Who is THIS?!

I looked out my kitchen window this morning to find a stranger looking back at me!

I have NO CLUE who this half-grown kitten belongs to, but we have seen him time to time in the trees of our front yard. But this was as close as he had ever got! The top deck at the BACK of the house!

Not only that, when I ventured out onto the back deck to check HIM out…it seems that he had cornered Chloe behind the BBQ grill…and SHE was not too happy about it!

Still, he allowed me to pet him and became very affectionate. I’m guessing he is maybe 9 months old or something?

((Yes, I had to inspect….it is a HE!))

I sent a picture immediately off to Jason and Kim, because he looks so much like their orange tabby, Cambria!

I just can’t resist out-stretched kitty bellies!! I knew I was in trouble as soon as he rolled over at my feet!

He was inspecting EVERYTHING…including rubbing his chin/scent on every railing and rung along the deck. Chloe wasn’t happy about this either..he was leaving his mark on HER territory!

I also sent a ping off to DH to see what his response was ---

Chloe was growling loudly, but he was NOT afraid of her – more curious and wanting to play than anything!

The big STARE OFF! Another quick inspection of our new friend told me he HAS to belong to someone close by. He’s declawed in the front…which is also good, it makes him and Chloe more evenly matched as she doesn’t have front claws either…((Look at that motion of his tail flipping! He wanted to PLAY!))

Still, she holed herself up under the hot tub steps and was raising quite a growling ruckus! Good grief, Chloe, get over it! She is just NOT a nice cat….pretty to look at, but boy is she a wicked witch..LOL

This little guy did NOT seem to care or give her much mind at all, no matter how big and fluffy and fierce she was!

Shhhhh! Don’t tell DH that I fed him either! I don’t mind if he likes us enough to come for a visit now and then!

I mean, look at that face! Could you resist? Could you REALLY!?

He didn’t stay long, and then he was down the stairs and gone, and who knows when we’ll see him again. I’m glad he stopped by. It forced me out of my “must do must do must do” long list of a morning and made me take time out to smell the roses pet the kitties! I smiled and laughed at their antics, and it was a nice interlude!

I’ve got great news….the contract for my next book has arrived! I’m tickled and panicked all at the same time. I’ve kitted up stuff to take to TN with me tomorrow for my workshops with the Ritzy Thimble Quilt Guild of Oak Ridge, Tennessee---

I’m planning on some hotel sewing time to get these last two quilts for the book done so we can get the writing process under way. I’m feeling the time line crunch!

Bonnie’s Great Fishing Adventure!

You simply can’t go to Cordova Alaska and NOT go fishing. That’s all that there is to it!

The town depends on its fishing industry.

It’s also one of the world’s largest aquaculture areas, where fish are hatched in hatcheries, and released when they are “old enough” to survive on their own and keep the sea full of fish. Believe me, I learned more about commercial fishing and the environment than I ever thought I could in 5 whole days :cD

Hunting is also a huge way of life. I never had a single hormone-laced feed-lot fed meal the whole time I was there. Grown in the wild, caught in the wild --- nature at its best!

No chicken, but I had duck! Duck sausage was even awesome!

No beef or pork, but I had deer and moose!

And of course..the seafood was my main stay--I miss it!

Thursday Julie and Jerry offered to take me out Halibut fishing in their boat, the Julie Ann!

This picture was AFTER the rain had stopped….it was coming down in buckets on and off from the time we left the dock --

And for those of you who have asked WHAT they needed my shoe size for….here ya go!

Say hello to the official footwear of Alaskans everywhere! Xtra Tuf Boots! Seriously, everyone wears these everywhere ALL THE TIME. From little kids to old grand parents…I was so happy that they found a pair of these for me to wear while hiking and fishing! My feet were dry and happy --- which made ME happy!

Here we are headed out of the harbor and into open water….

Jerry, our captain at the wheel! It was freezing cold outside --- but the inside of the cabin was warm and toasty!

This little sea otter paused to see what these crazy folks were up to, trying to go fishing in the rain, with a very un-experienced fishing quilter on board! I’m sure he was thinking “LOTSA LUCK!!”

Even the seal couldn’t believe we were out on this completely yucky day! But it was the ONLY day we had time to do this, and we were not going to waste it!

First job….UNTANGLE THE LINE!! Someone had borrowed the line before, and don’t you know it takes quilters to know how to unknot it? :cD Don’t you love my green rubber rain gear and the super huge orange gloves?! They kept my hands warm, but I felt like an alien..LOL

At this point it was really cold and raining! Get tough, Bonnie! You can do this…no wimping out!

Salted herring was our bait! I dug them out of the bucket and Julie cut them in half, getting ready to bait the hooks.

These are the hooks! We were putting out a commercial 30 hook “skate” or line….even the hooks have to be placed just so, so their leaders don’t tangle in the bucket. Always remove a hook from the LEFT--

Julie, showing me how to bait the hook, run it through the fish once, and back up again --- just like pinning the quilt to the leaders on the long arm. Through and back up again!

Yeah, I did it too! Jerry? He just watched. I’m sure he had a chuckle or two watching this landlubber massacring the bait. That salt dried bait is as tough as leather, it’s not as easy to get the hook through and back through again as you would think!

Hang the hooks off the side of the boat until you have them all baited….and then we’ll clip them on to the “skate line”.

Yep, I learned to clip those on too, and I got pretty good at it! Put one about every 15 feet of line or so….and over the front end of the boat the line goes. Come on Halibut!! Where are you?!

The rain stopped and I got hot…so off with the hoods! While floating around we loaded up bait on some poles and tried fishing that way too. And we talked and we laughed—The weather cleared and then got rainy again, on and off, on and off…

And before we sailed back in, we had seen GORGEOUS rainbows looking back toward the harbor. Isn’t there a life lesson there? We would have COMPLETELY missed those if we had wimped out due to the weather.

This was just a very humbling pinch me moment. Here I was….floating in the ocean, amidst these majestic mountains in ALASKA for cryin’ out loud. The world is so large and I felt so small and full of wonder at nature’s beauty. Even in the midst of storms.

Looking back toward the harbor…can you see these clouds just hanging?! And the water was not really smooth either ;c) This is what it’s really like to live. Just GET OUT THERE. Don’t always wait for things to be “just right” to go --- JUST GO!! Or you might miss it!

We gave up on our poles and reeled them in. Nothing was biting. That was okay!

We began to real in our skate line ----and UHOH!!

Our baits were COVERED with star fish!! I’d only ever seen DRY star fish before, not live ones…and the ones I was used to did NOT have this many arms!

This is the underside! And those little hairy things were moving around just like live vermicelli!

And HOLY COW! Look at the size of this one! You can see it was right on our bait….

This is the underside of him! WOW!! Is it any wonder that the Halibut weren’t after our bait? We’d landed it in a field of star fish..LOL! There was no way for the halibut to bite if they were covered by star fish. At least that is my excuse anyway. Who’d want to eat that thing first?

It was okay with me. Seriously. If you catch it, you clean it, and then you’d have to ship it home…..This way I had all the fun without the fuss!

And now, the work REALLY began. And it’s official……I am the NEW line-reeler-upper!

The line has to all be coiled just so, so it won’t tangle the next time you let it out! Boy was that a workout for both hands coiling it into the bucket. I actually thought they could use a gadget from knitters to coil it all back up again, don’t you think so? :c)

Pulling back into the harbor ---What an awesome experience! I’ll never forget this! And maybe NEXT TIME, we’ll actually catch something ;c)

Thanks Julie and Jerry!

Evening Edition: Free Kindle Cookbook! ((Also Sony/Nook!))

Fall is in the air!

Well, except for Houston, where it still reached nearly 100 degrees yesterday when I was laid over, and there I was at the airport…dragging my parka from Alaska behind me! I NEEDED that jacket when I left Cordova --- and my luggage had been checked all the way through to home…so there was no way to tuck it back into my suitcase when I hit Anchorage.

Not that there was ROOM anywhere in my suitcase…..but that’s another story!

But I digress! Things are getting back to normal around here. In fact, I got a text from DH this morning that said he was having a hankering for Pot Roast with all the fixings. So much for jammie day! I’ve heard rumors about those who go to walmart in their jammies, and though I was only going to the local Food Lion, I decided to get out of the jammies and throw the jeans back on.

I came across this little offer on Amazon! And it’s good for you Sony read or Nook readers too!

Pumpkin Cookbook, by Gooseberry Patch, is the latest of their titles to end up free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Get a taste of Gooseberry Patch in this collection of over 20 favorite pumpkin recipes! Pumpkins are as versatile in the kitchen as they are in your home…start the morning with Pumpkin Coffee Cake, amaze the kids with The Great Pumpkin Stew, and invite friends over on a chilly October evening for some warm Pumpkin Cobbler.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

No affiliation! I just love the gooseberry cook books. The recipes are so good, and usually can be made with stuff that I have on hand or is easy to get!

Enjoy!

Pot Roast for the Picky Man!

It’s true.

I live with a Picky Man. And he will probably shoot me for this post, but I just have to let this out. It is NOT always easy to want to cook when the things you WANT to cook are the things that no one else but you yourself will eat.

There. I said it.

Meat is no problem.

Spices are.

Potatoes, carrots, green beans from a can, corn on the cob, or sometimes from a can and baked beans are okay in the “veggie” department, even if baked beans ARE a legume, not technically a vegetable.

NO ONIONS. No green, red, yellow peppers of any kind, pickled or otherwise. No olives.

White rice is only okay if it has butter and sugar on it. Or put in rice pudding. Sometimes it can be fried at the Japanese steak house but it can not be the Chinese style fried rice from the Chinese restaurants, that is too different. No Mexican fried rice either, but the refried beans are okay.

((Brown rice is not accepted!))

Salads must only have lettuce, carrots, ranch dressing and croutons. Oh, and you can add grated cheddar cheese and diced egg too –but must not include tomatoes, onion, celery or cucumbers. Bacon? Yes…bacon can go on a salad, and also on the baked potato, which can only accompany butter and cheese as a topping as sour cream is not allowed.

No cream cheese either.

No broccoli, Brussels sprouts, pickles, slaw, kraut, squash, radishes, cauliflower, or any other “fill in the blank” veggie not listed in the approved vegetable list above.

Most fruits are out too.

I’m sure I’m not the only wife who has found this frustrating. It was easier when the boys were here because THREE of us would eat most things, but now there are only two of us at home. And my cooking has been down to NIL.

Sometimes it’s easier and cheaper to go OUT to eat, because if I buy what I want for salads or veggies they have a tendency to go bad before I can eat it all. Remember, I’m only home half the time, and if I don’t eat it while I’m home, it will go bad before I get back.

If we eat out, we both get to choose what we want and I can have veggies and spicy food to my heart’s content.

I understand his argument. Something that does not taste good to him, or have the right texture is never going to taste good to him even if he forces himself to do it. Try to imagine that something tastes like dirt….and no matter how many people are saying EAT IT, IT’S GOOD --- it still tastes like dirt. Or worse to him.

I know I can’t change his taste buds. And sometimes I am envious of other couples who love to cook and share and explore all kinds of new recipes and tastes together.

He tells me to look at it this way…..it’s less work for ME since he doesn’t want “fancy food”. And I nod and smile and say, “Yes, you could be right…” And back I go to serving meat and potatoes.

But let’s face it. Food is one of our most enjoyable necessities as human beings. We have to eat to survive. Why shouldn’t it be a pleasure for all the senses as well?

Today we reached a compromise day of sorts. He said he was hankering for my pot roast, and with autumn on the breeze, I thought that sounded good too!

I sprinkled a 3 lb pot roast liberally with season salt and pepper and put it to brown in a skillet. While that was browning, I got out my crockpot and added some “legal” veggies…sneaking in a bit of “Illegal” onion, just for the flavoring it would give. I can easily pull it out after it cooks and save it for ME…

In the pot are 6 small red-skinned potatoes quartered, what was left of a bag of small peeled carrots that looked like they needed to be used in something fast or get tossed… and 1/2 onion, cut into quarters.

He BETTER not comment on how I didn’t peel the potatoes first! :c/

In a measuring cup I mixed the ingredients that will be the sauce/gravy:

1 can cream of mushroom soup ((Please don’t tell him there are mushrooms in it!))

1/2 can water

1 Tbl dried onion flakes ((Don’t tell him I put THOSE in either!))

2 beef bouillon cubes

1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce ((I love how spell check can fix my typo on that word..LOL!))

I placed the browned roast on top of the veggies –Oh, it was already smelling good by this time!

Spread the gravy/sauce on top of the roast and put the lid on to cook. It should be ready by dinner time tonight!

I make salads restaurant style, in individual bowls-- so he can have what little he wants on his, and I can add what I want to mine. I'll also add steamed broccoli to my plate.

Sometimes, there is just a way to make it all work out so we are both happy with it.

And the best part will be the left overs for the next couple of days…..

I’m Home from Cordova!

Gosh, what a long travel day. I was so wiped out by the time we hit home last night that the evening simply went in this order:

1. Dinner.

2. Hot tub soak

3. Bed!

I SLEPT 12 hours straight!

And today I kind of feel like a zombie, but I think after a shower and some unpacking things will return to normal…..

There are so many photos to edit down, and I’ve got a lot to do around here, so I’m going to make this a SHORT ENTRY and simply send you over to the Northwind Quilters Blog for the update and pictures of our Cathedral Stars Workshop Day there to tide you over until I can write my own post about it!

Want more? Here is the link for our Blue Ridge Beauty Day!

Click here for pics from the Evening Trunkshow Night!

Oh, I love looking at these pics and seeing everyone’s faces again! After 5 days there, I was finally getting good at putting names to faces and knowing everyone’s personalities….and oh the stories that come from living in a small town! I love this place!

A lot has gone on around home here too….DH took up the old parquet dining room floor and laid the new pergo floor in there! It looks AWESOME! Of course, part of my job today is to get all the china back IN the china cabinet. At least he didn’t try to move the cabinet with the china still in it ;c)

It’s good to be home….well…for a couple days at least! I’m headed to Oak Ridge Tennessee on Thursday! ((But that’s only 4 1/2 hours drive away, and it feels ALMOST like home ;c) ))

Homemade Thin Mints!

It’s a travel day! These trips to Alaska, as I’ve found have a tendency to mess with my time-zone clock! ((Don’t I sound like a pro, this is only my second trip to AK!))

As this is posting, I am somewhere between Anchorage and Houston -- I set this ahead to keep you busy! Please have some of these warm and waiting for me at home when I land in Greensboro ;c)

THESE are beyond delicious!! And with the holidays only a few months away, it isn’t too soon to start lining some new things up that you haven’t tried before!

Homemade Thin Mints

Cookies:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 stick butter
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons mint extract

Topping:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon mint extract

Directions:

Mix together flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda.

In a separate bowl cream butter until smooth, add sugar and beat for one minute. Add milk, vanilla and mint and beat an additional minute. Slowly add the dry ingredients while beating.

Once mixture is well combined and resembles small pebbles, use your hands to form into a ball.

Roll the dough into a log and wrap in waxed paper.

Chill for 2 hours.

Slice into thin rounds and place on parchment.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Melt chocolate in a bowl set in simmering water and add mint.

Once cookies have cooled and become crispy coat their tops in chocolate by dipping them or smearing with an icing knife.

Enjoy!

Good Eats!

As I try to break down these days into posts…I’m doing the best I can to keep things kind of “coherent” in little episodes as they happened in the order that they happened. Even though I write this to share, I am also writing this as my own memoir. I don’t want to leave anything out that I will want to remember later. And time passes so fast and things are so quickly forgotten.

However, I will never forget our Wednesday night dinner at Terri’s house..and how the food and friends and fun just kept coming through the door!

Yep, it’s Alaska! And we had more seafood fare than we could make a dent in, but oh did we try!

I felt so welcome as I was introduced to everyone –like we had been old time friends!

What you see in the first pic is the view from Terri’s balcony deck. Can you imagine? Her house is on pilings right over the water, and the tide comes in and goes out and comes in and goes out and it is ever changing.

I started taking pictures of the food as it came in…..as foil was removed we all oooh’d and ahh’d at the wonderful aromas ---

Diane W’s Macadamia nut encrusted halibut!! OH MY! This was served with a buerre blanc sauce on top…delectible!

Julie’s blueberry cheese cake made with local blueberries! YUM!!!

And at this point I got side tracked and gave up taking pictures until we had all laid out in front of us at the table:

Can you see it all? Yes! Diane U brought King crab legs with garlic butter for drizzling…they melted in my mouth! The wonderful tomato goat cheese salad was made by Val, Lila made the SALMON CHEESECAKE! ((Yes, salmon cheese cake…)) and it was served with crackers like an appetizer…You can see the halibut and the pot of buerre blanc, and Sara’s home made yeast rolls. Debra made a delicious pot of home made clam chowder as well…and we stuffed ourselves silly!

As the sun set into the west, this was again the view from Terri’s deck. What a wonderful evening with new wonderful friends. I never laughed so hard in my life at some of the antics that were going on amongst these women who are such good close friends. I love the sense of community.

Quilters are a force to be reckoned with!

And this was only the end of Wednesday.

Note to self --- next time…bring stretchy pants for weight gain…LOL!