Computer kept crashing this morning and that is why there’s a part II. This is the castle in Erlangen, Germany. (The lovely, young lady is my granddaughter.) This is also where my best friend and I played ,on the castle grounds and marvelous gardens, pretending we owned it.
It ain’t over until the fat lady sings!!!
…when you’re having fun and I’ve had more than my fair share of it, lately. The pictures are from our ‘Bavarian grill party.’ With food, song and ‘wine’ and a perfect Sunday afternoon with good friends. I did try to yodel after one drink but that was a sad imitation of the real thing.
I have been remiss in my hiking and feel vaguely guilty. The same kind of guilt that I felt, when I ate half a bratwurst. But, I also served a lot of vegetable kebabs.
We’re driving up to the Black Canyon this morning for a hike and sight seeing with my best friend.
Lifetime friends for sixty-three years. We’d met in Kindergartenin Erlangen, Germany. Lived on the same street. It’s a rare treasure to find someone of that quality, faithfulness and unconditional love.
The last few days have been a whirlwind of activities. First, driving to Grand Junction and visit the ‘girls’. Then, taking Carrie and mom to R.E.I and other outfitting places to get Carrie started. I was excited for her and she was in (happy?) shock. (Carrie, my niece. If not by blood but by mutual consent and love.)
Then we drove to the airport to pick up my dearest friend, Irene, now known since childhood days. We met at Kindergarten and lived in the same street, which makes this special bond lasting over sixty plus years! She knows all my history and we can communicate with just one word and go back to ‘Adam and Eve’.
This is her ‘quiet time’ visit. Coming from Las Vegas, there’s not much to compete with in the way of entertainment. But, of course, we have our canyon and mountains and cute, little towns.
Not much time for walking but will pick it back up on Monday. I am so grateful that Julio will accompany us the first few days on the camino. (I am also very grateful that my son has taken out that much time, to travel with me.)
I was going to have a Spanish theme party, with Tapas and Sangria and a little flamenco music. Sort of ‘going away’ party a little early. But then, some friends called and wanted to do a Bavarian ‘Zither’ get together and they chose my place to do it. (Food may have been a deciding factor.) So. My theme would not go with this music. Hence, we’ll have Brats, potato salad, Bowle (spiked strawberry punch) wicked stuff, really. Several salads and apple-plum sheet cakes. Pictures will be posted tomorrow.
(All the while, listening with one ear for the phone to ring and Doctor telling me the numbers of cancer marker. It’s been five days.) Really would like to know.
For awhile now I’ve been making my own dressings as that ‘gummy’ concoction from a bottle is nearly nauseating. Especially the ‘fat -free’ stuff. Here are a few, basic great tasting alternatives. Remember, only coat the salad. Don’t drown it in dressing.
Classic French Dijon: Cilantro Lime
1/3 cup white wine vinegar 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp each, kosher salt 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
and black pepper 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp chopped Thyme, Estragon 1 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp cilantro
2/3 cup (or less) canola oil
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Raspberry Balsamic:
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp water
4 tsp raspberry preserves
1/4 tsp kosher salt/ 1/2tsp gr black pepper
1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot
2/3 cup extra virg olive oil
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Alone today at the canyon at 6:30 A.M with back pack, water and a sandwich. Beautiful, cool and peaceful. Thoughts coming through and I wonder at their source. First, I was thinking of my daughter, who lost her job, with 10 other co-workers, by their company’s downsizing. My granddaughter who has no job either. Then I had to let that go. After awhile, I became aware of the click-clack sound my poles were making. Everything moving in tandem. Step-clack-step-click, inhaling well, heart pumping, lung expelling without any pain from previous surgery. Feet moving in comfy boots. ( I LOVE those hiking socks!!)
I thought of ‘Quasimodo’ the handicapped bell ringer of Notre Dame and the beautiful Esmeralda. They became my invisible companions. He had a weight on his back, which he couldn’t take off. ‘ Mochila’ means back pack in Spanish but I will name my lumpy weight pack ‘Quasimodo’. Almost like a Siamese twin for the whole way. I could feel my hip bones under this added weight. A few years ago, I had a bone density test and was told that I had the ‘hips of a twenty year old’. So. Thank you ancestors and parents for my functional hips.
I was shaken out of my reverie by the piercing cry of a falcon? I started singing old Folk songs. I was feeling my kidneys a bit too. But to think that a mere 2 years ago I had kidney stones and a whole assortement of other problems, I revel in feeling so well.
Then I thought of my parents. Hard working, honest laborers. Giving me the gift of tenacity, perserverance and courage and a good dose of ‘optimism from Mom, who sang even when she was despairing, although some of those ballads sure had us bawling.). Gifts more worth than money. I hope I passed them on to my son and daughter.
And thus, I walked 5.5 miles or nearly 9 Kilometers, in two hours at 9000 feet altitude. Not too bad for an old broad. When I got home and took ‘Quasimodo’ off, the sudden liberation unbalanced me for a few steps and I zig-zagged like a drunken bee. (Bumble bee before I’d lost the weight.)
When my friend Bonnie came last week to help out with domestic chaos, I rewarded her and myself with this wonderful breakfast.
Pumpkin Pancakes:
1 and 3/4 cups whole wheat ( or whole grain) pastry flour
2 Tbsp light packed raw sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt ( a. k. a ‘pinch’)
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 and 1/2 fat free ( or skim) milk
1 large egg (or 1/2 cup liquid egg substitute)
2 Tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
In large bowl mix dry ingredients. In a small bowl whisk together pumkin puree, milk, egg, apple sauce and cider vinegar. Stir this mix into dry ingredients until ‘just’ blended. Let batter rest for 5 min. Preheat skillet or griddle to med high heat and mist with cooking spray. For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter onto skillet. When edges are dry, flip. ( 1-2 min per side). Only 133 cals and 1 g fat.
Serve with pear sauce. Heat medium skillet over med heat, coated with cooking spray. Add 2 pears (cored and sliced) and 1 Tbsp crystallized ginger. Cook and stir for approx. 5 min. add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of lite syrup. Cook for one more minute and keep warm.
Just as I’d returned from the ‘Bloodsuckers’ and leaving several vials of good looking red behind, Cameron called. He’d researched ticket pricing and routes. Just to say the names of these European stops and how they roll of my tongue, even though a bit awkward. It’s like great tasting candy. Soft, mellow and then a few teutonic R’s thrown in (like Frankfurrrt). Then, there’s Bilbao which I confused more than once with “Bilboa’ something other entirely. But, it has not dampened my excitement and my cells are jumping with joy, like on a trampoline. This is an effect that NO medicine can provide.
Tomorrow I am hiking again with back pack. Training, training for the Camino. Bought some lambs wool belt cover to put on pack straps, to soften the shoulder pressure (suggestion from Connie) and it makes the world of difference.
The other thing that happened which is soo great. My friend Billy found another of our old friends whom we’ve tried to find for years. He lives in Huntsville, Al. (Imagine. I lived there as well. Maybe just a few streets apart? Such is fate.)
When my daughter, Candy, was little, she’d ask me what a crepe was. I would tell her a crepe was a pancake that had gone to the Sorbonne. 🙂
This is a really good, simple dish. You can use whole wheat flour (1 and 1/2 cups) 2 eggs, milk, 1/4 tsp salt. The batter should have the consistency of (liquid) whipping cream. Let the batter rest in fridge for at least 2 hrs.
Dice and saute small carrots, zuccini, and celery in coconut oil. Use a little Mrs. Dash for seasoning. Then use coconut oil to sautee and fry the crepes. When each crepe is done, spread cashew butter on it then add veggies. Add salad greens and a sliced tomato for garnish.
This is one of the only pictures as a child. In 1944, when I was born
in Erlangen (Bavaria) Germany, war was still going on and there was no money for a camera.
A Photographer came and took pictures at the Kindergarten when I was 4+ years old.
(Lovingly mended sleeves on a hand-me-down
dress from my sister.
First day of school in 1950. We all had our ‘cone’ an old tradition. Filled with sweets and school supplies.
These are great choices for a summer salad collection.
Either by itself or as a elegant first course. The green one is ‘Lambs lettuce’
or Rapunzel. In the store it’s under Mache’. A little apple cider
vinegar and walnut oil, Then we have red beets,
a dash of cinnamon, raspberry vinegar, and 2 Tbsp walnut oil.
Cucumber and tomato salad, grated daikon. These have only
seasoned rice vinegar and same amount of water.