Knitting, Singing, the Universe and all....

It was a lovely last weekend at the lake... Flathead Lake! At the Big Arm Campground, there were only a handful of tenters, and every spot got it's own lake edge "beach" - here's Pippin, dreaming of his Pirate Past-lives..... Later on, Zuzu took over squirrel patrol so he could catch a sunny nap. It was Jon's mom's birthday, so Cindy and Denny came down from Dayton for the evening for a taco dinner and a campfire - oh, AND the new Willie Nelson Album was a hit :-) Jon got another picture of me knitting this trip.... I loved looking straight up into this grandmother tree overhead... Isn't this just serene looking?! But earlier, Jon insisted that he could park the trailer on a special rock out cropping... look what happened: It teetered and tottered and I rather spittily insisted that he NOT move until we figured out how to fix it. He insisted that we photograph his accomplishment (below) before re-positioning it so that we could get in and out without ro...

Yesterday was Mother's Day, so Jon made a Rhubarb-Cardamom pie & I packed up Zuzu & Pippin and off we went! First stop: Jon's mom, Cindy's house in the woods near Flathead Lake. Since we had gotten a late start, Cindy graciously cooked her own Mother's Day brunch (Dutch Baby Pancake, strawberries with sweet cream, fresh pineapple and maple sausage patties - yum!) so we could hang out and Jon could help her a bit with the computer..... Pippin is happiest playing ball with Denny. This is after he chased the cat, broke the lamp, drank the "Liquid Fence" solution (deer aversion spray), and spent another 20 minutes under the porch brawling with the other cat! He's fine, by the way - "liquid fence" is made with "putrefied eggs" so he was just more pungent than usual-?! Zuzu, on the other hand, was a perfect grand-dog, and distributed unlimited kisses in honor of the day. We shared some pie, packed up again and off to Robbin's mom ...

Here's how to roast any autumn vegie combination, and voila! a "gourmet" dinner (as my mom calls just about anything I cook :)) First up is Hit and Run Chicken . Here's the technique: buy a really big jar of marinated artichoke hearts at Costco. Use about 1/3 of them in various pasta and green salads for several months. Eat about 1/3 of them right out of the jar when the mood strikes (use a fork!!). After another month or so, look in the fridge and decide you'd better eat them up, pronto. Pour some of the juice in a 9 x 13 pan, throw in several and varied chicken pieces - here we have a breast. I also always add at least 3-4 thighs for Jonathan (he's a leg man!). Throw the remaining artichoke hearts in the pan. Peel and chunk-chop some carrots and celery - throw those in the pan. Toss in some pine nuts that were shivering in the back of the freezer. Slice the Delicata squash received in the CSA delivery on Wednesday, and drizzle a little more of the artichoke ...