Good news, my class was only two days long so this will be my last post about it.  I know, it’s going to break your heart.  It’s so exciting to see my experiments.  I am doing it for you, to enhance my blog photos.  The torture will be worth it someday?  I hope!

Day 2 lessons were simple.  Go to each of the buildings and take pictures inside and/or outside that represent C.M. Russell Museum using lessons and techniques from the day before.

Why are easy lessons so hard?

Welcome to a pictorial tour of the C.M. Russell Museum a la TKW (a little fanfare here)…..

 

 

C.M. Russell Residence

C.M. Russell Studio

What I learned:

Natural light is the best and easiest.

Museum lighting sucks!

Taking a picture through glass–no good.

Taking good photos takes practice, lots of it!

You need to have a “good eye”.

A ”good eye” can not be taught, but it can be refined and improved.

Some of my photos are quite nice (if I do say so myself, for a rookie), many of my photos reflect the challenges of my easy assignment.

I spared you from my most horrible photos.

You’re very welcome!

What do you think?

“Good eye” or not?

Potential or not?

Stick to cooking and leave the pictures to real photographers or not?

Practice and you might actually get it or not?

By the way, the photos are untouched pure unadulterated pictures, so be kind…..or not.

Assignment #1 White Balance. 

Ummm, teacher, what in the heck is white balance? 

Normally our eyes compensate for lighting conditions with different color temperatures. A digital camera needs to find a reference point which represents white. It will then calculate all the other colors based on this white point. For instance, if a halogen light illuminates a white wall, the wall will have a yellow cast, while in fact it should be white. So if the camera knows the wall is supposed to be white, it will then compensate all the other colors in the scene accordingly.

Most digital cameras feature automatic white balance whereby the camera looks at the overall color of the image and calculates the best-fit white balance. However these systems are often fooled especially if the scene is dominated by one color, say green, or if there is no natural white present.  Most digital cameras also allow you to choose a white balance manually, typically sunlight, cloudy, fluorescent, incandescent etc. Prosumer and SLR digital cameras allow you to define your own white balance reference. Before making the actual shot, you can focus at an area in the scene which should be white or neutral gray, or at a white or gray target card. The camera will then use this reference when making the actual shot.   (Source).

First Lesson: 

Indoors-using the same subject shoot on each of your camera’s white balance settings. 

My camera was set on F8, ISO 3200 

I shot using first using the tungsten light setting, then followed with the fluorescent, sun, flash, cloud, and shade respectively. 

 

 

Second Lesson: 

Using the same subject shoot outside on each of your camera’s white balance settings. 

My camera setting was F8 and ISO 200. 

I shot the same as above except this time my first shot was using the camera’s auto white balance. 

 

 

On the inside shots I didn’t notice as a remarkable difference in the color tempertures as I did on the outside shots.  But I can tell there is a difference 

 Assignment #2 Aperture Settings (aka F-Stop): 

Lesson 1: 

To quote Grover from Sesame Street, I call this the “Near and Far” Lesson. 

Barbara calls this the “Field of Focus”. 

Objective:  Using 3 different F-stop (aperture settings) shoot an item close up, mid range and a third further away. 

I did poorly at this at first (I did not share my 20 photographs where I was trying to get it). 

I discovered, because I use auto-focus that I had to switch my center of focus along with my aperture setting to get the desired effect. 

Camera settings were (I think) F8, F16 and F32 with ISO 200 

 

Lesson 2: 

The star affect…. 

Objective: Shoot into the sun using different aperture settings, starting low and increasing with each shot. 

Again, I stayed at ISO 200 and set my camera (I believe) to F4, F8, F16 and finally F32. 

I love the results of the final picture….there may be hope for me. 

Barbara noted that the leaves were in focus and their color was good and not silhouetted. 

“Rhonda, can you tell the class how you did that?” 

“Ummm, no clue!”  

 

 

 

Assignment #3-back lighting 

Simple lesson… 

Objective: Take a portrait picture of another class mate with the sun behind them.  Take a second portrait with the sun behind them using flash fill. 

Easy right?  Only if you know how to take a picture with flash when the sun is blaring…yeah, auto was not an option. 

After 5 minutes of digging through my manual, and another 2 minutes trying to find lightening bolt button I was able to take my second shot. 

Here I could see Lulu was shadowed in the first photo, but well illuminated in the second. 

Yes, you can take pictures with the sun behind you! 

Camera setting F8, ISO 200 

 

 

Please note in the second picture Lulu’s frustrated, nay, pissed off face.  This is what happens when you bring the Spanish version of your manual! 

Assignment 4-Panning 

Oh baby was this a tough one! 

Objective: Set your shutter speed at 1/8, 1/15 and 1/30 

Shutter what?  How long it takes your shutter to open and close.  That’s it.  It’s that magical setting that turns water falls into milk falls. 

Panning is when you follow a moving object and when it hits the center of your focus you snap the picture.  This will blur the background and allow some details to show. 

Seriously, not much moves in a museum….so I waited for cars to go by. 

It took me several shots, I pissed off a number of drivers also.  People get a little suspicious when you stand around and take photos of them driving by! 

A sample of a failed shot and a sample of a somewhat more successful shot. 

Honestly I don’t remember what shutter speed I was when I took these. 

My camera was set at the now “normal/go-to” setting of F8 and ISO 200. 

 

 

And that was all, for the class room instructions. 

Later that evening I experimented on my own. 

Here I messed with shooting into the sun, aperature setting and my ISO.  I have no clue what settings I used….but the effects are kinda cool.  I really like the third  one with the  tree on the left.  The cloud behind the tree is nearly identical to the tree outline giving it a shadow affect. 

 

 

Lastly I attempted the panning thing again. 

I needed a moving object; who better then doggies! 

The first shot reminded me of a story by Helen Bannerman called “Little Black Sambo”.  The story is about an Indian or Tamil child has to give up his colorful clothes to 4 tigers so they will not eat him.  Sambo then takes his clothes back and the tigers chase him around the tree until they turn into a pool of butter. (For more information).  In this shot by two dogs look like they are about to turn into butter. 

 

 

Lastly, I lurve this shot of Summer dog! She decided to switch up her direction and come see what I was doing.  I just love the lighting and the fact that you can still see her tail wagging. 

Hang in there, only one more day of class to share. 

I can’t help myself, I learned something and couldn’t wait to share, see I’m not too old of a dog!  

 

I had the unique opportunity to take a digital photography class at our local museum the C.M. Russell Museum.  According to their website “The mission of the C.M. Russell Museum is to collect, preserve, research, interpret and educate on the art and life of Charles M. Russell; the art and life of his contemporaries; and the art of preceding and ensuing generations that depicts and focuses on the culture, life and country of Russell’s West.”

It’s an absolutely fantastic museum that represents Charlie Russell, the life he adored and the art he brought to the world.  You can visit his home and his log workshop.  The museum has interactive displays and a room for the kiddos to lay some hands on, well, whatever they want to lay their hands on.

In an effort to support Western Art and recognize the talented artist that continue to show the world that the western style life is still alive and well, they invited a very talented photographer to display her works.  Hard Twist, by Barbara Van Cleve, is a photographic journey of women on the ranch.  Working women, women who love the challenges ranch life offers them.

A little bit about this incredible photographer that I got from her website: 

Barbara Van Cleve’s heritage is rich with family history and firsthand experience. Her family’s ranch, the Lazy K Bar, was founded in 1880 on the east slopes of the Crazy Mountains near Melville, Montana.

Her father, Spike Van Cleve, was a unique combination of writer, poet, Harvard scholar, and expert horseman-and “a pure quill Montanan,” as her father once put it.

As a photographer, she has held a camera since she was 11 years old when her parents gave her a “Brownie” camera and a home developing kit. Her youthful interest in photography soon grew into a lifelong commitment. Ranch work also began early for Barbara. Barely six, she could be found helping at the corrals or sitting astride a horse. Ever since she has been documenting the “true grit” and romantic beauty of her experiences on the ranch and on other ranches in the West.

Along the way, she earned an MA in English Literature at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois; she has been a Dean of Women at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois; and she taught English Literature, and later photography, for over 25 winters at DePaul University, Loyola University and Mundelein College, all in the Chicago area. At the same time photography continued to be a passionate avocation. In her free time, she worked for Rand McNally as a textbook photographer and also established her own stock photography agency. The long summers were usually spent on the family ranch in Montana.

She moved to Santa Fe in late 1980 to concentrate on photography full time and had her first major exhibition in the fall of 1985. Since that time she has had over 51 one-person shows and has been in nearly 75 group shows. Her work is in public and private collections in the United States as well as internationally. Her photography has been published in Roughstock Sonnets, (with poetry by Paul Zarzyski), Way Out West, and Cowboys: A Horseback Heritage. KOAT-TV, an ABC affiliate in Albuquerque, New Mexico produced and aired a thirty-minute video documentary, “Barbara Van Cleve: Capturing Grace”, in 1993. In the Fall, 1995 her book, Hard Twist: Western Ranch Women was published by Museum of New Mexico Press, and she was inducted into the Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas. All This Way for the Short Ride (with poet Paul Zarzyski) was published by the Museum of New Mexico Press in 1997. Her newest project is a book Holding the Reins written by Marc Talbert and illustrated with her photographs about ranch girls. It was published by Harper Collins in February 2003. She moved back to Big Timber, Montana, her home town, where she has her studio and is close to the family ranch.

Good news for me, she loves to teach.  Barbara taught my weekend digital photography class, bless her heart.  It’s not easy teaching a bunch of “auto” users how to really use their cameras.  In addition to that practically every student had a different type of camera, from basic to complex, from old to so new that it was practically never used.  We were supposed to bring our owner’s manual and a laptop.  Almost all had their owner’s manual which was an absolute necessity, one person (my dear friend LuLu) brought the Spanish version, which would be fine except the only Spanish words she knew aren’t published in any manual!  Not that I’m one to criticize, I showed up with a nearly dead battery and had to text McGyver (how rude) to bring my back-up battery.  Understandably, not everyone had a lap top.

The words field of focus, aperture priority, white balance, panning and shutter speed went flying around.  Numbers like 200, 1,600, F8, F16, 1/8, 1/30 and 1/60 started swimming through our brains at alarming speeds.  Or it just seemed like words were flying and numbers were swimming.  Truth is, Barbara is the epitome of patience.  I can’t even imagine how hard it is to teach a bunch of novices when you knowledge is so immense, but then again, she’s a teacher and I’m not.

Next posts I’ll share what I’ve done and you can see if  I’ve learned anything despite myself.

When I first started my blog, I didn’t have a camera.  My nice point and shoot (also somewhat expensive, but not over the top) camera had broken the year prior.  I was really upset and didn’t replace it.  So I used the Baby boy’s cheap-o Kodak, for a while.  I knew straight away that it wasn’t going to be sufficient for my blog.  I began some research, decided that I wanted to go with a Nikon, I think in partial because of the Paul Simon song “Kodachrome”. 

I got Nikon camera

I love to take a photograph

So Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away

Not that many people know what Kodachrome is nowadays.  Actually, I visited other food blogs, if liked their photography I checked out what they were using.   Most food bloggers don’t discuss their photography equipment, probably because they are not photographers, they’re food bloggers, so it made it difficult to discover what they were using.  Two of my favorites (Kayotic Kitchen and Pioneer Woman ) both used Nikon, viola, decision made.  

Now the brand decided, which Nikon to get.  I read reviews and hands down the Nikon D90 was top dog.

 Unfortunately it came with the top dog cost of $1,200 on average and that’s without a lens.  I wasn’t ready to make that serious of a commitment to a camera, I wasn’t even sure if I was making that serious of a commitment to my blog…at least not back in February.  I pressed on with my research and found a nice compromise (but I really wanted the D90, oh how I still want the D90….).  I needed a camera that an amateur could use instantly, after all ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed were all way to complicated for someone who just wanted to make some food and share it with the world.

I settled (and I do mean settled) on the Nikon D5000.  It’s a high end amateur camera that came with an 18mm to 55mm lens (fine for food stuff) and was ready to go, it even had a pre-programmed setting for food.  Priced typically under $700, it was still expensive but much more doable than the $1,200 with no lens camera!

See, they don’t look much different, and I convinced myself that I am not a photographer, I am a food blogger.   Really, I’ve been very happy with it.  I’ve struggled with some lighting issues, mainly because dinner gets on my table pretty late at night and my house lights cast a yellow tinge on everything.  Not exactly appetizing for food.  I also (and still do) struggle with macro shots, meaning that I zoom in, press the button and the durn thing won’t take a picture, grrrr!  Maybe it’s the lighting?  So a couple of months ago, after reading a food blog (I wish I remember which one), they confessed that they used flash, which Kayotic Kitchen and PW do not ever do.  I decided to buy a flash, I can’t help my lighting.

I bought the Nikon Speedlight SB-900.  It came with a manual the size of my camera’s and a price tag almost to match.  Folks, here’s how it begins….you buy one thing and then the accessories kill you!!!! But you are sucked in, you can’t help it.  And just like my camera, I never really bothered to get to know my flash well.

Upon review of the hefty investment I made I thought I should get a little more on board with photography.  I don’t learn well from books, never have.   That’s just not me!  Tell me what I need to know, show me what I need to do then move out of the way and let me do it.  In other words, I have to learn the hard, my way.  I don’t mind some feedback, actually I love it, but I must do in order to learn.  That being said, when my local museum (we live on the same street) offered a weekend course on digital photography I knew I had to sign up. 

And I did, the course was this past weekend, it was fun, it was educational and best of all I got to do.  That’s all for now, next post I will share, if you can bear with me, my weekend of enlightenment (flash included).

Something about this time of year makes me yearn, crave salads.  Every kind, lettuce, pasta, fruit, cabbage and potato.  No salad says summertime more than the classic potato salad.  There are as many versions as there is, well I’m not exactly sure what to compare it to, but there is a lot of potato salad recipes.  Of the creamy type I have two favorites and neither of them are my recipes, one is my best friends and the other is from my father-in-law.  Dad or as the grand-kids call him, Grandpa Ho Ho (because of his long white beard…tough to get the connection), recipe is a variation of the basic mayo and mustard potato salad.  But oh so much more.   We don’t make it very often, because it is too good, and it makes quite a bit, and it’s too good, which means we eat way too much of it.  I could reserve it for company or the next BBQ I go to, but I usually can’t wait and I don’t want to share it with too many people.  I’m a glutton, there I said it.  I may be a glutton but I am still willing to share, willing to share this recipe with you so you can make your own and I can have all of mine.  

Ingredients

(We still use Dad’s handwritten recipe) 

 10 medium potatoes, scrubbed or peeled and cut into 1″ cubes

1 medium onion, diced

3 to 4 medium dill pickles, chopped

8 to 10 eggs, hard boiled

1 cup (or more) real mayonnaise

1/2 cup mustard (any kind)

3 to 4 green onions, chopped fine

1 (4 1/2 oz) can chopped ripe black olives

Salt and pepper to taste

Paparika for color

Directions

Start eggs to boil and cook using your preferred method for a hard cooked egg. 

Cube the potatoes.  Note:  I like to use waxy potatoes like Yukon gold, they keep their shape much better.

Cover with water so that it’s approximately 1″ above the potatoes.

Add a generous amount of salt.

Put them on to boil.  Boil until fork tender.

Meanwhile, dice your onion.

And dice the green onions.  To get a fine dice, I cut the white part of the onion lengthwise, and then cross wise.

Add onions to a large bowl.

Dice the dill pickles and add to the onions.

Add the can of black olives.

Then the mustard.

 Next the real mayonnaise.

Dad was very specific that real mayonnaise was used.

I know he meant not to use something like miracle whip or light mayo, but just in case I bought real mayo.

Mix together.

Add salt and pepper.  Refrigerate until the potatoes are ready.

Once the potatoes are cool, add to the real mayo mixture. 

Then recruit your husband to peel the eggs. 

Don’t you just love seeing strong hands in the kitchen!

Save out two of the best looking eggs, in our case it was slim pickins.

One day I hope to master peeling an egg and having it look beautiful…one day.

I might even do a whole post on it…one day, when I get the courage or I’m craving some egg salad.

  

Chop the remaining eggs and add to the potatoes and real mayo mixture.

Mix very gently, and put in a nice serving bowl if desired.

I topped ours with smoked paprika.

Sliced the two eggs.

I arranged them in a circle on top, just like Dad does.

Thanks Dad and Happy Father’s Day.

It’s been about a week and half since I had to whip together a menu for going up to the cabin.  I promised that I would post the Arnold Palmer drink that I made.  I had planned on doing it earlier but the issue is, it’s the Baby boy’s absolutely favoritist drink and he was heading out for the weekend (again) for a scouting event.  I promised him I would wait till after he returned. 

For those of you not into the golf circuit, Arnold Palmer, who was nicknamed ”The King” (not to be confused with Elvis since Elvis was arguably not one of the best golfers in the world) has won 7 major championships.   He won 4 master’s, 1 U.S. Open and 1 Open Championship.  In addition to his 7 major championship wins he won 62…that’s right….62 PGA Tours, 17 other wins, 10 Senior PGA Tour wins and 5 other wins.  That’s a total of 94 professional wins (he also had 2 amateur wins).  He was well loved not only for his golfing skills but for his personality and commercialism.  He even has his own PGA tour called the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

(Source)  

      

     (Source)

 

When you are famous people take notice of the things you do.  It is rumored that in a golf club Arnold Palmer had ordered his 1/2 lemonade and 1/2 iced tea drink when a lady next to him overheard what he had ordered and said “I’ll have one of those Palmer drinks” also known now as half & half.

 It seemed to catch on, and now you can buy it in a can!

(Source)

The Baby boy just loveeeees this drink, he was spending all his little pennies on buying this drink in a can.  So I wanted to be able to create it at home for him.

Not really, truth is I wanted to take lemonade to the cabin and didn’t have enough lemon/lemon juice to make it happen.

Okay fine, I’ll make iced tea, oh-oh, only two tea bags!

Then the light bulb came on, I had enough to make 1/2 a pitcher of lemonade and 1/2 of a pitcher of Iced Tea.

Viola, an Arnold Palmer.

Ingredients

1/2 to 3/4 c lemon juice

2 tea bags

1 cup sugar

2 quarts water (divided) or less if using ice

1 lemon (if desired)

Directions 

Start by putting some water to boil, you’ll need about 2 cups boiling water.

Measure out 1/2 c of lemon juice or you can fresh squeeze 1/2 c of it.

I use organic lemon juice that is from lemons and not concentrate, which works really well for beverages or other recipes that call for large amounts of juice.

Add the juice to a 2 quart pitcher.

Normally I just use a plastic pitcher with a lid (works better for boys and husbands), but for you I brought out my Kool-Aid pitcher.

Put two tea bags in a heat proof container and add 1 cup of hot water.

Let the tea steep until it is a dark brown color, add it to the lemon juice.

 Measure out 1 cup sugar, and add another cup of boiling water.

      

Stir the sugar and water until all the sugar is dissovled.

Basically, this is a simple syrup.

 

 Add it to the pitcher and loads of ice (if you plan on drinking  it immediately).

Top it off with enough water to fill the pitcher.

Slice a lemon if desired. 

Put some lemons in the pitcher and stir well.

You can add sugar and a lemon wedge to the the rim of the glass to make an attractive presentation. 

Then you let the Baby boy taste it.

According to the Baby boy it was good but he thought it needed more lemon.

He can’t help it, the love for all things lemony runs deep in the family.

I added 1/4 c more of lemon juice and he declared it was perfect!

Whether you enjoy your drinks more lemony or not, you are sure to enjoy this American golfer classic.

See you on the greens.

Actually you won’t see me on the greens, I suck at golfing, but I like the idea so who knows?

Until then, TKW.

Last Saturday I missed the first day of the Farmer’s Market because we were up at the cabin.  McGyver headed up again to take what will be our bathroom (shower, sink and other stuff) for our neighbor to install.  I decided to stay back because I just couldn’t bear to miss going to the market.  The Great Falls Farmer’s Market is a nice mix of farmer’s, crafters and a variety of other vendor’s to include Indian Frybread and children’s activities.  I went with my friends Kim and Sean.  They picked me up, promptly at 8:10 am (8:00 am was the plan but for Kim and I,  10 minutes after is prompt).  We found parking no problem, armed with reusable bags we were ready to shop. 

It was a perfect day, cool and sunny!  The stalls were brimming with colorful vegetables, herbs, baked goods and crafts.  So picturesque, and I forgot my camera.  Can we all say “duh”.  In all my excitement I ran out of the house without my trusty Nikon, so no pictures this time.  I’ll have to save that for a rainy day (because you know the next time I go and remember my camera, it will rain.

I didn’t eat breakfast before going because I knew there would be treats to taste.  I shared an Indian Frybread with Kim and Sean, we purchased it from our friend Tina who sells them there every Saturday.  Besides all the wonderful local items for sale, the other thing I love about a local Farmer’s market are all the people you see.  I saw Bette & Gail, Bill and Amber, Hillary, Bowen with Hillary’s Mom and her friend Jon and I saw a brunch of faces that I recognized through work, but don’t really know them.  Just seeing familiar faces warms my soul.

Not having breakfast, and sharing only some frybread, by the time I got home I was definitly feeling a tinchie bit hungry.  Honestly I couldn’t wait to dig into some of  my purchases!  So I whipped up a very simple post Farmer’s Market Brunch for one.

I made an 0pen faced brie and bacon sandwich with fresh sugar snap peas on the side.

My favorite cheese in the world is brie, my favorite meat in the world is bacon.

Put them together and I just made myself a little bit of heaven!

Ingredients

1 thick slice of good artisan bread

1/2 tsp butter

1 oz (2 slices) brie

2 slices bacon

Directions

Go to the farmer’s market or local bakery and get some country style bread.

This is mandatory, it just won’t be the same with bread from the grocery store.

I picked up this loaf from Matt Carlson’s Big Sky Bread & Pastry stall at the market.

Resistance was futile, I had to stop and buy.

I’m not sure if it was his bread or his T-Shirt that read “Knead Pain” that attracted me the most.

Ultimately, cool shirt or not, the bread was definitely worth the purchase.

Start off by buttering your bread then broiling it to a nice golden brown.

While you are waiting, eat the first slice of crust you cut off.

Enjoy the slight crunch of the crust, the tender chewiness of the bread.

Let the smell of yeast waft through your nose and dance on your taste buds.

Then get back to business.

I could just keep slicing the bread and eating it, it was that good, but brie and bacon were waiting for me.

When I need only a little bit of bacon I like to microwave it.

Wrap up a couple of slices in a double thickness of paper towels and cook in the microwave for about 1 minute.

Naturally microwave ovens vary so choose the best time for yours.

Cook it until it is crisp but not crumbly.

Cut up into small pieces.

Cover your broiled bread with the cheese and put it under the broiler.

 Cook until it starts to bubble.

Yes, I am fully aware my toaster oven has crumbs on the bottom.

I don’t care, I know I should, but I don’t.

I use it and it shows, what’s wrong with that?

All those crumbs are reminders of all the delicious stuff I’ve cooked in there.

Speaking of delicious, add some of the sliced bacon on top and broil for another minute.

It’ll really crisp up the bacon and render a little bit of that fat.

Brie with bacon fat, can you picture the dreaminess look in eye?

I have a confession to make….

you only need one slice of bacon.

I just cook two so I can nimble on the bacon bits while it broils. 

Everyone should do this, that’s why I list 2 as a necessary ingredient.

I went out to the back porch to enjoy by Farmer’s Market brunch and read the latest issue of my Saveur magazine.

Ironically the entire issue was dedicated to Markets!

And for after brunch?

Planting all the herbs I bought.

Have a lovely weekend, TKW.

 

We found out last Wednesday that the roads were clear up to our cabin and our “outside” contractor had finished up his work from last summer.  The Baby boy was also away on a float trip down the Smith River so McGyver thought we should head up and “cabin camp” overnight.  I was excited to see the progress since I missed out on our last failed attempt.  Only one small problem, I haven’t been grocery shopping in 3 weeks and I was working the worst shift ever, so shopping was pretty much out of the question.

Here in laid the challenge.  Create a menu for 2 lunches, 1 dinner, and 1 breakfast without buying a single item.  I pondered a bit on Thursday about what I might create, but didn’t really make a concrete plan.  In all honesty, procrastination does wonders for brilliant last minute ideas.  On Friday morning I was up early taking the Baby Boy to school, came home rummaged through the freezer, the mostly bare pantry and definitely bare refrigerator.  Between procrastination and minimal ingredients to choose from we ended up eating very well. 

In 2 1/2 hours prior to work, I prepped all the meals, got ready for work, dealt with my concrete guy who redid our sidewalk and back walkway, vacuumed the house, made my bed and cleaned my cooking mess up.  Yes, I still made it to work on time!  Now why am I not that efficient all the time?  Oh yeah, I’m lazy…such a crux to bear!

The Menu

Saturday

Lunch

Roast Beef and Cheddar Sandwiches with Steak/Sandwich sauce and Pasta Salad

Dinner

Cowboy steaks with grilled onion, garlic & mushrooms and Steak/Sandwich sauce

Potatoes O’Brien

Sunday

Breakfast

Bacon

Egg & Hashbrown Scramble

Fried Apples

Coffee

Lunch

Leftover pasta salad

Deer salami sticks

Red Pepper & Carrot sticks with Ranch dressing

Beverages

Water

Gatorade (purchased on the way)

Coffee

Wine/beer

Arnold Palmers

We headed up to the cabin (a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour…actually it was a 3 hour drive), later then we wanted too, but that’s no surprise.

We got to the cabin safe and sound on a most beautiful day. 

After unpacking some things, lunch was first on my mind, especially since it was about 2:00 pm and I forgot to eat breakfast.

Out of the cooler came a pasta salad made with whole wheat rotini, red pepper, sweet onion, pepperoncini, green olives, the last tomato (on it’s last leg) and a little Vidalia onion dressing…and salt, pepper and just a bit of crushed red pepper.

I had bread in the freezer and some deli sliced roast beef, plus a 1″ block of cheese that I sliced and then shredded the remainder for later use.

I whipped up a sandwich/steak sauce, compromised of mayo, horseradish sauce, dill pickle, onion and A1 steak sauce.

The idea was to turn my plain sandwich into kind of a steak sandwich and then have sauce to smother my steaks if they didn’t turn out.  After all there isn’t any running out for take out or having pizza delivered if your food is a Flop!

McGyver set up a couple of cots, in what will be the bedroom, when we get it finished.

Afterwards we went on a small hike.

It was short and a nice little trip down the mountain…only a few feet.

I really enjoyed it.

Then we had to go up.

And then I started gasping for air, my heart was pounding in my throat.

I was huffing and puffing, my calves were screaming.

Oh look a pretty flower…..

Why you should take a camera on a mountain walk?

So you have an excuse to stop and catch your breath.

“Oh, I’m sorry honey, I just wanted to take some pictures of the fauna, you know, for identification purposes”

“You know, in case we ever have to survive, I need to know the medicinal plants and edible plants, I’m sure it’s important”

“Oh no honey, you go ahead, I want a picture of you walking up to the cabin with the dog”

Gasp, heave, suck wind, cough up a lung…”I’m coming…”

After a brisk hike, thirst is quick to follow.  Fortunately I was able to have some Arnold Palmer’s on hand (next post I’ll share my recipe).

Also fortunately, McGyver had an empty “growler” (1/2 gallon beer bottle) on hand that I could transport it in.

Perfection!

Even if I could be picky, I’d still pick this beverage to quench my thirst.

I have to share this lamp with you.

Because I love this lamp.

Yes, it is a bowling pin.

McGyver, when he was just a wee Cub Scout, worked real hard with his dad and turned this old bowling pin into a lamp.

Please note, to steady the base they use a plastic lid, probably off a margarine container.

Makes me love it even more, but not enough to have in my house ….that’s why it’s at the cabin.

But I love it, I really do!

A while back I had purchased a cheap fire-pit for us to have up at the property.

I am paranoid about fires, it’s my biggest fear in life.

Next to having my head covered, and looking like a retiree from Florida.

Other than that, I’m really scared of out of control fires…so I wanted a containment container thingy for the fire to keep it controlled so it won’t go wild and so I won’t be burned in my sleep so I could leave the fire burning and go to sleep…

Sheesh, I need so help, anyone know of a good counselor?

Poor McGyver, nothing but work for him.

He put together the fire pit and a tripod with another adjustable hanging grill.

He moved logs to make seating and even found a somewhat sturdy bench that could act as my prep table.

I brought a non-stick pan and covered the plastic handle with foil so it wouldn’t melt.

I started off with cooking some bacon (thanks to a well stocked  home freezer).

McGyver stoked up the fire as needed.

The bacon, onions, garlic and jarred mushrooms (thank goodness for my last little bit of food in my pantry), cooked until the onions caramelized. 

Then I put them to the side in a seperate bowl.

Next I cooked more bacon.

You can never get enough of bacon!

Then I added my prepped potatoes.

Which included two very sorry looking russet potatoes that I had nuked and diced.

Part of my one onion and part of my one red pepper.

Some salt and pepper, plus a bit of surviving fresh rosemary minced up.

The steaks (two cheap sirloin steaks that I got on sale and froze), were pre-seasoned simply with some Montreal Steak Seasoning, were placed directly over the fire.

I need to state here, I have never cooked anything over a campfire except marshmallows and hotdogs on a stick.

I’ve always had briquettes.

This was a first for me (which is why I prepared a sauce to smother them just in case).

 Cowboy style steaks, at least here in the wild west, mean a steak cooked on a wood burning flame.  Any other way and they are just BBQ’d or grilled steaks.

Towards the very end I put my bowl of onion topping and the potatoes on the bottom to get them nice and hot.

All of it fit into my pan for easy transport to the inside of the cabin.

People, we only had plastic ware, that’s right a flimsy plastic knife.

I could have skipped the cooked onion mixture and the sandwich/steak sauce.

This steak was delish! Tender and delish!

Don’t get me wrong, the onion mixture and sauce were great.

But the pure tasty goodness of a steak cooked over an open fire….it just doesn’t get better!

I want to reiterate, that my sandwich/steak sauce was spectacular!

McGyver was beside himself when he tasted it on the roast beef sandwich…where it belonged.

Once I can duplicate what I did, I will be sharing with you all.

Meanwhile McGyver did the dishes (told you he did all the work).

And I tortured myself with looking at this view.

Afterwards we drank our wine and sat out by the fire as the sun set.

Do you feel at peace?

Just looking at the picture calms me.

The next morning, after waking up to slightly achy bones (I’m not as young and resiliant as I used to be).

I got the bacon and coffee started.

McGyver was still kind of snoozing since the puppy dog insisted on climbing into his sleeping bag and made for a disruptive, although cuddly sleep.

I used our propane stove/oven set-up.

I wasn’t about to start a fire.

I wasn’t about to wake McGyver.

I could easily turn the propane bottle to on…

Next I cooked some frozen hash brown potatoes in the leftover bacon grease.

Yeah, for bacon grease.

Then added some chopped red pepper, onion and rosemary.

I had a mixture of leftover egg beaters and a couple of eggs that were seasoned with seasoning salt and pepper.

I warmed my canned fried apples in a bowl…cuz that’s what I had.

Top the scarmbled egg mix with some cheese, and a hardy breakfast good enough for anyone.

While we were eating breakfast this one found someplace to stick her little snout.

Don’t you just want to kiss her?

After breakfast and packing up, we headed down to the creek on the property.

Normally this time of year, it looks like a real creek, unfortuantely by August or September, it looks more like a trickle then a creek.

No matter to the dogs, they frolicked and frolicked.

And I thought…I didn’t bring a towel…oh the upholstery in the truck….

They are also experts at finding every cock-a-burr on the property.

Is there a groomer nearby? (click photos to embiggen and enjoy the full intensity)

We meandered back up to the property (read: I huffed and I puffed and I nearly died on the way up).

After a long hike…and it was, it was time for a little lunch before we got down to some serious business.

Leftover over pasta salad, sliced veggies with ranch and deer salami sticks. 

The Arnold Palmer is for McGyver…I need the Gatorade, it can’t replace my breath but it can help replenish me.

I need replenishing…Gartorade take me away!

This is our neighbor Jeff, he lives here year round.

All year, every day of the year.

He snowmobiles down the mountain in the winter to go to work.

He’s a real mountain man.

He is also a drywaller.

He is also going to finish the inside of our cabin.

He is my favorite…for now.

This is Jeff and Paulette’s palce.

Can you believe they live 6,000+ feet up in the rocky mountains?

Everyday?

Not just the summer?

They are my heroes, of course I don’t want to live up there in the winter, but I admire the people who do!

After some negotiating, talking, planning, replanning and $$$ exchanged, we headed back down the mountain.

This caught my eye…

Not sure if you can see the sign, it’s located bottom 1/3 from the left.

It says “No Hunting”.

If you zoom a little to the right you see two Mule bucks, mocking you.

I think they can read.

They must know, why else would they give me that look and not even flinch as we drove up?

As we got closer?

As the dogs freaked out?

Shhhhh, be weary quiet, I’m not hunting….hahahah.

I think the cabin looks great, looks like we got it made, but then there is this….

Piles of crap, that’s the only thing to call it, we have piles of it!

Is the cabin a place to relax or just another place to work?

And Hillary, I know you think I’m too girly to rough it….

I didn’t quite have to use the outdoors for everything, but this was my toilet.

This plactic tripod seat was my luxury.

I was grateful for it every time I used it, considering the alternative.

So a few words from this wanna-be glam girl and inside camper head, even if you appear to be girly, it doesn’t mean you can’t hang with nature (well, not as long as you have TP)!

 

The wedding day!  It was a perfect spring day in Las Vegas (view from the bride’s room).

The bride was obviously very happy (ok, maybe a little nervous too).

Her ladies in waiting (not-sister and soon to be sister in law).

And the dress, oh the dress, the perfectly simple, perfectly beautiful dress!

Beautiful accessories!

This photo  reminds me of when she was just a small ballerina girl–tear…..

 

Looking beautiful, that is Andrea her “real” photographer”.

One last check.

 While Leah and Jodus were getting pictures, a couple of minor emergencies came up at the reception dinner set-up.

Let’s just say a little duct tape and motherly intervention can fix almost anything.

Our DJ was fabulous, really, fabulous!

The staff worked hard and treated us like we were spending a million bucks on the reception.

I would if I could, but I can’t so I didn’t, but it was all good anyways.

Look who came to check on the situation.

The guest table was set-up by the boys (along with all the other decorations and wedding favors).

The one and only hand made guestbook.

Seating chart.

Off to the wedding site, guests arrived and found their places.

Well Hello Cowboy!  Where have you been all my life?

What, oh yeah, we live together.

I am so lucky!

The groom waits…..

The father brings the bride.

The tears begin.

The ceremony.

Afterwards hugs and love.

Doesn’t he look like a natural?

Don’t you think he should have children, like, now?

Not so subtle hint, no pressure, really, no pressure.

More hugs.

And tears.

On to the reception…

Here comes Mr. and Mrs. Hortin!

First things first!

Take advantage of that open bar, especially when you get front of the line privileges.

As always, the Baby boy, is just silly.

Mingling.

Not Dad and Leah are looking at something.

That’s right folks, it’s official, here’s the certificate to prove it.

Momentarily abandoned but not forgotten.

First dance.

Mother/Father dance.

Eventually it has to come to this.

I think Leah is poised for some damage.

This doesn’t look like it’s going to be clean.

Anyone for a frosting mask?

I heard its good for the skin.

No hard feelings, obviously.

It’s wrong of me, I know it is.

But I couldn’t help but think about how expensive the make-up job was.

It was just a fleeting thought I promise.

And then this time comes.

And this is all that’s left.

Dirty dishes, memories and a happy couple.

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Jodus Hortin.

 

 

The day before the big event.  What a busy day, as mother of the bride I found myself being a coordinator, ever try herding cats (7g">Herding Cats on You Tube)?  That’s what my day felt like.  Trying to get a group together is never easy especially after a bachelorette/bachelor party night and traveling the day before.  I tried taking a picture of our view outside our room, as you tell I got a good reflection of me trying to get the shot.

Once we were finally rounded up, we hit the Flamingo buffet.  It is the easiest way to please a group of people.

The buffet had a special Memorial Day weekend buffet, read it will cost you more….

Mostly my side of the family went to breakfast. 

I was really proud of the bride and groom (especially the groom) because they showed up in good spirits despite the previous night’s activities.

I did not take a single picture between breakfast and the rehearsal dinner that night.

Guess I was too busy taking care of business.

For rehearsal dinner we met at Harrah’s Range Steakhouse for dinner.

The gang was all here.

For a destination wedding we had a great turn out from Virginia to Washington State.

We’re not a fancy family so when the Cesar Salad showed up with “little fishies” on it, much of it was picked off.

Somehow I ended up with more anchovies than salad…but I’ve always been the oddball, I like anchovies.

I’m a doting grandmother so there are more pictures of my grandson (he was sitting near us also) then of the bride.

Papa is sharing his crouton.

When Trenton gets a blackberry with his dessert, he must touch,

squeeze, touch, then eat.

Because what fun is a berry if you don’t pulverize it first.

The Baby boy, his uncle, doesn’t help…kind of encouraging if you ask me.

Plus they both must of got a special memo to wear orange?

Of course silliness ensued.

Because silliness is just what we do.

And there was loving going on too.

What would Vegas be without the proverbial lounge singer?

The Baby boy arranged for a special song for the bride and groom to be.

And they danced, and they look so in love.

They are so in love.

It’s a beautiful thing.

 

Finally I get the message, no more pictures…

Awwww, save me!

I went all the way to Vegas to see a bronze made up cowboy?

Amazinng isn’t it?

Back to the room after the dinner.

We were in the “Go” style rooms.

Very modern.

Very pink.

Just wanted to share with you how coordinated I was.

That’s right flamingo pajamas at the Flamingo Hotel, now that’s dedication!