Peace Park

Since Saturday, the weather has been glorious here. Freezing cold mornings give way to lovely, sunny, warm (50's) afternoons. It's supposed to hold until this Saturday and then the rain will move in.

Though I was knee deep in chores all day Saturday and wanted to get more done on Sunday, Tiika needed to get out. (Honestly, so did I.) I got going early Sunday morning and we headed into town for a hike over Waterworks Hill and through the Peace Park set up by the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center. I even remembered the camera to document our hike. Enjoy!

This is the best pic I could get of the peace sign that dominates the area. It replaces the peace sign that used to live up there on an sign owned by Qwest that no longer stands. It was a great town landmark and I'm very glad the Peace Center put together a new one in a similar location.


This is a close up of how the sign is made. It is a collection of mostly white fabrics. I saw everything from t-shirts to sheets and towels. They are all anchored by rocks. Some of the rocks are painted white, some are not. Others have messages painted on them. All were placed in hope for peace.


Of course, some people will walk right through the symbol of peace! She didn't disturb anything though, just pranced through without a care in the world.























And this one is just plain goofy! I look like I'm enjoying myself though, don't I? I've got my shades and my tunes, the sun is shining and the wind blowing through my hair. All was good.

Sunday, Sunday

Today is opening day for hunting so Rob is out in the woods, looking for an elk or deer to bring home. I've got hunting of other sorts to do today. Actually, I'm planning on tackling my long list of things that have been bugging me. One of which was checking to see if a generous gift was going to work.

The gift? A Brother laser printer!! When they were packing up after the conference earlier this month, it was decided they didn't want this baby. I happened to be the only one from my organization around at that time so the business manager asked if I wanted it.

"For me?!"

She said, "sure".

I was on it even though we weren't sure it was still in working order after being stored for the last year. It has been sitting on the porch ever since. I finally brought it in this morning, cleared a space for it and set 'er up. Woo hoo! It works. Now I just need to remember how to do laser printer transfers for my art projects...

Now, it's time to take Tiika out for a morning hike. She didn't get any exercise yesterday and is missing her Pop for the second day in a row. She's a bit on the antsy side so off we go.

afternoon snack

I'm back for the second time this week! And with another food picture. This one seems a bit better. Can you tell what it is? Maybe not. It's a new-old favorite, Curried Egg Salad.

I discovered this recipe at our natural food store, The Good Food Store, a couple of years ago. I haven't made it for a while now but recently we started eating a lot of eggs and I was looking for some variety. It provides a nice change of pace from tuna salad and seems more appropriate to cooler winter weather. It is a little bit tangy with bits of sweet.

The best part is the fabulous eggs. These are not just any eggs, these eggs are from free ranging chickens who live just down the valley from us. The yolks are a beautiful orange-y bright color. I had a regular egg from the nearby deli the other day and was shocked by it's color. The yolk was almost as white as the white! And nearly tasteless. Ew!

Here's the recipe, in case you want to try it yourself.

Curried Egg Salad
12 hardboiled eggs, peeled and diced
1/4 cup raisins
1 green onion, finely chopped
2 Tbl fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbl curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and serve on bread or over lettuce.

what's for dinner?

I just tasted tonight's dinner, Curried Bison Stew. Yum! It's basically left overs cleverly disguised in masman curry paste and coconut milk. There wasn't quite enough stew left for both of us to eat and I was bored with the flavor so this is a good way to extend it and spice it up. Oh my. This is going in the repertoire for future reference! (Sorry for the crappy picture. I was in a hurry since we were on a schedule to get out the door to go hear a climber talk about his experiences.)

Oh, and I'm also steaming some cauliflower to put in my stew. I know, many of you are going, "ew, cooked cauliflower!" I used to think so, too. Until I realized how good it is in curry dishes. Our favorite asian restaurant opened my eyes to this taste sensation. And then, in keeping with the low carb craze and trying to satisfy my mashed potato craving, I saw a recipe for mashed cauliflower, another dish I'm loving these days. You steam the cauliflower then mash it up with milk, butter, salt and pepper. So delicious (though honestly not really like mashed potatoes). Rob bought me some purple cauliflower the other day. I'll snap a picture of it when I mash it up.

Hello?? Anyone out there? I know it's been near forever since I last posted. That is subject to change...again. Who knows?