This was a great meal!!

We are getting back into the swing of things in our own kitchen. The recipes on the blogs I follow have been phenomenal and I want to try them all. But, one day at a time. Tonight we grilled a Costco strip steak with Onion and Blue Cheese Sauce from the "Pioneer Woman Cooks" and Bacon Braised Green Beans from "A Nod is as Good as a Wink to a Blind Horse."

I found the fantastic Onion and Blue Cheese Sauce from the Pioneer Woman on a blog I follow every day, "A Feast for the Eyes".

This is another blog that I find wonderful. She can cook and is a true follower of the Pioneer Woman.

I have really enjoyed finding George Gaston at "A Nod". He is very creative with his recipes, photographs well and is very kind with his comments on my post. Please take a look and enjoy what this man has to offer.

Of course, such a meal needs a great wine and we had a French Bordeaux that went beautifully with such a great meal.

What a week!

What a week! Other than miserable cold rain on Thursday, we had a beautiful sunny week at Disney on the Palm and Magnolia golf courses. Some days were 12 hour days, others a little shorter. Starting work in the dark and ending in the dark was pretty typical. But, there is a spirit at Disney that makes all of this volunteer work so much fun.

There were over 900 volunteers for the Children's Miracle Network golf classic this year. Can you imagine organizing so many people to do their jobs, find their way around, feed all these people breakfast and lunch and still maintain a happy spirit?

The committee The Trout and I worked on "Water Service" is the group we have worked on for three years now. We have it pretty much figured out as to what needs to be done and when. As a matter of face, we have just submitted our request for the same committee next year at this time. I can't even begin to say how many cases of water and 20 pound bags of ice we loaded off of refrigerated trucks into our small carts and filled water coolers on the tee boxes. The water is only for the golfers and their caddies, but some of the golfers get friendly with the spectators and pass them out to family, etc. That just means more runs for us. We have to watch that we halt when the golfer tees up, hits out of the fairway and puts. Can be challenging.

The first two days the amateurs played with the pros. The excitement was around Johnny Damon who plays for the Yankees. He was enjoying himself even though his golf ball sometimes went where no golf ball should go. He had a large crowd following him and you could tell he was having fun.

There were quite a few spectators this year despite the fact that there were not a lot of big name players. We tend to favor Zach Johnson, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That is kind of our home where we grew up, so we are always for the local boys. Zach came in 9th and won quite a bit of money. What impressed me of this golfer was that as he was walking up to the tee box, with spectators all around, he says "Hi baby" to a young boy in a stroller. He is a very kind young man, not always thinking about himself.

Last night took a little longer for the game to end as there was a Sudden Death with 3 players on the 18th hole. Two went on to play the 3 par 15th hole once again and Stephen Ames won. He also won in 2007.

So, our Disney gear gets packed away for a year. We have earned tickets for the Disney Park and golf passes for the Disney courses to use in the next year. Now, the holidays and then in April we get ready for the American Pie Contest sponsored by Crisco which we will be judging for the second year. And so it goes....

It's volunteer time again

It's that time of year again. This will be our third year that we are volunteering at The Children's Miracle Network golf classic at Disney World. We drive a cart and fill the barrels on the golf tees with ice and bottles of water for the golfers. We start early...like 6 am and work until 5 pm. Since we have a 45 minute drive to Disney World, it makes for a long day. Our reward, being around great people, happy people, very talented golfers, and Disney World theme park passes and passes to play free golf on the Disney courses.

Going early we see wild turkeys, deer, and lots of rabbits on the golf course before it gets light. During the day, alligators are spotted in the ponds. We will be working Wednesday through Sunday, so the week does get long.

I hope you have a chance to watch the golf classic this weekend. We will...up close and personal. As they say to all the workers at Disney World, "have a magical day!" We will!!

Strawberries

We live right next to the "winter strawberry capital of the world." Our newspaper this week was heralding a new strawberry we can try very soon. It is called Florida Radiance and it produces a lot of fruit in December. It is the first time since 2005 that a new variety has been grown in substantial numbers...like 300 acres.

What I didn't know, and find amazing, is that the University of Florida has a research center where scientists develop new types of strawberries. "Only about one in 30,000 new varieties the scientists create actually makes it to market. " Are you kidding me? Doesn't that seem like an impossible number?

There are 5 popular varieties grown in Florida including Strawberry Festival, Treasure, Sweet Charlie, Winter Dawn and Carmine. Florida Radiance will be the new one. I am anxious to try it.

A Farmer's Market in France

We have usually traveled to Europe in May or early June, so we have always enjoyed the fresh strawberries in France or Italy at the markets. I remember two particular kinds of strawberries, I know there were more, and we would try both of them to see if we favored one over the other. What it came right down to was this...we loved whatever name the strawberries had.

It won't be long now until we can get fresh, red, juicy berries. How about strawberry shortcake for Thanksgiving?

Pictures I promised

In August when I posted that it was our wedding anniversary, we were in Montana and I did not have access to old pictures. I promised some of my oldest friends, those who were at our wedding, specifically, that I would post our wedding picture. You have to be in the time mode. This was August, 1966. Our country was not in the best of shape with Vietnam happening, etc. But, for a couple of young kids, (actually we were 22 and 21) we were setting out on the trip of a lifetime.
One short year later, we would not be able to spend our first anniversary together. Uncle Sam called loud and clear. This is a photo taken while a friend and I drove from Iowa to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to surprise our husbands. I learned first hand that the Army has many rules and one is that you do not make surprise visits.

Someone there had a heart and gave us time together. And as luck has it, after basic training, the Trout got orders for Germany instead of Vietnam.

These pictures bring back many memories. How quirky is it that I am wearing a military type shirt also?

Knit one, purl two

While visiting the grandchildren this fall, 5-year-old Rachel asked me for a favor. When she was 3, I knit a hat for her that has turned into a favorite. But, now that she is in kindergarten, it is a little on the small side. So, when I got back home, I ordered the yarn and just today finished her hat.

It is the cutest little hat and very easy to knit. I used the Norwegian Dale Freestyle yarn. It is machine washable and dryable and even though the yarn tends to split for me, it is a good yarn to use for a little girl's hat. If you have a little girl in your family or close to heart, you really might like to try the "Twist and Sprout" hat pattern.

I learned to knit from my grandmother as a child, but when I was in high school and took a Home Economics class, my teacher taught me continental knitting and since then I love knitting a lot more. It is not the "throwing" kind of knitting, but the "picking" kind and much easier for me to handle and quicker.

Some years ago, I saw a picture of some Norwegian hiking socks in a magazine. I love searching the Internet, and even though it took some time, I found a yarn shop that could help me. There is a Norwegian woman who owns a yarn shop in Ames, Iowa. I wrote to her and asked for help. She found a pattern, in Norwegian, and she actually spent the time translating the pattern into English for me, and then I let her choose the yarn for me. A cream-colored pair of socks for myself and a gray pair for the Trout. Though I now live in Florida and do not need these socks for hiking, you never know when I will be in a cold climate, hiking, and in need of these socks. I love them.

ONE MORE TIME TO MONTANA

Old fishing buddy Bob "B" "Fishhog" Cyr suggested last summer that I join him for some late Fall trout fishing on tiny dry flies to big sipping fish in Montana, specifically on the Beaverhead River near Dillon and the Missouri River near Wolf Creek. He promised varied weather but we needed overcast cool days to bring out the bugs. Snow is even better to prompt a hatch!! He is stoically awaiting the hatch to come off on the Mo before taking his stance in the stream where he is damn good at "20-20" fishing i.e. size 20 dry flies to catch 20"+ trout - the ultimate in trout fishing!!

Bob and I have roamed many a trout stream over the last 20 years even though we are somewhat world's apart age and talent wise. We get along very well in search of the wily trout as well as enjoying a good gourmet meal with a fine wine!! Our wives are good friends as well!

We even ventured into Yellowstone Park for some fishing. The geysers were in full plume with the cold air aiding the steam. This is a good time of year to see the park as the wildlife is active and the crowds are diminished from the summer flow of gawkers who slow down the whole park!! This stream is too hot in the summer months due to the hot water coming into it from the geysers but the cold fall temps help cool it off for good hatches and active trout!

We had very manageable weather to enjoy fishing. The hatch was strong each day and the trout were actively feeding. Bob of course did much better than I number and size wise but I enjoyed my successes very much. This is a beautiful rainbow from the Missouri River!!

What's cool about Yellowstone is the abundance of buffalo and many other forms of wildlife. These old bulls are taking it easy with one enjoying a little dust bath. Life will not be so easy in a month or 2 as winter sets in!! We find many a pile of bones near the stream from those who gave up or were victims of wolves.

This Bull Elk does not appear to be that old or of great size but he really had a nice rack - a 6 pointer I would say and the goal of any elk hunter! I found it odd he was by himself and not in hot pursuit of the ladies with his bugling and raised lip! Disgusting!!

So this ends my Montana days for 2009! I wonder why we don't live in Montana at times to get out to fish even in cold days when the trout still are feeding. But I know we wouldn't find it so nice as Florida when the temps really drop and the snow flies!! Thank the Good Lord for both settings!!

TROUT

A very good appetizer!

I read on Facebook where my niece, Kim, made Herb and Cheese Poppers twice in one week after reading the recipe in the November issue of Bon Appetit. With a party coming up and wanting to bring an appetizer to go with drinks, I thought I would give these a try. They are actually fun to make. Possibly, a little bland, I might add a little minced green onions next time. They are kind of like popcorn--you just want to keep 'popping' them into your mouth. You can find the recipe here. The herbs came out of my garden, so that was easy.

I baked a few to sample and the rest I froze, as the recipe states it is an easy thing to do. I will bake before the party next week. I thought it was something nice to keep in the freezer for those unexpected moments.

It was a surprise gift!

Have you tried POM Wonderful? It is 100% pomegranate juice grown in California's San Joaquin Valley. Someone from POM Wonderful was reading my blog and emailed me if I would like to receive a sample of POM. No strings attached.

My case of POM Wonderful arrived a few days ago, and I have been enjoying it every day since. It is full of antioxidants with no fillers, added sugars or the bad stuff. It really is quite enjoyable. Researchers say that it is the most potent antioxidant in nature, standing above red wine, grape juice, blackberry juice; you get the picture.

When my case is gone, I will be looking for it at my grocer's. So, thank you, POM Wonderful, for reading my blog, and for sending me this healthy juice.

On a more sober note...the alligator is back in our backyard pond. Be alert, be very alert!