I said, "May as well do some of J & B's while we have all of this set up." On Sunday morning we started in again, doing 34 pints of elk and 8 larger jars of elk/beef burger (something new we wanted to try)...Our two day total 87 jars ready for the cellar shelves...Two jars that didn't seal and one broken jar--not bad for a weekend of work...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Pressure Canner bought in the 1930's

Ready for the jars

"Rusty chunking."

Ready for the shelves

Ground beef/elk mix, should be perfect for tacos.

Productive/Peaceful...32º

Friday was a busy day without accomplishing much (as in actual work)...It was lunch out with the girls for me at the new Thai Restaurant in Enterprise, back home to make a banana cream pie and help Rusty with dinner as Becky and John were joining us...Rusty pounded the elk/deer steaks into flat discs and I breaded with flour, milk and seasoned cracker crumbs (our version of snitzel)...Mounds of mashed potatoes and a dish of grated raw apples laced with horseradish (Austrian recipe) was served on the side.

In the back of my mind all day was a FaceTime between Ci and her parents...The three month mark had finally arrived and "Rotary" guidelines said they could touch base with real conversation...For the past three months we had seen many photos of Ci; Arriving at Bangkok Airport, Rotary signs and people giving her a big welcome, including a new sister Janique...Then began a whirlwind of Rotary meetings, Celebrations and Trips to three different resort towns where she met up with fellow Rotary Students, swam in the ocean, explored caves, went rafting, flew solo our of the Bangkok airport, rode a train for 14 hours and God only know what else...And in every photo she had this huge smile plaster across her beautiful face...That meant she was happy, adjusting to her new surroundings, settling in, RIGHT?..We hoped so, but until we heard it from those smiling lips, none of us was quite sure...Was this Rotary exchange a smart thing, sending a 16 year old halfway across the world to a culture so different, trusting the system that she was as safe as possible?...She wasn't telling us much in her blog posts and reading between the lines didn't help...We needed a voice.

I knew that Bobi would fill me in as soon as their facetime ended and Herb and I could set up our own FT at a later date...We had just started dinner when my iPhone rang and and the words Cienna Wall appeared on the screen and then that smile as wide as a Halloween Pumpkin appeared and I realized it was a FaceTime...We all talked and listened as she said, "Yes, she is happy, settling in...She loves school, is taking private Thai language lessons (has learned the alphabet), No she hasn't been homesick and feels a little bad about that (silly girl)...So far the only thing she has really missed is wearing sweaters?...Really, what does that mean?..She said, "It's cloudy outside so I would get a sweater to wear to school, then find out that it was hot and humid and I was sweating." Her solution to this is; just for a few minutes she turn the air conditioning up in her room, curls up on the floor wrapped in a blanket and gets warm like she did at home."...She is adjusting to her host family, parents, 2yr old and a baby, a grandmother and an aunt all live together in one house...And a lady that comes in to do laundry, cooking etc.

So the smile is genuine, the voice the same and now I'm feeling peaceful and patiently waiting for the next FaceTime....Hugs To All, especially Cienna, we love you Sweetheart...OWAV:)

PS..The smile is REAL.

Ci at a wedding

Ci with new friends

Rafting

Enjoying the View

Rotary

Three Smiles

Smiles and a Tearful Goodbye

One More Smile

Flashback Friday...38º...Rain overnight

Yesterday, Rusty took a reprieve from cutting up meat and made a trip hauling horses to Jim Creek with John...Herb not feeling well passed the day reading, napping and eating lightly...I met Pat in Enterprise before water therapy, then home for a lazy afternoon...Rusty was home by 6pm, supper was chili burgers, before we sorted the elk/deer meat into burger meat, canning meat and steaks...Burger/steaks put in the freezer and the canning starts tomorrow...Bedtime 9pm.

Flashback Friday features Cienna (of course) and her 3 months in Thailand...The time has flown by but also it seems to crawl at a snails pace....Hugs To Cienna...OWAV:)

Ci and Oma when she was 5 yrs old 

Cienna learning new skills

 halfway around the world.

Bills To Pay...40º

Checkbook to balance, bills to pay, then spent the rest of the morning picking up and cleaning...Spent time on the phone with my sister Bobbie in Oklahoma, she sounded good and we talked non-stop for nearly an hour...I kept Rusty company (and helped a bit) while he carved and trimmed elk and deer meat getting it ready to freeze, make burger or pressure can...Dinner was easy as we ate leftover lasagna, salad and fresh elk steak.

A trip to Safeway where I shopped, grocery list in one hand, calculator in the other...November is the month when turkeys go on sale...This year you have to buy only $35.00 dollars worth to get a turkey for $.69 a pound...Items that don't qualify for the $35.00 are alcohol, cigarette, lottery tickets, perscriptions (I understand these) but also included is all liquid dairy products including some fake dairy, BUT it looks like you can buy all the soda pop and candy that you want to haul home, CRAZY. My purchases included chex cereal to make chex mix for Christmas, chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk and marshmallows for fudge, kleenex tissues, canned pineapple and pumpkin, one bunch of lettuce...Bill came to $36.01, add one 24# turkey total bill was about $53.00...We won't eat this turkey for Thanksgiving but I will can it to put on the cellar shelves...In my head I'm already starting another grocery list and another turkey on sale!

After shopping, I made my 4pm appointment at PT, where Aaron worked on the scar tissue building up in my left knee from the surgery 2 years ago...Maybe with these treatments and WT my knee will finally heal...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Busy Fall Day...35º

Herb had an early dental appointment, Rusty had plans to start trimming on his elk and the stormy skies caused me to pull on a sweatshirt and gloves as I headed out to the garden...I enlisted Rusty to do the heavy hauling of manure, alfalfa pellets and peat moss...I laid out wafers of straw, making paths to separate the garden into four plots...One where the garlic is already planted, two is where the potatoes will go next spring, three and four will have room for cabbage, beans, cucumbers, carrots, beets, squash and greens...On top of the bare plots I scattered bags of pine needles over the grass clippings and leaves that Herb had already put down...Rusty threw manure, pellets and peat moss over all...I'm still hoping to get a few more leaves to add to the mix, (most of our leaves have blown over the hill)...Before the first snow, cattle fencing panels will be put on top of all this stuff to hold it in place where it will break down over the winter and be ready for spring planting.

Rusty started on his elk and I back in the house put together a pan of lasagna for our dinner...I wrote a note for Herb with baking instructions and made it to write people, late, but had enough time to catch up on everyones writing before water therapy at 12 noon...I joined 10 other people, all doing their own thing as we moved back and forth acrossed the pool stretching and warming up, before floating into the deep end to do bicycle, scissor and helicopter kicks...A final dip in the hot tub before a quick shower, dressed and soon back home...Lasagna, baked squash, garlic bread and vegetable sticks were soon on the table for dinner.

I asked Rusty if he wanted me to help him trim on the elk or make an apple pie?...Warm apple pie with cheese finished off our day...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Leftovers...38º

Cleaning the fridge of leftovers, lamb roast and gravy, adding mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, broth from the freezer and finally diced fresh carrots, potatoes, onions and celery, a lamb stew simmered away on the stove top...Since it was a busy day for all of us, (Rusty doing 3 weeks of laundry, Herb adding more layers to the garden before winter sets in and I doing my docent stint at the Josephy Center) we helped ourselves to stew whenever we felt hungry...Late evening we sipped a glass of wine and caught up on each others day before declaring it time for bed, no matter what the clock said! Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Pumpkin Pie from Scratch...35º

Pam and Becky brought home a trunk load of Cinderella Pumpkins grown by Corvallis relatives...Unusual shape, heavy and supposedly good for making pies etc...So with huge knife in hand I cut through the first two pumpkins easily...They were dry and stringy...The third one was really big and really heavy so Herb cut a "pie shaped wedge" out of it...The flesh was firm and dark yellow...I steamed a chunk in the microwave, we dobbed it with butter, salt and pepper...Not dry and mealy like it should be but it tasted okay...More pieces were steamed making 2 cups of pureed pumpkin ready for spices, cream, sugar and eggs...We had pumpkin pie for dessert last night...Hugs To All...OWAV:)  PS..Rusty made it home from his hunting trip, bagged 2 deer and 1 elk.

Cinderella Pumpkin

Pumpkin Pie with pecans and whipped cream on top.